Goodnight Moon

We "rowed" our first book, using our Before Five in a Row curriculum. We chose Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown as our first selection and we had so much fun with it!

"In a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. "Goodnight room, goodnight moon." And to all the familiar things in the softly lit room--to the picture of the three little bears sitting in chairs, to the clocks and his socks, to the mittens and the kittens, to everything one by one--he says goodnight." (harpercollinschildrens.com)

The book is written in rhyme and so we started our week working on rhyming words.
I used images found on Homeschool Share to create a rhyming words worksheet for Ella.  This was her first experience with rhyming work.  She didn't quite grasp the concept on her own, but she did have a good time being included.

I made a rhyming memory game for the girls to play.  Again, I used the images found on Homeschool Share.  Instead of matching two of the same picture, the girls were to match rhyming pictures.  Although Ella had to be told the "matching" picture to look for, both girls loved this game and asked to play it again and again.

For our final rhyming activity, the girls put together their rhyming puzzle.

The book is illustrated with black and white pictures on every other page and color pictures on every other page.  The colored pictures are illustrated in the primary colors (red, blue and yellow) and one secondary color (green).  We did a primary/secondary coloring mixing experiment, which I talked more about here.

Arin recorded the results of the experiment on this simple sheet that I made her.

We worked on a paint mixing experiment.  I gave the girls a plate with blue paint and yellow paint on it.  Apparently, I didn't give them the right ratios of paint because the resulting green color wasn't very bright or pretty, but they got the idea. 

They used the green paint to color a sheet of cardstock.

We later used these pieces of green painted cardstock as a background for Arin's illustration/narration of the story.

The girls worked together on the Goodnight Moon activity found here.

One of the things mentioned in the story, was a pair of mittens.  Ella worked on a mitten coloring matching game.  We printed mittens from here.  On the blank mittens, I made Ella's handprints in the coordinating colors as the colored mittens.  Then, Ella was to match the colors and clothespin them together.

Sometimes you need to mix it up a bit and use your mouth to open the pins.

It's always fun to complete a task!

Ella worked on the letter M this week.  I wrote about her coloring the letter Mm here.  She also learned what sound the letter M makes.

In the story, the little bunny says goodnight to all the objects in his bedroom.  Arin wrote words of objects in her bedroom.  We hung the labels around her room and every night she has been saying goodnight to everything.

Once again, we used the images from Homeschool Share in an activity.  Arin used these pictures in a goodnight sequencing activity.

In the story, the bunny says goodnight to clocks.  Arin reviewed time telling to the hour.

We also learned about the moon this week. 

The girls sponge painted the phases of the moon (found here).  Then, we put them in order and named each phase.  We should have made one more dark moon to complete the cylcle (or maybe set the phases up in a circle?)

We learned how craters are made on the moon by doing this experiment.  We filled a pan with flour aka the moon and then dropped magnetic balls aka meteors onto the moon.  Then, we used a second magnet to remove the magnetic ball.  The result was  a crater left on the moon's surface.  They loved, loved, loved this experiment.  It made a huge mess (we should have done it outside), but it was priceless to watch them enjoying the lesson so much.

As a special treat, the girls helped bake Moon Pies.  We used the recipe found here.

The story also mentions a red balloon.  As our last activity, the girls did a science experiment with their daddy.  They were able to successfully push a wooden skewer through a balloon without popping it.  We also explained to the girls how this could happen, but I am pretty sure that explanation was too advanced for them.

We had a great first week of school.  Next, we'll be rowing My Blue Boat by Chris L. Demarest

Psalm 117:2

We started Arin's Little Keeper's at Home program this week.  This program requires the little girls to complete tasks in different areas (Bible, Basic Skills, Homemaking, Nature) to earn merit badges.  We didn't buy the badges, but I think I will make some sort of chart for her to check off her accomplishments.  The first assignment was to memorize a kindness memory verse.  They suggested learning Psalm 117:2.

Other than learning her ABC's backwards, I can't remember ever working with Arin to memorize and repeat anything.  Eventually, we'll learn whole bible verses, but because this was her first try at it, we went with the book's suggestion and she only memorized the first part of the verse.  We practiced the verse three or four times each day and by Friday she had it!

For his merciful kindness is great toward us." - Psalm 117:2

Q-Tips and a Honeybear

Arin's schoolwork consists largely of bookwork.  Most of the time, Ella is content to quietly color, look at a book, or play on her own while she is waiting for her turn to do schoolwork, but sometimes she enjoys a little something extra to occupy her time.  I saw this activity on Chasing Cheerios.  Ella worked on it the day I introduced it to her and both girls have been seen playing with this activity for several days afterwards.

How do you play?  Put the q-tips into the small opening in the lid of a honeybear.  Simple fun!

Trees

We recently read the poem:

        Trees

by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth's hungry breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree!



After reading the poem, we went outside to look at the different types of trees in our yard.

Next, we worked on an art project of painting a picture of a tree.

Coloring in the Lines

Ella is learning how to color in the lines.  To help her with this, I outlined the letters M and m with glue. 

Once the glue was dry, it created a slight, invisible border.  This helped serve as a guide for Ella to stay within the lines while coloring.