Amazing Race Study Notebook

We love to watch The Amazing Race! Why not turn it into a great way to study geography and social science? This one printable will help your students engage deeper with what they see in the show and learn about the countries that the contestants visit.

Pages one and two give you art for your binder. Page three is a page to put in information about the country visited (map, flag, country stats).  The fourth page is a place to record the events that occurred in the episode ind interesting facts or situations that arose. The last page is a place to record information about the culture of the countries visited. 

Pages 3-5 will be printed as needed, depending on the season being watched. We have had a lot of fun using this workbook over the years and we hope you and you kids do too!

This unit is available for all of our Patrons at any level, so come check it out and get started learning with the show.

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Lewis and Clark: A 3 Week Unit Study

This unit study is available for our patrons over on Patreon and covers science, language arts, history, and art. You will be doing a Minecraft reenactment of the journey, working with maps, studying animals and tracks, and playing Discoveries, The Journals of Lewis and Clark. It is geared toward grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8  but can be adjusted for higher or lower grades.

This unit study contains a list of resources and  activities for you to use in your studies. Choose those that will best suit  your students, time, and learning environment. My hope is that you will enjoy  the process of learning and not feel constricted by the timeline or  activities. Make changes as they suit your needs and enjoy your time learning  together! 

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Books My 6 Year Old Loves to Read

I am going to stick with my reading theme today and share some of my six year old son's favorite books.

Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems

These books are his number one favorite right now. They are easy for him to read. They don't pose much of a challenge for him. They are so funny and silly though. He reads them over and over again. Anyone who is willing to listen will be read one or six of these books. The enjoyment level is high and his reading fluency has improved drastically from reading and rereading this wonderful series.  

 

Little Bear By Else Holmelund Minarik

This series is a classic and a TV show. My little guy doesn't remember the show but has fallen in love with the Little Bear books. This series introduced him to the joy of chapter books. Each book has four stories/chapters that add to one cohesive theme throughout the book. The text is difficult enough to challenge him but not hard enough to frustrate him. He loves the stories and the characters. We even enjoyed a chapter this morning from Little Bear's Visit.

 

Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

This chapter book series is short and easy to read. It is easier and shorter than Little Bear. That is one of the reasons my little guy loves Fly Guy. He really enjoys all the silly adventures that Fly Guy goes on. Sometimes Fly Guy simply goes on a road trip, but sometimes things get more wild like in Fly Guy and the Frankenfly.  

 

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

To be fair he hasn't actually finished one of these. Book one was the first chapter book he attempted. He is at least five chapters in though and really gets into the story. The text is challenging for him quite often but he makes it through each page quite well. One of the reasons he has shelved this book for a while is that he really needed to feel the accomplishment of finishing books and this one will take quite a long time for him to finish. He is really drawn in by the story and characters. I think this book will be back in his hands soon because he really wants to see what happens to these four orphans living in a boxcar.

What are some of your kiddos favorite books to read? I know my little guy would love some recommendations!

100th Day

The 100th day of school was a whole week ago. As my computer gets worse, it is harder to get posts up. We are looking at a replacement, but have not decided yet. Back to the topic at hand...

Happy 100 day!

We did 100 everything! It was nice to have a little break in the monotony that our classroom can sometimes be. Here is what we did by subject:

• Math: Sort 100 shapes into groups of 5 for skip counting practice
• Science: 100 drops of water experiment
• Reading: read 100 words
• Reader: Ready, Set, 100 Days (free with Kindle lender's library)
• Art: Use the 100 shapes to make a picture
• Bible: read psalm 100
• Also: made 100 day glasses, listed 100 people Mister knows, and had a 100 lunch

You can find some of the activities in my homeschool board on pintrest (I am crazyelephant). Sadly my computer is dying so I can't get the links up.

Oh What a Week

Sewing his pouch pocket

A fun week, that is! Our school week has been just great. We did an especially large amount of hands on activities this week and that may have been a part of it. We learned all about living in medieval times, castles, bathrooms, food and the like. He always wants to know about the bathrooms each time period uses and he has yet to be disappointed by the information. Jayne even got to try his hand at swing his own pouch (pocket) like they used to wear.

In science we spent a lot of time learning about the ocean. We learned about waves, the tide, and coasts. Jayne saw a glimpse of how waves work when we made a wave bottle. He also got to see how things freeze and melt. We put some fun stuff n the ice tray in the freezer and some ice cubes insulated and not insulated mugs.

The wave bottle

Our little Passports came in this week too. Sam and Sophia went to Japan this month. Jayne got a little sushi eraser and an origami set. We made a book all about Japan and spent a lot of time folding paper.

Origami galore! You can tel which is mine by drawing ability only.

This week we finished reading Th Hundred Dresses. This book did not keep Little Guy's attention like the last 2 books did, but t did teach some great lessons that we have already been able to apply in real life. We will be reading The Family Under the Bridge next. This should be good! I just hope it draws him in better than the last one.

First Day of K

Today was Jayne's first day of Kindergarten! All the planning was entirely worth it because it went quickly and efficiently. It only took us 2 hours and that includes P.E. time! It will take a little longer next week because we will start regular reading lessons, this week we are doing review. I will see how things go over the course of the year, but after today I think my curriculum choices are going to be a great fit. We started the day with what will be our first day of school tradition: belgian waffles and a first day pic. Jayne chose apple pie filling and carmel drizzle for today. We got a few shots of his first day pic, but this is my favorite even though it is a little blurry.

Then we cuddled up on the couch and did our reading. While Jayne did some computer stuff from our Internet linked encyclopedia, I checked off what we had done and got the second half of the school day ready. Crocie came out to help Jayne through math, reading, and science pages and then it was time for P.E. We played bocce ball and watered the plants. He played on sesamestreet.org while I fixed an extra special lunch. I made him a PB&J with blue jelly (his favorite color), angry birds crackers in a blue cup, pineapple in a blue cup with a blue sword pick, and string cheese. I have never seen him so excited about a meal! Now we are done for the day. We did a great job this morning and are going to spend the rest of the day relaxing after a very busy weekend.

Reading time: 2 Encyclopedia sections, Boxcar Children, Bible, and Nursery rhyme

Hot Dogs by Request

Jayne has developed a facination with hot dogs. He has even been telling us that he wants a hot dog cake for his birthday. While that is unlikely to happen, his request for a hotdog preschool pack is perfectly reasonable. The heat advisory this week has prevented me from getting started, but today is so much cooler and it is making me think that I could get it done over the weekend. I am going to be using clip art for most of the pages. I am also going to do a hand drawn hot dog colors book and a hand drawn color by number page. Right now I am looking at a possible 15 pages. That will be much longer than my first set. I am looking forward to Jayne's hot dog unit because I secretly like hot dogs as much as him...shhh, don't tell anyone!