The big(ger) kids are back in school and I have time with just my littles again!  It is so much fun to focus on preschool-type stuff for part of the day.  We picked our letter of the week back up where we left off with the letter Q.

Tuesday was the first day of school, so after walking the boys to school we kept walking, recruiting some friends to come along, and stopped at a park before coming back.  No schedule, nowhere to be.  It was awesome!

When we did come home I introduced the letter Q and the kids drew their own with all the colors they wanted.

Then we read some Q books:

• Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood – I LOVE this book!  It goes through about every way a person can act or feel, comparing it to an animal.  Don Wood’s illustrations are amazing, of course.
• Queen Victoria’s Bathing Machine by Gloria Whelan – This was entertaining for me, but didn’t really hold Miles’ attention.  It’s a rhyming book about an actual dressing-room-on-wheels that Queen Victoria used to get from land to water without exposing too much of herself to her subjects.
• The Quiet Quail by Heather Feldman – For being a contrived letter Q book, this story was not bad.  Lots of Q words to go around, and a little moral about individuality and friendship on the side.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Wednesday we visited the duck pond, because, you know, quack!  We invited friends and had quite a group.  I’m trying to think of more alphabet letters that could go along with the duck pond, because it’s awesome there.  I love this town.

Thursday we talked about queens and made crowns (we let Miles be a king instead).  I borrowed an idea from my friend for these crowns.  Shaping rolled-up tin foil was so fun!  I had a hard time putting it down.

They wanted thrones to sit on, although Miles kept calling them “scrolls.”  I just threw some blankets over a couple chairs and they were satisfied.

That night for a bedtime story we read King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood, which is SUCH a fun book.  Nobody can get the king to come out of the tub.  He just invites them all in instead, until the page finally pulls the plug, which does the trick.  Don’t worry, the queen does make an appearance, so it totally works for the letter Q.

Thursday Devin & I both got hit HARD with a cold.  Some of the kids have been sniffling too.  We’re almost all better now, so it was quick, but brutal, and a good reminder to take our vitamins, make our cranberry smoothies & use our essential oils and whatnot.  Any other tips for staying healthy through the colder months?