Charlotte's Web Fun

We have been working on "Charlotte's Web" for a week or so now and the boys are loving it. It seems now that we're reading it, we are seeing it everywhere. Spiderwebs in our backyard, pig books in plain sight in the library, finding out today is the birthday of the book being published in 1952, and now I see characters everywhere! I know that's the way life is, those things aren't suddenly there, we are just more aware of them because we are learning about them.

The boys love the book and I'm rather surprised some of the words in the book Harrison doesn't know and stops to ask me what they mean. I was always told he was such a great reader while he was in public school and maybe he is, but these are words he should know. Yet another good reason to homeschool, I'd have no idea he didn't know these words if I didn't take these extra steps! I'm continually amazed at how much they are learning, and how well it is working out!

Here are some photographs from our recent fun! We have some more crafts to do for the book, and an activity pack I printed out. We will wrap it up by of course watching the cartoon version of the book, one of my favorites. 

 We created this little farm sensory barn by adding our barn and animals to our lightbox. We added easter grass for grass and swiped some unused timothy hay from our guinea pigs for the hay for the animals! A little strip of blue felt is the ducks' pond!

 We picked up some little animals from Hobby Lobby and of course had to get Wilbur his own food pail!

 This intricate spiderweb was between our swingset and trees. It was beautiful, I wish I could've gotten better up close pics but it kept swaying in the wind.

 

And just a gratuitous photo of Yoshi the guinea pig, isn't he cute?

I haven't read the book in years and it's still a wonderful, easy read for kids, and my boys are enjoying me reading it aloud. Since we will also be going on a field trip next week to a pumpkin patch on a farm, this ties in wonderfully!!




Long Live Wilbur!

~~Amy

Monthly Themes for Homeschooling

I am trying to do some monthly themes since E is in kindergarten and I loved doing themes as a preschool teacher. We are still following certain curriculums but I thought the themes would be fun to give us extra things to do and learn about. So here they are, in case you're curious! Themes change every two weeks and we do not do traditional holidays like Christmas, Easter, Valentine's etc.

I have ideas plotted out to go with each one and will post them as the time gets closer!

Monthly Themes

September:
Angry Birds
Insects

October:
Fall/Leaves
Pumpkins

November:
Thanksgiving

December:
Snow
Penguins/Polar Bears

January:
Presidents
Dental Health

February:
Human Body
Dr. Seuss

March
Weather/Spring
Plants/Flowers

April:
Farm
Zoo

May:
Outer Space/Star Wars
Ocean

~~What are your favorite themes?? Feel free to share them and delight me with a comment!!
~~Amy

Blueberry Love

We visited the local blueberry picking farm the other day. I highly suggest this activity if you have one near you. Not only do you get a quick, fun, learning experience for the kids, but you get great, healthy food to make a plethora of recipes from.

Blue Harvest Farms uses no pesticides so you can eat RIGHT off the bush! How cool is that!?? Located in Covington, LA off Hwy 21, it's a reasonably priced activity for all. At 10.00 a gallon or 2.00 a pound, it's far cheaper, even with gas, than the 4.00 a pint (or more) price for blueberries in the store. And you picked these yourself, it sounds like work, but it's fun!

Check out Blue Harvest Farms site and Facebook page for details on hours and tips.

Here's our little bit of fun while visiting...

All images ©Amy Dutsch, 2012

Delight me with a comment and a repin! :)

~~Amy