Out of Retirement for Classic Units

I have mostly retired this blog, as perhaps, you may have noticed.  Some things have to fall out of the way when life gets busy.  I saw a link this morning on my Facebook wall, though, that called out to be blogged!  You know that I love classic children's books. I also love unit studies. They aren't exactly "Charlotte Mason", but I am not a strict sort of person. I am eclectic and love to pick and choose what works for us at the time!

Homeschool Share has put together a great list of links to unit studies based on classic books.  You'll find some familiar favorites, like Ferdinand and Corduroy, but some less common ones, too, like Harry the Dirty Dog, Maybelle the Cable Car and even Billy and Blaze!  This page will give you all the help you need to make a memorable summer program of reading for your preschooler or kindergartener!

Go take a look and choose one. Most of these books will be available at your local library, if you don't have them already. Each one is well worth investing in and keeping for your home library.  

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/blog/2014/04/free-unit-studies-based-on-classic-picture-books/

Playing Pick-It

One of my favorite things to do is pull out a game that we haven't played in a long time. I spied Pick-It in our game closet and decided to bring it out today.

This is a simple game that you can easily make at home.  Five small sticks (like matchsticks) and cards that show what position into which you try to build the sticks.  There are levels of play, from simply matching the pictures, to having a hand of five cards of building possibilities and having to move only one stick to make it match.  It can be played by one player as well as a group.

This works on fine motor skills, perception, memory, patterning and more. It's a great way to spend some time together and build skills!

Hen Mini-Unit

Today's letter is "H". We chose to study Hens. What a great spring activity. Besides, May is National Egg Month and what better way to celebrate eggs, than to learn about hens?

We read a few good books:

The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone
Henny Penny by Paul Galdone
Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox

We enjoyed a few fun activities:

Hen online puzzle

Online Farm and HenHouse game

Hen and chicks coloring page

"H" Tracing Page

Of course, we ate a good snack...

Chicken salad sandwiches

I also had a few dry wishbones that the children were able to snap.

For math, we learned that an egg is oval and why an oval isn't the same as a circle.

We also played a variation of Scrambled Egg Math. I took an egg carton and wrote numbers 0-9 inside each indention, along with an few extra 1's. I added two marbles. Each child got to shake the carton, then open it to see what numbers the marbles landed in. Then they counted out that many markers that were set nearby.

Gold Mini Unit

Gold! Everyone loves gold. It brings to mind a sense of adventure, like pirate gold, or security, like golden riches. We are studying gold today, but with a different mindset. Our memory verse is "How much better to get wisdom than gold!" Proverbs 16:16. There were many, many verses having to do with gold.

I used Printshop to design a bookmark with our verse on it. The children got to choose a colored ribbon to tie in a punched hole.


We did a pot of gold coloring page/handwriting page.

I showed them some gold that my husband and I panned out of the American River years ago and my golden ring and earrings. We also looked at pictures of ancient golden jewelry.

We read parts of some books:

King Midas and the Golden Touch by Nathanial Hawthorne, illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt
The Story of California by May McNeer, the gold rush section
Eyewitness: Rocks and Minerals, the gold section
The Wild West by Tim Wood, the gold rush section

I didn't use anything from it, but this is a neat looking resource!

We could have had goldfish for snack, but I can't stand the ingredients in those things. I could have made hardtack, but didn't think that would go over well. Instead, we juiced some beautiful oranges and had some fresh OJ with sandwiches.

Flower Mini-Unit

Today we are studying flowers. It's a lovely 74 today and it seems like the perfect thing to learn about for "F".

Coloring Page

Handwriting Page

We observed the lettuce plants, the pea flowers and the sprouting carrots in our garden.

We took a walk and identified the many flowers gracing the neighbors yards. We took pictures till the camera battery died! All the trees are in bloom and there are hundreds of bees working on the blossoms. What a nice way to tie in previous lessons!

We learned the different parts of flowers.

We read:
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
Flowers
Wildflowers of California's Central Valley and Sierra

Thumbprint flowers would have been a fun activity, too, but we didn't have time to get to it. GirlofGod made the children a flower balloon, instead.

Earwig Mini-Unit

Earwigs are today's topics! These little creatures are often seen but little studied. Did you know it's very easy to tell males from females? Just check out their pincers!

How to Recognize an Earwig

Earwig coloring page

"E" in sign language coloring sheet

We collected several earwigs from our yard and observed them in a jar. We found one "Big Queen" earwig and five tiny ones.

We talked about what earwigs eat (plant matter and occasionally other bugs) and what they do not (whatever is in people's ear canals). We discussed their life cycle: how they lay eggs, protect them and care for the nymphs that hatch and how they grow.

We sang the ABC song, and our version, too, which is personalized with the units we have done. We talked about the many sounds of "E". We also played with the Pattern Blocks and talked of shapes and colors. The girls built and built with those blocks!

A fun day was had all around. In fact, the little darling above wanted to take the earwig specimens home, believe it or not!

Dinosaur Mini-Unit

D is for Dinosaur! What a fun little study. We had to take a couple of weeks off due to coughs and colds, but preschool mini-units are now ready to continue. Here are links to the pages I used:

D is for Dinosaur handwriting page, take your pick, there are SO many!
This week's first coloring page
This week's second coloring page

We looked at pictures, read portions and discussed MANY cool dino books:

Dinosaurs By Design
D is for Dinosaur
Life in the Great Ice Age
A is for Adam
What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Dry Bones and Other Fossils
The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs
Fossils
EyeWitness Dinosaur
EyeWitness Fossils
Dinosaur Hunters
Dinosaur Dinners

We explored our box filled with assorted fossils, rock and bones. We even have a real dinosaur bone that they got to hold. We got ours years ago from a company that no longer offers them. Many of these fossils came as a gift from a friend in Illinois. Thanks, Newtons!

We played with the many plastic dinosaurs that we have. Some Littles liked that more than others.

We ate Salted Dinosaur Eggs for snack. I just spiderweb cracked the hard-boiled eggs and soaked them in food coloring/water solution for a while (KoolAid also works) but here's a very detailed blog about it with a cool picture.

Several of the children also played a short game of Monopoly Junior, Dinosaur Edition. What a day we had. Fun was had all around and we are looking forward to next time when we study "Ee".

*ETA: We found a neat show on Netflix, free for the streaming for members: Dragons or Dinosaurs.

My "Year 0.5" Plan

So what do you do if you've finished all the AO Y0 books and your child isn't ready for Year 1? Here's what I did. I also like to do occasional mini-units.

My "Year 0.5" Plan

Bible

Daily Bible reading and memorization with the family

Small Rain selections chosen by Jessie Orton Jones illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones

Wise Words for Little People by Kenneth N. Taylor

Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth N. Taylor


History

The Bear The Heard Crying by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey illustrated by Ted Rand

Will’s Quill by Don Freeman

Various historical I Can Read books: ie: George the Drummer Boy, Clipper Ship, Six Silver Spoons, The 18 Penny Goose, The Drinking Gourd, Hill of Fire, The Josefina Story Quilt, Sam the Minuteman, etc.

Various historical Step Into Reading books: ie: George Washington and the General's Dog, The Statue of Liberty, Pompeii: Buried Alive, Tut's Mummy: Lost and Found, Abe Lincoln's Hat, Gold Fever, etc.


Science

Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie dePaola

The Year At Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

Various science related I Can Read books: ie: Greg's Microscope, Red Tag Comes Home, Egg to Chick, Let's Get Turtles, When an Animal Grows, Seeds and More Seeds, Plenty of Fish, etc.

Various science related Step Into Reading books: ie: Bones, Moonwalk, Benjamin Franklin and the Magic Squares, Monster Bugs, Dinosaur Babies, Microscopic Monsters, etc.


Math/Counting

1 is One by Tasha Tudor

Ray's Mathematics (free online book)

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

The King's Chessboard by David Birch

How Much is a Million by David Schwartz

G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book by David Schwartz



Folk Tales

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde illustrated by Hilda Boswell (preferred) or by Lisbeth Zwerger

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Wanda Ga’g

The Man Who Didn’t Wash Dishes by Phyllis Krasilovsky illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Assorted folk tales retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone

Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed and others by Steven Kellogg


Natural Sciences

Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky

Little Black Bear Goes For A Walk by Berniece Freschet illustrated by Glen Rounds

Assorted books by Gladys Conklin and Herbert Zim



Rhyming/Poetry

My First Books of Prayers

Hairy McClary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd

Mother Goose Rhymes published by Platt and Munk


ABC Books

Peter Rabbit’s ABC by Beatrix Potter

The ABC Bunny by Wanda Ga’g

Apricot ABC by Miska Miles


Imagination

The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss illustrated by Marc Simont

Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets

In The Forest by Marie Hall Ets

Corgiville Fair by Tasha Tudor

Tim’s Friend, Towser and others by Edward Ardizzone

Cricket Mini-Unit

This week's preschool lesson is "C" for cricket. I could have choose many other topics, but I thought crickets would be fun and unusual. Other reasons: 'boy' topics are often ignored in preschool and I like tough kids that aren't afraid of insects! Knowledge is power!

We read:
A Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood
and the appropriate sections of:
Grasshoppers and Crickets by Dorothy Childs Hogner
Bugs of Northern California by Acorn & Sheldon

I almost always have crickets on hand to feed our numerous cricket-eating pets, so I got an observation cube out and captured one. They loved seeing it up close.

For my older students, I saved "How to Draw a Cricket" lesson.
I printed this coloring page for them to enjoy and this handwriting page.
We watched a male cricket chirping here.

We made "Crickets on a Log" and "Cricket Food" (recipe below) for our snack.
We learned about what crickets eat.
We talked about people eating crickets.

We practiced putting manipulatives into groups according to size (big, bigger, biggest) and talked about rectangles.

Recipe for "Cricket Food"

8 oz coconut milk
2 carrots
large handful raw spinach
large handful mixed salad greens
2 Tbsp raw honey
1/4 of a large avocado
1 frozen banana
water and ice

Blend and drink.

Bee Mini-Unit

This weeks' mini-lesson was on the letter 'B' and Bees. We also counted groups of objects and tried to group counters to match a given numeral. Here are some of the links I used for printables and activities:

Online Bee Puzzle
'B' Handwriting Page
'Bee" Copywork Page
Bee-keeper Coloring Page
A Magnified Bee Wing

We made No-Bake Granola Balls for snack and had so much fun! I pulled out our bee-keeping equipment and let the children wear the beekeeper's hat and work the smoker.

We read a couple of good books:
"The Queen With Bees in Her Hair" by Cheryl Harness
"The Honey Makers" by Gail Gibbons

We had a fun day!

Apple Mini-Unit

We are having a friend's children over once a week for informal preschool lessons. "M" is 4 years old and "C" is 3 years old. They are SO adorable! This weeks lesson focused on the letter 'A', apples and the number '0'. I also did some assessment work with "M" so I know better what to teach next week. Today we used online printables, story books and some things I had on hand.

"A" handwriting sheet
Apple coloring page
Apple Poems-we used "Johnny Appleseed"

We read Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg and How Do Apples Grow by Betty Maestro.

For lunch we enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sliced Granny Smith apples and homemade applesauce. We saved the seeds from the sliced apples in a baggie, so they could carry apple seeds just like Johnny Appleseed did.

When "C" was telling back the story of Johnny Appleseed to me, he continually called him 'Johnny Applesauce". How cute is that?

To introduce the concept of 'zero', I had "M" hold out her empty hand. I asked her how many pieces of candy she had in her hand. She giggled and said, "None". I told her the number that means 'none' is ZERO. Then I asked silly things like, "How many hats are on your head?", "ZERO". "How many elephants do you have for pets?", "ZERO!" I mixed it up by asking questions that were answered with other numbers: "How many eyes do you have?", "How many people are in this room?"

"M" was able to remember the word "ZERO" and used it properly when her Mama came to pick her up. We had a lot of fun and I am privileged to be able to help this dear family! I'm sure looking forward to next week!

ETA: I like this site, too! I'll certainly be using it next week.

Lion Mini-Unit

I pulled an old favorite from the shelf the other day. It was "Andy and the Lion" by James Daugherty. Remember that one? I love the graceful illustrations: the swing of Andy's books from their tether, the torment in the lion's face as Andy pulls the thorn; and the relief afterward... Troubles, Missy and the 3 year old I babysit listened to the story.

Then we watched this clip, this clip, and this clip on YouTube. After the little one went home, we watched this amazing video. We were astounded! The next day I read "Lion" by William Pene Du Bois (and discovered that I have two copies each with different covers) and "The Monkey, The Lion and The Snake" by Kurt Werth.

We learned that ancient people drew lions on the walls of caves:

We learned some new lion-related words: pride, savanna, predator, mane, carnivore. We located where lions live on the map. The Littles created lions out of playdough:

We printed off a lion coloring page.

We read about Jesus being called the Lion of the tribe of Judah and discussed why he would be called that. We also recalled how David killed a lion that threatened his sheep and that Sampson defended himself against an attacking lion and killed it.

Other books that will be read together over the next few days are:

Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and A Prologue by Maurice Sendak (sang by Carole King in this clip)
The Happy Lion by Lousie Fatio
The Happy Lion's Quest by Lousie Fatio
The Tawny, Scrawny Lion by Kathryn Jackson
Herbert the Lion by Clare Turlay Newberry
Various Aesop's Fables with lions as characters (there are many!)
A Peaceable Kingdom illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen (not really about lions, but the cover is beautiful!)
Dandelion by Don Freeman
The Big Cats by Herbert Zim (Lion section only)
ZooBooks: The Big Cats (Troubles has been most fascinated by this one)

ETA more books (I can't believe I forgot about Bill Peet!):
Randy's Dandy Lions by Bill Peet
Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure by Bill Peet

Wee Gillis: A Mini Unit

We began this study after reading "Wee Gillis". I am so fond of Robert Lawson's illustrations! The Little Lambies: Troubles, Missy and Jack all listened and learned quite a bit about Scotland just from one reading.

We looked up the location of Scotland compared to our location in California and Israel. We always address geographical locations from these two points. We named the seven continents and they deduced which continents Scotland is located on. We spoke of what countries are to the north, south, east and west of Scotland.

We Google-traveled a road or two and looked around on street view. How green it is! Of course it's because it rains so much.



We looked at Loch Ness and discussed the Monster. I read to them a few appropriate pages of Jaws, Claws and Dinosaurs by William Gibbons and Kent Hovind.

We listened to bagpipe music. We listened to other traditional Scottish songs, too.

We learned about haggis. The children decided they did not want a sample of that!



We looked at pictures of long-haired cows and Scottish stags.

The Flag of Scotland was built out of Legos (thanks to Renee for the idea!).

We spoke about kilts and why men wear them. We discussed plaid and tartans and their meaning. This craft seemed appropriate.

I made a coloring page out of this image of Wee Gillis.



We practiced blowing balloons up in one breath to show how very strong Gillis' lungs must have been!

This was a fun little study. I think the Little Lambies learned a lot!

September Story Books

The first few days of September were school days. We finished reading Jack the Giant Killer and Daniel Boone from the Book House books. We also have been continuing Winnie the Pooh, 100 EZ Lessons and other school books. Here begins the list of other stories that we have read this month.

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne (began several weeks ago. We read 1-2 chapters a week.)
Rolling Rose by James Stevenson
The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock by Bill Peet
Davy Crockett Saves the World by Rosalyn Schanzer
The Soldier and the Tsar by Uri Shulevitz
Yonie Wondernose by Marguarite de Angeli
The Story of Noah's Ark by Tony Palazzo
The Cat on the Dovrefell: A Christmas Tale illustrated by Tomie de Paola
Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf (two times!)
Tim Tadpole and the Great Bullfrog by Marjorie Flack (two times!)
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
McBroom's Ghost by Sid Fleischman
Marguerite De Angeli's Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes
The Story of Babar the Little Elephant by Jean de Brunhoff
The Animal by Lorna Balian
Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw
Tadpole and Frog by Christine Back and Barrie Watts
Pish, Posh said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard
Now It's Fall by Lois Lenski
The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne
Three Blind Mice by John W. Ivimey, illustrated by Paul Galdone
The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg
The Mother Goose Book illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen
The Wuggie Norple Story by Daniel M. Pinkwater illustrated by Tomie de Paola
Shrek by William Steig
Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss
Harry and the Terrible Whatzit by Dick Gackenbach

The Boys and the Frogs

The Boys and the Frogs by Aesop, illustrated by Milo Winter

Narrated by Troubles:

The boys were throwing stones and the frogs were scared. One of the frogs, the one who was brave, stuck his head up out of the water. He said....

Narrated by Missy:

"Stop. We don't want to die."

Concluded by Momma:

The Moral of the Story is..."Always stop to think whether your fun may not be the cause of another's unhappiness."

Missy also used the moral for her copywork today.

Floor Puzzles

My Lambies, Polly, Jack, Missy and Troubles spent some time with
floor puzzles the other day. They choose to build the glow-in-the-dark creatures set.

What a great way to learn some biology, practice fine motor and classification skills and have fun
at the same time.

Storybooks for August

We began school this month, so our lit and science books will be included in this list from now on, as well as impromptu read alouds.

The Chicken Book by Garth Williams
Bomby the Bombardier Beetle by Hazel May Rue
Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall
Eloise Wilkins' Mother Goose
The Roly-Poly Pudding by Beatrix Potter
Over the Meadow by John Langstaff
Baby Whales Drink Milk by Barbara Juster Esbensen
began Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
missed quite a few right through here.....
selections from God Loves You by Catherine Marshall (love.love.love this find!!)
Daniel Boone in The Book House Vol. 9 (read over several weeks)
Jack the Giant Killer in The Book House Vol. 6 (read over several weeks)
A Nest Full of Eggs
What the Moon is Like by Franklyn M. Branley
Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg
Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace
Rumpelstiltskin illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Eyewitness Insects (specifically the dragonfly and damselfly pages)
Sir Small and the Dragonfly by Jane O'Conner

Copywork Generator

I came across this link I thought I'd share. It's for a handwriting page/copywork generator. It also has an online test that you can administer to your PK-K children to assess what letters they know. You can print the results, too! I quiz my youngest daughter often to see what she is retaining. This will be easier for me.

Handwriting Worksheets

Enjoy!

Story Books for July

Here's my list of July books. These are read to my eight and under set. Older than that read independently most of the time.

The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Crockett Johnson (twice)
I Watch Flies by Gladys Conklin (twice)
The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh
Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
The Little Boat That Almost Sank-Arch Book
The Fishermen's Surprise -Arch Book
The Man Who Carried The Cross For Jesus-Arch Book
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone
Fish Head by Jean Fritz
George Washington and the General's Dog by Frank Murphy
The Bear That Heard Crying by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey
George and Martha-Tons of Fun by James Marshall
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Outside Over There by Marice Sendak
The Twelve Labors of Hercules by Marc Cerasini

Preschool Math

I spent some time doing math with my preschoolers (and Polly) today. Expecting to spend about a half hour, we played together for over an hour. They didn't even know we were doing school!

Go Fish helps them practice matching numbers and memory skills.
War develops greater than/less than skills and patience (especially for Momma!)
Concentration exercises memory, matching and strategy.

What a great way to spend time with my Littles!