Summer Break 2014-Update #1

We got back from the beach and officially started our summer break at home. Oh, how it pays to be a teacher during the summer. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the time I get to do things with Eli. I think more than anything else I love being able to wake up and not have anything on my agenda. That's the best because during the school year I can tell you what I'm doing every minute of my day from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep. My life during school is regimented and scheduled and I love the freedom that summer brings :) The schedule goes out the window! Yippee!!

Here are some pictures of things we've been doing this summer. There will be more to come as summer progresses!

Day one of the Summer Reading Program at the library. 

This year's theme is Fizz, Boom, Read!

Arts and crafts time with Mommy

I drew the rocket ship and Eli painted it. 

Our Summer Bucket List Jar. Anytime he's bored, Eli can pick something out of this jar and it is something fun we can do together. We loved coming up with ideas to include in the jar. 

Eli chose the slip that said "Take Maggie for a walk" one day.

He was excited to get to walk her around the block. 

One of the home projects from the library was to make a recycled guitar out of a cereal box, 

popsicle sticks, paper towel roll, and rubber bands. Eli and Josh jammed out together once 

Eli's guitar was complete. 

Baking soda with colored vinegar. 

A fun science project that always entertains Eli! 

Eating at Johnny's Pizza and visiting with Mr. George. 

Eli befriended Mr. George on one of our first visits to Johnny's and now they're best buds.

Eli said he wants to work at Johnny's when he becomes a teenager because that's where Mr. George works. Haha! It's so sweet to see how Mr. George will stop what he's doing to visit with Eli. 

Eli definitely has a heart for older people and loves making them smile :)

That's just a little preview of some of the fun we've had this summer. There is lots more to come! 

Alien Invasion

Those of you that have been reading the blog for awhile know that my school has a different Accelerated Reader theme each year to get the kids excited about reading their A.R. Books. Our kick-off day for A.R. is always a huge event and everyone at school really looks forward to it. This year was no exception! This year all the teachers voted that we wanted to do a space theme for A.R. and the slogan was going to be "Reading is out of this world!" We sent notes home with all the kids to dress up as anything relating to space-aliens, planets, astronauts, Angry Birds, Star Wars, etc. My students in my room couldn't wait! 

I teach with the coolest group of girls and we always try to dress up for any event our school has. We love making it fun for the kids. We decided to be aliens this year for A.R. kick-off day and it was so much fun! We were the wackiest looking aliens you've ever seen, but the kids LOVED our costumes! I'm so glad I teach with girls who enjoy having fun!

Torri and Judy

Me and Lindsey

Our whole group

Torri and Sarah

Me and Sarah

It was such a fun day! Now I can't wait until Halloween. It's going to be great!

Word Bingo

Eli is growing and learning so much this year! Since this is his second year of Pre-K 3 year olds, his teacher has really been working on getting Eli to read. He is showing all the signs of readiness, so she and I both want to capitalize on this moment and move forward since he is showing so much interest. We've been working on the Dolch Pre-Primer sight word list this year at home and he's also working on it at school. So far he knows all his color words, most of his number words, and is starting to sound out CVC words. I'm beyond thrilled! I'm an avid reader and really want Eli to fall in love with reading like I did as a child. 

One of the games I let my school kids play on the iPad at school to practice their reading is Word Bingo. It's a cute little game that's only 99 cents. It uses the Dolch lists and puts them on a Bingo board. You select which Dolch list you want to use, then when you hear the word they say, all you have to do is tap it on the screen. When you have four words in a row, you have BINGO! I started letting Eli play this game and he loved it (especially when we used Daddy's Apple TV and projected it onto our TV screen in the living room). 

I hope my little man continues to enjoy reading as much as he is right now. I can't wait to see how much he learns over the summer months when I can work with him more one-on-one! My goal (if he still shows interest) is to have him reading on his in PreK-4. I'll keep you up to date on his progress!