"If Jesus Came to My House" by Joan Gale Thomas

"If Jesus came to your house, would he be your age and height? How would you treat him? Would you give him your nicest toys and let him have the longest turn on your rocking horse? In this simple, touching story, a young boy realizes that he can treat others according to the lessons he would learn if Jesus really did come to his house." ~ Amazon product description

The little boy in the story proposes that he would build a castle for the young "King" (Jesus).  Aubrey built a castle out of Mega Blocks for him.

We focused on the letter "J" for this story.  Aubrey sorted jelly beans by color and counted them, then glued them onto a large "J."

Aubrey learned about hospitality and then invited her friend, MacKenzie, over for a playdate.  Since the little boy in the story wonders if Jesus would be as tall as he is, Aubrey and MacKenzie stood side-by-side to determine who was taller.

They made sugar cookies together shaped like a little boy.

They had apples at snack time just like in the story then iced their cookies with chocolate to look like the little boy's shadow.

Addison enjoyed her cookie, too.

Aubrey showed her hospitality by letting MacKenzie choose what they would play.  MacKenzie wanted to fly a kite.

"Ask Mr. Bear" by Marjorie Flack

"Danny seeks the advice of farm animals on what to give Mother for her birthday. The hen offers eggs, the goose feathers, and the sheep wool. But mother already has those things. The cow suggests that Danny go ask Mr. Bear. It's from him that Danny gets a special and unique gift for his mother." 
~ Amazon product description

After reading the story together, Aubrey acted out the story using her toys.

All of the animals are giving their suggested gifts to Danny.

Then Danny meets Mr. Bear.

Danny gives his Mom what Mr. Bear suggested - and just what she wanted......a big bear hug.

Aubrey completed lapbook activities from Homeschool Share.

For our field trip, we went back to Bear Hollow.

We visited the bear cubs.

We talked with the turkey.

We watched the gorgeous eagle.

At the end of our visit, the girls gave each other a big bear hug....then they gave me one, too.

"The ABC Bunny" by Wanda Gag



"An unfortunate accident with an Apple drives Bunny from Bunnyland to Elsewhere. Every letter in the alphabet is represented in Bunny's journey, through what he eats (Greens), to whom he meets (Insects, Jay, Kitten, Lizard), and then a little sleep (Nap), to Tripping back to town, right side Up and Up-side- down." ~ Barnes & Noble overview



This was such a fun book to row because there were so many activities we could do with this book.  Aubrey had a great time gathering items from around our school and play rooms that started with the given letter of the alphabet.

She found tons of things that started with the letter "P."

The final product was a table full of alphabet toys - and a very happy little girl.

Aubrey did self-correcting puzzle pieces that matched upper and lower case letters to a picture starting with that letter. 

The lapbook activities came from Homeschool Share and ???.

Aubrey did letter writing and word searches for the letters "E" and "F" from First-School and a phonics worksheet from ???.

After lunch, Aubrey wanted me to take a picture of the letters she had arranged in order.

"Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats



"Waking up to a world of snowy white-what could be better? Young Peter can't wait to jump in his snowsuit and run out to explore. There are snowmen to build snowballs to pack, mountains to climb and snowbanks to collapse in-to carve a snow angel! And when the day is done, there's a dark night of dreams and drifting snow, and a new snowy day to awake to." ~ Barnes & Noble Overview
"A little boy celebrates the snow-draped city with a day of humble adventures--experimenting with footprints, knocking snow from a tree, creating snow angels, and trying to save a snowball for the next day." ~ Amazon Editorial Reviews

It's not often that it snows 5+ inches in Georgia.  But it did this year.  There couldn't have been a more perfect book to row than Snowy Day.
Just for fun, we painted snow cakes (molded snow and watered-down paints).

Then we tried to duplicate one of the pages in the book which is illustrated in water colors and small pieces of colored paper.

Addison practiced painting, cutting, and gluing, too.

Aubrey did the lapbook lessons found on Homeschool Share,

coloring, handwriting, and word search worksheets from First School, and an animal tracks checklist from Nature Detectives.

We did an awesome science experiment (thanks to an idea from a veteran homeschooling mom). [How to make snowflakes video]
We made snowflakes - - they turned out great!

Outside, Aubrey walked with her toes pointing out, then with her toes pointing in, just like Peter did in the story.

Aubrey made a track in the snow using a stick and snow angels, just like Peter.

Lastly, around day 4 of the snow, the girls did some snow painting using food coloring, paint brushes, and spray bottles.....

Addison had a little mishap with one of the spray bottles....but isn't she cute!