B4FIAR - We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Our next Before Five in a Row book was We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. I recently gave Kaleb a choice of books and this was the book he decided to work with for the week. This is a cute book of a father who takes his children on a bear hunt....only to actually find one!

After we read the story, we talked about maps and we followed a map of the story. He added some of the elements of the story to this simple map. This printable came from Pink Striped Socks (link below).

We played Where's the Bear? game. I hid the bear behind a number and he had to guess what cave it was hidden behind. This was to practice teen numbers. He had to say the number before he could pick the cave. This game came from Homeschool Creations (link below).

He wrote his own page for the story. He decided he would hunt for a dog. He wrote the word "dog" and drew a picture.

We both played a game of cover the bear. We rolled dice and covered the number with a counting bear.

He made some puppets to go along with the story.

 

We made a 3-D map - play box for the story. We used some figures from Playmobil and a bear as well as some items found around the house. He played with this box all week.

Kaleb's favorite activity was making a map of the story. We used paper scraps for each of the elements and made a paper map of the story. He loved this.

Here is his finished map. I love the eyes in the cave. This idea came from Buggy and Buddy (link below).

This was an opening for him to create more maps with scraps of paper. He completed several different maps that we just had to hang up.

Not too shabby of a week. Now my walls are covered with maps - thanks Kaleb! Next, we are on to some Christmas book studies for the month of December and then back to finish B4FIAR.  See you soon.


Links

Homeschool Creations - has links to 25 different activities for this story plus free printable pack.

Momma Pappa Bubba - has the idea for the sensory tray.

Childhood 101 - has another idea for a sensory tray.

Buggy and Buddy - has the idea for the map with scrap paper.

Pink Stripes Socks - has the simple story map plus 2 more ideas for the story.

Tot Tuesday

Riley has a new favorite - Batman.

Extreme fun:)

Character Training - Gospel

J is working through the Virtue Training Bible as part of her fourth grade curriculum. We are half way through (approximately). With each new character, she adds to her Virtue notebook. This week was to learn about the importance of the gospel.

She starts her study by coloring her gospel word ring. She adds it to her ever growing ring of character virtues.

She looked up the word gospel in the dictionary and adds the definition to her notebook. We also take the time to read through our scripture mini book and discussed ways she can share the gospel with her friends.

J then highlighted the key verses in her bible. She loves this part. Our only problem has been to line up the tabs with the heading. Since we have started this Bible study, J is now highlighting other verses that she reads daily. I love it:)

Here is a picture of the notebook printables that I have created to go-along with the virtue of gospel. We add to her notebook with each virtue. If you would like to download a copy of my gospel notebook printables, link below. Have an awesome day.

Download Gospel Notebook Printable HERE.

Tot Tuesday

Sometimes you have to be flexible when schooling with a tot....

Riley seems to always want to be in the middle of things when we are doing school.

Riley is enjoying the book J is reading :)

J is such a good sister. You can tell she is used to these interruptions, she just continued reading. Have a great day.

Outside Fun

Recently, we had a break in our weather. It was actually nice, not too hot, but nice. We took our school outside. We brought our blanket,  a tray full of snacks, and a few toys for some outside school. It was nice while it lasted.

J brought her little house to play while I read from our chapter books.

We let our rabbit Oreo run around the yard while we were working on school stuff. She was a sweetie. J recently lost her to old age (we believe). She is sorely missed by my sweet little girl. IT is fun to deviate from school at the table to school outside. I hope we will be able to do it again soon. Enjoy your day.

FIAR - Owl Moon

Kaleb recently asked to learn about owls and what better book to add to our boy-directed learning but Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. Owl Moon is a Five in a Row title that we rowed along with our owl learning.

Kaleb has taken a sudden interest in writing by himself. He decided he wanted to write owl facts on his chart so he did. I spelled out what he wanted to write and he did it all by himself. Go, Kaleb! This chart came from First Grade Fever (link below).

Kaleb worked on the parts of an owl chart. He labeled all the parts of an owl. We learned about talons and hooked beaks. This free printable came from Imagine...Inspire...Innovate (link below).

 We watched some owl videos to hear the different sounds owls make. These were interesting.

I found a simple math activity from Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten (link below).  He had to solve the addition math problems and then color by number. All of the problems were doubles which we have been learning and reviewing daily.

Key words this week were talons, raptors, and carnivores. He made some mini books for his notebook defining these words.

Another owl math page that I found in the math pack by Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten (link below). He counted each type of owl and graphed the number on the chart. 

He made an owl from the letter O. Since I am not pushing him to read at the moment (I am waiting on him), we are practicing letter sounds. He likes these letter crafts so you may see more of them.

 I found some printable owl cards that I thought would made an excellent math activity. First, Kaleb measured out the average size of each owl species on yarn. He then taped the measured yarn to the owl cards.

Placing the owl/string cards on the bench, we were able to compare the different sizes of each owl. After some discussion, I had him put the owls in order from largest to smallest.

Here is his finished activity. He was able to see the variety of sizes of each type of owl. It was a great math activity. Also, you can see my tot in the back....smiling:) Not a bad week of Kaleb directed learning. We are off to learn about snakes. See you soon.

Links

House of Baby Piranha - has one of the ideas that I found using the letter O for an owl.

Real Life at Home - has a free printable pack for Owl Moon.

I Heart Crafty Things - has a great newspaper crafty owl that I truly wanted to make but I found I didn't have any newspaper:(

First Grade Fever - has the Owl can/have/are chart free printable that I used.

Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten - has the free owl math pages. I also used her owl measurement page to aid in our yarn measurement project.

Learn Create Love - has a free printable snowy owl page/craft to do.

Imagine Inspire Innovate - has the free printable owl diagram that we used.

Home School Share - has a few of the free printable books that we used for our owl study.

Tot Tuesday

Recently, we made some "alligator" rocks - rocks with alligators inside. I thought I would share some photos of Riley enjoying the treasure hunt.

Riley finding his first treasure rock - I wonder what's inside?

He found the bandana with the chocolate gold coins. He was pretty happy to find the chocolate stash.

He loved the chocolate coins but now, when he finds a gold coin - he thinks it is chocolate. BYW - he decided what he wanted to wear, hence the superman shirt and orange shorts:)

Character Training - Godly Speech

As part of our Bible curriculum, J is working through the Virtue Training Bible. We try to learn about a new virtue each week but sometimes, it just isn't possible. But we are definitely enjoying it. This week's virtue was Godly Speech.

She colored her word ring page. We read the verses and discussed them.

J is putting her notebook pages together. She always looks up the definition of the virtue in the dictionary and then adds ways she can put the virtue into action.

Here are J's notebook pages for Godly Speech. If you would like to download the pages I made to go along with Godly Speech, please feel free. Hope you have a great day.

Download Godly Speech Notebook Pages HERE.

Little House on the Prairie - Week 4

We are in our fourth week of The Little House on the Prairie. We are using The Prairie Primer to help our study of these books. 

She worked on her notebook page after we read the chapters.

In the book, Pa made a door for the new cabin. J made a replica using popsicle sticks.

I found a simple model at Hobby Lobby and J made a covered wagon. It was pretty simple and it works with her popsicle stick house.

Her finished project. We added some Playmobil horses to her wagon to make it complete. She was happy with it:)

Stellaluna Unit

Kaleb is currently directing our learning in our homeschool. I take care of the basic subjects like reading and math and he informs me what he would like to learn about. So far, we have learned about alligators, bears, and ants. I have an on going list of topics that he suggests and I usually try to find a go-along book for our focus. This week he wanted to learn about bats so I core book was Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. Here are a few of the activities that Kaleb completed.

We learned about the parts of a bat and worked on a bat diagram, a free printable from Mrs. Thompson's Treasures (link below).

We discussed nocturnal and diurnal animals and made a mini book for our learning notebook. This free book came from Homeschool Share (link below).

Kaleb worked on some Batty math facts using free batty counters. This printable came from Loving Our Learning (link below).

More batty facts from Loving Our Learning (link below).

Kaleb worked on a bat color book and we practiced reading it. This was found at Crystal McGinnis (link below).

We continued our discussion of nocturnal and diurnal animals. Kaleb made a poster, sorting all of the animals.

His finished poster. He even thought that he should add the family, so he did. This free printable came from A Place Called Kindergarten (link below).

Kaleb worked on beginning and ending sounds of words. He used letter tiles. He worked on this activity all week.

We discussed some important vocabulary this week. He learned carnivore, omnivore, and herbivore. He made a mini book that came from Homeschool Share.

He practiced "at" words. I showed him how to sound them out.

He made a cute bat craft that we hung on the window. This free printable came from Funky Fresh Firsties (link below).

At the end of the week, i gave him the alphabet stampers. He finished the beginning and ending sounds worksheets.

I taught him how to draw a simple bat. This activity was found Blue Tadpole Studio (link below).

He made a bat puppet that he is extremely happy about:) This cute and simple craft came from Maple Leaf Learning (link below).

Lastly, he compared bats and birds with this Venn diagram. The book helped a lot with this activity. This free printable came from Primary Library (link below). He definitely enjoyed learning about bats. We are off to learn about owls. See You soon.

Links

A Place Called Kindergarten - has the free nocturnal/diurnal animal sort that we used for our chart.

Mrs. Thompson's Treasures - has the free bat diagram printable.

Homeschool Share - Stellaluna lap book printable.

Loving Our Learning - has the free batty math printables.

Funky Fresh Firsties - free printable Going Batty craft.

Maple Leaf Learning - free printable bat puppet template.

Crystal McGinnis - bat color words mini book printable.

Blue Tadpole Studio - has the easy to draw bat tutorial.

Primary Library - free Venn diagram to compare birds and bats, perfect for Stellaluna.