Homeschool: Applesauce, Rain, and Pumpkins!

It's Friday again...REALLY?  We've had a complete week, which is something we've not had in a while. So, I warn you....lots of pics.  We just continued with Apples, Noah's Ark, and Pumpkins this week since we've missed a few days here and there.  

Apples: We finished a project that she actually started last week, but got tired of doing. First I prepared red strips of paper and made large lines. Together we cut the strips into squares.  We use the safety scissors for my safety and hers. She is able to use them ok. I have to hold the paper though and direct her cutting. She gets a little too excited. Of course, no pics of this since I'm holding paper with both hands. 

After she cut all the strips. She glued the pieces onto an apple shape. I just drew out a simple apple shape on white paper.

Gluing on the squares. It's a sticky job and she loves
it.  Notice my apple has some extra lines...

 After she finished gluing all the squares on, I cut around the apple shape..extra lines disappeared. *wink* I gave her a stem piece and a green leaf that I cut out of paper. She then glued these together to make an apple. Of course, I helped with placement. But, she had a pretty good idea of where it was suppose to go.

The materials.

The finished product.

 On Wednesdays, I try to do something in the kitchen with her.  She learns about steps and following them to make something to EAT!  We made applesauce!

Washing the apples. We used 4 parts water
to 1 part white vinegar. She loved spraying.
Needless to say, the apples were not the
only thing that got washed. 

She watched me peel and cut the apples up. She
got to practice patience as she waited.  Then she
put them into the blender.

Then we turned on the blender. Notice my hand
ready for any action! 

She had fun with this part!  We saved some for
the Sibs when they came home from school.

 Another activity we did with apples is making prints with them.  This was not as easy as I had thought. I think that when I cut them in half I should have used a large knife and made one straight cut.  Anyway, she had fun with it. We used tempera paint, so of course no pictures of her in the process due to her excitement with paint.

 For Bible, we just continued with Noah's Ark. This was a great week to study Noah's Ark and the rain. It seriously has been raining nonstop for at least 5 days now. I wanted to build a real boat to go out and pick up kids from school because a stroller and an umbrella just didn't cut. I still got soaking wet.  The mega typhoon, MEGI,  that hit the Philippines missed us this time, but still dumped water on us like water thrown from a bucket...(and still is as I'm writing).
I cannot take any credit for this activity, except for changing the scenery.  I got the idea from Mama Jenn's blog. She used the raindrop effects with umbrellas. If you want to check that out go here.

First, I precut the boat shape. Then Matthea glued it onto blue paper.

Using a white glue, you make drops on to the
paper.  I only had the really thick glue, so I added
some water to help thin it out.

Then we hung it up on the board to drip and dry.

And there you have it.....rain. *smile*

Remember the large Ark we built last week and hung on the wall. It needed a rainbow to help finish it off, so we painted one. Well, actually I painted it and then let her help add details. *wink*

This is what we used. I LOVE this. I had forgotten that we had
it and just found it in the closet last week. It worked perfectly
and she had a blast doing it. I still have two sheets left, so I think
I'll have both girls painting this weekend since it will still be raining.

The brushes were just a perfect fit for her. And it was "mess-free",
which I LOVED! The color only appeared on the paper.

Our rainbow and a bit of sunshine on the wall.

Then today, I read Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs.  Matthea just has this thing for pumpkins...so we made a pumpkin patch of our own. I got the idea from this website.  We used fingerpaint and had much fun.

We still are working on speech development through flashcards and any words that have the /m/, /p/, /b/ initial sounds.  We started using the Horn Therapy again and are on horn #3.  She was able to do the appropriate amount of toots today, so will probably go to horn #4 next week.  If you are interested in this type of speech therapy, you can go to Talk Tools website here.
Numbers: We are counting to five, using flashcards for recognition, and trying to understand the concept of "How Many".
Letters: She recognizes all uppercase letters and tries to say them. We've started on lowercase and only at the letter "d"...this is not as easy.
Fine Motor: we've continued with coloring circles and tracing lines.
Gross Motor: we are working with her PT on balance issues.  Going up and down stairs are still something that she has to be watched carefully with, but she has improved so much.  She likes to dance the "Hokey Pokey", so that has been fun with using her legs...I usually have to hold her hand, but I've seen a slight (very slight) improvement with this.
Eating Issues: We've been working on self feeding. I've let her use a spoon and she is getting better...still have messes, but that is ok.  And, we see the surgeon on the 30th regarding having her feeding tube removed. I'll keep you all updated as to if and when that happens.
OK, I feel like I've just given my IEP for the world to look at.  I won't bore you all with that every time, but probably every few months I'll post it to help me keep looking forward and moving forward in the direction that is best for her.