Summer of Science - Week 1 - Magnets

This week kicked off our first week of what I'm calling our Summer of Science. I am using Memorizing the Moment's Alphabet in Simple Science and adapting it to fit the needs and ages of my kids.

We began with Wild One's first First Start Reading Lesson on the letter M.  I really enjoy the simplicity of these lessons and the fact that everything is done for me.  Wild One was really excited to start her very own workbook too!  She loves to write and draw - she will sit for hours and write letters and draw pictures - which is one of the reasons I chose this curriculum for her.

After she finished her lesson (it took us about 15 minutes), we began reading some books about magnets.  I've done a magnet theme in the past for the older kids so it was fun to revisit some of our favorites.  Some of the books and supplies we used are listed in the widget below (nonaffiliate links).

Before we kicked off our experiments with magnets though, I asked the kids if they wanted to keep a science journal.  I want the focus of our studies to be on having fun and exposing them to science concepts, not on writing.  Pinky in particular is not fond of writing, and I didn't want something like a science notebook to stand in the way of her participating and enjoying our lessons.  They all agreed that they wanted a notebook, so I pulled together some free printables and made a couple of my own as well.  I will let them choose when they want to use the notebooks and when they don't.

The cover of their journals is a free printable from Read Like a Rock Star on TpT.

Chaos, Wild One and Sprout are all using the the free printables from Memorizing the Moments.

In addition, I made an observation sheet for Chaos and Wild One to use while viewing experiments.  Again, I wanted to focus on the science, so I chose to allow them to draw what they could see - something they both love.  You can download this very simple page by clicking on the picture.

For Pinky, I created a page for her to write out a definition of the topic we are studying and to make predictions about what she thinks will happen.  I also left room for her to draw a picture of what she sees.  You can download this page by clicking on the picture.

Because we've done a unit on magnets already, we repeated a lot of activities.  For that reason, I didn't really take pictures this week.  Here are some pictures of our last magnet study.  You can click on the pictures to learn more.

Some of our fun included:

A magnet sensory box:

Testing the strength of magnets (magnet "jumping"):

Painting with magnet marbles:

Discovering if magnets work when submerged in water:

We tried a few new things as well.  Together Pinky, Chaos and myself read The Magic Schoolhouse Amazing Magnetism.

We also tried making a paper clip dance like Kaysha did on Memorizing the Moments.

It was a fun week and the kids were excited to be back in "Mommy School."  I'm really excited to spend the summer diving into science with the kids!

Summer Plans

It's summer vacation and once again I'm excited and motivated for another summer of learning with my kids! Here's hoping that the motivation lasts all summer and extends to regular blog posting!

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to do much besides summer bridge books and flashcards this summer, but I changed my mind because of two things:

1. Wild One has a huge desire to learn to read.  And not just any books, but chapter books.  :)  I told her that we would take it one step at a time, but I just can't ignore her enthusiasm to learn!
2. I stumbled upon the "Alphabet in Simple Science" over at Memorizing the Moments.  If you haven't see it yet, you should definitely check it out!  After reading through the posts, I was inspired to try it with my kids!

I've decided to adapt the science curriculum that Kaysha at Memorizing the Moments has developed to make it work for all 4 of my kids.  For the younger 2, we will focus on letters and sounds and the introduction of science concepts.  For the older 2, we will delve deeper into topics and maybe even do some science notebooking (I've created some experiment observation pages that I plan to share).

In addition, Wild One will be working through the First Start Reading program with me.  In fact, the order that letters and sounds are introduced in this curriculum will determine the order that we tackle the "Alphabet in Simple Science" series.

As for the older 2, they will both be completing their summer bridge books as they do every year (I take them out for ice cream when they finish it).  Pinky has been struggling a bit with math this year, so she's also working on the Math Mammoth review books this summer.

 I also picked her up this book just to prove to her that math can be fun.  

We'll also be reading plenty of books, and I plan to continue our "What We're Reading" posts throughout the summer.

This summer we're finally trying out the Summer Challenge that Carisa created at 1+1+1=1 too!  I had fun stocking up my prize bucket and coming up with tasks for the kids to complete to earn a point.  I will share our prizes and challenges in another post.

Finally, I have taken on my own sort of challenge and am working on organization (a task that will take much longer than just this summer).  I started by listing 40 areas of my house that need to be organized using this printable from White House Black Shutters.  I plan to take them on one at a time and document befores and afters.  If I feel brave I may share those here too.

Well, that's another ambitious summer for us.  What are your summer plans?

Free Geography Printable

I've received a few requests for a copy of my US Geography sheet.  I am providing this printable free of charge as long as you agree to comply with my Terms of Service.  Just click on the picture to download.

I am unable to share pictures of the flags and state quarters as they are not my own, but here is a link to where you can find them to print for yourself (or you could color your own flag and tape in real state quarters).

State Flags:  http://www.50states.com/flag/#.UwD4ALSpDdU

State Quarters: 
Coloring Pages: https://www.usmint.gov/kids/coinNews/50sq/

This site has a great informational sheet about each quarter/state: http://www.usmint.gov/mint_Programs/50sq_program/?action=designs_50sq

I hope you find this printable helpful!

What My Child is Reading

What we're reading during these cold weather days...

Pinky:
This winter it's been a struggle to get Pinky to choose to read.  She's much more interested in playing with her Legos.  Still, I've managed to find a few things that she's really enjoyed.

Calvin and Hobbes - Pinky has had a great time reading all of my old copies of Calvin and Hobbes.  We're on the waiting list for the complete collection from the library, and I may be more excited than she is to read it!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney - Pinky started this series over Christmas break and quickly read through all of the books.  I picked up the Dork Diaries from the library recently thinking she may enjoy those as well.  We will see.

A to Z Mysteries - Pinky is reading through this series at school during her reading time.  These are very quick reads for her, and she can read them quickly in the time she has at school.  She likes the mystery element to the stories.

Pompeii...Buried Alive by Edith Kunhardt Davis is not a book I would have picked for Pinky.  She typically shies away from nonfiction books so I was happy to see her choose one from the school library.  She has brought this book home more times than I can count now.  She is fascinated by the story of the erupting volcano burying a town.

Chaos:
Chaos has been making great strides in his reading recently.  In addition to the phonics and early readers that he's been reading, I've also been reading him some longer stories.

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Ganett is what we're currently reading.  He loves the adventure and the illustrations in the story. 

Garfield books have been a staple in our house for several years.  It started with Pinky constantly bringing them home from the school library, and now Chaos is following in her footsteps.  I remember reading Garfield when I was a kid so it's fun to see that the stories and jokes are still funny to my kids.

Wild One:
Wild One still loves to read.  Reading time (and library check out) are her favorite parts of preschool.


Pete the Cat books are her absolute favorite (the other kids enjoy them as well).  I have found her walking around the house chanting "Did Pete cry?  Oh goodness no!  He kept walking along and singing his song..."

Sprout:
Sprout loves just about any book you will read to her.  She would probably even sit and listen to me read an instruction manual if I let her look at the pictures while I read it.  Of course, we do read her good books.  :)

Sprout is a big fan of the Brownie & Pearl series by Cynthia Rylant (especially this book with the car).  The stories are short and sweet with colorful illustrations.  She asks us to read these over and over again.

Linking up to some of these great parties!

Summer Math and the Math Curse

While the kids will be reading every day this summer, I also want them to be practicing math every day too. I've always loved the concept of a math journal so I decided to make one for Pinky and Chaos. Each day they will solve one problem in their math journals for some extra practice.

To start, I bought a one subject notebook for each kid.  I whipped up some super simple labels in Publisher to add to the front with some packaging tape (I went with simplicity over beauty here).

Inside, on the top of each page, is a word problem.  They can use the two page spread to draw and write the answer to the problems.

 For Chaos (shown above), I downloaded a free set of Kindergarten math journal prompts from Krazee 4 Kindergarten.

For Pinky, I purchased a set of prompts from Teacher Tam's Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  To start though, we are using problems from the book Math Curse by John Scieszka.



We read the book together, then I typed up some of the problems in the book to add to her math journal.  Some of the problems I changed slightly either by simplifying or changing numbers.  A few problems are made up by me.

I hope the kids have fun with these math problems!  The book, if you've never read it, is really fun.

Linking up to some of these great parties!

Summer Geography

We have officially begun our summer learning adventure! I've been planning fun things to share and teach the kids this summer, and I'm very excited to share them with you.

I think I am most excited about our plan to study each of the 50 states. Pinky and Chaos have both always loved looking at maps and love to learn facts about the states we travel through on our road trips.

I searched Pinterest and blogs for the "perfect" lesson plans or state books to use for our study, but didn't find one that was exactly what I wanted, so I made my own! They are a simplified version of the ones provided at The AnnaMatrix blog.  I didn't want to have too much writing detail because Chaos will be joining us for this study, so I created a one page document for the kids to fill in while we read about and explore each state. 
 
The page covers the basics:

• state name
• nickname
• abbreviation
• capital
• state flower
• state bird
• state tree
• state rock
• state insect
• the year the state was founded
• the order in which it was added(first, second, third, etc.)

I've added a picture of the state's quarter and flag for Chaos and Pinky.  I also added a map of the United States so the kids can color in where the state is located.  When we've finished all 50 states, I plan to bind these pages with a cover to create a book to look back on.  I hope to be able to share these pages for you to download and use as we go along.  I will share more detail about each study we do as well.

The first state we are studying (and we are going in no particular order other than by when the books are available at the library) is Minnesota.  One particular book series that I'm hoping to use throughout the summer is Discover America State by State.   I've found the series to be interesting to my 7 year old right down to my 3 year old.  There is a lot of information given without being overwhelming.

We are also using our National Geographic laminated US map to identify the states we've studied.

 

Linking up to some of these great parties!

 

What My Child is Reading

It's been a long time since I posted what my kids are reading!  Here's a few of our current favorites.

Pinky:
Pinky has continued to enjoy reading longer chapter books.  She still enjoys the Rainbow Magic series, but has branched out to try different series.

Judy Moody - She just started the Judy Moody series and has really enjoyed it.  I told her if she read "The Not Bummer Summer" I would let her watch the movie when she finished.

My Secret Unicorn by Linda Chapman- A series about unicorns?  That's really all Pinky needed to know about this book to be interested.  I have not read this book myself, but judging by the way Pinky's nose has been in it all day, I'd say it's a hit.

Babymouse - The Babymouse series was recommended to me by a teacher friend.  It's written as a graphic novel (something that is VERY appealing to Pinky) and tells the story of Babymouse - a mouse with big dreams and a wild imagination.  As soon as Pinky finished the first book, she grabbed another and asked if I would get more from the library.

Chaos:
Chaos continues to love his I Spy books and has really enjoyed reading super hero books as well.  He loves to read facts about all of his favorite heroes from his newest book, Meet the Marvel Super Heroes.

A few other books Chaos has been enjoying lately:

The Sandcastle Contest - Any book by Robert Munsch is bound to be a hit with kids.  His books are always fun, wacky reads.


Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown - I'm sure most people know the story of Flat Stanley.  Chaos even knew who he was without ever having read the book.  It was fun for him to learn how Flat Stanley became flat!

Wild One:

Wild One continues to love everything related to dance, so it was no surprise she loved reading Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird.

When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang has also fascinated Wild One.  She loves watching Sophie get angry and then calm down.  She has been walking around the house quoting this book over and over again.

A few other books we have enjoyed as a whole family:

One by Katharine Otoshi is a wonderful book about standing up for yourself and others with an added lesson of counting and colors.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Stieg is a classic about a young donkey who makes an unfortunate wish.

Hubble Bubble Granny Trouble by Tracey Corderoy is a fun story about a Granny who is quite different than what her granddaughter thinks she should be.  When granny conforms to the norms, her granddaughter realizes that she's quite bored with an "average" granny. 

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett - We picked this book up on a whim while at the library, and I was surprised at how much we enjoyed it.  It's a story about a girl with magical yarn who changes an entire town.  The illustrations in this book are just as wonderful as the story itself.

Summer Learning - Writing

One thing I really wanted to work on with Pinky last summer was her handwriting.  It's something she just doesn't enjoy.  She will draw all day, but just really dislikes putting pen to paper to write. I wanted her to write more, but I didn't want to fight with her to do it.  I came up with two ideas to help.

The first was Draw Write Now books.  Since Pinky already loves to draw I thought this would spark an interest in her.  I was right!  We started with Book One and have since expanded all the way through Book 4.  I make her do the writing before she begins drawing.



I picked up the books secondhand on ebay and used Melissa and Doug storytelling paper we already had on hand.

The second idea I had was probably MY favorite.  I happened to have a spiral bound one subject notebook on hand (probably leftover from back to school shopping in the fall).  On a whim I wrote a note to Pinky on the first page (even added a little picture to go with it).  I told her that we could write letters back and forth to each other.  Each night, before she went to bed, I would (secretly) write a little note and tuck it under her pillow.  After she was tucked in, she would turn to the next page and write a note back to me.  She usually added a picture too.  Sometimes she would answer a question I had asked or respond to something I had said and sometimes she came up with things completely on her own.  When we reached the end of the notebook, I picked up another and we started again.  It has turned into a wonderful keepsake and a way for us to strengthen our relationship.  We have kept up our journals since we started them last summer. 

Looking for more writing ideas?  Check out my Pinterest board:
Love of Learning - Writing

Summer Learning - Geography

Awhile back I read a blog post at Finally in First about a great activity to go along with the book Me On the Map.  You can read the original post here.


The story is told by a young girl who shows readers a map of her room, then continues, step by step, to show the larger picture: her house on her street, her street on a map of her town, her town in her state, etc.

This was a really fun way to begin to explore maps with the kids and to help them understand where they live in relation to the rest of the world.

Looking for more great Geography ideas?  Check out my Pinterest board:
Love of Learning - Geography

Summer Learning - Math

Being the wife of a self-proclaimed math nerd, it's important to us that our kids have a strong foundation in math.  Trying to make it fun can sometimes be a challenge though.

Last summer we worked on addition and subtraction facts with Pinky.  We also reinforced skip counting, telling time to the hour and half hour, and counting money.

While we did use flashcards - we made it a routine to spend 10 minutes with a set of flashcards each day - we also spent a lot of time playing games.


The hands down math game winner in our house is Sum Swamp Addition and Subtraction Game.  I found this at a garage sale for only $1 (and it had all the pieces - bonus!), but you can buy it from Amazon or Learning Resources.  The premise of the game is simple.  You choose a game piece and try to be the first person around the board.  You roll 3 dice - 2 number dice and one operations (addition or subtraction).  You arrange the dice into a math equation (always putting the larger number first) and solve.  The answer to the problem is how many spaces you can move.  There are, of course, some tricks along the way.  You can land in a spot marked "even" or "odd" and you must remain there until you roll the appropriate number.  The favorite part of the game for my kids is "the endless loop" which ensures that you will get lots of practice.  The game itself doesn't take long, but my kids beg me to play over and over.  It was $1 well spent.


Another fun math game is Eeboo Time Telling Game. The game can be adjusted based on skill level.  You can choose to tell time by the hour, half hour, quarter hour or down to the minute.  Each player chooses a clock with moveable hands.  A card is flipped over to show a digital time.  Players must then set their clocks to that time.  We very often change up the rules to this game or just use the clocks to practice without playing the game.  Pinky loves to use the clocks to play school with Chaos.

Of course, having fun with math doesn't have to mean spending money on a store bought game.  A great way to practice coin counting skills is to count real coins or even to set up a store and play with a toy cash register.

We've also had a lot of fun with Add it Math by the very talented Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Life of Fred: Apples has also made a few appearances this summer as well.  Both Pinky and Chaos enjoy reading about Fred and his doll Kingie.  If you've never heard of Fred,  you can read a sample here.

For my techie loving kids, we also watch a few LeapFrog movies (these are really more appropriate for Wild One and Chaos, but Pinky still enjoys them) - Numbers Ahoy, Number Land, Math Adventure to the Moon, and others are often available on Netflix instant streaming.

Looking for more great math ideas (most low or no cost)?  Check out my pinterest boards:
Love of Learning - Math
Love of Learning - Online Games
Love of Learning  - Education Apps