F is For...

Food: fruit, fish, farfalle, fajitas, fennel, feta cheese, fettuccine, figs, filbert, filet mignon, flan, flour, flour tortillas, fondue, fortune cookies, frankfurters, freezer pops, frappucino, Fritos, French fries, French toast, fried green tomatoes, fried rice, fudge, fruit cake.

Animals: fish, frog, fox, falcon, finch, ferret, field mouse, firefly, fowl, flying squirrel, fawm, flamingo, fly to name a few. Choose one or two to learn about. Print coloring pages, draw, share facts, look at pictures.
Science: parts of a flower, freeze, Fahrenheit.

Geography: Fault, federation. Mark locations on a map, make a fact book about Florida, Fiji, France, Finland.

Math: four, five, fourteen, fifteen, forty, fifty.

Books: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, Freight Train by Donald Crews, Frogge Series by Jonathon London
Songs: Frere Jacques, The Farmer in the Dell, Father Abraham, Five Little Ducks, Five Green & Speckled Frogs, Five Little Pumpkins, Five Little Monkeys

Games: Follow the Leader

Art: design a family flag, paint with feathers. 
 
Activities: visit a fire station or farm.
 
Other things worth mentioning: fall, feather, fairy, face, fork, freedom, family, farm, feet, flying, Father's Day, furniture, favorite, feelings, fire, flag, French, friends.

E is For ...

Food: empanada, English muffin, elderberries, escargot, endive, elbow macaroni, eggplant, elephant ears, egg.


Animals: elephant, eagle, eel, earthworm, egret, elk, emu, to name a few. Choose one or two to learn about. Print coloring pages, draw, share facts, look at pictures.

Science: earth, extinction, electricity, environmen, energy.

Geography: East, elevation. Mark locations on a map, make a fact book about Europe, El Salvador, Equador, Egypt, Estonia, England, Ethiopia.

Other things worth mentioning: eskimo, equipment, ears, eyes, entertainment, each, every, Earth Day, Easter, elections, Emancipation Day, elevator, emotions, education, empire, elbow.

Math: eight, eleven, equal, even numbers, estimation.
Books: Eating the Alphabet by Lois Elhert,
Songs: Do Your Ears Hang Low?, Everything Grows

Art: use an easel.

D is for...

Food: drink, dairy food, danish, deep-dish pizza, dessert, dill pickles, dijon mustard, dumplings, donuts, deep-fried _______, dried fruit, Doritos, Dr. Pepper.


Animals: dogs, dinosaurs, dolphin, duck, dove, donkey, deer to name a few. Choose one or two to learn about. Print coloring pages, draw, share facts, look at pictures.

Shapes: diamond.

Science: discovery, digestion, dissect, desert.

Geography: mark locations on a map, make a fact book about Dallas, Des Moines, Detroit, Duluth, Denver, Daytona Beach, Dublin, Dubai, Dominican Republic, Denmark.

States: Delaware.

Other places: dairy, deli.

Other things worth mentioning: democracy, Disneyland, dragon, daisy, drum, diner, drive-in, say no to Drugs, Declaration of Independence, doctor, dentist, dandelion, dump truck, dig, days of the week.

Math: division, play dominoes.

Books: Charles Dickens, No, David and other books by David Shannon

Songs: Do Your Ears Hang Low, Day-O, Down By the Banks, Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Art: draw pictures.

C is For . . .

This theme is mainly review and the letter changes every two days.  We assembled a binder with a tab for each letter.  Each day's papers can be put into the binder for a sort of scrapbook to review.  Here are some of our slightly organized ideas for the letter C (of course we didn't do all of these and some are more specific than others):

• Food: coconut, chocolate, chili (recipe below), corn, cinnamon toast, cereal, crescent rolls, cookies, cake, chips, cantaloupe, cauliflower, cucumber, cupcake, carrot, carrot cake, candy, crackers, cheddar cheese, cheese crackers.
• Animals: cat, chinchilla, cow, cougar, chipmunk, cobra, crocodile, camel, caterpillar, to name a few.  Choose one or two to learn about.  Print coloring pages, draw, share facts, look at pictures.
• Shapes: circle, crescent.
• Science: climate, chemistry.
• Geography: mark locations on a map, make a fact book about Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoir.
• States: California, Colorado, Connecticut.
• Other places: classroom, cabin, circus, courthouse, campground, college, cathedral, church.
• Other things worth mentioning: clown, cotton, crayon, car, camera, computer.
• Math: sort, compare, count, add and subtract different types of cereal.  Make a bar graph using cereal.  Make a pie chart. Using a clock.
• Books: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff 
• Songs: Clementine, Clap Your Hands With Me
• Art: make cards
• Misc: crazy hair day

* My daughter's name starts with C, so we incorporated her name into several of the activities.  We did this for family members' names on the appropriate days also.

Chili

1 can chili beans        2 large cans pinto beans, drained                 1 can kidney beans, drained  

1 can corn                  2 small cans tomato sauce             1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained   

Combine all ingredients in a large crockpot.  Adjust quantities as needed.  Cook on low 4-6 hours.  Serve with crackers and shredded cheese.

B is for ...

This theme is mainly review and the letter changes every two days.  We assembled a binder with a tab for each letter.  Each day's papers can be put into the binder for a sort of scrapbook to review.  Here are some of our slightly organized ideas for the letter B (of course we didn't do all of these and some are more specific than others):

• Food: Bananas (make banana bread or banana pudding); beans (make bean salad, chili or Black Bean Nachos)
• Animals: bears, bulldogs, beavers, bison, to name a few.  Choose one or two to learn about.  Print coloring pages, draw, share facts, look at pictures.
• Science: set up a butterfly habitat
• Geography: mark locations on a map, make a fact book about Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belau, Belgium, Belize, Belorussia, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi.
• Math: sort, compare, count, add and subtract beans.  Make a bar graph using beans.
• Books: Berenstain Bears series
• Songs: The Bear Went Over the Mountain
• Art: make butterfly mirror paintings

Black Bean Nachos 

1 can cheese soup        1 cup shredded cheese                    1 can black beans, drained

1 cup milk                    1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips        1 package shell pasta, cooked & drained   

In a medium bowl, mix soup and milk.  In a large casserole dish, combine pasta, beans, and soup mixture.  Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove from oven, sprinkle tortilla chips and cheese over the top and bake and additional 15 minutes.  Serve with salsa and sour cream.

A is for ...

My youngest daughter will be five this month.  I'm not convinced that she is ready for kindergarten, but she started preschool at 3, homeschooled last year and we are going to see where we go this year.  She was a very shy child who came out gradually in preschool.  Last year when we began homeschooling, she always preferred play over school time.  With other events going on, I didn't push her.  This year, I want to see more social growing to make room for more book learning.  What we have chosen to do is a letter theme.  This is mainly review and the letter changes every two days.  We assembled a binder with a tab for each letter.  Each day's papers can be put into the binder for a sort of scrapbook to review.  Here are some of our slightly organized ideas for the letter A (of course we didn't do all of these and some are more specific than others):

• Food: Apples (taste testing and comparing, counting seeds, painting with apples, baking apple pie or cinnamon apples, expanding to the colors red and green); apricots (making jam, canning); avocados (making guacomole, the parts of a tree, germination)
• Animals: coloring pages of Alligators, Anteaters, Antelope, Aardvark, to name a few.
• Science: build an ant colony
• Geography: mark locations on a map, make a fact book about Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Australia, Algeria, Austria
• Math: counting seeds in an apple, counting ants
• Books: The Ants Go Marching One By One, The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson