An Alphabet of Saints :: Painted Wooden Peg Dolls

Just over four years ago (in 2008) I started painting An Alphabet of Saints to go along with our first journey Along the Alphabet Path, inspired by the illustrations in An Alphabet of Catholic Saints...  I started out with a handful of saints and then continued adding to our collection as the girls completed each letter of the Alphabet.  I only made it half way through painting the very last doll, St. Zita, during Z week- before setting her aside as we began our major kitchen remodel and home addition in June of 2010.

Poor St. Zita has been sitting on that shelf ever since, constantly reminding me that I still haven't posted about Z Week patiently waiting for her lovely hair, face, veil, cross necklace and broom to be completed.

I carefully cropped her out of that picture I posted the other day, but had a feeling it would trigger a few questions!

The cubbies... yes, those lovely tiny cubbies...   

In addition to the Highlights from "Z" Week, I also haven't posted about my awesome saint display...

Is it bad that I am displaying our sweet little collection of saints in a... ummmm.... Shot Glass Display?!?

I searched and searched for the perfect thing, before settling on an inexpensive "Black Shot Glass Curio which holds up to 36 Jiggers Saints!"

Despite it's intended purpose, it really does work perfectly for our painted saint dolls!  I found ours on ebay, and was able to find a few more that are currently available. (Though I think they are a little more expensive... I remember paying $20.00 including shipping for ours, but that was a couple years ago.)

So yesterday afternoon I finally dusted off St. Zita, pulled out my painting supplies, and finished painting her in less than 10 minutes while on the phone with my mom.

It makes me so happy to see our Alphabet of Catholic Saints finally completed!  

*However, looking at the picture above, I should have given St. Zita a hand to hold that broom... Hmmmmm... I wonder how long that will take me! ;) 

And just incase anyone would like to get started on their own 4 year project set of saints, here's the link to my favorite source for the wooden peg dolls.   Happy Painting!

Along the Alphabet Path {The Plan for 2012-2013}

"Once upon a time there was a little boy named Michael who lived with his family at the edge of a beautiful woods...." 

And so begins our second adventure learning Along the Alphabet Path!

Despite thinking that I might need to come up with a different theme/story this time (Woodland Creatures, Knights, etc) for a certain little five year old boy of ours, Snuggles was quite captivated by "Michael and Mrs. Applebee!" And how perfect that our family even happens to live "at the edge of a beautiful woods!"  Perhaps we'll just skip the "girly" flower fairy coloring pages this time and focus on our faith, the saints, and more.  I just love how easy it is to modify the Alphabet Path to work for each child.  There are so many fun ideas and options to choose from, it's going to be such a fun year!

Since Snuggles just turned five during the summer, he is starting Kindergarten younger than any of our other children. (Captain did start at this age, but he really wasn't ready and ended up repeating 2nd grade due to his Auditory Processing Challenges. And for Twinkle Toes, our other late summer baby, we "waited" until she had just turned 6 to officially call her a Kindergartner.)  I'm not going to worry about whether or not we complete the Alphabet Path in one year or two - taking our time and spending two weeks on each letter, or more if necessary.  If it takes us 3 years to get through K & 1st grade, no big deal.  I'd rather this extra little guy of mine be the oldest in his class with a solid foundation, rather than one of the youngest struggling to keep up!  (Not that it really matters, since we homeschool, but still...) 

Anyhow, now that we are a couple weeks into our new school year, I've had time to figure out just what the Alphabet Path is going to look like for Snuggles!   I've run across a few fun new additions that I am looking forward to sharing with you all.

In addition to his daily Religion, Math, and Language Arts, we will focus on one area of the Alphabet Path each afternoon:

• Monday :: Letter Introduction & Formation
• Tuesday :: A, B... Seas & Storybook Science
• Wednesday :: Arts & Crafts
• Thursday :: My Catholic Faith
• Friday (or on the weekend) :: A to Z Recipes

Here's the list of some of the resources we will be using this year:
(Note: Most of these books were already on our bookshelves, with just a few new additions.)

Letter Introduction:

Monday - Week One

Along the Alphabet Path Story Book by Elizabeth Foss

Flower Fairy Alphabet & CD

An Alphabet of Catholic Saints

Monday - Week Two

All About Reading - Pre-1 (My Book of Letters, The ZigZag Zebra, and Lizard Lou)

Handwriting Without Tears Wooden Pieces

Modeling Wax

(Over the two week period will will  complete worksheet from My Book of Letters.  For each letter he will complete the worksheets for Capital Letter, Lowercase Letter, and the Letter Sound.  Even if you don't want to use the All About Reading Program as a whole, the My Book of Letters Activity Book is such a great supplemental for the Alphabet Path!)

A, B... Seas:

Participate with older siblings study of Swimming Creatures

Tuesday - Week One

Sea Life Alphabet Coloring Book

Ocean Life From A to Z Book & DVD

Make an Ocean Box - adding one item for each letter of the alpabet

Various Ocean Movies and Documentaries

Storybook Science:

Tuesday - Week Two

Apples, Bubbles and Crystals: Your Science ABCs

Let's Read and Find Out Series

Various Picture Books

Arts & Crafts:

Wednesday - Week One (Art Appreciation)

Museum ABC 

My First ABC Board Book

Museum ABC Nesting Blocks

Wednesday - Week Two (Letter based Craft and/or Activity)

Various Arts & Craft Projects/Activities

My Catholic Faith:

Thursday - Week One

An Alphabet of Saints
S is for Saints
An Alphabet of Catholic Saints

An Alphabet of Mary
Various Saint Picture Books & Coloring Pages

An Alphabet of Saints: Painted Wooden Dolls

Thursday - Week Two

God's Alphabet

A is for Altar, B is for Bible

Writing ABC's on Little Hearts by Pondered In My Heart

A to Z Recipes:

Friday - Week One

My A to Z Recipe Box: An Alphabet of Recipes for Kids

"From Ants in My Applesauce to Zany Zucchini Sticks, these 26 recipes offer young chefs a wide variety of hands-on cooking adventures. Each recipe has clear, simple steps that children will find easy to followand in the process, they'll learn about the foods they enjoy and practice skills like following directions and measuring, too. "

I'm loving this little recipe box...  For Aa week we made Ants in my Applesauce, and next week we will be making Blueberry Buckle!  In addition to all the great recipes, each card also offers suggestions for servings and variations, plus fun facts.  The letter tab at the top of each card works as a divider for any additional recipes you might want to add to the collection, using the 26 blank recipe cards which are provided, or your own.

Friday - Week Two 

Additional Recipe of Choice - Add Recipe to Recipe Box using one of the 26 Blank Cards

You can find all of our posts for the Alphabet Path listed on this page.  I'll continue to add to the current label "Alphabet Path" for scrolling through everything.  I also just filed all the posts from when the girls were learning along the Alphabet Path here:  Alphabet Path (2009-2010) and will begin a new label for Snuggles: Alphabet Path (2012-2013).  I'll be back soon along after awhile to add all about Aa week!

Is anyone else learning Along the Alphabet Path this year?