Happy Easter! Now What To Do With All Those Easter Eggs!

What an fantastic Easter our family had!!!  We enjoyed a wonderful, sunny day made by the Lord and had great time at church and with our little family.  What hope we all have knowing that our Savior is risen so that we may all have the opportunity at eternal life in Heaven!!  Praise God!!  It feels my heart with joy, but also with a great sense of responsibility.

All too quickly, the world will try to lure my children away from the Lord and His teachings.  It is imperative that as parents, Josh and I instill a strong foundation in the Lord each and every day, not just at Easter and Christmas.  In order to do that, we must have a daily walk with the Lord, not just at Easter and Christmas.  It is easy to become lax in the walk, but it must be our number one priority.  All of our thoughts, actions, choices, activities, and conversations should revolve around a Christ-centered life. Praise God that He has seen fit to give me more time on this Earth to strengthen my walk with Him, not only for my sake but for my kids as well.  We never know when our last breath will come, so walk with Him daily!!

Okay, I'm done preaching!!  So now on to some education.....plastic Easter eggs!  How many are floating around your house after opening Easter baskets on Sunday?  If your house is like mine, they seem to multiply at an exponential rate.  I know I only put 2-3 in each Easter basket, but the floor looks like a colorful hatchery only five days later!

So what to do with all those Easter eggs?  Something educational, of course!  I created some letter matching eggs for Micah.  On the top half of the egg, I wrote capital letters and lower case letters on the bottom half of the eggs.  This is a great activity for Micah.  It generally takes him 5-10 minutes to make all the matches, depending on how "extracted" (distracted) he is.

If your little one is past matching up letters, you can use the eggs to match up almost anything:  fractions, analog and digital times, numbers and number words, etc.  They can also be used for young preschoolers to help sort colors.

Rachel

Hello, my name is Rachel and I am an Olympic nerd!

It was 1994. Winter.  I was in the fourth grade at Lynnvale Elementary School.  A student in Mrs. Karen Bland's class.  By my side were those class mates that had been a part of my world since Kindergarten.  I LOVED school, regardless of the classroom activities.  But when Mrs. Bland announced that we were starting a unit in honor of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, I of course was excited, but had no idea that a love for all things Olympics that would blossom from that unit.

In order to really connect with the games, I portrayed myself as an ice skater.  Two classmates and I would choreograph "short programs" during gym, recess, and any other moment we had to "train."  We perfected our jumps...of course instead of triple axles, we were throwing down half axles.  Nancy Kerrigan was our idol, which meant Tonya Harding was our arch nemesis.  We were totally engrossed in those winter Olympic games.

Then there was class.  Athlete reports, recreating the flags of participating countries, critiquing events from the previous night, updating medal counts each day, learning about new sports....sigh...to be in fourth grade again.  It was so much fun!!!  But all too soon, the closing ceremonies were over and the Olympic flame of the XVII Olympic Winter Games was extinguished.

But my love for the Olympics still burns today.  I LOVE the Olympics!!  I love the fierce competition. I love learning about the host country. I love the stories on the athletes.  I love Olympic trivia and history.  I am a true Olympic nerd!!!  If I had a bucket list, going to the Olympics would definitely be on it....maybe I should start one (but after the Olympics:) ).  Although I enjoy watching both the summer and winter games, my heart has a special place for the Winter Olympics.

Josh and I began dating in the fall of 2002 and were married by the summer of 2004.  In that time, there were no Olympic games, therefore Josh had never actually seen me as a spectator of the games.  In our vows we did not specifically mention the Olympics, but just eight short weeks after the "I do's" were exchanged, the summer Olympics began.  He was only a little afraid of my devotion.  Since then he has faithfully watched each and every Olympics (although I have noticed he's not much of a figure skating fan.)

Now we have offspring....someone I can pass the "torch" to when it comes to loving the Olympics.  So what better way to instill a love and appreciation of the Olympics and the level of competition than be creating a Winter Olympic Unit.

So much can be gleaned from the Olympics...understanding the significance of tenths and hundredths when comparing speeds, geography and the history of those countries, the history of each winter sport, witnessing the commitment of athletes, a lesson in the culture of the host country.  It is a great platform for learning!!!

So I created a pack that has both 2nd grade and preschool activities.  The pack includes Venn diagrams, a medal count sheet with questions for after the Olympics, craft activities, a timeline of Olympic history, a writing prompt, and much more for the 2nd grade level.  For the preschoolers in your life, the Letters G and S are highlighted.  There is also shape review, math activities, a fun matching game, and more.

2014 Winter Olympic Pack

In addition to the pack, we have or plan on completing a variety of other activities:

•  Create our own medals
• Create a large medal count chart for the USA
• Create a garland of flags
• Compete in our own "games"
• Olympic Party

So I realize that my love of all things Olympic may not be hereditary, but I will not be deterred in trying to force pass it on to the kiddos through a really fun Olympic theme unit!  Happy learning!

Penguin Unit

Penguins.....Just typing the word reminds me of the cute little birds that act like a fish. Their little legs and their little waddle....just so stinking cute! I mean, who doesn't love penguins.  They are interesting little creatures that provide entertainment and learning for all ages.

I decided that the kids would enjoy a penguin unit during the winter months of January.  Plus, I could find or create activities that address both preschool and second grade.

For Micah, I used the penguin unit as a way to introduce the letter P.  The penguins were also used as a way for continued exposure to numbers, shapes, and colors.  I created this packet for the preschool age.
This packet includes a letter maze, a color matching game, pattern play, shape tracing, letter tracing, and more all with the penguin theme throughout.

Preschool Penguin Pack

In addition to the Penguin Preschool Pack, I also used the following activities:

Color by Number
Penguin Number Dot-to-Dot
Penguin Letter Dot-to-Dot
Other Fun Penguin Activities



For Abby, my second grader, the penguin theme was used to teach math, literacy, geography, and science (habitat, predator/prey).  So I turned to the Internet for sources that I could use for instruction at the second grade level.  And here is what I found:

Math
Mathwire --  This site offers a TON of penguin themed math activities.  The area that I liked the most for Abby was the problem solving section.  In addition to math activities for Abby,  this site could be utilized for preschool as well, although some activities may require some minor modification.

Penguin Grid Activity -- A fun coloring activity that also focuses on plotting points.

Literacy
I found several different short passages with comprehension questions for Abby.  Since reading is an area of concern for her, we generally spend 3-5 days on a passage to ensure comprehension and to improve reading skills through repetition.  However, there were a couple of these that she just read 2-3 times in one day and then answered the questions.

Penguin Passages --  Read Works is a great website that has reading passages for all different reading levels. They offer fiction and non-fiction choices as well as a wide variety of topics.  PLUS each passage has corresponding questions.  You do have to be a member to download the passages and activities, but it is a FREE membership...and what's better than getting something for free.

Peter the Penguin --  Another great website for reading passages is Have Fun Teaching.  The reading is divided into grade levels and each come with comprehension questions as well.

Penguins Reading Passage

After reading the passages, Abby would generally complete a journal entry as well.  With several of the passages, she simply summarized the passage.  However, we also made a deliberate attempt to identify the who, what, when, where, why, and how of each passage as well as discussing the differences in fiction and non-fiction.

Science

Playful Penguins -- This is a great free packet that highlights six species of penguins.  The habitat, food, predators, appearance, and facts about each species is covered.  There is also a neat graphic organizer for each species as well.  Also, when we studied each penguin, we used a map to highlight where each species lived.  It was a great way to discuss Northern and Southern Hemispheres, continents, the equator, and other geographical facts.

In addition to the provided activities, we did a measuring and comparison activity, which the kids loved.  I cut out a strip of paper (actually it was three that I pieced together) that measured to 48 inches and marked off inches and feet.  Next, I cut out nine read arrows (six for the penguins, three for my kids.)  I wrote the names of the kids on three of the arrows.  Abby cut out the little circle images of the six penguin species discussed in the Play Penguins unit.  So using the measuring strip, we marked the height of each penguin and the kids. They LOVED seeing how tall they were in comparison to the penguins and thought it was so funny to learn that emperor penguins are pretty much the same size as Micah (who is five.)  We referred to this activity several times throughout the unit.

Books

Once Jude is down for his afternoon nap, we have story time, just me and the older two.  It is such a fun time for me because everything is calm and I can simply enjoy my kids without having a 22 month requiring CONSTANT supervision.  These are a few books that we read that correlated with this unit.  Judging from the questions and discussions that stemmed from story time, I would say the kids LOVED these books.

Antarctica by: Helen Cowcher

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Penguin Chick by Betty Tatham


In addition to the activities above, we also finished some fun art projects:

Penguin Glyph
How To Draw a Penguin
Penguin Paper Plate Craft

All in all, this was a really fun unit for everyone.....including me.  Happy learning!!

Start the Day Off With Math!! Daily Math Sheet

Every morning, the first thing Abby completes is a daily math sheet.  Not necessarily her most favorite thing to do, but it starts the day off with learning in mind.  It's a great little review that highlights place value, time, money, and expanded notation while reviewing calendar basics.

 It is also a great way to see her growth over the year.  Some things she could not complete at the beginning of the year, but now she can.

I generally print this front and back to save on some paper.  Happy learning!!

Daily Math Sheet

Rachel

ABC...Easy as 123 Spelling Packet

For Abby's spelling this year, I chose to not purchase a curriculum because there is an abundance of spelling lists for all levels available on the Internet.  As a review, Abby's first four weeks of spelling consisted of sight words from first grade.  Since then, I have used spelling lists that are available on Spelling City.  Lists do not require a log-in and password, but some of the activities are unavailable without it. However, other lists can be found from a simple search of the internet.  I generally try to use a list where the words have something in common.  For example, some of Abby's lists have included -oi and -oy words, glued sounds (-ild, old, -ind), and ending sounds (-less, -ment, -ful, -ness).

Spelling requires of repetition, phonetic understanding, and practice.  However, I didn't want to just have Abby write her spelling words each week but use different strategies to learn the spelling words.  So I created this packet that can be used with any spelling list.  Also, since there is a wide array of activities, each week can be different.  In total, the packet includes 15 pages (13 spelling activities, 1 weekly guide sheet, and 1 sheet of additional activities.)  Hopefully, this packet can be beneficial for your little speller whether you homeschool or not!!!!

Spelling Packet


Rachel