Bugs Unit

Last week we focused on bugs. There are all types of creepy crawlers but we mainly focused on bees, butterflies, and ladybugs.

We started off by talking about the life cycle of a bee. I used Suzie's Home Education's nomenclature cards and bought figurines from Michael's.

Ava wanted to know more about the honey bee so I printed out Carrots Are Orange's parts of a honey bee cards.

Next we discussed the life cycle of a butterfly (my favorite). We used lifecycle cards to match the figurines. It's always nice when you can combine the concrete with the abstract. You can't cover butterflies without reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Lucy tried her hand at matching the life cycle figurines to the cards. 

We discussed the parts of a butterfly. We used the Pinay Homeschooler's nomenclature cards.

Ava made her own parts of a butterfly booklet.

The last activity that we did on butterflies is matching wings. 

Last but not least we talked about the life cycle of a ladybug. Interesting story, about a month ago the girls and I were outside and Ava wanted to go down her slide but said there were spiders all over it. I went over to the slide to discover these (pictured below) crawling all over her slide. I assured her they weren't spiders and tried to clear them off. The next day we went outside and again they were all over their play set. This time I did what any curious person does these days...Googled this interesting bug. To my surprise I found out that they are the larvae of a ladybug. I learned something too.

Ava was excited to see a part of the ladybug life cycle she recognized while using Trillium Montessori's ladybug life cycle cards. (Sign up for her blog and receive the freebie)

Ava made her own ladybug life cycle booklet too.

If you'd like to see some other life cycle ideas of mine check out this and this. 

She Can Read

I've worked with Ava on beginning sounds since she was 2 years old. In the last year we've been working with the moveable alphabet to blend and form CVC words. (consonant-vowel-consonant) I finally got around to ordering the Phonetic Object Box 1 from Montessori Services. This week Ava worked on matching objects to word labels. She carefully sounded each letter out. She was so pleased when she actually read the word label. Ava kept saying, "Now I can read you books, Mom!" I love her joy of learning!

Plants Unit

Last week we covered the theme of plants. We started with reading the story Jack and the Beanstalk which led to making our very own magic beanstalk. I remember growing a Lima bean inside of a ziploc bag with a wet paper towel in elementary school. This was a new take on that very same idea.  Ava dampened the cotton balls with water and placed them inside the jar. Next, she put the Lima bean up against the glass and just like that the bean is ready to grow. 

We used The Helpful Garden's plant nomenclature cards to identify the parts of a plant. Then Ava made her own booklet. 

Ava made a booklet about the Life Cycle of a Plant. 

Flowers Unit

This week we have been focusing on flowers. We started the week off learning the parts of a flower from The Helpful Garden.

Next, I purchased the Safari Ltd flowers from Michael's and used the Wise Owl Factory's matching  and  flower nomenclature 3-part cards. Ava enjoyed these activities very much and insisted on using the safari flowers to make a bouquet haha. 

I used 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals 1's flower nomenclature cards to introduce Ava to 30 different types of flowers. She knew a few of the typical flowers she's seen but some I was even eager to learn along with her. 

Flower arranging  is a popular practical life work during the spring time. This work allows the child to beautify their environment. We don't have flowers growing in our yard so I opted for some fake dollar tree flowers that Ava could use over and over. She was still able to go through all the steps to produce a vase with flowers. If you have live flowers have your child go out and cut the flowers with scissors or you can purchase some from your local grocery store. 

I wanted Ava to do some art work but didn't want to give her the typical coloring sheet. I found Mess for Less's Tissue Paper Flower Activity and knew Ava would love it. Of course she chose her two favorite colors for the petals. 

Last but not least I bought Ava the Miracle Gro Kids My Very Own Flower Garden Kit from AC Moore. I can't find it on their link but you can see what it looks like from the pictures. We followed the instructions and so far we have some sprigs popping up after a week. It takes 3-6 weeks to grow completely so I'll update this post once they are full grown. We are expecting cosmos, zinnia, and marigolds. 

First sprout.

The progress so far!

Birds Unit

Our theme for last week was Birds. We had so much fun with this unit. I feel like we could have spent a few weeks discussing this topic because there is so much to learn about our feathered friends.

We started the week off by talking about the parts of a bird and we used the Helpful Garden's 3 part Zoology Nomenclature cards. I printed out the black and white copies for Ava to make her own booklet.

I went to AC Moore and purchased the Safari Ltd Backyard Birds Toob and used Natural Beach Living's free printable to match the birds. We used the Bird Watching Chart from Natural Beach Living and the Bird Watching Tally Sheet from Fantastic Fun and Learning to check off when we saw one of the birds we learned about in or around our yard. Ava got a kick outta of using her binoculars to look for the birds. 

I was browsing Every Star Is Different's blog when I came across her awesome worm catching practical life work. Super easy to make! I cut up some pipe cleaners of varying colors and I purchased this nest at AC Moore for a dollar...she used a clothespin but I had some small tongs so I used those...place it on a tray and there you have it. You could add a bird in the nest if you'd like to give some added pretend play. 

We picked up a few books from the local library and read a few that we already had. We read When Blue Met Egg, Feathers for Lunch, Crinkleroot's 25 Birds Every Child Should Know, Are You My Mother?, and The Ugly Duckling. 

I was in Dollar Tree when I happened to pass by these motion sensing chirping birds. I was so excited about them and was hoping that when we opened them they would sound like the real deal. I placed them in a basket without pulling the tabs because I knew it would be a lot of noise. Ava took them out one by one and pulled the tab. To my surprise the birds sound like the actual live birds. They come with little clips so Ava decided to wear the Cardinal HAHA. (Be warned you will have to find a dark place for them when they are not in use or you'll go crazy with all the chirping!) 

I am a subscriber to Trillium Montessori's Blog and she offers lots of great ideas and freebies. I downloaded these 3 Part Common Birds Cards and printed them out. There is also the black and white cards and Ava made a booklet of her own. Check out her page!

We closed the week off by making bird feeders. I was excited to see a recipe for a bird feeder that didn't involve peanut butter. I always dread the clean up of peanut butter eek! This recipe uses unflavored gelatin to hold the seeds together.  Ava was able to use a lot of her practical life skills such as scooping, pouring and mixing during this project. She was super excited to know she was helping feed the birds.