Homeschool & Learning

September 23, 2015 by: Amy

{Writing Poetry} Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn

I love the changing of the seasons, and autumn is my favorite. I’m ready for cool mornings with hot drinks, collecting colorful leaves on our walks, and tromping through the pumpkin patch with my kids.

To celebrate the first day of autumn, we wrote poems about all the summery things we’ll be saying goodbye to, and all the fall things we’ll be welcoming.

This poem is written in a two-line pattern:

Goodbye, {summer thing},

Hello, {autumn thing}.

Just like a list poem, this poem can be short or long, depending on how many ideas you have. We tried to add lots of descriptive, “juicy” words to our poems, too.

If your kids get stuck thinking of things to write, you can try asking open-ended questions: What different drinks do you enjoy in summer and autumn? Are there any special holidays you can think of?

Here’s a big list of topics that might spur ideas for a seasonal poem:

outside activities
indoor activities
weather
changes in nature
drinks
meals
treats
clothes
holidays
animals
places to visit
family traditions

This is a fun poem for all ages to write – from preschoolers to adults! My girls have been writing poems (with me as their scribe) since they were around three-years-old. This could even be a helpful way for your preschooler to process the seasonal transitions in their daily activities- like exchanging flip flops for sneakers, or shorts for long pants.

Here are the poems my girls wrote:

Goodbye, Summer
Hello, Autumn
Goodbye, cool, clear swimming pool
Hello, crunchy, wet leaf piles
Goodbye, hot, bright sun
Hello, wet, misty drizzle
Goodbye, cold, sweet lemonade
Hello, chocolatey, warm hot cocoa
Goodbye, red, juicy watermelon
Hello, steaming noodle soup
Goodbye, tank tops and flip flops
Hello, fuzzy jackets and rain boots
Goodbye, Fourth of July fireworks
Hello, costumes and candy
Goodbye, bright, summer butterflies
Hello, loud, honking geese flying south
Goodbye, Marco Polo and cannonballs
Hello, pumpkin patch
Goodbye, roasting smores by the firelight
Hello, pumpkin pie!
{by Natalie}

Goodbye, cool swimming pool
Hello, crunchy leaf piles
Goodbye, refreshing lemonade
Hello, warm apple cider
Goodbye, hot summer sun
Hello, cold fall breeze
Goodbye, sweaty tank tops
Hello, cool long sleeves
Goodbye, sweet popsicles
Hello, sweet pumpkin pie
Goodbye, pretty flowers
Hello, plump pumpkins
Goodbye, singing birds
Hello, hungry squirrels
Goodbye, Independence Day
Hello, Halloween
Goodbye, tasty watermelon
Hello, warm, filling turkey
Goodbye, gooey smores
Hello, Halloween candy
Goodbye, puffy dandelions
Hello, curly pumpkin vines.
{by Delaney}

And, of course, this can be done with any seasonal transition. In fact, I think a homemade poetry book with four of these Hello, Goodbye poems, paired with illustrations, would be amazing!

December 15, 2014 by: Amy

Creative Writing Project :: Letters to Santa from the Naughty List

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My girls adore reading and writing fractured fairytales. Here’s a simple Christmas-time creative writing project that we had a lot of fun working on – writing letters to Santa from a character that might be on Santa’s naughty list. These letters are great practice for creating a character’s personality and voice, and for writing persuasively, too!

To get the creative juices flowing, we brainstormed fairytale, book, and movie characters that might be on Santa’s naughty list. Here are some of the characters we thought of:

Big Bad Wolf
Cinderella’s stepmother
Ursula
Witch from Hansel & Gretel
Evil Queen from Snow White
Maleficent
Captain Hook
The fox from The Gingerbread Man

After settling on our characters, we had to think of a way in which each character had been misunderstood or misrepresented. Maybe the Big Bad Wolf had very bad allergies and his huge sneezes blew those houses down. It’s fun to twist a traditional story around and see it from a new perspective!

Of course, these characters really are naughty, so we tried to reflect that in their wish lists added at the end of each letter. Natalie wrote about the witch from Hansel and Gretel, and the witch asks Santa for a “~~Kid~~ Turkey Broiler 3000″. Cinderella’s stepmother, in Delaney’s letter, reminds Santa that some glass slippers, a fairy godmother, a fancy dress, and a handsome prince would be most welcome.

Here are both of my girls letters in full, in case you and your kids need some inspiration.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Scieszka and Dear Peter Rabbit by Alma Flor are great follow-up reads for this activity.

Let us know if you give this writing project a try!

November 12, 2014 by: Amy

Creative Book Reports :: Biography Posters

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We have some serious catching up to do! There have been first and twelfth birthdays celebrated, big stacks of share-worthy books read, and many interesting projects completed. If the baby-napping gods are kind to me, I’ll be visiting this space more often in the days to come. Fingers crossed!

Let’s just jump right in with a book report project my girls had a blast working on – colorful and informational biography posters. This is actually a project we did at the end of last school year. You know, when summer-itis started to set in (yes, even us homeschoolers feel it!). My girls usually enjoy reading biographies, and they love art projects, so this was a win-win in their minds.

First, they each read a biography – Natalie read about Alexander Graham Bell and Delaney read about Leonardo da Vinci. As they read, they used sticky notes to mark pages with interesting facts they might want to use on their posters.

When it’s poster-making time, find and print a photograph (or painting/illustration) of your person. We found our photos on Wikipedia and printed on glossy photo paper. Cut out your photo, place it in the center of your paper, and lightly trace around it. Set the photo aside for now.

Using a ruler, draw lines from your traced outline to the edge of the paper, creating wedge-shapes around your paper. My girls said it was kind of like making the sun’s rays.

Next, write a fact about your person in each section. I wanted the girls to include the person’s name and time period, but other than that I left it to their discretion. I actually love the mix of quirky facts and major accomplishments they came up with.

Either write in pencil first and trace with a Sharpie, or just go for it with the Sharpie. My girls are not the “go-for-it” type, so they did the tracing method.

Trace over the section lines with crayons or oil pastels. (We love the quality and price of the Crayola oil pastels.)

Now, grab your watercolors and paint each section. Nice and colorful!

When the paint is dry, glue your photo down. We definitely oohed and ahhed over these colorful posters. What a fun way to document and share our learning!

Here are a few variations you could try:

Make an autobiography one about yourself. (We are totally doing this!)
Write your facts in chronological order around the photo.
Include a famous quote or two.
Make a grid instead of wedges for your facts.

In case you are interested, here are the biographies that the girls read. They both really enjoyed their choices!

Always Inventing: A Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell (National Geographic) – This book has amazing photographs, drawings, and quotes.

Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer by Robert Byrd – Beautiful, detailed illustrations with many interesting tidbits about Leonardo.

September 9, 2013 by: Amy

Math About Me Posters

We’re slowly easing into another year of homeschooling. I’m having a hard time believing we’re starting our 5th year! One of our back-to-school projects was creating these fun Math About Me posters. The girls loved making them!

$Math About Me Posters$

We started by brainstorming a list of all the things about themselves they could describe using numbers. Then, they drew a little self-portrait in the middle of the paper, and started adding math facts all around. They decorated them with fancy borders and little pictures. There are lots of ways you could make a poster like this – let your kids be creative!

$Numbers and math about me poster$

If your kids get stumped, be prepared with a list of ideas. Here are the Math About Me ideas we came up with:

address
phone number
zip code
birthday and age
height
weight
favorite number
weight and length at birth
number of teeth lost
shoe size
number of houses/cities/states you have lived in
grade in school
time you wake up or go to bed
how far you can jump
number of people in your family
number of pets you’ve had
number of letters in your whole name
number of times you’ve been somewhere
number of [things] you have (books, bikes, stuffed animals, etc.)

What would you add to our list?

$Creating a Math About Me Poster$

Here are a few picture books to pair with your poster-making:

Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy – read this book, then make a math poster about your pet!

Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka – What if you thought of everything in your day as a math problem? Such a fun book!

How have your kids been playing with numbers lately?

May 1, 2013 by: Amy

Blog Tour: Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth

I have been looking forward to sharing a new book with you, Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth by Patty Born Selly. Geared toward the little ones, ages 3 to 8, this book is full of 100 activities for exploring nature and learning about our environment, all in a playful, discovery-centered way.

Thanks to Patty’s knowledge and experience as an environmental educator, each chapter begins with information on a variety of environmental topics, such as air quality, recycling, and climate change. This information is followed by an assortment of activities to explore the topic with kids. I love the hands-on, easy-to-implement ideas throughout the book!

Even my girls, who, at ages 8 and 10, are a little beyond the age range for this book, have tagged a bunch of activities they want to do. First up on the list: try to filter muddy water, construct a compass, and slather sunscreen on apple slices.

Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth would make a great resource for families at home, but it would also be a wonderful gift for a preschool or early elementary teacher. All the activities are tied to the National Science Education Standards, and there is a whole chapter dedicated to “greening” your school program. I’m planning to gift a copy to our parent co-op preschool for sure!

If you would like to try one of the projects from the book, I have a free activity to share with you courtesy of the publisher – download the instructions to make your own Recycling Monster. Isn’t he cute? My girls just saw this picture over my shoulder and they totally want to make monsters now!

For more nature-inspired activities, be sure to check out Patty’s blog, Small Wonders. Right now she is doing a series on 101 things to do outdoors with children. That should get you started on a great list for spring and summer playtime!

Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth is available for purchase direct from the publisher, Redleaf Press. Now though June 30th, you can use the coupon code GREENEARTH to save 30% off this title.

This book is also available at Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. Amazon has a nice preview of the book, too – lots of sample pages and activities to check out. (affiliate link)

I was provided a review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own!

January 14, 2013 by: Amy

Watercolor Jellyfish Painting

During a recent science exploration, the girls and I were learning about Cnidaria, the animal group that includes anemones, coral, and sea jellies. After reading a few books, watching some videos, and filling our brains with fascinating facts, an art project was in order!

We decided to try a jellyfish painting project found at For the Love of Art. All you need are liquid watercolors or watered-down tempera paint, paper, and brushes to create some color jellyfish.

Start by painting a half circle on your paper, using enough paint to make it wet and drippy. Then, dip your brush in water and add more water to the bottom of the half-circle.

Now, stand the paper up and give it a few taps on the table to get the paint rolling down. Be sure you have a piece of newspaper or scratch paper on the table to catch your drips. Continue adding jellyfish one at a time to your painting.

Finish off your painting with some colorful splatters – I recommend having a good amount of scratch paper underneath while you splatter!

We had such fun making these colorful jellyfish that we ended up with a huge pile of paintings. The girls have continued to experiment with this dripping technique in other paintings, too – it’s a fun process!

More jellyfish fun:

Watch: Jellies video (Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Read: Jellies: The Life of Jellyfish by Twig C. George

Make: Jellyfish in a Bottle (BhoomPlay)

November 9, 2012 by: Amy

50 States Birthday Party

Way back in July, Delaney celebrated her 8th birthday with a 50 States Party. A few years ago, The Scrambled States of America became a favorite read-aloud. Since then, Delaney has been fascinated with learning all about the states. So, a 50 states party it was!

Decorations

I kept the decorations pretty simple. The late July timing was perfect – I was able to pick up flag napkins on clearance at Target and red and blue striped paper straws at Sur La Table.

I had some adorable state fabric in my stash, waiting for the perfect project. I made Delaney a party skirt, plus had enough to cover a canvas for decoration. The girls have it hanging in their playroom now. The fabric is This Land is Your Land by Alexander Henry – check Etsy if you’re looking for something like it!

We hung a large fabric U.S. map on the wall. It’s a fabric panel that my mother-in-law quilted and gave to the girls. I made two long buntings with squares of patriotic fabric to hang across the dining room.

I also printed out the super-cute free state graphics from The Vintage Lemon and the girls had a blast taping them all over the walls. (I printed them smaller – four to a page on card stock.)

Using the same squares of patriotic fabric, I made mini patchwork placemats which I sent home with the kids as part of their favors. I have 12 white melamine plates (Target) and 12 clear plastic cups (Ikea) that we use for our parties. I label the cups with removable file labels, so all the kids can keep track of their drinks throughout the party.

Food

There are so many directions you could go with the menu for a 50 states party. Delaney pretty much planned the menu all by herself. She had a list of all the states, where she took notes as she looked through various books about the states. She chose foods that she likes to eat, but you could certainly serve just about any foods and find states to match them.

Our menu:

Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese and Macaroni
New York Bagels and Cream Cheese
Arizona Tortilla Chips and Salsa
Indiana Popcorn
California Grapes
Hawaii Pineapple
Georgia Peaches
Washington Apples
Maine Blueberry Muffins
Florida Orange Juice
South Carolina Sweet Tea

The food labels were made using the fonts Short Stack and Stateface, which has graphics of each state instead of letters. They were printed on card stock and taped to bamboo picks.

Headband Game

We combined two of the girls’ favorite games – HeadBanz and Scrambled States - into our own 50 states party game. (You can read our review of the Scrambled States game here.) Kids and grown-ups had such fun playing this – it was a blast!

We decided to use the state cards from our Scrambled States game. I made headbands using sentence strips, cutting two slits to make a little holder for the card.

I made color copies of the map from the Scrambled States game, so everyone had maps to refer to while they asked questions about their states.

When it was time to play, I fit everyone with a headband and secured with tape. Then we put cards in the headbands and the guessing game began!

The basic rule of the game is that you can only ask yes or no questions to figure out your mystery card. If the kids got stuck, we encouraged them to ask questions like:

Is my state touching water?
Does my state start with ___?
Does my state touch Canada?
Is my state in the west/east/north/south?

When all else failed, the kids just started narrowing things down by color, since the colors on the map match the pictures on the cards. We played multiple giggly rounds, just changing out the cards as the kids figured our their states. Delaney was hard to stump – that girl knows her states! This was such a fun game, and could be adapted to just about any theme.

Party Favors

We sent our guests home with license plate bingo games and colorful dry erase markers (the kind with erasers on the caps). I downloaded the license plate bingo from The Dating Divas and laminated them for lots of use. (I love my little laminator!) They also took home delicious Pennsylvania Hershey’s chocolate bars. I’ve heard that our friends are really enjoying their license plate bingo games on car rides!

Dessert

Delaney requested cupcakes, so we decorated them with blueberries and strawberries, then arranged them like a U.S. flag. Cute and simple!

It was a super-fun party for a special 8-year-old!

September 21, 2012 by: Amy

Edible Cells & Poetry Journals

Edible Plant and Animal Cells Activity

The hands-down highlight of this week’s learning activities was the creating (and eating!) of edible animal and plant cells. I saw this project at Se7en’s blog, and knew the girls would love it.

Edible plant cell model with jello

Using jello as our cytoplasm, we added various fruits and candies to represent some of the major components of the cell. We practiced saying tricky words, like mitochondria and nucleolus. The diagrams at Classroom Jr. were our reference for creating our cells.

We weren’t caught up in memorizing the cell components’ names and functions, but rather focused on how intricate and complicated cells are! The girls really enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells, too.

Before digging into our cells for snack time, I took photos of each one. I printed the photos and the girls labelled the cell parts. The girls are already scheming what other things they can make out of food – a map of Europe, perhaps?

Poetry Journals

We love reading poetry, and usually read poems together at least once a week (lunch time is perfect for this, or try Tuesday Teatime like Julie at Brave Writer suggests.) Last year, we chose one special poem a week to practice reading aloud fluently, plus to have more in-depth discussions about patterns, rhyming, imagery, etc. The girls would usually illustrate these poems, and we kept them in a binder, which they frequently pulled out to read.

This year, we’re trying poetry journals. We still have a poem of the week, which we glue in our journal. We’re writing a response to each poem – just a couple sentences about parts we like, interesting words we notice, or what the poem reminds us of. We’re still adding illustrations to our poems, too.

The key to making this work (and not seem like busy work), is having a rich discussion about the poem before hand. Then, the girls have plenty of ideas and material for writing.

So far, poetry journals are one of the first activities they choose to do each week. I’ll be sharing our poetry response sentence starters and favorite poets in another post soon.

Other highlights from our home school this week:

We’re almost finished with The Secret Zoo by Brian Chick. The girls are loving this fantasy/adventure book with unusual settings, friendly animals, and plenty of mystery. It was a little slow to get into, but the action picks up as the book goes on. Natalie bought the second book with her own money, just so she could be ready to read it right away when we finish.

My girls love it when I put stickers on their work – I had no idea they were still into that! I need to replenish my cute sticker supply, for sure.

The girls can’t get enough of the Schoolhouse Rock videos (we watch them on You Tube). From The Tale of Mr. Morton (subject/predicate) to Do the Circulation, these are a fun, light-hearted way to introduce a topic.

Feel free to share or link-up to your learning moments from the week.
Have a wonderful weekend!

September 12, 2012 by: Amy

Math Play :: Measurement

Long before kids are expected to memorize multiplication facts and formulas, they are learning important math concepts through everyday activities and play. A few tools and open-ended toys, paired with your kiddo’s natural curiosity, are all you need for tons of fun math play activities.

So, let’s grab our rulers and measuring cups and start playing with measurement!

Measuring Length

Do: Play with rulers and tape measures, then measure the house

Make: A Giant’s Foot and Play Dough Inchworms

Read: How Big is a Foot? and How Tall, How Short, How Faraway

Measuring Weight

Do: Weigh your fruits and veggies on the grocery store scale

Make: Coat Hanger Balance or Shoebox Balance

Read: The Dragon’s Scales and On the Scale, a Weighty Tale

Measuring Capacity

Do: Sort various containers by capacity and explore measuring spoons and cups while cooking together

Make: Gallon Man and a Homemade Rain Gauge

Read: Pigs in the Pantry and Pastry School in Paris

More measuring books worth checking out:

Actual Size by Steve Jenkins

Fannie in the Kitchen by Deborah Hopkinson

Just How Long Can a Long String Be?! by Keith Baker

Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy

Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz

Twelve Snails to One Lizard: A Tale of Mischief and Measurement by Susan Hightower

Happy playing!

September 7, 2012 by: Amy

Homeschool Curriculum 2012/2013

We just kicked off our fourth year of homeschooling – wow! I’m no longer blogging about our homeschool at Early Bird Homeschool. Trying to separate the learning and playing we do between two blogs was just not working for me. All my homeschooling posts have moved here and are getting settled in!

I’m planning to share snippets from our homeschool days here, along with my regular play-inspired content. I’m thinking Fridays will be the day I share highlights from our week, books and resources we love, and learning ideas for you and your kids to try at home. Whether you homeschool or not, I hope you’ll find some inspiration!

I thought I would start by sharing the resources we are starting off with this year. We also spend a good deal of time exploring the girls’ ever-changing interests, so who knows where this year will take us!

Math and Literacy

Delaney (age 8, third grade)

Singapore Math 3A & 3B
Math games & manipulatives
Math Journal (I want to do more writing paired with math this year.)
Spelling Power (starting at Level C)

Natalie (age 9, fourth grade)

Singapore Math 4A & 4B
Math games & manipulatives
Math Journal
Spelling Power (starting at Level D)

Both Girls

Reading Detective – Beginning – We’re trying this out to see if it’s a good fit. I don’t like “busy work,” but I do like some of the strategies we’ll be practicing. The girls love it so far!
Copy work for handwriting practice
Reading fiction & nonfiction – I let the girls choose what to read, although I keep a running list of ideas and make lots of recommendations.
Poetry – reading & writing
Journal writing
Real-life writing: letters, lists, signs, etc.
Writing projects of their choice – stories, family newspaper, joke books, etc.

Science

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life Level 1 (Pandia Press) – We all enjoyed the RSO Earth and Space curriculum last year, so we’re moving onto Life Science this year. The girls love the hands-on activities, which we supplement with books, further research, etc.

I’m keeping extra ideas on a Pinterest board – Life Science for Kids.

Ongoing:

Nature journals, outdoor photography
Exploring personal interests
Lots of nonfiction books, field guides, etc.

History and Geography

History Odyssey Early Modern Level 1 (Pandia Press) – We’re sticking with Pandia Press for history, too. I am learning just as much as the girls! This year we head into the Early Modern time period, from 1600-1850. We use various sources (including Story of the World) and activity books, as well as selections from the extensive book lists for each lesson.

Ongoing:

Geography terms notebook
Reading biographies
Map skills activities

We are using our weekly checklist system again this year, which seems to be the perfect amount of control for all of us. They set a goal to take Fridays off, and seem to be determined to make it happen. They are getting some great time management practice!

Hope your school year is off to a great start!