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5/12/2018 0 Comments

Construction and Transportation Week: PK-4

Ana's Week

Last year, I did separate weeks for construction and transportation, but because I wanted to spend a week at my mom’s house enjoying a spring break with the girls, this year I combined the units. I think you can do it either way and have a blast, especially if your kids love transportation vehicles and construction. Both of my girls prefer anything to do with construction, so we focused more on that (also due to the fact that Aria knows most of her transportation vehicles at this point).

I actually accidentally timed this unit quite well by implementing it the week before traveling, and I recommend you doing the same. Not only did we pass by plenty of examples of different vehicles and even an airport while driving that we could talk about, but we passed by loads of construction on almost every major road we drove on. The girls would shout from the back of the car “construction!” each time and Aria would point out the different types of construction vehicles we passed by. We even guessed as to what they were trying to build, whether road, home, or building. If we hadn’t studied all of the vehicles, construction or otherwise, right before our trip, I don’t think she would have taken the time to look out her window as much and definitely wouldn’t have taken the time to shout out the names of different construction vehicles, so this was a great pre-trip refresher.

Playing with construction and transportation vehicles was still a big hit this year, especially when I found road tape at Hobby Lobby and Aria taped it all over the house and pretended to travel the roads. She also loved her name written in the shape of roads and traveled those over and over. She knows her name now and how to write it, but it is always good to refresh how to draw the shapes of the letters. The construction box from last year was great to pull back out and play with, and the girls loved digging in the beans and jewels to see what they could find.

Both girls really enjoyed building things together all week, from “laying bricks” (which Aria spent about 2 hours doing one day, she loved it so much), by using play dough to stick wooden blocks together to using a STEM tool kit to build their own vehicles. The “Where’s the construction vehicle” game was still popular this year, and Aria and I would take turns hiding a vehicle under a cone and guessing the letter or number. Aria also loved making dirt playdough, which I have to say ended up looking a lot like dirt. We also worked together to write the alphabet on a bunch of smooth rocks from Hobby Lobby and Aria put them in order from A to Z.

This week is one that I found to be really successful with a lot of prior preparation. Over time, I collected rocks, jewels, construction hats, and tape from the party section at Hobby Lobby during a sale. I also bought construction vehicles, transportation vehicles, and several coloring/sticker books from the Dollar Tree. I found a road rug for sale at a consignment store last year and a Scholastic Magnetic Pattern Transportation Blocks set at a consignment store this year. The Nuts and Bolts construction STEM set was the only thing I paid full price for and it was a birthday present last year. So, needless to say, if you give yourself time to prep this unit, you can save a lot of money. Plus, if you have multiple kids, most of the items you invest in can be used over and over for years to come and multiple preschool experiences. However, if you don't have a lot of money to invest, there is so much benefit to just driving your community and pointing out and discussion the construction vehicles you find, how they are used, and then watching them construct something over the course of several weeks by passing by the same area every few days. 

Aria says that construction week was one of her favorites this week because she just loves to build. I think any preschool unit that gets kids to be hands on for most of the week is an absolute success and I love these units so much. Plus, I am just so glad that we were able to follow the week up with an accidental field trip to view everything we talked about in person. Definitely made our 6 hour drive much more interesting and hopefully this unit can do the same for you and your family!

CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOADABLE CONSTRUCTION AND TRANSPORTATION PDF
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5/7/2018 1 Comment

How We Library

Jessica's Homeschooling Tip:

​I realize this may seem like a silly piece to some, but I know far too many people, homeschooling moms even, who simply go to the library and rummage through shelf after shelf of children’s literature trying to find a couple relevant age-appropriate books for a lesson. If you are one of these mom’s, frantically searching the rows while littles pull book after book off the shelves this post is for you. There is a better way!! As long as you are willing to plan at least a week in advance you can simply pinterest “childrens books about……(insert topic here)” and do a quick rundown to find highly rated, age appropriate, relevant material. Next, login to your member library and simply request “reserve” for these titles from any of the participating sister branches in your network. You select the location to pick up all material, and when you bring the littles to a storytime or whatever, everything is ready and waiting for you at the front desk. Easy Peasey. Add a few theme related kits, books on tape, dvds even to complete your prep. Most libraries will let you check out like a hundred titles at one time. I used to feel embarrassed, watching sheepishly as my librarian scanned 20 picture books on astronauts at one time, most of which had to be shipped in from other locations. After a few heart to hearts with these ladies who came to know me by name however, I changed my tune. The library is a state and federally funded program, which receives money and creates jobs based on the number of citizens checking out material and the staff required to manage things like shipping requests. There are more than enough books to go around if someone else just so happen to be doing the same theme at the same time, I LOVE reading new and exciting (on topic) stories to my daughter each day while watching her love of literature grow, and my system ensures I almost always return things on time (as I have to go back to pick up the next theme of books). We have amazon prime, curbside grocery pickup, why are we still perusing dust filled shelves or worse spending hundreds on a few basic titles kids may get bored of after only a short time?
​
 It will take at least a few days for titles to ship from other branches for your “order” to be prepared, and occasionally I have to cancel a request bc something didn’t come in before I’ve completed that theme but overall this plan has saved me hours and hours of prep. Even on the weeks I don’t have the time or energy to create lots of art projects or science experiments I always have a ready supply of quality children’s books on hand to stimulate learning. And the best part, this investment in my child’s future doesn’t have to cost me a dime! If you still aren’t convinced check out this article on the importance of having a lot of books in the home ….or do your own research by googling the correlation between home literacy environment and a child’s reading skills, academic achievement, even lifetime success. It certainly made a believer out of me!! 

https://psmag.com/social-justice/books-home-strongly-linked-academic-achievement-82144

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5/1/2018 0 Comments

Bug Unit: PK4

Ana's Week 
​

Our bug unit was a great reminder to me of why planning a year in advance (well, as best I can) for my weekly units is a really smart idea. Not only does a bug unit align well with gardening and Earth Week, but the time of year was just right to see lots of bugs come out to enjoy the flowering plants. We also ordered a butterfly kit three weeks before the unit began, watching the caterpillars go from baby stage all the way to butterfly in just three weeks time. Everyone in the house loved watching the growth of the caterpillars, and because I timed it just right, we were able to set the butterflies free at the end of our insect unit (a special and somewhat devastating treat for the girls).


Aria’s favorite things we did during the week involved stalking bugs outside. We even caught one and let it play in a jar for a day before setting it free. We watched a worm move and saved it when it got too far from the grass. Later in the week we tried to catch a worm for a worm jar but were unfortunately unable to dig one up from our garden (partially because we were simultaneously trying not to destroy the garden and dig up the seeds we had just planted.

We did some fun science experiments during the week. The dancing frankenworms didn’t work out according to the instructions, but when we added alka seltzer tablets, voila, they suddenly danced. The worm goo science experiment tube from the dollar store was an awesome find and so fun to watch the worms grow over a period of 3 days. I don’t have any idea where to find the kit, but hopefully you will luck out and find it at your Dollar Store too!

The most fun activities involved play dough and fly swatters this week. Aria made her own play dough bug fossils and bugs for hours one morning while I was cleaning the house. She used pipe cleaners and play dough to build loads of bugs and then played with them around the house, pretending to turn them into butterflies or pollinate flowers. What fun! With the fly swatters, we painted outside by dipping them in paint and hitting the paper. The design actually turned out beautiful when done! Then, I wrote chalk numbers all over the sidewalk and Aria had to run around slapping the sidewalk with her fly swatter when she found the right number. It was a good practice in recognizing 11-20 for her, and she was able to get some wiggles out.

I was also super proud this week to watch Aria get into reading some great bug early readers. I read the books to her one night and she read both books back to my husband and I almost word for word before bed. At this point, I am pretty certain that she has excellent memorization skills like my husband, so it will be interesting to try and get her to actually read word for word and not just memorize books in the long run, but I’m so happy she loves to “read” so much and wants to read back to us any books she finds interesting.

We really lucked out that this unit corresponded with Aria being really interested in bugs and not quite as scared of them. Over winter, we went through a time where Aria and Skylar would see a bee or fly and run inside to hide because they were so afraid the bug would get them, but this week they embraced bugs and excitedly told me to come and see any bugs that they found while playing in the backyard. I already can’t wait to do this unit again next year, but we may get started early by getting an ant farm and ladybug kit over the summer because watching the lifecycles and movements of bugs is just so fascinating for all of us! There really is nothing like being just as excited to learn and observe as your kids!

​Jessica's Week

The amount of effort I put in really does make a big difference in how successful our homeschool week is. Case in point, insects. Sure it’s fun to go on the occasional bug hunt or dig up a worm but learning the ins and outs of each species doesn’t sound terribly exciting to a four year old or her mom for that matter. Still, as we approach the end of the traditional school year I am jazzed to bump up our homeschool lessons so I dug my heels in giving my best effort to planning this theme and it totally paid off! Taegan loves watching the bugs “do their work” and appreciates how all living things work together as Gods creation. Insects aren’t just gross things to be squashed, they are pollinating our plants so we have food, fertilizing soil, keeping our entire ecosystem balanced. 

Bees were probably the favorite since we took a field trip on Monday to Triple B farms to learn all about bee keepers. Their presentation is one I highly recommend and in addition to all the fun farm activities we got the most delicious honey sticks for a treat! Back home we snacked some more, munching cheddar popcorn spreading the sticky “pollen” from flower to flower and T fashioned a hive from tanagrams to bring the nectar back for some pretend play. She pin poked out a bee shape, performed a bee dance (I learned they dance to communicate from an awesome book by the same title), dissected a dead wasp we found in the windowsill, and learned about the Beatitudes in a fun bible lesson. 

Next we focused on ants having fun writing numbers on a pretend colony mound and experimenting with which foods ants like best (hint they clearly preferred the highest sugar content possible). Then ladybugs because our local library offers these great backpacks filled with books, toys, games, etc and they had one for the little ladies that was too good to resist. Finally caterpillars and butterflies...Ts Montessori preschool ordered the grow and release ones this year so I timed out our bug week to match their butterfly release and saved myself the trouble of trying to keep them alive on my own 👏🏼. We finished strong going over a variety of other species with the insect toob and 3-part cards in a sensory bin, catching a cricket for our cage, ant farm in an old vase, and digging out garden worms just to play with in a bucket. 

Through this lesson I found my own endurance being renewed. Bees work all day every day; from the day they are born they have a “job” and in their entire life span each will produce less than 1tsp of honey. Sure makes the honey I put in my coffee taste sweeter ....and the job of being mom all day at least sound easier! Ants carry 50times their own weight and never sleep. I complain about having to lift less than half my weight when baby girl wants to be carried or I didn’t get my full 8hrs last night. Learning about insects put life in perspective, I have a LOT to be grateful for. Endurance is a muscle like anything else, you have to work it in order for it to grow. I’m so glad I gave homeschooling my all this week. It took a lot of work and late nights to plan our curriculum. It took dedication, perseverance, and time management to fit the activities I planned into our already busy schedule but it paid off because we both learned a lot and had so much fun together. And if the bugs can do it we moms can too!!! 
CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOADABLE BUG UNIT
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    Jessica and Ana 

    ​Our Homeschooling Mission Statement: We will strive to be patient, godly examples to our children, integrating biblical principles and morality into every subject. Learning should be fun. We will foster an attitude of lifelong curiosity and play while providing the best possible education we can through books, art, technology, food, tactile activities, and cultural experiences. Learning will not be dictated by hours on a clock but will be a way of life for our families.

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