Tot Tuesday

I recently found this mesh bag chewing toy for Riley. This is so cool! It enables him to try foods that would normally choke him but in a safe manner. I love it. So far, we have tried small oranges, watermelon (a favorite of his), ice cubes for teething, banana, limes, lemons, blueberries, and some peaches. This has been a great tool for Riley to learn how to feed himself as well as teethe.

He is such a happy boy! He loves watermelon and can't get enough of it. Thanks Grandpa!

Geography Unit

We finalized our Geography Unit! I was so glad that we took the time to include Geography in our school year. We learned about continents, countries, and even World Landmarks. It was just an overview of World Geography but it was enough to allow J to explore the world around her. If you have time, include some Geography in your school. It was well worth it. Our base book for the unit was My World by Ira Wolfman.

J practiced the names of the continents by putting together a World Puzzle. We did this several times to give her a feel of where the continents belong.

We read about continental drift and practiced putting the continents together to see how they might have fit. This free printable came from A Little Pinch of Perfect (link below).

She practiced labeling the continents. All these sheets will go into her Geography Notebook.

She worked through some continent notebook pages that I found from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom (link below). You can see her new pixie haircut that she absolutely loves.

I found this awesome felt map set from the Discovery Channel Toys. J labeled the continents and added the animals.

This is a finished product. I love this map. I technically bought it for her Science last year but it came in handy with this unit.

I love the World Landmark Toob miniatures. I found some printable cards which we added to the map.

J is working on her mapping. After she would learn about a certain landmark, she would add it to her map.

Using our World Atlas App for the iPad, we learned about several of the landmarks.

J would learn about each landmark and add it to her notebook page. She would draw a picture of it and write a fact about it. Also, while I was at the Dollar Store this week, I found flag stickers of a ton of countries. She is adding those to our map as well.

We both have learned a lot from this unit. My favorite was learning about the Moai Statues on Easter Island and then having the privilege of actually seeing one in person at the Smithsonian! We are hoping for a family trip to Washington D.C. this summer. We will see...

Take the time, if possible, to include Geography into your studies. We definitely learned a lot and it opened our eyes to the world around us. After we learned about the Moai Statues, we saw them everywhere! J was so excited when that happened (so was I) because it made the learning real to her. I didn't use a pre planned curriculum - just a core book, a globe, a map, and a few landmark miniatures. You can do this too :)


Links

Hippo Hooray for Second Grade - has a link to a youtube video for a song about the continents and oceans that she created.

My World by Ira Wolfman

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - free Globetrotters printable pack.

Worldsapart Geography Pinterest Board

A Little Pinch of Perfect - free continent printable.

Hands on Homeschooler - free printable 3 part cards for the World Landmark Toob.

Tot Tuesday

There is a running joke in my house about green beans....I have a strong dislike for green beans. I won't mention why but my kids know it. Now, I know that it is hereditary!

He's not so sure of this yucky green food....

Yeah, I don't think so! Ha! I will try them again later. I won't give up!

Human Body Unit - Kidneys, Spleen, Pancreas, and Cells

Before we left for Grandma's and Grandpa's, we worked through a quick over view of the kidneys, spleen, pancreas, and cells. Here are a few of the activities we did.

We started this week by reading/checking out as many resources as I can get my hands on from our personal library as well as the public library. She is working on her kidneys for her life-size human body.

She worked on a cell model. We read about all of the different parts and their functions. I didn't go into too much detail since she will be seeing this cell model again.

J colored a worksheet that explained the functions of the kidneys and spleen.

She learned about some of the different body cells and colored a chart which she added to her body chart.

She added her new body pieces to her chart. It is really coming along! I can't wait to see it finished. We are moving on to bones and muscles.

Links

Crayola - has the free printable cell coloring sheet that we will add to our human body notebook.

Dover Publications - free printable kidney coloring page for notebook.

If you are looking for the texts and printables that we are using, please visit our first post about our human body unit here.