Penguin Unit Study Wrap Up!

We had a blast this month learning about Penguins! As was with our last theme of Charlotte's Web, it seemed everywhere we turned we found penguins! At the library, the store, online, of course it could've been the frigid time of the year...

We read plenty of short penguin books from the library including the very awesome "One Cool Friend".



We really enjoyed this book and it's very much worth multiple reads because you see many things the second time you didn't see the first. It won a Caldecott Medal in 2013 and it was well deserved, super fun, beautifully illustrated and funny story.

We also read "Mr. Popper's Penguins" as our chapter book and watched the movie with Jim Carrey. I'm very glad we read the book first because the differences between the book and movie were immediate and plentiful. Harrison especially was not happy with the changes. (Good boy! Books are always better!) But it was a good read aloud, and Eli loved when I made the penguin sounds of GORK and ORK!



I made a penguin sensory box one day out of ice cubes, colored water and the Penguin Toobs. We love those little Toobs, can't praise them enough.



The boys had a blast with the box and taking their penguins everywhere. I hope I can keep up with all the Toob's we've purchased so we can reuse them!

We made lots of penguin inspired art of course.

Did a little bit of penguin math....

And of course had to go see the penguins at the Audubon Aquarium! They were very active and happy, and it was awesome to see them up close. We are very blessed to live so near to such an awesome resource. If you aren't near such a great place, you can always see our penguins at www.apl.tv!

I think she liked us....

Either way this was a super fun, great unit that we enjoyed and I think the boys learned a lot from.

GORK!

Stay warm!

~~Amy



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January Home School Theme

January is almost here!! December was a short month for us, school wise, thanks to the Winter Break. We enjoyed the theme of Snow last month, but we didn't even get to Penguins! January was supposed to be Presidents and Dental Health...well, plans change and I think Penguins would still be super fun to study. So we shall carry on with Penguins for our monthly study with a President's Day study on the proper day.


Blubber Experiment: http://octopus.gma.org/surfing/antarctica/blubber.html

Watch Mr. Popper's Penguins and Read Aloud


 
Fun Penguin Crafts:http://www.havingfunathome.com/2012/01/preschool-penguin-crafts.html
Cute penguin template for paper, felt, fabric.http://sweetandlovelycrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/11/cute-penguin-craft.html

And of course go to the Audubon Aquarium and visit the penguins!


Watch "March of the Penguins" and adapt this lesson plan from Teach with Movies http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/march-of-the-penguins.html




Watch "Happy Feet"
and adapt the lesson plan from: http://www.teachwithmovies.org/talking-and-playing/happy-feet-t-p.html

Do you have any fun penguin activities? 

December Homeschool Themes

Well, I'm getting a little late start here for the month, eh?? Oh well!

It finally got cold here so it's a good time to do our short December themes of "Snow" and "Penguins"

We never get snow here except literally once every 5-10 years and its a scattering of icy flakes, but we can pretend!! So for this month, we will try to get some of these activities done:

Instant snow in the sensory box. The boys LOVED playing with instant snow last year, I think we used it all up but I'll get my hands on some.Even yoda wasn't safe from the snow.

Popsicle Stick Snowman: http://armywifequilter.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-100th-post-popcycle-stick-snowman.html


Borax Crystal Snowflakes: http://www.workitmom.com/bloggers/familycraftideas/2013/11/29/kids-craft-borax-crystal-snowflakes/

Read some Snow Inspired Books: http://blog.playdrhutch.com/2012/01/15/books-for-a-snowy-day/

Eat a melted Snowman! http://spoonful.com/recipes/serve-melted-frosty

And of course, make Star Wars inspired snowflakes: http://manmadediy.com/users/chris/posts/1522-how-to-make-star-wars-snowflakes-free-templates-included
http://www.anthonyherreradesigns.com/index.php/8-ahd-blog/7-star-wars-snowflakes-2012






Some Penguin Fun:

Watch Mr. Popper's Penguins and Read Aloud

 

Fun Penguin Crafts: http://www.havingfunathome.com/2012/01/preschool-penguin-crafts.html

Cute penguin template for paper, felt, fabric. http://sweetandlovelycrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/11/cute-penguin-craft.html

And of course go to the Audubon Aquarium and visit the penguins!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are only doing a few weeks of "real" school during December so we can enjoy the holiday break. We don't celebrate Christmas, but our public school friends are off for their break and we'd like to spend some time with them.

So happy crafting, schooling and stay warm!
~~Amy


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