Fun Site Word Activities

Caleb's in kindergarten now and one of the things we are doing are site words.  We started practicing site words towards the end of prek.  However, our school goes by the fry list and we were not.  So we initially started learning the site words out of order in which they test them. 

I rounded up a few of the activities we do to learn site words instead of just doing flash cards because that gets boring and just isn't always fun.  Different learners need different ways to learn and to make them want to learn. 
We have a few site word books at home and this is one of the books that Caleb can read alone.  If you don't have site word books, make sentences with the site words.  We do this too. Ex. "I see the black cat."

Site word bingo is an easy activity to do.  You can write or print a simple grid or table and use anything you have to cover the words.  You can start out with a few words in a table and as you progress add more.

Site Word Journals - We did these over the summer in a composition notebook.

Write the word at the top of the page that you are focusing on.  Write a few site words underneath for them to FIND IT.  Then have them TRACE IT, WRITE IT themselves, and SPELL IT with magnets.

Highlighting site words in text.

Since I am an educational hoarder, I've had these little Saxon readers since AJ (now 14) was small. I won't even talk about all the stuff that I don't have room for but have in here. lol
Anyway, we read the story and then I give him site words to highlight in the story.  Highlighters are fun.

Find the site word.

Lay your site words out and have your child find them.  We used dinosaurs to place on the site words, and then Caleb decided that dinosaurs should eat the site words.  So every time I called out a word, the dinosaur had to eat it!  He loved that.

Build them with magnets.

Put them out where they can see and say them.  This is in my wannanbe homeschool space in Caleb's room.  lol  These site words were only $1 a pack at the Dollar Tree.  Instead of writing them over for any games or activities, just get a couple of packs.  I need to pick up an extra set myself.

Another idea is to play match with them.  Kids love games so sit with them and play or get an older sibling to play match for a few minutes.  Make sure you name the words so they can identify and name them.  You don't want them to only be able to match it.  It can also be an independent quiet activity while you get something done.

Site word "go fish" gets them reading, matching and recognizing the words without being bored as well.

Write the words out and let them use any small objects around the house like buttons, beads or peas to trace the words.

Site word basketball

And when you have busy bodies like my Caleb, action games are a must.  Use a clothespin to attach a word to a basket or box, call out a site word, and let them shoot it in.  Take it outside too for a change of scenery when it's not too hot or cold.

Site words on balloons

Caleb loves a balloon and will blow them everyday if you let him.  We wrote the site words on the balloons and had him find them.  We turned it into a little race too since he knew them pretty well.

Chalk it up!

Go outside and write the words with chalk and have them jump, run, fly, etc to the one you call out.  Busy bodies like this one love to be outside running and jumping so incorporate that into whatever you're teaching.

Love this pic.

Have fun teaching and learning your site words!

The Twins Are 8 Months Old

45 minutes, 154 shots (I like to have options), 2 slobbery shirts, no I will not wear these glasses, stop eating the number, 1 crawl away baby, and a clunk upside the head with the pointer later.  I love doing some sort of theme for their monthly pictures.  It might take a while, but they just turn out so cute!

It's still kind of hard to believe the babies are 8 months old already.  That one year mark seems like it is coming too fast!  

Cason is into absolutely everything all the time.  In the last 3 weeks, he has went from crawling to pulling up on his knees to pulling up to standing and now he is trying to "cruise."  The answer is yes.  I am tired all the time.  I do believe that this book he decided to pull down is in reference to me! LOL!!  I just thank God that they both are not moving at the same time. He knows what I need.  I think He is giving me time to adjust to Cason before Cameron is moving too.

Cameron is my sweet "mama's boy."  At least that is what Andre calls him.  He is still only sitting and ain't even worried about trying to crawl.  He can spin himself all the way around while sitting though.  However, if you put him on his belly for tummy time, he will just roll right over.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  It's too hot, I guess.  Haha.

Both of the babies have two little pegs in their mouths.  Cameron's teeth came in first, one then the other.  About 2-3 weeks later Cason's teeth started coming in both at the same time.  They won't chew on any teething rings, but they will suck on a rag or blanket.  Sometimes we chill a rag for a few minutes before giving it to them.  I'm looking into getting an amber necklace for each of them.

The twins are pretty mild mannered and calm most of the time until they get really sleepy.  Cason will suck a pacifier while Cameron will not so it takes a little longer to calm Cameron down if he's crying.  In this pic, I was sitting on the floor trying to rock Cameron to sleep while he's crying.  Cason, since he is mobile, crawled right on up and climbed in my lap too.  He laid right on down.  This is called entrapment. LOL.  I just sat there and tried to rock them both until they fell asleep.

Then, problem solving skills had to come into play once they were both asleep. How in the devil was I going to get up off the floor.  However, being at home with the twins all day you figure stuff out quick.  I managed to slide one on the floor while I put the other in the bed and then got the second baby.

It gets pretty busy around here and some days are worse than others.  However, I try really hard not to stress much over anything.  It's a process, but that's how I keep it together.  Whatever doesn't get done today...well, there's another day.  This process might not work for some that need to have things neat and tidy immediately and I used to be that way too.  Realistically, you just do what you can when you can and just be thankful for these little blessings that you prayed so hard for.

This is typically what the house looks like by the afternoon.  The older kids have put almost every toy in the floor to make sure the babies are having a great time.  They have built a makeshift baby gate to keep Cason out of the kitchen.  My chances of finding an eight and half foot wide baby gate have been looking pretty slim.  The babies are making happy messes while letting Cate feed them as well as trying to feed themselves.  I've just embraced it all.  Embrace the chaos.  It's our beautiful blessed mess.

Schools In And How I've Prepared

School started back here on August 1 and we are quickly going through our 3rd week.  This year we have a 9th grader, a 6th grader, and a kindergartner plus the twins at home.  Can you say chaos?!

  

With the twins here now, it is definitely a bit chaotic. So I've been trying to somewhat prepare myself to make sure that I don't completely lose it.   I still love packing lunches and still do so.  So right before school started, I decided to go ahead and organize my lunch containers which had been just thrown around and falling over in this corner.

Paper is really like a death sentence for us and still is.  However, I've gotten our school papers a bit under control.  Solution?  Create a school notebook.  After the kids bring home all their papers and put them in their wall pockets (next photo), I decide what we need to keep vs what we need to throw away.  Afterwards, I store them behind a divider for each child in the school notebook.  I'll be sharing more on this notebook soon!

These are the wall pockets that I was talking about.  They were actually filled with school type papers when I bought them and I think the pockets are dry erase friendly.  So how's that for a smart solution! I put them right beside the kids chore charts. They first put any papers they bring home from school here.  If it is something I need to sign, I sign it and put it back into the pocket for them to pickup and take to school. Homework that doesn't need to be turned in yet for Caleb goes here too, otherwise we would probably lose it.

So this is what I have to do immediately before school.... because you know all those beginning of the year papers can easily get buried underneath something and disappear.  I also need my lunch packing supplies in order because that starts immediately too.  Has school started back for you yet?  What do you do to prepare?