Blast Off To Summer - E

Onto letter E....This one was somewhat harder than some others. E is for...

Experiments

Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen

This is a cute book about trying to figure out which animal sank the boat. We will use this book as a basis for some boat experiments.

Little Labs Stepping into Science Kit

I found this kit last summer in a Goodwill. It contained most of the items needed for simple experiments to complete around the house. We will be using these experiments today. (not a good pic, sorry)

Experiment #1

How many marbles will it take to sink the boats?

I found three different types of boats that the kids use for their water play. After reading our book, I asked J to determine how many marbles would sink each boat. I wrote down her answer and then we tested her hypothesis.

The one boat that surprised us was the blue boat. She guessed that it would be 12 marbles to bring it down. It was actually 28 marbles!

Experiment #2

Does it dissolve in water?

We discussed what it meant to "dissolve" - breaking into pieces so small that you can no longer see it. I gave her a tray of 5 items (coffee grounds, sugar cubes, rice, flour, and oatmeal) and J expressed which items she thought would dissolve in the water. Then we did the experiment!

J actually thought the coffee grounds would dissolve but we found out differently. She was correct on the other items though.

Experiment #3

What happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar?

I gave J a container with some baking soda, two cups of vinegar with some food coloring, and an eye dropper. The look on her face says it all....she had fun with this one. 

The baking soda and vinegar react with each other providing an excellent assortment of fizzing and such. She worked through the entire dish of baking soda, mixing colors as she went.

Experiment #4

What do we get when we add Kool Aid and sugar in water?

Okay, this isn't really an experiment but my daughter hasn't had Kool Aid before. I found these packets of the drink mix that I had been waiting to use. I decided to use them since we are getting ready to go to 'Merica. 

She mixed up some strawberry Kool Aid and loved it. Experiments were fun and easy to do. We are off to the next letter....counting down to the end of the school year. It will be here before we know it.

Sonlight Week 32

Wow, we just finished our 32nd week of Sonlight and we are working through our countdown to summer. We read about the Space Station this week along with finishing up the reading on mountains. We picked up the Five True Dog Stories chapter book, one that we started long ago. J has been waiting for that one because she just loves animal stories. We are still working our way through The House at Pooh Corner. J finished her math textbook! She was wondering if she was getting a new textbook for next week. I am planning on reviewing concepts for the rest of the school year and possibly let her do "math" on the iPad. Here are a few of the activities we did this week.

J worked on her reading skills. She colored by word with this free printable from. She read the word then colored it the correct color.

She wrote several sentences this week after her reading lessons. I tried to encourage her to work with certain words for extra practice. She came up with several good sentences and worked on writing them correctly.

While clearing out my papers, I found this old sheet that I had printed for Dr. Seuss. It involves rhyming words. J cut out the words, read them, and glued them under the correct rhyming word. 

We read, read, and read. I have a basket full of easy readers, sight word readers, and Bob books. We work through all the books by reading at least 4 of them per day. Then she replaces them in the basket but turns them around, so she won't choose them again. That way, we can work through the entire basket without repeating a book. The basket is added to weekly with new books depending on what concepts we are working on.

It seems that the better the weather, the less pictures I take of our school day. We are enjoying our days of warmer weather by playing outside on our balcony and in our local park. Hope your week went well, see you next Friday.

Blast off to Summer - D

We are slowly working through our countdown to summer. We are now on the letter D. D is for....

Dinosaurs, Doughnuts and Dinner

Dinosaur Babies by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Oh Say Can You Say Di-No-Saur? by Bonnie Worth

My First Dinosaur Touch and Feel by DK Publishing

We read all the books about dinosaurs that I hadn't packed yet. Kaleb loved the Touch and Feel book.

I buried dinosaurs in the sand box and had the kids dig them out using small tools like they were paleontologists. They loved this activity - sorry no pics.

Then we made a home made version of Funfetti cupcake doughnuts. These turned out really well and were super easy to make. The recipe can be found HERE.

J filled the doughnut pan - I totally love this pan. I only wish I had 2 pans because most recipes make a dozen doughnuts.

J iced them and added more sprinkles.

She also helped to make dinner. Not too bad for letter D, onto letter E. We are counting down the days until summer...join us.

Blast Off To Summer - C

Our Blast Off To Summer activities are continuing. We are now on the letter C.

C is for ......

Creepy Crawlies

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

A great book about a hungry caterpillar eating all kinds of food.

I'm a Caterpillar by Jean Marzollo

A book about a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

Bugs are Insects by Anne Rockwell

An informative book about the different types of insects.

We read all about creepy crawlies. 

They worked on coloring large monarch butterflies. Kaleb was thrilled that I was allowing him to use the skinny markers. The template came from Learn Create Love.

After learning the characteristics of insects, J separated some creatures into insect and not insect categories.

This is her T-chart of insects and not insects. 

Then we practiced our sight words by playing Candyland. She loves playing games and I love adding an educational twist to them (always the teacher).

The clipart is from:

Tot Tuesday

I am still in the process of packing and cleaning the house to prepare for our trip to 'Merica. I have been trying to do a little at a time so I don't have to rush at the last moment. I was packing when I noticed this...

Kaleb found a soft covered book and spread out on the floor to "read" it.

I don't normally like for him to have soft covered books because of the fear he will tear them up. But he is learning how to carefully turn the pages and such, so I can't complain.  IT was nice to see him curl up and enjoy a good book.

Blast Off To Summer - B

Second day in our end of the year countdown activities. 25 days and counting. We are on the letter B.

B is for ......

Bubbles and Balloons

The Bubble Factory by Tomie dePaola

The kids take a tour of the bubble factory. 

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

I love this series and couldn't help to add it to the list to read. 

The Bear Who Dares by Kate Toms

Remember my book stash is located in boxes at the moment. I found this book which is about a bear who likes to try new things.

After reading our choice of books, we started with creating our paddles for balloon ping pong.

We used paper plates, markers, and large popsicle sticks.

J drew a hamster on her paddle.

Then, we played several rounds of balloon ping pong. 

Then, on to the bubbles. It was unfortunate that the day was cold and rainy. I had planned for bubble play out on the balcony but we had to change it. I added water, dish soap, and food coloring to a plastic container. I gave them whisks and told them to stir away.

J didn't think this would work but it turned out pretty cool. All the color then turned the water black but no worries, they still had fun.

Then, they created more bubbles by mixing and playing. They "washed" the dishes and Kaleb had fun putting bubbles on J's arm (of course). They played with the bubbles for close to an hour, sweet! On to letter C....

The clipart rocket is from:

Sonlight Week 31

This week was cut short by an impromptu trip to see some friends who are in the country. We worked hard to finish our week in three days. (This was J's decision as she didn't want to take any school stuff with her on this trip.)

We worked through the language sheets. Because they are easy, I just let her work through them with her fingers.

J finished her handwriting book. She wanted to finish this week and she did.

We read about space this week for Science. She learned about space travel and how space suits keep the astronaut safe. We are still reading The House at Pooh Corner and we just started Wild Places. Only a few more weeks left, I can't imagine! Hope you had a great week. See you later.