Groundhog's Day Funschool

Here we are with another holiday (of sorts) upon us; so I've got another fun schooling lesson coming your way. Truth: this is the first year we've ever done anything for Groundhog's Day other than read a few storybooks. but, when you plan your year out ~ that's what happens. You can actually do all those fun things you want to do, because everything is all planned out ready to go. 

We read a few story books (which I forgot to take a picture of) about Groundhog's Day and groundhogs. The big kiddos did a couple of interactive notebook pages about the holiday while the little ones did some groundhog themed coloring, number, and phonics print-outs. I found all of those at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Of course no holiday is complete without a directed drawing. Y'all know this is my favorite art project and we do them for so many holidays. I have kept all their drawing and I love to watch my children improve on their drawing skills. 

We watched several YouTube videos. One on the history of Groundhog's Day, one on facts about groundhogs and the last was a video about how shadows are made. When looking for Youtube videos, I just search 'kids videos on XYZ', and I pick one that is suitable. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to find a video that suits our interests.

The children made a groundhog shadow craft that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers as well. There was a cute poem to go along with it that they glued to the other side of the groundhog.

 Tabitha found this cute groundhog craft to make all on her own. It was made with an empty toilet paper roll, construction paper, and a Popsicle stick. The little groundhog could peeped out of it's 'hole' when she pushed it up through the toilet paper roll. I think she loves crafting just as much as me.

The little ones were kept occupied during our lesson time with coloring sheets and were assisted with the other crafts as well. I prefer to include all the children in as many of our lessons as possible. First because they're apart of the family, second because it prepares them for when they'll be actually doing them 'for real', and it keeps them out of trouble so I can focus on teaching the lessons. There is a method for my madness and a reason for why I do most everything, especially in regards to homeschooling. 

It's taken many years to find my groove and trust my instincts to do what works for us, and not get distracted with the pull of how 'everyone' else is doing *things*. I share how we do our life not because I know it all, but to encourage other to find their own way too. Homeschool is a gift for us all to use the way the Lord directs and none of us HAVE to do it the same way. I hope y'all enjoy these fun schooling ideas.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Thanksgiving Craftivities

Whoop Whoop super excited that I'm getting this post on here before Thanksgiving! The last few weeks of pregnancy I literally feel like a ticking time bomb and always preface my list of to-dos with "if the baby doesn't come today". Well as y'all can see the baby hasn't come yet and I got all our fun Thanksgiving craftitvities done and documented!! Yes, I am one happy mama. And to make it all even better, every day of our projects went off without a hitch except the last day ~ sigh! Well, you can't win them all I guess. 

We kicked off our Thanksgiving craftivities with baking homemade cut-out sugar cookies. 

Making cut-out sugar cookies is one of my favorite holiday traditions, so much so that the kids learn real quick and at a super young age the cookie making process, lol.

Of course we can't make cut-out cookies without icing them. The day was so full with activities that it was well after dinner before we could get to icing our cookies. Mama almost made a major booboo!! When we went looking for our sprinkles, we discovered most of our fall sprinkles were empty ~ Yikes! You can't ice cut-out sugar cookies without sprinkles!! Thankfully we made it work, but I will be urgently restocking our sprinkle stash.

Our first art project was a turkey directed drawing. 

I absolutely love how the kids get into creating their own personalized directed drawings.

Our next craftivity went along with watching our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie. 

The children made mini pumpkin pies.

 My eldest daughter decided to add chopped pecans to her little pie, and I think it turned out so pretty.

Next we made 'Thankful Turkeys'.

I free-handed a turkey body, beak, gobbler, and feathers onto construction paper for the children to glue together. On each of the turkey's feathers the children wrote what they were thankful for.

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is to make mini loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread for our neighbors and a couple family members. 

I'm one of those weird mamas who loves having my babies in the kitchen with me AND when I see extra big cheeky grins like this one on Lydia, it makes all the extra work and chaos worth it to have them bake and cook with me! 

I almost love these mini loaves as much as muffins. They're so cute and perfect for gift-giving. 

Last we had a Thanksgiving minute-to-win-it. The goal was for the children to blow faux turkey feathers across the room. The first one to reach the other side of the room was the winner.

During our seasonal fun schooling weeks we do 'light duty' in regards to the nitty gritty of our normal core homeschooling regime. This week we did do a Thanksgiving interactive notebook (which I did not take any pictures of~ sorry). For the most part the children's lessons consisted of whatever they could do independently. It gives us all a much needed break from our normal homeschool routine.

Scheduling these fun school weeks has been a lifesaver for this mama and I wish it hadn't taken me so many years to figure out how to incorporate them into our homeschool schedule. Trust me though, they will forever more be a common reoccurrence in planning all our future homeschool years.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer