Thursday!

COMING SOON!

Home Grown Hearts Academy (Hgha) Newsletter!

The newsletter will include:

Free Curriculum
Book List
Favorite Websites
Website of the Month!
Recipe of the Month!

to nominate a site for Website of the Month!
Please leave a comment with the web address! Thanks!

To sign up for the Hgha Newsletter
please send an Email
with Newsletter in Subject! Thanks!

True Life!

All parents have one time or another had to handle situations that they wish never happened. That is just part of being a parent. Well that brings me to today.

We had an appointment today for all of the girls. Things started out pretty smoothly, until all at once, they ALL started throwing fits. I tried my best to use my deep voice to address them properly that their actions weren't appropriate. Nope didn't work, only got worse. My stress was building and they could sense it. Fists started flying at me, legs kicking, screaming so loud the whole office could hear it. How I thought to myself how did it come to this, Why are my children so mad. What can I do? I just wanted to melt away. After the appointment, I was left feeling as though I hadn't handle the situation correctly, or could I have prevented it.

After getting home, it was if they were never mad, they were happy. Happy to be home.

After Evaluating the situation and talking with them I realized they were scared of the appointment. It was where they usually go to get shots. My youngest was the only one getting a shot, but they all where ready to go the second we walked in. Although their actions still aren't justified fully, because no parent should have to deal with the disrespect in the manner given; I see now that I should have communicated better about what was going on. Not got so stressed and I need to talk to them more than I have about manners, respect, and disrespectful behaviors. :) I truly LOVE being a mom, even when I want to pull my hair out! ;)

*Jennifer

Here is a great site for
building good character.

GoodCharacter.com

Have a wonderful Day!

Its been a busy day!

The HGHA Free Graphics blog is up and going!
Please feel free to visit!

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Math Idea: Ages 2-6

My oldest has shown great interest in:

Leap Frog Math Whiz Learning Bus Tray Puzzles!

Its great math fun!
You can use the search above to locate
these for purchase! Thanks!

Today is:
Memorial Day!* to read about Memorial Day click the link above

Printable Sight Words

Welcome to our 
Sight Word Resource Post!


Sight Words

We are currently using sight word flash cards, and using Starfall.com. I can already tell a huge difference in the girls, as these methods are very effective for them.

                                Print Sight Word Websites 

Dolch Free Sight Boards

http://fishforwords.com/sight-word-lists.php

http://www.sonlight.com/sight-word-flash-cards.html

http://bogglesworldesl.com/dolch/lists.htm

http://www.thesmilingteacher.com/sight_words_kindergarten.htm

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/sight_words.html

http://www.storyit.com/sightwords/index.html

http://www.uen.org/k-2educator/word_lists.shtml

http://learnerslane.com/downloads/sight-words/

SIGHT WORD VIDEO

YouTube is a great resource to find Sight Word Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sight+words&aq=f

Sight Word Games

http://www.adrianbruce.com/reading/bingo/

http://www.mrsperkins.com/

http://www.sightwordbingo.com/bingo.php

  Sight Word Activities on Pinterest 

  They look like a lot of fun! Enjoy!

http://craftnectar.com/2009/06/25/sight-word-daddy/

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/2011/kinetic-sight-word-activity/

    Feel Free to Leave us Comments. We love Comments!

Safety First!

Its always great to talk to your children about Safety.

Monday begins our Stay Safe! Safety Week

Monday: Stranger Safety
Tuesday: Buckle Up!
Wednesday: Fire Prevention
Thursday: Poison Safety
Friday: Phone Number & Address

Outside Photography

I got some good pictures of the girls playing outside.
It was a beautiful day, and their grandma wanted some pictures.

Story Time With Daddy!

The girls had story time with daddy, after finishing lunch. It was a great story time for the girls! They really enjoyed "No, David" and Breanna and Gracie will be making their own versions of the story later on with me.

New Book!

Friday we will be reading the book"No, David" written by David Shannon.

Critical Thinking Questions for the girls:

What are some things you have done that your mom told you NO when you did them?

Why do you think she told you NO and not to do those things?

We Will Also be Discussing Clouds.

What’s fluffy and white and floats up high,
Like a pile of cotton in the sky?
And when the wind blows hard and strong,
What very gently floats along?

What brings the rain, what brings the snow,
What showers down on us below?
When you look up high in the sky,
What is that thing you see float by?

CLOUD PUPPETS

Take some white heavy paper and cut out cloud shapes (approximately 6” x 6”) for your children. Give them the cloud shapes along with some glue and some white cotton balls. Have them glue cotton balls all over their cloud shape. Then help then tape a large craft stick behind the cloud shape for a handle. Have your children use their cloud puppets when they sing cloud songs or recite cloud rhymes.

Curriculum Links

Here is some of the Online Curriculum that we use.
Here is where we get ideas for lessons and unit studies

Alphabet Hunt!

Kindergarteners, love hands-on games with mom and dad. And this one fits the bill. But underneath all the pirate booty and the thrill of the hunt, they’ll get solid practice in learning to recognize letters and sounds, using manipulatives: teacher code for objects they can touch. Pirates ahoy! Thar be learning in this here treasure hunt!

1. Get a set of 26 bags (brown paper lunch sacks work fine). Ask your child to label each bag with one letter of the alphabet.
2. Tell your would-be pirate that you’re about to embark on a treasure hunt. Together, you’ll find items to fill each of the treasure bags. But here’s the catch: you must look for objects whose names begin with the letter on each bag. (For example, A=apple, B=ball, C=car, etc.)
3. Help your child sort through her toys, search the kitchen, troll the living room. Urge her along with questions like, “What is this?” or “What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word when you say its name?” When she tells you the sound, for example “bah” for ball, ask her what letter makes that sound, then ask her to put it in the appropriate bag. If your house is short on certain letters, take your quest to the street! Walk around the neighborhood looking for plants or other objects to fill the empty letter bags.
4. All right pirates, review! Once each bag has at least one object, ask your child to reach a hand in, hold up the treasures, and say their names. You can keep the bags and review one letter each day, or better yet, ask your child to make up a story using all the items in a letter bag. Write down what he says and you’ll have an instant book, ready for homemade illustrations, and sure to be treasured on the road to reading.

Losing Teeth!

Breanna lost her first tooth! she was very worried about it at first. I reassured her that this was very normal and its just part of growing up. After the visit from the tooth fairy, it became very apparent that she was ok with losing her teeth. :)

Classroom

We no longer use our classroom, because we seem to use the dining room table so much more. So we converted the classroom into a spare bedroom and now have a storage room for all of the supplies. The dining room seems much more easier for all of us and its actually not that cluttered. I do have a shelf that houses all of our curriculum and books. I really like the set up so much better.

Crazy Fun Thursday!

The morning was relaxing, with the aroma of bacon in the air. The girls rested well last night, and eager to know what today would bring. I handed out treasure bags and let them explore the outside. They picked out special rocks, limbs, flowers, and leaves. later on we plan on making a collage with the items.

I read to them "A Porcupine Named Fluffy"

We Talked about why it was so funny that a Porcupine is named Fluffy! The Rhino was named Hippo! :) We plan on getting playdo and toothpicks and making our own Porcupine, using buttons for the eyes.

We also worked on out Phonics lesson and have a Noahs Ark Unit Study to begin.

Aunt Gabby came to visit today! She enjoyed playing with the girls and Raylee was happy she came!

This is our Crazy Fun Thursday!

The Love to Learn

Summer is here!

My little girls are growing so fast! I'm loving everyday with them and think it is a huge blessing to be a stay-at-home mom. I cherish the days I spend watching them learn. Its amazing what a child will find interesting and pick up on, if only a person will take the time to teach. I'm making time and I'm finding that my children Love to Learn. Amazing! Really? I sometimes think "am I going to be able to even teach them to read, write, ect?". My fears and doubts are only a burden on my heart! I'm worth and my children are worth more than that attitude. So I will answer my own question. Yes they are going to learn to read and to write! I'm their teacher and our classroom is not only our home, but the world! Have a great Day!