Week 22: Where We Live! Florida

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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:

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

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

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

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

Florida manatee by Spilsbury, Louise.

Roy makes a car by Lyons, Mary E.

Florida A to Z by Ryan, Susan Jane.

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

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

Django by Cech, John.

Crafts and Activities:

Here is a site I found that has information about Florida

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!

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!

The flavors of the Florida Keys by Gassenheimer, Linda.

Here is a site that has Florida Seminole Tribe recipes

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:

A butterfly grows by Swinburne, Stephen R.

Adios, Oscar! : a butterfly fable by Elwell, Peter

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

Velma Gratch & the way cool butterfly by Madison, Alan.

My, oh my-- a butterfly! by Rabe, Tish.

Butterfly eyes and other secrets of the meadow by Sidman, Joyce.Wings of light : the migration of the yellow butterfly by Swinburne, Stephen R.

Butterfly count by Collard, Sneed B.

Are you a butterfly? by Allen, Judy.

The butterfly jar by Moss, Jeffrey.

The 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:)

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) 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!

Week 14: Lions

So, Lions it is....says Lily. She said she has REALLY been wanting to learn about Lions....and who is to stop someone who REALLY wants to learn about anything. So, here is our lesson on Lions...ROAR!!!

Books:

Lions's Lunch by Fiona Tierney

Do lions live on lily pads? by Walsh, Melanie.

I'm going to New York to visit the lionsby Roitman, Tanya.

The lion & the mouse by Pinkney, Jerry.- One of my FAVORITE books

We're going on a lion hunt by Cuyler, Margery.

Lions by Lockwood, Sophie.

Daniel in the lions' den : a Bible story by Marzollo, Jean.

CRAFTS

Paper Plate Lion

Paper Bag & Newspaper Lion

Danielle's Place has a ton of amazing lion crafts too!

Songs (Source)

You can hear lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!

You can hear lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!

You can hear lions roaring, you can hear lions roaring,

You can hear lions roaring at the zoo! ROAR! ROAR!

You can hear snakes hissing at the zoo, SSSS! SSSS!

You can hear snakes hissing at the zoo, SSS! SSS!

You can hear snakes hissing, you can hear snakes hissing,

You can hear snakes hissing at the zoo, SSS! SSS!

Others: The kids start thinking up their own!

Snacks

Carrot Stick Mane! I love it!

Thanks!

Week 13: Dinosaurs

Well, I finally think me and (mostly Lily)
are ready to begin our weekly topic lessons...
I knew it was time when Lily said,
" Mommy, what are we going to learn this week...."
and I was like,
" That's a really great question... I have no idea!"

I asked Lily what she would like to learn about,
and I pretty much knew the answer before she even said it....

DINOSAURS!

Before bed at night and at naptime,
my husband or I tell Lily stories
either from when we were little,
or completely ridiculous made up stories...

Sometimes I like to combine them.... for example:
eh' hem
Once when I was a little girl, I found a big egg in my closet...
I brought it to my daddy and asked him if I could keep it.
He let me keep the egg in my closet under a lamp.
About a month later, it hatched and it was a dinosaur!!

A Pterodactyl to be exact!
( In all honesty, I don't even think the Pterodactyls are actually dinosaurs, but hey, its a fictional story right?)
And Pterodactyls can fly!
When the pterodactyl grew up, it would take me for rides over our neighborhoods. I could see over the tops of trees, and even flew over the ocean once!

Blah blah blah, the story goes on...and every day I would switch what kind of dinosaur it was that hatched in my closet... ie- stegosaurus which helped me climb up things because he was like my personal ladder, or the brontosaurus who was like a walking slide because I could slide from the top of his head to the bottom of his tail....(she loves that one!)

Anyway, there is my long winded(written) explanation of why I knew Lily would want to learn about DINOSAURS (You can imagine me roaring everytime you read that :)

Ok, now onto what we will actually do to learn about dinosaurs...this is kind of refreshing getting back into it...I feel recharged!

Side Note: My goal is to teach Lily about Dinosaurs from a Christian perspective ie- "Creation" Here are some resources for you if you are interested in teaching the same!

Christian Answers.Net- Great resource for lessons about dinosaurs

Clarifying Christianity- Great resource for you, the teacher to catch up on Christianity and Dinosaurs

Answers in Genesis- A Woman's Testimony about her journey to God through Dinosaurs! Pretty Cool!



DINOSAURS! ROAR!!

Books:

No T Rex in the Library! by Buzzeo, Toni


Dinosaurs Love Underpants! by Freedman, Claire



Have you seen my dinosaur? by Surgal, Jon


Buying, training & caring for your dinosaur by Rennert, Laura.


The super hungry Dinosaur by Waddell, Martin.



Boo's surprise by Byars, Betsy Cromer.

Skippyjon Jones and the big bones by Schachner, Judith Byron.



T. Rex and the Mother's Day hug by Grambling, Lois G. ( Had to do this one....since Mother's Day is coming up!)


Resources from the Library:



Crafts for kids who are learning about dinosaurs by Ross, Kathy

Sesame Street. Dinosaurs! [videorecording (DVD)] Full screen ed.

Crafts: Click links to see sources


Dinosaur Feet- How to Found over at Danielle's Place- Just because they are fun, and I can incorporate make believe!!






Paper Mache' Dinosaur Hat from Enchanted Learning



Shape- A -Saurus- when you combine 8 shapes, you can make a dinosaur!


Songs (Source)

FIVE ENORMOUS DINOSAURS
Five enormous Dinosaurs letting out a roar
One went away and then there were four...
Four enormous Dinosaurs munching on a tree
One went away and then there were three...
Three enormous Dinosaurs didn't know what to do
One went away and then there were two...
Two enormous Dinosaurs having lots of fun
One went away and then there was one...
One enormous Dinosaur afraid to be a hero
He went away and then there was zero...

DINOSAURS OF LONG AGO (Action Song)
The Dinosaurs lived long ago,
And walked like this, and that. (Walk heavy like Dino's)
Some were large (Stretch arms apart.)
And some were small. (Squat down.)
Some liked water (Swimming motion)
And some liked land (Stomp feet.)
Some had wings that flapped and flapped. (Flap arms)
Some had long necks that stretched and stretched (Put hand above head)
The meanest, rudest one of all was ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex
These were the Dinosaurs of long ago.
Goodness gracious! Where did they go?

Snacks

Dino Dig Cupcakes- Found at Homemaking Fun- Have the children go on a dinosaur hunt inside the cupcake!! Awesome idea!