[learn] week 1: lessons learned

Lessons were learned by the girls and by me on our first class.  I learned I had over-planned.  They learned that it's fun to roll cupcakes in sprinkles and maybe even picked up that apple began with the letter A.

We started out with Meet the Barkers, Morgan and Moffat Go to School.  The girls loved that Morgan and Moffat were twins.  They liked the fact that they got to color the letters A, B, and C with their very own brand new box of crayons even more.  As we finished up learning that A is for Apple, B is for Bee, and C is for Cat we started counting snacks!

1 banana, 2 apple slices, 3 pieces of broccoli (aka trees), 4 cheese squares, 5 celery sticks and 6 carrots later, the girls not only got in some good counting practice but healthy snacks at the same time - all starting with the letters A, B or C including their apple juice.

Next came Bookworms made from paper apples and apple jacks, a perfect time for brother Jack to join the party.

(Note: At this point I realized I had way too much going on because oh yes, there is more.) Then came another story, Click Clack Quackity-Quack, and some more coloring sheets that included counting apples and a shape maze complete with a monkey looking for his bananas.

Last but not least, Applecakes complete with red sprinkles and lots of creamy white icing.  Even after all that, the girls still wanted to know what was next.

The reviews a day later were mixed, in a good way.  The cons, too many activities for mom, too many letters for the girls.  So next week will be one letter, the letter D, and not quite so many activities or coloring sheets.  We can save those for later in the week.

The pros, the girls are learning their numbers, shapes, colors, and becoming more familiar with their letters at an amazing rate.  I stayed within (and actually below) my budget of $20 even with the overplanning.  Jack and Dad want in on the action, they say it looks like way too much fun to be left out.  Even Traveler and Champ (the pups) stayed with us the whole class!  Shockingly, I'm actually accomplishing some of the activities and crafts I've been pinning.  But best of all, the girls asked me what we were doing on Thursday night!  Apparently they want to go to class every day of the week.

Posts on the Bookworm project and Applecakes will follow.  Check out my pinboard TwinBop for more ideas and sneak peaks at Week 2 or enter your email address in the upper left for automatic updates. For a more complete list of links and costs, message me!