Family Literacy- January/February

I had intended to post this and link to Work, Play, Read for one of their Family Literacy posts but they're changing it up for the month so I'll just post it here. 

For K week I happened upon numerous books with 'Katie/Kate' as the main character and just couldn't resist bringing them home to enjoy as a family. 

If you have or know of a Katie or  you just want to read about one these are recommended:
Kate and the Beanstalk
Katie and the Mona Lisa and Katie and the Sunflowers (as well as the rest of the Katie series by James Mayhew) these books are also great books on art and artists!

The other book we read a lot K week was a special book about our very own Katie.  "Katie Can" was a book my mom put together on Blurb for Katie's second birthday. (I can hear my mom groaning as I type this...sorry Mom if you're reading this I couldn't resist...its just too great to not share!)

I really can't recommend this idea enough for a great keepsake gift.  It is simple to do and oh so meaningful.  Our Katie has it memorized and even Julia never tires of reading it over and over and over.  The text is simple.  The pictures close up and easily enjoyed (thanks to my SIL who does the photography).

 I have used Blurb myself to create a wedding book and am now working on another project to remain nameless at this time.  Anyway, nothing encourages literacy at our home like a little old fashioned pride I  guess.   In the future I hope to also find some books about St. Catherine (Katie's patron) and include these (perhaps for a little more virtue!), too.

Also for K week Katie made a timeline of her life (with a combination of ideas stolen from Heidi and Monica).

 She loved looking through the pictures I'd printed and hearing/telling about each one.  She put them in order with a little help and then went at it with the gluestick.  We were both pleased with the outcome.

So rassle yourself up some name books and have a good time reading!

November Family Literacy- The Gingerbread Boy

For G week one of the books by our author, Paul Galdone, was The Gingerbread Boy.  It was definitely one of Katie's favorites.  As she told the story back to me a few times.  She was particularly humored by the ending (spoiler!) where the foxy fox settles in for a nap after his snack. 

 As a activity to go with the story we decided to try to make our own Gingerbread boys.  It was tricky as I had to borrow the cookie cutter from the neighbor, guess I should put that on our list. After that, we suited up for the task. Everyone was game for helping in the baking!

Aren't their aprons the cutest?!?

Katie took over the camera for a few of the pictures. She had to get a shot of my apron.

 As I didn't have a recipe in mind I ended up using this one from Allrecipes.  I liked it because it didn't call for any eggs and I new that I'd have some dough eaters in the kitchen.  I did have to adjust it a bit as the initial recipe (as mentioned in the comments) was too dry to roll out.  It may have been because I ran out of white flour and had to substitute with wheat.  Regardless,  a bit more water in the mix seemed to do the trick.  I also ended up taking the cookies out earlier than 10 minutes (it was more like 6-7 min) so that they were soft.  I didn't know with the current bout of HFM if hard cookies would be right for us. 

 I must say the recipe was delicious both cooked and uncooked.  I honestly thought about balling up the dough and serving it as is though the final product is delicious, too.  I will probably make them again at Christmastime.  I had one cookie stealer in the kitchen...at least twice I caught her with cookie in hand and on the run!  Rascal!!!

"You can't catch me with the gingerbread man!"

Katie thought the dough was mighty tasty, too!

Much to my delight, Katie did wonder to herself as we put the first batch in the oven if one was going to jump off the pan...and if it did, we'd definitely catch it for a snack (and if I had my way, a nap like that foxy fox!)!   We all enjoyed catching the gingerbread boys- especially Daddy. 

What have you done as a family to encourage literacy lately?  Head on over to Work, Play, Read and link up to November's Family Literacy Challenge. 

'C' is for Creek (My 200th post!)

For 'C' week we invited our friends to join us for a field trip with the intention of going to a nearby creek.  The creek we planned on really wasn't child or mud boot friendly so we continued up  the road with a plan B.  My dear husband suggested the night before that if the creek was a washout try heading to a place on the river.  And so our creek was the Mississippi!  Kinda big for creek status but the outcome was just what I was hoping when it came to exploring.    

As you can see from this last shot we were right below the Lock & Dam.  It was one of the last BEAUTIFUL Indian summer days that we had and the picnic following our exploration filled the kiddos and settled them down a bit.  We enjoyed the story Let's Explore a River a great choice with many of the things our kids got to do the children in the book did, too! This thus far was one of my favorite days on the Alphabet Path with Kate (and friends).

Apples- October Literacy Challenge

As I have been remiss in blogging for quite sometime I've decided to just start somewhere.  Recently, we've begun the Alphabet Path as a more intentional way of learning at home.  Along with 'A week' we did a "Storybook Science" unit on apples- our titles included-

Life and Times of the Apple
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
Rain Makes Applesauce
as well as a few other selections from our local library.  We also have been using Museum ABC.

 One day, along with our story reading we took up drawing apples.  After looking up some of the 'apple' works featured in Museum ABC we found a great link to an online story through the Met's web page. 

We listened and watched  Cezanne's Apples at the Met Online together and did our own drawing and tasting as told in the story.

 At the end of the week we visited a local apple orchard with some friends.  While there, we walked the rows, played on the swings and settled in at a picnic table for some apple stories.  Oh, and of course, tasted some apples!

For more ideas on family literacy stroll on over to Work, Play, Read.  You may even want to participate in the Family Literacy Challenge!