I have to be honest – this is the first week of home school that I was pretty excited to teach.  The weeks leading up to this haven’t been bad, just kind of mundane and repetitive.  No complains from Beck, but my teacher heart just wasn’t feeling it.  Something about the changing seasons, open windows, and apple spice scent wafting through the house were all kinds of inspiring.  I dug a little deeper, planned a little better, and decided we would be a little less rigid this week and a lot more exploratory and creative.  {Honestly, I continue to struggle with the transition from traditional public educator to a home school teacher.  I used to doing things Only This Way, where teaching should be about This Way or That Way or All The Ways In Between.}

So!  Apple Week!

Mondays are a little slow at Mullins Academy.  We made Apple Playdoh as seen in Kathleen’s apple pack at Growing Kinders.  Becks was responsible for reading the recipe, highlighting the ingredients, and helping me mix it all together.  Of course, he was *thrilled* that it looked like a pot full of blood before it solidified.  #boymom

After it cooled, he played with it, told me how wonderfully it smelled, and made his spelling words out of it.  

Today, we took off extra early for the grocery store to purchase ALL THE APPLE THINGS.  Seriously.  So. Much. Apple. Stuff.

Afterwards, we came home and worked on our weekly memory verse.  It is such a blessing to me that I get to share this part of the day with Becks.  

If you would like a copy of this very simple activity to do at home with your kiddos or use in your classroom, click the pic below and you can download it for FREE.  I will *try* my hardest to put these out monthly, but I make no promises!  Whenever I say I’m going to do something (i.e. 2nd Grade RTI pack…a year in the making), it never gets finished.  However, they will always be shared free of charge.  That I will promise 🙂

Another fun activity that I saw circulating Pinterest (credit >>> HERE) was building with apples.  Becks had just finished his reading activities – which I will share tomorrow – and needed a snack.  What better than to build with and eat apples all at the same time?!  He LOVED this.  

We finished the day out with math, where he’s been working on counting on and using a number line as strategies to solve addition problems.  We snagged Cara’s fantastic Three Way Apple Math *freebie* >>> HERE, arranged the number baskets in a number line, and then he matched the apple pieces with the correct number.  LOVE.  Oh, and there’s the Faifa Waif and her daddy.  Also, LOVE. 

And, now, it’s time for me to pop a loaf of beer bread in the oven and wait for the pot roast to finish.  Happy Tuesday to you!