Joyfully Weary

Primary Literature: On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer. This book uses poetic prose and bright illustrations to not only highlight different places around the world, but to also showcase different types of weather. A short author's note in the back of the book explains, in kid friendly terms, the scientific reasons why different parts of the earth could have such drastically different weather on the same day.  Vocabulary words to review stalking - watching intently, following boulevards - a wide street in a city, usually with trees or plants on the side crouched - low to the ground vanish - to disappear from sight

Mini Man and Little Lady are constantly asking me what two colors blended together will make, so right before Saint Patrick's Day we decided to make some blended rainbows.  Our Supplies : coffee filters, glue, scissors, cotton balls, q-tips, and red, yellow, & blue liquid water colors. You can make your own liquid watercolors out of some old markers  or food coloring, water, and a tiny bit of vinegar works too.

It's been crazy windy here lately, and since we just finished up a weather unit  I thought it would be fun to make a wind-theme craft. We go through a ton of orange juice in a week and I have started to save some of the cartons for crafts. They'll make great buildings or boats someday but we started out with wind-spinners.  Our Supplies: orange juice carton, spray primer, x-acto knife, acrylic paint, brushes, twine Step #1: prepare carton by applying one coat of primer. Once primer has dried use an x-acto knife to cut a door in every side (make sure all doors open in the same direction). Also use x-acto knife to cut a small string hole at the top of the carton. *this step should be done by an adult Step #2: paint all sides of the carton Step #3: once paint has dried, thread twine through hole and knot, then hang your wind-spinner.  Here is a closer look at our finished wind-spinners. The kids have really enjoyed watc...

One of the first things I do when planning a thematic unit is start searching for quality related books. Jeremy and I are both lovers of the written word and we are very glad our children have all seemed to have inherited this trait.  A good portion of our school days are spent curled up on the couch reading and discussing books. Below is a list of some our favorite books from our weather unit .  1 -   Bartholmew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss   is a tale of a discontent king who makes the terrible mistake of demanding a new type of weather. Oobleck falls from the sky and threatens to destroy the kingdom. In the end the King learns the power of the simple words "I'm sorry". Written in classic Dr. Seuss style this book is a joy to read.  2 - Brave Irene by William Streg  t ells the story of a brave young girl who battles the snow and wind to deliver a dress for her sick dress-maker mother. Big Buddy particularly enjoyed this tale for the main char...

One of my children's favorite art activities is to make collages. About once a week I pull out the scraps box and they glue whatever/however they want down on a piece of scrap cardboard. It's an open ended activity and it's fun to see their creativity go in different directions. Last week however, an activity from the book   Arty Facts Weather and & Art Activities inspired us to make a more specific design: strormscapes.  i think they did a pretty a great job.  Our Supplies*:  various paints (acrylic grey & silver, glitter glue, and grey & black puffy fabric paint), white glue, foam brush, scissors, foam board, aluminum foil, silver tissue paper, gold pipe cleaners, cotton balls, and tape. *our supplies are a bit different from the ones listed in the book because we improvised and made do with the items we had on hand.  Step 1: form storm clouds by gluing cotton balls, foil, and tissue paper to the top of your board. Be...

As part of our weather unit we've been talking a great deal about clouds and thunderstorms. Which is perfect because the last couple of weeks have been filled with rain - in fact it's thunder and lighting outside as I type. Luckily, all my kids are more curious than scared of storms. There have, however,  been a few instances of thunder that have caused Little Lady to jump. When I was packing up our Christmas decorations I noticed I had some icicles/tinsel I had never used and decided to leave them out since they reminded me of rain - I was already planning on doing a weather unit.  With a few other odds and ends from our craft supplies an idea for creating some storm/cumulonimbus clouds was formed.   Our Supplies: icicles/tinsel , gold pipe cleaners ,  styrofoam  packing peanuts, cloud shapes cut from a cereal box, scissors, hole punch, tape, glue, grey  acrylic paint, foam brush and ribbon/string.  Step 1: punch hole in top of t...

The theme we are currently focusing on this April is weather. It's worked out perfectly since we've experienced everything from a bit snow to sunny and seventy-two degrees! Below are some of the activities that you'd currently find around  our schoolroom .  I feel it is important to note that these activities were designed/chosen with my three children (ages 2 - 5) in mind. In addition to our themed units, my five-year-old also works on separate phonics and math curriculums.  Language -  rhyming clouds and raindrops - i've made the pdf available here skills reinforced: rhyming, letter blends, long vowels, sorting color clouds & raindrops -  i've made the pdf available here skills reinforced: colors, color names, sorting weather nomenclature cards -  i've made the pdf* available here skills reinforced: vocabulary, matching, reading *pdf includes picture and definition cards for 12 words. you can create your o...