Walking by the Way

Two Weeks with Miss Hickory

We tried our first ever chapter book unit study using Miss Hickory as our base.   We read two chapters each day and really just focused on the woodland animals in the story.   I printed off lots of things that we didn’t use, but that’s okay (I keep telling myself this at least).   It’s better to have an enjoyable time together and to learn than to push through something just so you can check it off the list. 

Elijah also did two Draw Write Nows (Woodland Animals from book 6 and Squirrels from book 2).  Look at that chubby chipmunk!   Elijah was very upset about how fat he turned out, but I reassured him that it was cute.

Here are some pictures of his Miss Hickory Lap N Note

Cover art courtesy of Breezy Tulip

Bullfrogs

For the inside of these matchbooks, I typed up the information and Elijah cut/pasted it in.  I used the minit books as a teaching tool instead of a what have you learned thing.  It’s okay to use different pieces in a lapbook for different things.  I think mixing it up helps the student enjoy the work more.

Rodents Page

The minit book at the top is full of rodent facts.   Elijah named as many as he could on his own and then we read together to learn even more.    The book at the bottom of the page lists all the rodents Elijah could think of!

Chipmunks Page

Squirrels Page (with mint books open)

Crow Page

Deer Page

Geography Page (New Hampshire)
We still need to fill out the facts section

Language Arts Page
Um, we cheated on this one.  The bottom right side is for vocabulary cards/pocket, but I just didn’t feel like having him complete them.  Reading two chapters/day, this would have been very difficult.  Instead, I just explained the words he asked about as we read.  

About This Book (open)

Showing Movement Accordion
Elijah circled all the words that show movement.  Then, I asked him to think of more.  He stood up and started acting things out for me, so I played secretary and logged them while he played drama practice.

Overall, we had a great experience with ou first chapter book unit!   We are gearing up for learning all about Australia this month and then moving on to another chapter book (Mr. Popper’s Penguins!) for December. 

Happy Homeschooling! 

Ride a Train! Ride a Train!

Simon has been wanting to ride a train since he was born (honestly, I think this is a fair and true statement!).  Last weekend, we had the opportunity to take the boys on a pumpkin train, so we did.  We got to the yard early and had a few minutes to tour some old trains.   Once we boarded our train, we took a 20 minute ride to a pumpkin patch complete with petting zoo, hay maze, face painting, pumpkin painting, snacks, and more.  Our expedition was definitely the highlight of little Simon’s 2 1/2 year old life. 

It was hard to get good pictures.  The boys were very distracted with all the excitement of being around on on real trains!

Just a thought…

The people I keep the house clean for are more important than keeping the house clean.

Spider Web Art

Another fun one!   This is great for fine motor skill practice as well as getting to experiment with a different medium-  chalk pastels.  The glue on Elijah’s globbed together in the middle, so we decided to add a spider.  Also, if you decide to make this, please keep in mind that it is a two day project. 

Instructions are found here.

Welcome to the Apple Factory

I came home from the Farmer’s Market with about 115 pounds of apples.  Now, I know this is small stuff to some of you, but for me- it’s a big deal! 

Here is a picture of two gallons of sauce-

Here is a bit of it bagged up for freezing…why do you only see 7 quarts instead of 8?  Well, maybe one quart fell on the floor and exploded. 

On to the pie filling-

Thirty-two cups of apples cut up!

Thirty-two cups of apples made into yummy filling. 

I used this recipe, but I doubled the spices.  Two teaspoons of cinnamon for five pies seemed too little to me.  This concoction served a double purpose in my home; I wanted it to put in the freezer for winter pies, but also to fill my home with the sweet smell of fall, and I knew two teaspoons of cinnamon wouldn’t be fragrant enough for me.    The thirty-two cups of apples will yield enough filling for ten pies- woo hoo!

I don’t have an applesauce recipe to share.  Basically, I peel them then core them.  I fill up a pot (6 or 8 quart) with apple wedges and add 1-2 cups of water, lots of cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar.  I cook them until they are very soft, mash them with a potato masher, let it cool, and put it in freezer bags.  

Happy Cooking! 

Simon’s Purple Painting

Simon loves to paint and when he saw Elijah with the watercolors, he asked me for some purple paint, too. 

The Masterpiece

Watercolor Crayon Resist Leaf

I saw this idea over at Art Projects For Kids, so we decided to try it out today. 

First Elijah traced a leaf pattern.  Then he outlined it in red crayon.  I gave him some textured cardboard from my scrapbooking stash and put it under the leaf.  He chose a yellow crayon and rubbed it over the leaf. 

He added veins and chose warm watercolors to paint the inside of the leaf.

We let the painting dry and then he chose a cool color- purple to paint the background.  I wasn’t sure about purple, but it was his painting…not mine. 

The finished product.  Purple was a lovely choice! 

Leah’s Pony Lapbook/Notebook

What a great story.   What a great, great story.  I don’t care how old you are or whether or not you homeschool, you need to go to the library and check out Leah’s Pony and read it.  It’s just fabulous!

Dust Bowl Map

Right: Great Depression/Dust Bowl Shutterbook
Left:  Character Studies- Kindness Split Matchbook, Sacrifice Flap, Who’s Who Kindness Sorting

Insects Pages
Left- Insects Wheel, Insect Cards and Pocket
(cards from Giant Science Resource Book)
Right- Worksheet from Giant Science Resource Book

Grasshopper Pages
Left- Grasshopper Diagram from Enchanted Learning, Lifecycle of a Grasshopper from Lapbook Lessons,  How Does a Grasshopper Breathe?
Right- Grasshopper Predators Petal Book,  Grasshopper Legs Flap

Language Arts Pages
Left – Copywork from "Who Has Seen the Wind?"
Right- Windy Weather Words (word find), Alliteration Petal Book, Vocabulary Fan

You can’t see in the picture, but Elijah circled the letters that show the examples of alliteration on that minit book.

Corn/Plants Page
What do plants need to grow?  Shutterflap and a diagram of a corn plant

Pumpkins Field Trip

A pumpkin event that appealed to the senses!  We touched pumpkins, tasted pumpkins & seeds (both raw and cooked), looked at the differences between vine fruits (pumpkins, gourds, and squash), and picked a pumpkin.   Elijah said this was his "best field trip ever!"

Gather ’round to learn about pumpkins!

Lifecycle Craft
From seed to leaf to yellow flower to green pumpkin (all on a green ribbon vine and stored in an orange supercat pumpkin bag!)

Tasting

Pumpkin, Gourd, or Squash?

Pumpkins from the Patch!

Group Shot

Random Pictures

Co-op Auction for Leah’s Pony

Last week we read Leah’s Pony and learned about plants, The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, kindness, sacrifice, grasshoppers, and more! 

We had a great start to our week at co-op!  After the story reading, we had an auction with a real auctioneer.   Each child brought something to auction off and each child won an item to take home.  The bidding was done with paper plate paddles and the money was from a Monopoly game.

Our group listening to and learning from the auctioneer who came to visit.

Cute little ring boy helping sell the pretty painting that was up for bids.

Who will start the bidding at $1?

Battle of the Bids