Red Fish Blue Fish

The Book of the Week is One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Photo Credit

We tried reading the whole book this week, but Drew's attention span just wasn't there (we are dealing with some teething problems aka 2 year molars). We did talk about the title fish though and read those pages several times. Sometimes, you take what you can get and just move on.

We did a few fish crafts this week with red and blue. These were a little hit or miss, again because the attention span just wasn't there. We did fish cut outs, glued tissue paper scales on, stapled them together, and stuffed them to make 3D fish. 

Drew was really into the glue stick part, but didn't care for the sticking the scales on. We played 52 pick up with all the tissue paper several times. Luckily, Drew likes to sing the Clean-Up Song and helped pick them up. When there were finally more than a few scales stuck down I stapled them together. Drew LOVED the stapler. He even helped with the pushing it down part on the second fish.

I am not sure this is what they were supposed to look like, but hey Drew was happy with them. Sometimes, I just have to let go of my perfectionism in his projects. They are his projects and as long as he is learning and having fun things don't have to come out perfect or even like what they look like on the website. I am really having to let go of having to "go back and fix it." Especially when he is really happy about how something comes out.

We did add a couple of additions to our family recently, that just happen to fit into this theme. AJ bought two beta fish for Drew. Drew LOVES them! Red and Blue are a topic of many of Drew's conversations in the morning. It is fun asking him if he has said "Hi!" to them yet?

Blue!

Red!

I think Drew likes Blue much more than Red. He will call both of them Blue, even though he can say red. Even as I am typing this he can see Red on the screen and is saying "Blue! Fiss" It is very cute. I also think it is cute the way he says "fiss" 

 

We also did a hand print project for One Fish Two Fish. We were supposed to be making fish out of the hand prints, and it mostly worked. Though Drew was much more interested in just putting down random hand prints and smearing the paint. I knew this project was going to be an "end up in the tub" one.

Blue hand!

Red handed!

He really got into this one. He loves playing with paint and will ask to "pint" frequently. Normally, he just gets the watercolors because they are easier to clean up, but today we used the poster paints. It was fun when we just started smearing paint. He would ask for a color and point to the jar, and then I would paint his hand that color and he would press it down. I am amazed at how well he knows the colors, even if he won't say the word for them.

Again, I am having to let go of my "perfection". This isn't the way I thought the fish should look, but that is where Drew thought the fish should go. So, we have some swimming to the left, some swimming to the top, and a fish and a half swimming down. I guess it does look more like a real fish tank this way.

Blue and Elephants

Today is brought to you by the color blue and elephants. I am not sure what these two things really have in common, but those are the themes.

The book we read is called, "When the Elephant Walks". It is a never-ending loop book about what happens when the elephant walks and scares other critters in the story. It is a cute story and Drew likes pointing out all the "extras" in the book, like sunglasses, hats, umbrellas, strollers, and swings. It is fun seeing what he really recognizes and he is starting to use words for them.

I think I should explain that Drew still isn't the most verbal child. He knows what we are saying, follows directions, and understands, but chooses not to use a lot of words. I know that sounds odd that he chooses that, but he does and being around him makes it clear that he is just not opting to use words. He will decide when he wants to use them, and other times not.

Elephant was one of his first words, so anything having to do with them makes him a happy camper. We made an elephant face out of construction paper. I cut out the pieces and he taped them down. If I had been thinking we would have made it into a mask, but I might save that idea for later.

I also set up a station for painting blue today. It was supposed to be painting straight lines, but that didn't hold his interest. The reason for taping the paper to the door is to increase muscle coordination by working on a vertical surface. Apparently, that is one way to help kids have legible handwriting later on, to have them work upright. Blue paint got all over him and the floor, but that is why I highly recommend the Crayola Washable Kids Paint set. It is great and very easy to clean up. It is the same paint I used to color the shaving cream to make water.

I am starting to feel like a good chunk of our homeschooling stuff ends in a bath for Drew. Which isn't a problem, it just reminds me of my mom saying I would always come home dirty from preschool. I enjoy myself getting that dirty, so I am assuming Drew is having a good time, too.