Charlotte’s Web

Quinn loves bedtime story time…he always has! Sadly, we rarely take the time to read during the day. (unless it’s one of Nash’s little books)…But, nighttime is ALWAYS the time that we are  intentional to spend time cuddled up in bed reading together. I love snuggling with my squeaky clean boy under the covers in his cozy bed…

And, at the beginning of September, I got the idea that he was ready to listen to some chapter books. He has such an amazing imagination and I felt that his attention span could handle it! And, after reading this article about reading aloud to preschoolers, I couldn’t wait to make it a new practice around our house!

So…this Momma got excited and quickly went to the book store to get Quinn’s FIRST chapter book…Charlotte’s Web! And, after we completed the first chapter the first night, he was hooked! I loved how I could see his mind working and I loved the questions he asked about the vocabulary in the book.

For the next few weeks, we read a chapter a night…and he ALWAYS begged to read more. Before starting to read, we’d recap what had happened the night before and we’d guess what could happen next.

My favorite prediction was when we learned (at the end of a chapter) that Charlotte was going to do something in her web to help save Wilber. When I asked Quinn what he thought she was going to do, he said…”I think she’s going to put a BOMB in the middle of her web. Then, when the farmer comes and wants to kill Wilber, she’ll drop the bomb on him!” Not a bad guess, if you ask me! Such a boy!!!

After 22 chapters, I must admit that I was sad it was over. What a precious memory with my sweet boy! I look forward to reading MANY more chapter books together.

But, to continue the fun, the morning after we finished the book, I gave Quinn the original movie of Charlotte’s Web. He was ECSTATIC! (the boy LOVES a show!) As he watched it, he would (unprompted) tell me the things that were different between the movie and the book! I was SUPER impressed!!!

Then, we had a special lunch…complete with Wilbur, Charlotte and some farm animals! :) He LOVED it!!


And, for the icing on the cake for our little Charlotte’s Web read, we went on a special date to the Majestic Theater in Dallas to see the LIVE production of Charlotte’s Web by TheatreWorks. When I was teaching, we took our 1st graders to Theatre Works productions a few times, and I even took Quinn a few years ago to see If You Give a Pig a Pancake! When I saw that Charlotte’s Web was showing, I couldn’t wait to go with my sweet love! (and his baby brother, too!) 

So, we got all dressed up and headed downtown! We had seats in the VERY front and the boys were PERFECT. Quinn loved seeing the characters come alive and Nash sat in my lap and watched the whole hour long production!

 


 

In the midst of the crazy move, I loved our little Charlotte’s Web unit…and I loved how much Quinn appreciated every part of it!…Made his first grade teacher Momma so very proud! 
 

Batman Day

I have been MISSING doing fun little themed days around our house. Between lots of crazy life changes going on around here, and our house being on the market, planning things that make my house a disaster have definitely been put on the backburner.

But, thanks to the AMAZINGLY talented Mommy at 1+1+1=1, Batman Day was a breeze. I went to her super generous page (You’re seriously going to be BLOWN away when you see all of the different themes she has) and printed all of the fun Batman printables that she offered free of charge.

Then, I got out all of Q’s Batman collection and set it out for a day of fun! As soon as he woke, the fun began. I must admit that there were times of protest…but, the second he got started, he LOVED every activity! It just took a little more arm twisting than I remember in the past.

Here’s a peek into all of the Batman fun we had together…
The first activity was a little number puzzle. Q loved it from the start and was so careful to count each item. He also placed the numbers in order. I was proud of him and thought he did a great job.
 
Then it was time to catch some bad guys. First he traced the line from the good guy to the bad guy with his Batman. Then, he used a dry erase marker to trace the line.  
Next, he put Batman in order from smallest to largest. He did this LOTS of times.
After Nash got up and we took a breakfast break, Q got dressed all on his own and choose his Good Guy shirt for the occasion! Sweet love.

Then, we did some playdoh fun! He had a BLAST rolling out the playdoh into snakes and making them form the letter shapes. I was SUPER impressed and truly thought this activity would require lots of help. But, I was wrong! He did it ALL by himself!




Then, it was time for some cutting and pasting. First, Quinn cut out the pieces (which was tough, but he was determined. I helped a little, but he did most of it by himself. Scissor work could use a little more practice, for sure!) and then glued them in the correct spots! He did great!



After taking a break to play with all of his cool Batman toys, he was ready to do the Color By Number. Nash played with the markers while Quinn took his time coloring each bat the correct color. (except blue…he didn’t want to color it much because he said he liked the black showing on that one! Funny boy!) Once again, I was shocked that he could do this without my help!

Then, it was time for some patterning. He wasn’t sure he would enjoy this one, but quickly had a great time. We did AB, ABB and ABBA patterns!
When Nash went down for his nap, it was time for us to play Memory. This was another that came with protest but became one of his favorite things. We played over and over again. It was fun playing it different ways.
  
Next, we got a NASTY letter from the Joker. He had kidnapped Batman and wasn’t very encouraging about us finding him. But, after lots of tiptoeing around and following the clues, QUINN FOUND HIM! He LOVED every second of the hunt and was so precious and serious as we looked.




 


Before lunch, we had a fun little dance party. (CHECK OUT THIS SONG…I PROMISE YOUR LITTLE ONES WILL LOVE IT!!!!) Then, Q had a little movie fun. Slickpaw sent some great YouTube videos and then we watched Super Friends! So cheesy…classic…and great!

Lunch was a hit as well! It’s still amazing to me how well he eats when it’s fun!
After lunch, we did a little Hero and Villain sorting and graphing.


 
And Nash acted like a big boy as he played with all of his brother’s cool toys!

Sadly, our Batman Day took a little break when we had to get our house ready for a showing…but, when we got back, lots more Batman fun was to be had. We went on another hunt for Batman (per Quinn’s request), and after baths, Quinn got to read his fun Heroes and Villains book. We worked on the sight words first and then HE read it to me. He wanted to read it OVER AND OVER AND OVER! Such a proud little reader!


I’d say Batman Day was a HUGE success. I, as always, loved the quality time that it allowed me to have with my sweet love. And, I loved that it was a perfect recap of learning to get him ready for his second year of preschool!

I am so thankful to be a Boy Mom…and love my little Super Heroes to absolute pieces!!!