The last several weeks have been a little crazy around our house. Husbandie has been traveling a lot but I can't really use that as excuse; I honestly just haven't been doing very good a sticking to a routine. Starting a whole new unit for the month of April seemed like an impossibility so we just moved over in the animal kingdom a little bit and slowly shifted our focus from reptiles to birds. There is debate in the scientific community about to whether dinosaurs are more closely connected to reptiles or birds so Big Buddy was all for this transition.
We've continued to use a lot of our reptile trays but I also threw together a few new ones.
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| bird/reptile venn diagram skills practiced: classification, scientific knowledge, comparing i have made the cards' pdf available here |
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| bird nomenclature cards and figurine matching skills practiced: one-to-one correspondence, scientific knowledge, comparing, vocabulary *i have made the pdf available here - cards created to align with safari ltd's exotic bird toob and the birds included in the farm toob |
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| bird reptile sorting skills practiced: sorting, comparing, scientific knowledge |
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| parts of a bird nomenclature cards skills practiced: scientific knowledge, identification, vocabulary * pdf via montessori materials *when working with these cards big buddy also finds the corresponding part on a bird figurine |
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| bird and reptile x-rays skills practiced: scientific knowledge, comparing, matching *x-rays from discount school supply *you can view our suitcase turned light box tutorial here |
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| painting with a feather skills practiced: coloring mixing, fine motor, creativity |
I also pulled out a few trays from our previous units. From our farm unit:
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| the chicken game skills practiced: social, scientific knowledge (life cycle of a chicken) *borrowed from our local library |
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| scooping bird seed into numbered cups skills practiced: fine motor, numeral recognition, rational counting, volume |
From our Thanksgiving/Turkeys unit:
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| "Turkeys" and feathers counting game skills practiced: fine motor, numeral recognition, rational counting |
Animals are currently of great interest to Big Buddy. He especially enjoys learning their characteristics and comparing them to one another. I think we will most likely continue to capitalize on this interest and move on to insects next. If you have any insect activities that your children enjoy, I'd love to hear about them.
P.S. Check out our homeschool page for more theme units and educational ideas.
A little love for you today on my blog!
ReplyDeleteAshley
What a fun unit! I especially liked the Venn diagram. Here from ABC/123. www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com
ReplyDeleteWow, you have put such thought and car into each project. I am super impressed.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that we've done insect-wise is flashcards. Sadly, I dream about cockroaches and earwigs now.
I'd love it if you'd link up at my Teaching Time for Toddlers Tuesday party.
http://philwife.blogspot.com/2012/04/teaching-time-for-toddlers-tuesday.html
So many neat ideas! I am intrigued by your suitcase turned light box! Clever. Thanks for linking up to Show and Tell this week.
ReplyDeleteWow, these look incredible. All your ideas look so fun. Can we come to your homeschooling preschool too?! Kellie xx
ReplyDeleteI love ALL the activities! Thanks!
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