Last week we took our "summer" vacation, even though technically summer is over after Labor Day (right?). We've actually found that going to the beach in September is perfect. The weather is not quite as hot, the crowds are not as large, and it's still really nice. One of the joys of homeschooling : ). Another joy is really making learning a natural thing...not just compartmentalized into a school time. And really, you don't have to homeschool to do that! Anyone with school aged kids can do fun learning things when you're on vacation or in your "off time". Our learning experience actually came unexpectedly. A couple of us got sunburned and my little girl was having an allergic reaction to something, so we decided to take a day off at the beach. We ended up driving over to Fort Frederica (St. Simon's Island, GA). It was so fun! It was only $3 each for us to get in, and there was a great, interactive museum, a historic video, and the excavated grounds and fort for us to see, complete with a lot of artifacts. We loved it.
There was a dress up area...we all got into it! : )
The grounds were so interesting and beautiful. The trees were dripping with moss and it honestly felt like a fairy land. The museum provided us with a scavenger hunt that was just right for Sophie. We had fun looking for all the items. I would definitely say that we had a field trip in the middle of vacation! : )
Now that we're back, I've got lots of planning to do! We had our co-op group today, so I didn't plan much for us to do at home. Tomorrow it's on! Here are some things I found for us to do. I'll start with my Pre-K ideas. Our letter this week is C. I pulled all the books I could find at our house that started with C. Here are some ideas:
Clifford the Big Red Dog books (Norman Bridwell)
The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (Eric Carle)
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Laura Joffe Numeroff)
Flora McDonnell's ABC book
Alphabet City (Stephen T. Johnson)
(easy chapter book) Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa (Erica Silverman)
and our main book for today was: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Here is the link to a previous post from last year when we did a week study of Eric Carle..it was a lot of fun! Today we kept it pretty low key, and probably will for the rest of the week. But I found some really fun ideas. There are honestly TONS of creative people who have put together some amazing caterpillar activities to go with the book. You can Google it. Or Pinterest it. Or follow my Pinterest "Pre-K" board ; ). Here are a few I thought were cute:
Here is a link to a blog post with LOTS of fun ideas.
I'd love to do this. I also saw an edible version, too....marshmallows for eggs, gummy worms for caterpillars, tootsie rolls for the chrysalis, and a butterfly shaped cracker. I know my kids would love that!
Here is a link to Bing images for the book. Tons! One coloring page we used today was located on the Eric Carle website. It's a good resource for some of his other books, too.
There are so many other fun things you can do with letter C. I have to confess a recent obsession with alphabet cards...especially the vintage ones! The Handmade Home has a complete vintage alphabet that is adorable! Their C card was for camper. So you could do some really fun things with camping, cooking outside, etc. I also have a book called "Camping" or "Camping Out" by Usborne books that's really cute. I saw one idea where you can make lunch in a muffin tin and put things like crackers, craisins, cookies, carrots, etc. in each space. And the ideas are endless for cookies. One of our favorite books is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". Here is my link to when we did activities with this book. My video link isn't working now, but try to look it up on YouTube...it is SO CUTE and the kids love the song. I will probably pick a few different C things and do something fun each day for my PreK boy. My oldest will enjoy it, too!
Now on to week 3 for Classical Conversations Cycle 2. Every week I'm excited to see what part of medieval history we're learning about (love it!!). It's still in the back of my head to try and get us some tickets to Medieval Times in Atlanta. I really want to go. : ) We'll see! But here are some resources and ideas for this week.
Here is the link to a FREE food chain unit. I love this! I haven't printed anything yet, but I really like the food chain cards and the way it incorporates last week's info, too.
More food chain activities are here. Some look pretty fun! I like this food chain pyramid worksheet. I hope it's free ; ). A food chain stacking cups activity also looks interesting.
Sola Gratia Mom's blog has a nice food chain activity along with a Crusades activity.
On that note...let's move on to the history sentence, shall we? (Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Richard the Lionhearted)
Information from "Middle Ages for Kids" to get you started (I know I need this!).
Video on how they would arm a Medieval Knight:
This diagram on the parts of the armor will go well with the video.
Worksheet on Eleanor of Aquitaine. It only got 3 out of 5 stars on its review, but I don't know much about her so anything would be helpful to me. I'm not sure if it's free or not.
Here is a blog that has an idea for illustrating the history sentence.
Video and information on the Crusades. It looks geared towards older kids, but I'm going to try it with mine.
Another video and info on the First Crusade and it's cause and effects.
Three minute Crusades video from History.com. I would say for older kids, but I like it so we'll probably watch it.
Geography (Western European Countries):
I like this European Countries video. Even my hubby started remembering them by listening for just a few minutes : ).
Map puzzles for many countries around the world.
Here is a link to some geography cards that you won't want to miss! And Here We Go!'s blog is a great resource and she has made some geography picture cards for the first half of cycle 2. These would be great for review, too.
For the pronoun order, we'll probably just go back to the video I posted a few weeks ago. I'm still working on how to tackle this Latin. I'm going to try. I really like this video, though. It mainly goes with weeks 1 and 2, but it's "catchy" (as Sophie would say) so I think we'll go back this week and review some.
And that's all I have time for, folks! I have other links on my Pinterest board (Classical Converations Cycle 2), but I tried to post as many as I could from there onto here. I doubt I'll get to all of this, but it's nice to have it all here at my fingertips!
Hope you all have a great week and God bless~
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