Adventures in Little Saints School Time!



Jordan, at the end of this post is the five minute quick chart I made after breakfast. 

You might want to do another, because my art skills are terrible!!!

 

Hello family and friends!  Little Saint school time has been fun!  The activities help break up the day a bit better.  We do something every day, but there are some days that are more formal than others.  Philomena even likes to join us in our songs and activities.  We are studying our faith and the world around us through the alphabet.  Right now we are preparing some activities for Advent and Christmas. 

 

Baby four number four loves all the singing and definitely enjoys the quiet time as well.  When I lay my head down, he or she believes it's the best time to start moving around and kicking me. 

 

We celebrated Magdalene's anniversary of her baptism during school time.  We decided to use her birthday candle as a special way to celebrate the day. 

Daddy bought Magdalene a special rose.  The white stands for her purity.  She also shares her special day with St. Therese so it was a perfect flower to use for the day! 

I didn't take pictures of every activity we have done, but when I thought take out the camera, well.....here is what I tried to capture.  We made angel cookies for A week.  Philomena was determined to help make cookies. 

Magdalene's rolling and cutting out skills have greatly improved!  This was the most fun we have had making cookies. 

 

 Both Magdalene and Tobias love the alphabet virtues pages we have been working on.  It opens up discussion, Tobias loves to see all the boys in the pictures, and I have even caught them modeling the virtues.  We practiced being a blessing during B week to Great-Great Grandma Berneice.  We brought over some blueberry cake to her for her birthday.  Wow, lots of B's in that week! 

Aren't their angels so cute!  Tobias couldn't stop touching the doll hair he placed on his.  He was so proud when he would see the gold glitter on it as well.  I finally had to take them down so it wouldn't get destroyed by all the hands. 

 

 You can't forget recess time!

And giggle time!

B week involved pulling out Magdalene's baptismal candle and making a baptism craft.  She liked to have her baby with blue hair.  She decided to break out in song while the candle was lit.   Away in a Manger came to her mind.  

We studied her candle, and she really enjoyed looking at all the symbols. 

We try to form a collection of books related to the letter to help teach all the words that begin with that letter.  Thank you to the Greene and Waverly libraries!  I think I check out 10 to 15 books each time!  No late fees yet!  

I would say her least favorite part is actually writing the letters.  I think it's a confidence thing.  Tobias thoroughly enjoys practicing letters, but he doesn't necessarily practice the letter we are working on.  She has a fear of not being perfect.  First born....perfection....

So we try to make it exciting, practice a bit each day, and don't try to push it too much.  She is only four!  But we had a big breakthrough when I say a thank you note she wrote to Grandma Robin.  She decided to write A a, B,  C (backwards), and D on it.  I think she is gaining that confidence of attempting them on her own.  We do try to form our letters out of wiki wax, but she is not really into doing that as well.  I might try modeling dough or play dough and see if that gets her attention. 

"Magdalene, why is St. Cecilia all yellow?" 
"Because she if filled with the Holy Ghost!" 

Well, that was a nice answer to hear! 

I was very impressed by her crucifix project.  She was focused!  We colored the picture of Jesus first, and she explained to me that he had boo boos.  She wanted to make sure she captured that. 

While in farm world, Tobias was happily playing tractors and play dough.  He colored his own picture of Jesus and used the colors green and brown.  I hung his up in the living room.  I plan on buying him a wooden cross next year to do the craft. 

 She even colored Jesus' skin a yellowish color.  I found that very interesting. 
We plan on using her crucifix for our portable family altar during rosary time.  I will post pictures once we set that up! 

We celebrated with a snack afterwards!  This pictures makes things appear peaceful and pleasant, and at this moment with marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, and licorice....yes it was!  But for the most part, I have to admit it gets noisy!  Our kids take after my loud nature!  I am so sorry, Jordan! 

For D week, we colored saint paper dolls and cut them out.  It was free on some website.  Tobias colored a picture of Saint Sebastian.  Magdalene colored St. Elizabeth Ann Seton complete with her wedding dress and her habit.  I am sure Brenda will be excited to see this!  It's one Brenda's favorite saints.  Tobias laughed when he saw Saint Sebastian.  He thought his helmet was his hair, and he chose it over St. Ignatius and St. Patrick.  He didn't play with it, but he liked coloring it. 

Mr. Dinosaur is taking us through the day today.  I needed some peace and fulfill my resolutions from the retreat.  I needed to make out some space to spend quality time with each child.  It seemed to help us a lot today!

Overall, Magdalene's favorite part about Little Saint school time is learning about the flower fairy of the week, coloring a page, listening to the song, and then learning about the saint of the week.  Tobias' favorite part about school time is asking, "Is school over?"  Philomena's favorite part is singing This Little Light of Mine.  The other two laugh at Philomena, because she shakes her head during the song during the part "hide it under a bushel....No!" 

I will try to post as much as I can, but the past few weeks have been as exhausting as first or third trimester.  Either I am truly carrying twins, my iron is severely low, or I am feeling the effects of having three children under four.  Who knows!  Prayers are appreciated!