Letter of the Week.....A is for Apples Apples Apples

Just wanted to post a quick look at what we've been up to the last couple of weeks with the letter A and of course APPLES.....tis the season!

Practiced writing and recognizing the letter Aa for Tinkerbell: (worksheets from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

We started ABC books and we're going to have a letter of the week that coordinates with what Tinkerbell is doing at preschool.  Tinkerbell's has both uppercase and lowercase.  They can color them, use stamps, stickers, etc. 

The Bear's (and the other 2 year old I babysit) have just uppercase, with a coordinating "things that start with...." page.  They LOVE having "school" time when the baby is napping.  They love love love using stickers, stamps, and anything involving glue.  Tinkerbell is doing a "things that start with...." page like this for homework each week for preschool, so we are not repeating it in the ABC book we started at home.

 For storytime during "school" we read Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss.









One afternoon after a trip to the apple orchard, we did an apple tasting experiment- Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, and Fuji.  Before slicing them we talked about their different colors & sizes, how different trees produce different apple varieties, and where they were grown (Minnesota, Washington, and New Zealand.)  

As they tasted them, we talked about how they tasted "sweet" and "spicy" were the only words they could come up with they learned a new word, "tart" :)  Tinkerbell also ranked them with smiley faces and circled the one she wanted to make sure we get at the grocery store next time (Fuji).  We also counted the apple seeds and talked about how seeds --> trees --> fruit.

 Tinkerbell played a math game on this magnetic white board and had to put "apples" on the tree when she rolled the corresponding number.

We also of course did a couple of apple craft projects throughout the week.  This one was based on Psalm 17:8...Keep me as the apple of your eye.

And how can I have an apple-themed week without some apple-printing!!  I think we had at least 3 kids here making apple print wreaths who did not belong to me :)  We cut apples in half, dipped them in paint, then made green thumb prints for the leaves.  After they dried, we cut them out and glued them to a paper plate with the center cut out.  So cute!

 I am kind of sad that September has come to an end already......however with October comes Halloween, only some of THE best crafting of the year!!  I am ridiculously nerdy, I know.  Thank goodness I at least have kids now so I have a valid excuse to have an endless supply of construction paper, Elmer's glue, stickers, and glitter.