Week 8 - Tuesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: H
Theme of the week: House & Home

Arts & crafts:
The kids made collages using cutouts of household items taken from store circulars.



Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post
Station 1: colouring H word pictures and pictures of houses & homes, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (Fox in Socks, boat alphabet, shapes)
Station 3: Lite Brite, lacing toys, Geoforme game
Station 4: pretend play with Little People and house, princesses and castle
Station 5: Imaginarium wooden blocks and Lincoln Logs
Station 6: basket of theme related books








Story time:
Meet My Pet Monster by McCay/Costanza
The Tale of Traveling Matt by Muntean/McCue
I Want to Go Home! by Roberts/Mathieu
My House by Scarry

Cooperative game:
Household item BINGO (again by popular demand!)

Science experiment:
This week's science theme: H is for Heat.

Heat Changes Things
The kids put various items to the test to see which ones would change when heated in a 300 degree oven and which would not. The items tested were a block of wood, a crayon, a nail, a ball of aluminum foil and a candle. They made their predictions about if/how each of the items would change and after 5 minutes we took the items out and discussed their results.

Perceiving Hot vs Cold
While the kids waited for the items in the oven to heat up, we performed another experiment with bowls of water. First they submerged one of their hands into a bowl of very cold water and the other into a bowl of hot (but not too hot) water and left them there for about a minute. Next they put those hands into a bowl of lukewarm water and discovered the strange sensation of having one hand feel cold (the one that had been in the hot water) and one hand feel hot (the one that had been in the cold water) when submerged in the same bowl of water. We discussed how the heat leaves your hot hand to warm up the water making that hand feel cold, and how the heat from the water travels to your cold hand making it feel warmer.


Physical activity:
None.

Outing/social time:
None.

Worksheets:
Coloring H word pictures, tracing letter H, tracing H words, matching household item words to their picture, counting and finding numeral, tracing the numeral 2, cutting zig-zag lines.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
House & Home games on the iPad (Play 2 Learn French, First Words @ Home, My Home, iCreate Home Edition, Kids and Home).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our House & Home theme compilation cd .

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced being polite and saying "Excuse moi" after passing gas (something the kids in this house seem to do an awful lot of!) and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 8 - Monday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: H
Theme of the week: House & Home

Arts & crafts:
The kids made the outlines of houses using Popsicle sticks and then filled them in with 5 toothpick windows - one for a photo of each member of our family!






Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Franklin Runs Away by Bourgeois/Clark
Arthur's Teacher Moves In by Brown
I Want to Go Home! by Roberts/Mathieu
The Sandcastle Contest by Munsch/Martchenko


Cooperative game:
Household item BINGO.

Science experiment:
This week's science theme: H is for Heat.

Black Heat
The kids covered two clear plastic drinking cups with paper - one white, one black. They then filled them with the same amount of water and took turns saying which one they thought would get warmer when left out in the sun and why. We then put the cups outside in a sunny spot of the yard and left them there for the rest of the day. Later in the afternoon we brought the cups in and the kids discovered that the water in the black cup was indeed warmer than the water in the white cup. I explained to them that this was because darker colours absorb more light (and therefore heat) whereas lighter colours reflect it, and gave some everyday examples that they could relate to (i.e. hotter when you wear a black shirt in summer, hotter inside Daddy's black car).


Physical activity:
None.

Outing/social time:
Library visit.

8 of our 15 selections were theme related books:
Montre-Moi La Maison by Pichette/Rousseau
The House that Jack Built by Mother Goose/Miller
The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted House by Berenstain/Berenstain
Houses Around Our World by Frakes/Connelly
Our Global Community - Homes by Mayer
World Show-and-Tell - Homes by Petty
Curious George Builds a Home by Perez/Fallon
Let's Go Home - The Wonderful Things About a House by Rylant/Halperin

Worksheets:
Coloring H word pictures, tracing letter H, tracing H words, writing name, differentiating full vs empty, matching animals to their homes, counting and finding numeral, tracing the numeral 1, cutting zig-zag lines.

Hands on math:
Play with buttons - counting, easy addition & subtraction, multiplication concepts, patterns, estimating who has most, estimating total, sorting by colour, sorting by shape.

Computers:
House & Home games on the iPad (Play 2 Learn French, First Words @ Home, My Home, iCreate Home Edition, Kids and Home).

Music:
None.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced being polite and saying "Excuse moi" after passing gas (something the kids in this house seem to do an awful lot of!) and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

House & Home theme compilation CD

Here are the tracks that I put on our Week 8 House & Home theme compilation CD:

1. Oh, How I Want to Go - Name Your Tune Personalized CD
2. Five Miles from Home - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 3
3. Hey Ho, Nobody's Home - The Music Class Dinosaur Collection
4. Wave Bye-Bye - Dog Train
5. Home - Disney's Princess Collection
6. My Home's in Montana - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 3
7. Travel Song Medley - Dora the Explorer
8. When I Get Home - The Care Bears
9. Sing Your Way Home - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 3
10. Tell Me Who is that Knocking? - The Wiggles (Shane's Faves)
11. When Johnny Comes Marching Home - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 3
12. Ten in the Bed - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 3
13. The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Diego, Dora & Friends Animal Jamboree
14. I Don't Want to Live on the Moon - Sesame Street Songs from the Street

Week 7 - Friday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: G
Theme of the week: Games & Sports


Arts & crafts:
The kids made and decorated "sports people" using cutouts of various body parts and sports equipment.





Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
The Tortoise and the Hare by
I Can Be Fair! by Parker/Johnson
Franklin's Canoe Trip by Bourgeois/Clark

Cooperative game:
Go Fish.

Science experiment:
The themes for this week's science experiments will all begin with the letter G!

Germs
The kids performed an experiment which demonstrated how important it is to use soap and water to get the germs off their hands, rather than just wipe them "clean" on their clothes. First they dug their hands into potting soil and got them really dirty. This dirt was to represent the germs they get on their hands on a daily basis. Then they tried to wash the "germs" off by wiping their hands with dry paper towels. Next they inspected their hands with magnifying glasses to see how dirty their hands still were, even after all that wiping. Finally they washed their hands with soap and water and inspected them one more time to see how clean they were now. We then talked about the importance of good hygiene and how that can really help keep them from getting sick. We also discussed the proper way to sneeze (into their elbows not their hands!) and why they should do their best to keep their hands away from their eyes, noses and mouths.






Physical activity:
Sports Skills Development and Gymnastics class at Le Petit Gym.

Outing/social time:
Sports Skills Development and Gymnastics class at Le Petit Gym.

Worksheets:
Finding words that begin with G, colouring G word pictures, filling in the missing G, tracing uppercase alphabet, writing name, tracing numbers 0-9.

Hands on math:
Placing cutouts of hockey players with numbered jerseys in numerical order and reverse order.

Computers:
Sports games on the iPad (Play 2 Learn French, Wood Puzzle Soocer, World of Sports, Hit Tennis 2, Flick Football, The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Games & Sports theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced asking "Est-ce que je peux avoir un mouchoir s'il-vous-plait?" since Gabe had a runny nose, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 7 - Thursday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: G
Theme of the week: Games & Sports

Arts & crafts:
The kids decorated basketball pictures using orange and brown felt.




Free play at stations:
Rather than set up our regular free play stations today, we decided to play a variety of sports and games around the house (the weather was too wet and cold to play outside).

Our activities included:
Basketball
Soccer
Baseball
Football
Follow the leader
Hide and seek
Tag






Story time:
A Game of Hide and Seek by RH Disney
The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Berenstain/Berenstain
Brady Brady and the B Team by Shaw/Temple
Let's Talk Baseball by Behrens

Cooperative game:
Easter BINGO.

Science experiment:
The themes for this week's science experiments will all begin with the letter G!

Growth & Germination
I first introduced the concepts of growth and germination by reading a Winnie the Pooh book about planting called "How Does Your Garden Grow?" The kids then put potting soil into Styrofoam cups, planted flower seeds and carefully watered them. We discussed all of the elements needed to help the flowers grow (soil, water, sun) and they each guessed how long it would be until we saw something sprouting up!




Update #1 - as of day 4:


Update #2 - as of day 5:


Physical activity:
Sports and games during free play (see above).

Outing/social time:
None.

Worksheets:
Coloring G word pictures, tracing letter G, tracing G words, matching uppercase to lowercase, finding same, counting and finding numeral, tracing and writing the numeral 8, finding 8 items in larger group, tracing Easter words, Easter picture matching, cutting straight lines.

Hands on math:
In keeping with our science theme of "growth" we measured each other to see how much we had grown over the past few months and compared how much the kids had grown this year with how much they had grown the year before. We discussed why it is that they grew but I didn't, as well as what their bodies need to continue to grow (healthy food, exercise, plenty of rest).

Computers:
Sports games on the iPad (Play 2 Learn French, Wood Puzzle Soocer, World of Sports, Hit Tennis 2, Flick Football, The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Games & Sports theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced asking "Est-ce que je peux avoir un mouchoir s'il-vous-plait?" since Gabe had a runny nose, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 7 - Wednesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: G
Theme of the week: Games & Sports


Arts & crafts:
The kids made sports collages using cutouts of sports equipment taken from store circulars.



Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
The Tortoise and the Hare by Aesop/Schlichting/Dashow/Webster
Arthur and the True Francine by Brown
A Great Day for Soccer by Lee
Dora Saves the Game by Lee
Things to Play With by Henderson

Cooperative game:
Follow the leader.

Science experiment:
The themes for this week's science experiments will all begin with the letter G!

Gas
The kids experimented with the effects of mixing baking soda and vinegar and how to use the resulting gas to inflate a balloon.



Physical activity:
Running, climbing, sliding and playing with balls in the YMCA gym with me.

Outing/social time:
1 hour at the YMCA childcare.

Worksheets:
Coloring G word pictures, tracing letter G, tracing G words, tracing curved lines, matching uppercase to lowercase, finding same size, counting and finding numeral, tracing and writing the numeral 7, finding 7 items in larger group, counting items and writing numeral, sports theme colour matching, cutting straight lines.



Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Sports games on the iPad (Play 2 Learn French, Wood Puzzle Soocer, World of Sports, Hit Tennis 2, Flick Football, The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Games & Sports theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced asking "Est-ce que je peux avoir un mouchoir s'il-vous-plait?" since Gabe had a runny nose, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 7 - Tuesday

Today I went to Nicki's school to help out with some activities in her first grade class, so the homeschool kids got to have a day off! But in the spirit of our weekly theme, they still played lots of games and sports with Daddy today. Here are some pics:

Week 7 - Monday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: G
Theme of the week: Games & Sports

Arts & crafts:
The kids made sports wreaths using paper plates and cutouts of various types of sports balls.




Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
The Tortoise and the Hare by Aesop/Schlichting/Dashow/Webster
Let's Play Sports by Inches/Aikins
Franklin's Canoe Trip by Jennings/Jeffery/Koren/Sisic
Scooby-Doo Baseball Blackout by Guidone/del Sur
I Can Be Fair! by Parker/Johnson

Cooperative game:
Took turns hiding & hunting for plastic Easter eggs.

Science experiment:
The themes for this week's science experiments will all begin with the letter G!

Gravity
I first explained the basic concept of gravity by reading them a Winnie the Pooh book called "Why Don't Things Fall Up?" The kids then experimented with the laws of gravity by throwing balls up in the air and then watching them come back down. They then hypothesized what would happen if we dropped 2 objects of different weights (i.e. which would hit the ground first) and tested their ideas. We then discussed their results and I explained how Galileo discovered that gravity pulls all objects downward at the same speed, regardless of weight.



Physical activity:
An evening game of both baseball and football with Daddy.

Outing/social time:
Library visit.
6 of our 15 selections were theme related books:
Nobody Wants to Play with a Ball Hog by Gassman/Santillan
Brady Brady and the B Team by Shaw/Temple
The Berenstain Bears Go Out for the Team by Berenstain/Berenstain
Let's Talk Swimming by Miller
Let's Talk Baseball by Behrens
Let's Talk Soccer by Falk

Worksheets:
Coloring G word pictures, tracing letter G, tracing G words, writing name, tracing curved lines, matching uppercase to lowercase, finding different, counting and finding numeral, tracing and writing the numeral 5, finding 5 items in larger group, cutting straight lines.

Hands on math:
Play with buttons - counting, easy addition & subtraction, multiplication concepts, patterns, estimating who has most, estimating total, sorting by colour, sorting by shape.

Computers:
Sports games on the iPad (Play 2 Learn French, Wood Puzzle Soocer, World of Sports, Hit Tennis 2, Flick Football, The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Games & Sports theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced asking "Est-ce que je peux avoir un mouchoir s'il-vous-plait?" since Gabe had a runny nose, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.