TS had to inventory all his toys before the holidays.
Very proud of TS. He completed this assignment on his own. His Japanese writing is impressive.
Our homemade kimono.Lapbook Resources
Apple Peeler and Slicer (Cool Tool)
Kid's Measuring Tools with little monsters.
Gluten-Free Apple Pie Crumble
DH got to the pie before we could get a picture.Lapbook Resources
We have been having fun learning all about money.
We began by learning the who, what, where and why of money using One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library). TS has never been a big fan of the Cat In Hat because of the constant rhymes, but he really enjoyed this book. It doesn't constantly rhythm and it is a non-fiction book.
The book also covers the basic of who is on our current money which was a good tie in with our Presidential election unit study. Did you know there have been only six non-presidents on our money? Can you name them?
I think skip counting is an essential skill set to have mastered before tackling counting money. TS mastered skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s last year with the Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten Workbook. Before proceeding with money counting I wanted to review the concepts in a new way. I found the perfect tie in with our mini unit study on Pumpkins with the book "How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?" by Margaret McNamara. (We enjoyed her Robin Hill School series.)
The implied exercise, based on the story, is to take a pumpkin and count the seeds in groups of 2s, 5s and 10s. So after pumpkin picking with our co-op we bring home our pumpkin and try to estimate the number of seeds like Sid the Science kid. The process was then to open it and scoop out the seeds.
This is where life got interrupted because once we opened the pumpkin, TS started to look a little green about the gills. "Mom, the inside of this pumpkin looks like orange buggers and smells disgusting." Then he got the look, every parent knows that look …their eyes get wide, they clamp their lips and sway ever so slightly. You got it ..upchuck central. It turns out TS had a nasty little stomach bug that took that moment to present itself. Needless to say we are done with pumpkins for a long time in this house.
After a long search of the internet I could not find one election unit study that was right for my five year old. After a leisurely afternoon in Barnes and Nobles I came across this wonderful book by Catherine Stier and illustrated by Lynne Avril.Election Unit Study Math (HSS)
How old do I have to be to vote?
What year will I be able to vote? (Subtraction)
What year will I vote for president for the first time? (Skip counting by 4's)
Tie in To Math General Math
Social Studies-Geography
Where does the president live?
In the book the author does an excellent job describing the election process from the decision to run, through the primaries, conventions and elections. It also describes the political parties.
Define the two major political parties and match the candidates to the party.
Language Arts
After reading the book complete the Vocabulary Flap Book with Cover from (HSS).
Music/Art
Watch party conventions and candidate elections videos at NickJr.com. These videos are each less than 4 minutes and give a kids summary of the conventions as well as the major points about the candidates.
Discuss the colors used in the book on posters, buttons and banners.
Bible/Character
Continue Discussion on Fruits of the Spirit: Self-Control
Fieldtrip
TS accompanied us to our local polling location to participate in early voting process.
Fine Motor Activity
We shall attempt to build the White House with Lego's.
Social Skills Activity
The candidates are required to shake lots of hands on the campaign trail. How did this tradition start? What's the proper way to shake hands?
Lapbook Resources
In order to work with TS's interest I did change the order of our Rowing. The green blocks are units completed with lapbooks. Papa Piccolo was a big hit and went on for two weeks.
Our math dilemma has been solved using Houghton Mifflin Math online for K and 1st grade.
Unfortunately the economic down turn affected the number of homeschool classes offered in our area. So currently we only have gymnastics, weekly playgroup, monthly fieldtrips, library story and craft time.
I have been encouraged and motivated to start a Kindy Co-Op using lapbooks. I will start with one a month focusing on holidays in November.
Sandbox Academy Fall 2008 FIAR
August
Mike Mulligan
Lentil
September
Madeline
A Pair of Red Clogs
Papa Piccolo
Papa Piccolo
October
The Glorious Flight
How to Make an Apple Pie
If I Ran For President
Pumpkin Free
November
Space Shuttle
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Cranberry Thanksgiving (Holiday Vacation)
December
Make Way For Ducklings
Digital FIAR-Christmas
New Year Around The World
(Holiday Vacation)
January
(Holiday Vacation)
Kathy and the Big Snow
Night of the Moonjellies
Review
Carton Heavy Whipping Cream
And It's Butter Baby
Leaning about Self Care (HSS) and FIAR Science Section 22
Read-Along:
Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science Books: Germs Make Me Sick
We used our Scholastic Dictionary and Enchanted Learning to identify the appendix.
Math
Madeline: 12 Little Girls Math (HSS)
FIAR discussion on sizes (HSS).
Discussed Day and Night
Social Studies
Where is France?
Language Arts
We discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction.
TS was not thrilled about reading Madeline. In his words there was not enough action and too many girls. He did like Ms. Clavel. So to make things a little more interesting we also read Madeline to the Rescue. He really loved this version of Madeline because in his words..." it has action."
Music/Art
Listen to the always classic Frère Jacques.
TS drew his favorite scene from Madeline which was the Eifel Tower.
Bible/Character
FIAR Character and Bible Study : Compassion
Fieldtrip
We attended playgroup and library storytime.
Fine Motor Activity
We built French buildings with Legos.
Lapbook Resources
