Sandpaper Letters

This is the BEST way so far that I've found to teach letters and beginning phonetic sounds!  Eli has had much success learning his letters this past spring using SANDPAPER LETTERS!

                                                     
Sandpaper letters are easy to make (although it could be time- consuming), and fun to use!
Here's how it worked for us:

•  Downloaded a "sandpaper letter" template from the internet and printed it; 
• Traced the letters onto sandpaper and cut them out; 
• Glued each letter onto a square piece of cardstock (blue for constanants, red for vowels);
• Focused on 3 letters at a time until proficient (so I only made 3 letters at a time!)

I focused *only* on the basic letter sound and formation.  I didn't even teach the name of the letter.  You don't need to *know* the name of the letter to learn to read, right!! 

There are lots of ways to use these, but  I just put one letter in front of him at a time- we said the sound together and then I helped him trace the letter with his finger.   This process involved touch, hearing and seeing and really seemed to *cement* the letter into his head.
After going through all three letters, we might play a game with them or make up nonsense words.  Nothing big- and it only took 5-10 minutes for the whole thing!   I honestly didn't even do this everyday (maybe three times a week) and he was *able* to learn how to read a lot of c-v-c  words in just a couple of months. 

With my oldest, Grace, I focused on letter names, capital letters, etc... you know- the usual way! 
In my opinion (which doesn't really mean much!!!),  focusing on lowercase letters and sounds is a much more effective way to start the reading/writing process!

I'm curious to what others think!? 

Happy Father's Day to my Dad

Dad,
I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!
Thanks for helping me learn to work hard.  Thanks for your love of learning and laughter, and great sense of humor!  Thanks for all the backyard races, basketball, and baseball games.  Thanks for all those hours you spent reading to me, and not being (too) irritated when you would doze off mid-sentence, and I'd poke you and demand "READ!"  Thanks for making time to play board games and take walks.  Thanks for taking me to church, and thanks for teaching me to praying.  Thanks for all the advice, and thanks for the discipline.  Thanks for the hugs, and thanks for telling me I was beautiful.  Thanks for the memory of you reading your Bible down at your desk early in the morning.  Thanks for loving mom, and thanks for being a fun grandpa.  Thanks for helping me with my homework, and thanks for teaching me Bible verses.  Thanks for loving me when I was selfish and made bad choices.  Thanks for all the prayers, and thanks for praying for my kids and husband.  Thanks for loving Jesus and teaching me to do the same! 

Happy Father's Day DAD! 

I LOVE YOU!!

The End of the Grassy Road

Dear friends and family,
 We are saddened to inform you that yesterday we laid to rest two members of our family;  Mary and Rosa Grasshead Uhner.  We will miss Mary and Rosa deeply.  They added so much to our home.   Our only regret is that we didn't have more time together.  Our condolences go out to the Grasshead that remains.

                    Grieving with you,
                                   Kathryn and the Kids

                    

It's always hardest on those left behind.

Elderly Grassheads.  The last 'family' pic.

My Compassionate (and Toothless) Girl

We caught a TON of lightning bugs the other night, and some of the more unfortunate bugs found themselves in a glass jar in the kids bedroom.  They were so excited to watch them light up in the dark!  
As I tucked them (the kids, not the bugs) into bed, I mentioned that maybe we should let them go- you know- outside.  (Who wants a jar full of dead lightning bugs to deal with in the morning?)
Grace and Eli were fairly resistant to the "let the bugs free idea."  So, I causually mentioned that maybe those poor little buggies had families out there somewhere.  Kinda of a *mean* card to play- I know...
Well, I didn't get much of a response from that either, but I knew I struck a nerve because this was part of Grace's bedtime prayer:  
"Please help the lightning bugs not to be afraid, and if they have older children at home, please help them to take care of the younger children" 

I LOVE her heart!!!
And I did let the lightning bugs go home to their kids.

Pride and the FALL!!

I was so excited this morning when Sarah went *poop* on the potty!  I can tell when she is *ready* to go and I ran her to the bathroom and sat her on the toilet just in the nick of time. 
She was so excited to see what she had done!!!  She clapped and showed Grace......and I was feeling pretty proud  happy, too.  

       "My one year old is so smart and I must be a GREAT mom!:)"

I left her to play in the bathroom to go quickly grab a fresh diaper.  All was good. 

       "New diaper on;  Practically potty-trained one yr old;  Maybe I should start teaching her to read;"

OK.  So that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I was feeling rather proud happy!

THEN, Completely oblivious to what lay ahead, I headed out the bathroom toward my bedroom only to almost break my foot when I SLIPPED on a perfectly planted *poop* on the bathroom floor.

The FIRST thing that came to mind was "WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT!!"
The SECOND thing that came to mind was "PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL!!"

Isn't that great!!!   God really does have  a great sense of HUMOR!!

And, maybe I'll put off the reading lessons for now.  :)

It's great bein' a kid

It's great bein' a kid..........

......especially if you get to play in the mud!!!

 

Save the TOADS!!!

No, we haven't joined PETA!  BUT, we did rescue some toad tadpoles from a "pond" next to the tee ball field.  (Actually, it was a puddle- but bein' from SW Kansas- I can't help callin' it a pond!)

Well, we rescued 5 tiny tadpoles from the "pond,"  and sure enough the "pond"  dried up in the next couple of weeks.  Mommy and Daddy Toad must not have thought that one through!

Kids checkin' out the dried out "pond."
We couldn't save them all.  RIP bazillion tiny tadpoles.



Our tadpoles survived on boiled lettuce and egg yolk.  And just plain luck.

16 days after the rescue.  These babies have tripled in size and sprouted legs!

Unfortunately, the day after these pics were taken four of the five little taddy babies succumbed to the heat or maybe just the filthy water!   Can you see how *gross* that water is!?  Oops! :)

So, we rescued this little baby again!  He got "clean" pond water and a new lease on life.:)
Can you believe this picture is only 6 days after the one above it!!! 


The only problem is- What do you feed a 1/2 inch baby toad??? 
We've tried scooping up a whole anthill -complete with ants for him to munch on. (See it on the rock?)
We've tried "frog and turtle" food from Walmart.  Any other suggestions?

The kids and I have been listening to an old CD- Caedmon's Call- In the Company of Angels- A Call to Worship- off and on over the past few weeks. I just wanted to share the lyrics to one of my favorite songs from the CD.
Thy Mercy
Thy Mercy my God is the theme of my song
The Joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue
Thy free grace alone from the first to the last
Hath won my affections and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here
Sin soon would reduce me to utter despair
But through Thy free goodness I fall to the ground
And weep to the praise of the mercy I've found

Great Father of mercies Thy goodness I own
And the Covenant love of Thy crucified Son
All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine!
Hallelujah!!!

This is the kind of song I can listen to all day long!

And- this is just a cute picture!