G is for St. George, Gorse Fairy, Gratitude, and God!

We have completed G week along the Alphabet Path! We had a couple projects spill over into this week, and we didn't get through all our garden and other G-themed books, but fortunately H week is lighter on the literature, so we can catch up!

Here are our themes for the week, all of which went into the Word Box, as usual.

~Circle Time~

The girls brought a giraffe and Curious George for G week show and tell. The item in the mystery sound pouch was a garlic press! Neither of them guessed that one... they couldn't remember the name of it!

Songs and Rhymes

Georgy Porgy

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Goosey, Goosey, Gander

Grand Old Duke of York

Garden fingerplay

~Foods for G Week~

Gorilla Munch cereal

granola

They ate it with both milk and yogurt for breakfast most mornings

Green lunch: spinach in the mac n cheese, kiwi, and of course, green grapes

grits (with cheddar cheese - yum!) and grape juice

gnocchi (took some work to convince Caroline this was a G word!)

grilled eggplant and gouda sandwich

Other G fods we enjoyed: grapefruit, graham crackers, grilled cheese sandwiches, green beans, guacamole, fig and goat cheese pizza... we were going to have chicken gumbo one night, but then we went trick-or-treating instead. :)

~Tea Time~

We had green smoothies, pumpkin granola bars, and ginger cat cookies

The green in the smoothies was avocado... and I wouldn't recommend making them, either. The recipe claimed that "kids love it," but maybe they mean kids who aren't used to having plain avocado and guacamole and such... these smoothies had sugar in them, and sugar plus avocados is just weird to me. The granola bars weren't outstanding either, just so-so. I will be sticking with my favorite peanut butter and honey granola bars recipe. The ginger cats??? Two thumbs up from me. "Too spicy" was Cecilia's comment.

~Letter Formation~

forming letter Gg using playdough

writing G's in cornmeal

Cut and Paste G Collage

Punch Out the Letter - Capital and Lowercase Gg

~Flower Fairy for Letter G: Gorse~

Caroline coloring her flower fairy page from the Flower Fairies coloring book

Caroline's completed Gorse Fairy

~Saint for Letter F: St. George~

painted St. George

St. George poem copywork from An Alphabet of Catholic Saints

Caroline's completed work - she opted to color a picture of St. George rather than illustrate him herself, as she was feeling a little sick this day

~In the Book Baskets~

Science Theme: Gardens

From Seed to Plant

Dancers in the Garden

Flower Garden

Jack's Garden

The Tiny Seed

Growing Vegetable Soup

Waiting for Wings

Miss Rumphius

The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds

Camille and the Sunflowers

Planting a Rainbow

Where Butterflies Grow

The Gardener

Liturgical Year and Religious G Books:

A Gift of Gracias

Saint George and the Dragon

Favorites for Letter G:

Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho

The Gigantic Turnip

Grandfather's Journey

Follow the Drinking Gourd

The Gullywasher

The Grouchy Ladybug

~Word Box Work~

Here is a photo of Caroline reading the Alphabet Path story for G. Her fluency and expression while reading amaze me... no formal instruction on it, either. Everything she has learned, she has picked up by being read to and asking questions here and there, I guess. As a former elementary teacher, I always said I didn't want to teach below 3rd grade, 2nd at the youngest, because I didn't want the responsibility of making sure kids learned how to read. I have managed to avoid that responsibility yet again, by sheer luck! Perhaps I will have to give Cecilia more direct instruction... too soon to tell.

After reading the story, we wrote down some words selected from the reading and then sorted the G words by hard and soft G sounds.

~Picture Study: G is for Games~

This painting is called Boy with a House of Cards by Francois Hubert Drouais. Caroline convinced me to participate again. I do love to draw and haven't really done it in so long.

~ABC Virtue of the Week: Gratitude~

These are virtue coloring sheets found here. Using the great idea of another Catholic homeschooling mom, I am reading Caroline a relevant story from this sweet little book full of stories with morals to them. I am choosing a story from Devotional Stories for Little Folks that reinforces the virtue for each week. We read a story about a boy who was grateful for the things he did have, even they weren't as popular and expensive as things his friend had (and his friend came to realize that he should have been more grateful for his possessions as well).

Caroline's finished picture

~Activities for G Week~

G is for Grids

Caroline used a grid to color a "hidden picture." At first she didn't get it at all, but she caught on faster than I thought she would! After showing her one example, I thought I'd just put it away until next year, but after a couple more examples, she completely picked up on the concept.

Here it is, all finished. It was a part of her...

Garden Lapbook

I found this lapbook idea at Shower of Roses, where I find many great ideas and resources. Here is Caroline putting together the "Helpful and Harmful Garden Creatures" mini book.

Caroline holds up her completed garden lapbook

G is for Gardening

We planted various things indoors to see what we could grow... here's an avocado seed suspended with just the bottom of it in water. Supposedly it will sprout this way!

pomegranate seeds

Caroline, Cecilia, and I planted them in some cups of dirt.

Caroline with some pinto beans and red beans, ready to put them in a paper towel inside a baggie after they had soaked overnight.

G is for Grapefruit Birdfeeders

This is an easy thing to do... my paternal grandmother taught me this. She had a grapefruit tree growing in their yard in St. Pete, Florida. We would often eat grapefruit for breakfast, and then she would put the empty rinds on the windowsill to dry. They harden as they dry, and then you can pour birdseed in them and nestle them in some tree branches.

Here's Cecilia holding one

Come and get it, birds! (Okay, so a couple of them fell and our chickens ate the seed...)

G is for Garden Cake

This was so much fun! Here are the supplies needed...

...plus one loaf cake. Ours was pumpkin bread with chocolate chips and walnuts in it. I lopped off the top and sides just a bit to even it up and make it more box-shaped.

First, the children spread chocolate frosting over the entire loaf.

Next, they place the "fence posts" along the sides, using more frosting. We used Biscoff cookies (I had cut points onto the tops using a serrated knife). I saw Ladyfingers recommended as another option. Any skinny, long cookie would do.

Crush chocolate cookies with a rolling pin and sprinkle them on top for dirt. We used Annie's chocolate bunnies.

Then I smushed some Trader Joe's fruit jellies and cut them into flower shapes with kitchen scissors. The girls stuck toothpicks in them...

...and then "planted" them in the "garden."

They were pleased with the finished product!

This would make a fun little girl birthday cake, I think!

~Cooking Project: G is for Granola and Granola Bars~

Here are the girls helping make granola...

...and here they help to make pumpkin granola bars (not using the granola from the previous cooking project - something totally different!).

~Chores/Practical Life: G is for Green Beans~

snapping green beans for dinner