Thursday, June 16, 2011

Week 22: Where We Live! Florida




Our last lesson on Butterflies is actually still going on.
We just received our caterpillars and they are sitting
in our dining room in their jar eating
until they get big enough to do something...er,
get out of that jar.
(We are so excited to watch this whole process but boy,
does it take a long time!)
Updated Pictures to follow.


Our library is teaching about the Continents this summer.
I was thinking that it would be great
to do some sort of geography with the girls.
I also thought how important it is to teach
them about where they live....
hence, our lovely state of Florida.
We will also be memorizing our town,
and trying to memorize our address.

Sidenote: Lily has been reciting her phone number for a while now...
It is about 4 digits less than a real phone number.
Perhaps that is the next topic....our phone number!


As I am thinking about this topic of Florida,
I am realizing that there are so many things to talk about!
We will focus on where it is located on a map of the US,
what types of animals are 'indigenous' here,
and special facts about our state.
I also found that there are a ton of fictional children's books
that are based upon Florida which is what you will find in the list below.
I love to read books that are based on our topic
and not just informational books too.


Books:
Cover
The secret river by Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan, 1896-1953.

Cover
Felina's new home : a Florida panther story by Wlodarski, Loran.


Cover
The last egret : the adventures of Charlie Pierce by Oyer, Harvey E.

Cover
Duck, duck, moose by Horowitz, Dave, 1970-

Cover
Florida manatee by Spilsbury, Louise.


Cover
Roy makes a car by Lyons, Mary E.

Cover
Florida A to Z by Ryan, Susan Jane.


Cover
How to draw Florida's sights and symbols by Quasha, Jennifer.


Cover
S is for sunshine : a Florida alphabet by Crane, Carol, 1933-


Cover
Django by Cech, John.




Crafts and Activities:



1) We have been going for a while to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary which is has almost every native Florida animal you can think of. We will definitely be visiting this week to learn about native Floridian animals.

2) Artists Helping Children has a ton of Alligator/Crocodile Crafts


3) We'll be going to the Daggerwing Nature Center to learn about Florida!

Daggerwing Nature Center Slideshow

Songs:
FYI- The Swanee River is the Official State Song of Florida!


The Swanee River
(Old Folks at Home)
Written by Stephen C. Foster

Way down upon de Swanee Ribber,
Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation,
And for de old folks at home.

Chorus

All de world am sad and dreary,
Eb-rywhere I roam;
Oh, darkeys, how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home!

2nd verse

All round de little farm I wandered
When I was young,
Den many happy days I squandered,
Many de songs I sung.
When I was playing wid my brudder
Happy was I;
Oh, take me to my kind old mudder!
Dere let me live and die.

3rd Verse

One little hut among de bushes,
One dat I love
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see de bees a-humming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de banjo strumming,
Down in my good old home?




Snacks:
Thought we could try a few recipes out of here for dinner!

CoverThe flavors of the Florida Keys by Gassenheimer, Linda.

Here is a site that has Florida Seminole Tribe recipes






Sunday, May 29, 2011

Week 21: Butterflies

This week marks the beginning of a more 'laid back' schedule for us.
This gives me more time to spend
with my children having fun and learning!
We are all very intrigued by butterflies,
and with the first signs of summer upon us,
what better than to learn about butterflies!
I have ordered our caterpillars from www.insectlore.com
where we will receive 5 caterpillars + food!
Hopefully they will come soon...
the girls are getting anxious
(and by girls, I mean me).
The first part of the week will be about Caterpillars,
then we will talk about the life cycle of a butterfly.
We will be using the Eric Carle book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
to learn about the life cycle, but also about the days of the week.


Books:

CoverA butterfly grows by Swinburne, Stephen R.
CoverAdios, Oscar! : a butterfly fable by Elwell, Peter

CoverFancy Nancy : bonjour, butterfly by O'Connor, Jane.

Cover Velma Gratch & the way cool butterfly by Madison, Alan.
CoverMy, oh my-- a butterfly! by Rabe, Tish.
CoverButterfly eyes and other secrets of the meadow by Sidman, Joyce.CoverWings of light : the migration of the yellow butterfly by Swinburne, Stephen R.


CoverButterfly count by Collard, Sneed B.
CoverAre you a butterfly? by Allen, Judy.

CoverThe butterfly jar by Moss, Jeffrey.

CoverThe butterfly alphabet by Sandved, Kjell Bloch, 1922

Crafts and Activites:

1) We will be taking care of our caterpillars by making sure they have enough food and are ready for their next phase of life!
2) Caterpillar Craft- Handprint Caterpillar ( I am such a sucker for handprint crafts)
3) Butterfly Craft- Footprint Butterfly (Why not?) This was done on Canvas from Come Together Kids!

4)Butterfly Life Cycle Craft- Plate Craft ( I love the simplicity of this )

Songs: (Source)

Flutter, Flutter, Butterfly

(Original Author unknown)

Tune of: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

Flutter, flutter, butterfly.

Floating in the summer sky.

Floating by for all to see.

Floating by so merrily.

Flutter, flutter, butterfly,

Floating in the summer sky.

Pretty Butterfly

(Original Author Unknown)

tune of: "Up on the Housetop"

First comes a butterfly

Who lays an egg.

Out comes a caterpillar

With many legs.

Oh, see the caterpillar

Spin and spin.

A little chrysalis to sleep in.

Oh, oh, oh, look and see,

Oh, oh, oh, look and see.

Out of the chrysalis, my, oh, my,

Out comes a pretty butterfly!

Roly-Poly Caterpillar

(Original Author Unknown)

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)

Into a corner crept. (place right pointer finger in left cupped hand)

Spun around himself a blanket (spin around)

Then for a long time slept. (place head on folded hands)

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)

Wakening by and by. ("stretch" right pointer finger)

Found himself with beautiful wings

Changed to a butterfly. (flutter arms like wings)


Snacks: (Source)

These look super fun!

...Salty chocolate anyone? Yes Please:)

Butterfly Snacks

We'll also do some butterflies with

Apples and Raisins for a little more healthy snack!


Additional Fun Things I will try to do with them:

1) When learning about the chrysallis, the girls will wrap each other in TP and imagine themselves in a cocoon turning into a beautiful butterfly.

2) Lots of Butterfly Coloring pages and Activities like Butterfly Kits and More! Here's a link for a butterfly bookmark...always want to encourage reading!

3) You gotta love the butterfly wings they can put on to flutter around the house in!

Thanks!



Friday, February 18, 2011

Week 20: Honesty


This week we are going to do a topic that
the girls did not necessarily choose...
but rather one that has come about due to necessity,
so it kind of chose them.
I really want to see if we can get the topic of the Big L (lying)
to be better understood,
and more so focus on telling the truth, or honesty.

I did some research online, and apparently,
many pediatricians and doctors agree that lying
is a part of cognitive development and it is actually a
recorded 'milestone' to show that your child is learning
to make decisions on their own,
realize that they are separate from you,
and also that they have an imagination
which can make the real word a lot better!

I am really interested seeing how this lesson impacts
Lily and her understanding of telling the truth.

Alright,

To be totally honest ( ha ha),
we all came up with a plan to have a
"Gum Night"
if we can all go three days without lying.
We start the day with a sticker, and if we lie, we lose our sticker...
Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were the first to lose their stickers.
Who needs this lesson more?
hmmm...
(FYI- my lie was exaggerating ( a weakness of mine)
that the girls have seen a million cats....not true.
My husband's lie was that he wanted to eat the rest of the trail mix
and told the girls there was no more...
his guilt set in, and a sticker was lost.)

The only one at the end of the three days
to get to have gum was our 2.5 year old Claire...
great job Claire!

Books
CoverFancy Nancy : my family history by O'Connor, Jane.


CoverBig whopper by Giff, Patricia Reilly.


CoverTell the truth, B.B. Wolf by Sierra, Judy.

CoverPrincess K.I.M. and the lie that grew by Cocca-Leffler, Maryann,

CoverHonesty by Pryor, Kimberley Jane.

CoverHonestly, Mallory! by Friedman, Laurie B


CoverHonestly! by Doudna, Kelly


CoverRuthie and the (not so) teeny tinylie by Rankin, Laura.

CoverMiko. "It was me, Mom!" by Weninger, Brigitte.

CoverAlex did it! by Weigelt, Udo

CoverEdwurd Fudwupper fibbed big by Breathed, Berke

CoverEdith & Mr. Bear by Wright, Dare

Crafts & Activities

We will make a truth wheel using a printable PDF- Click on the website, and then scroll down and click on the PDF entitled Telling The Truth vs Lies.

I couldn't find many crafts, so I decided that we would do a story board... I will ask Lily to come up with a story where a child has the opportunity to tell the truth, or lie...we will have two different endings. Lily can draw her own pictures of the story, and hopefully the ending for telling the truth will be a positive one for her. I'm excited to see what she comes up with!


Songs




Snacks:
Cover

We will read the book The Empty Pot by Demi- which is a Chinese fable about rewarding a child for telling the truth.... the main part of the story is about Seeds, so I thought we would make some kind of snack dealing with seeds...possibly a trail mix that has seeds in it, or even a lemon poppy seed muffin..mmmm.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Photo by KC_Cooker


On a personal note, I ordered these If/Then charts to help me with consistent discipline. They also include verses that go with the particular behavior. To go along with that, you can order the Blessings chart which rewards your children for being a blessing to others...best of both worlds!

Thanks!