PreSchool- Beach and Ocean

                     

H- 4 1/2

Bug- 17 months

This last week we kind of broke away from our traditional "school" week and did learning activities out on our adventures.  We had dear friends from Utah come out to visit, and truth be told it felt like a vacation for us too.  We did many touristy things and loved every minute of learning on the go.  Here is what we did this week...

Reading-
I drew large circles in the sand and put 3 letter words across the circles.  Then I had H jump from one circle to the next saying the sound the letter makes as he was in that circle, then the whole word at the end.

He loved it, so I made another word, then another, until I had a mini scrabble board going ; )   Daddy then noticed that all of the words I had in the sand you could read forward or backward, so we had H hop both directions to figure out the different words that were written in the sand.

Bug playing at the beach... looking very concerned.

Science- Marine Life

We had the pleasure of going up to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.  The kids both really enjoyed it, and I had a great time as well.  We talked about all of the different types of fish and sea mammals we saw.  We even got to feel some of the different creatures.  H was brave enough to touch the starfish, and sea anemone, but he left it up to me to touch the sting-ray.  Bug even touched the starfish and sea anemone, though she was a little rough with them.  Guess we need to work on the meaning of gentle before the baby is born... currently not a part of her vocabulary or understanding for that matter : )

We talked a lot about how creative God is in making all of these different kinds and colors of fish.  I think this is the most colorful aquarium I have ever been to in regard to the color of the fish.  It was honestly amazing.  For the first time I was hit with the thought that there is not a color "created" by man that God did not use somewhere in creation!

 scooba diver feeding the fish

 blues, greens, orange, yellow, pink, reds... so beautiful and amazing!

The show that was put on by the seals at feeding time was fascinating.  The seals are really such smart animals.  All of the kids were thuroghly entertained!

At the end of our day at the aquarium we visited the Lorikeet exhibit.  The birds are beautiful in color.  On the way in a sign said,  to be careful because the birds may bite your finger.  H took the warning very seriously and stood with his hands behind his back the whole time we were in the exhibit.  Me on the other hand stood with my hands covering my head because a bird dive bombing my head or pooping in my hair is one of my biggest fears... true story!

Here we are with our friends, and Bug is showcasing her true independent streak in this picture as she tries to escape.

Ahh, what a great week of vacation at home/ schooling on the go!  Thanks friends for the visit, we miss you, come back soon!

Pre School- Animal Classifications

Bible and Science:This month we have continued studying that God created Animals on the 6th day.  To help H-man understand the different kinds of animals I created sheets of the different classes (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish).

We went to this great website to look at the basic features that separate the different classes of animals.  We talked about each area and possible animals that would fall into that classification.  Then I kept the webpage open as we began our project.

I pulled out from our sticker collection any sheets that had animals on them.   I handed H a sticker and asked him which sheet it should go on.  He caught on really fast and had a great time.  I pulled off an octopus sticker, and decided to google search it's classification before we automatically put it under fish.  Glad I did as it is not a fish...(okay some of you may be thinking duh, but it has been a long time since I was in biology). 

I was surprised at how much H liked this activity.  Carrying around his little book has been the pride of his week.  Showing Daddy and gazing at his sorting skills : )  We are going to add to the bottom of each page some of the basic distinctions for each animal group, like cold blooded vs. warm blooded, if they lay eggs or give birth to live young.

It was a fun activity to reinforce how amazingly creative God is in making such different kinds of animals.  On another day this week, I had H get out The Beginner's Bible and look for different animals, once he found a page with an animal on it, he told me what kind of animal it was.

Reading:

We are working through Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

H is did lesson  22 this week.  We do 1-2 lessons a week.  I am in no rush, as H still has a year and a half before he officially starts kindergarten; but he loves reading time so we will keep going : )  I must say, I have been impressed by how easy it is for parent and child to work through this book.