Weather unit and the rest of March

Beware: Lots of gratuitous photos in this blog posting.
For the month of March, Graham and I did a mini-weather unit.  And by "mini" I mean I started the month out well and did like three things and then fizzled.  And because I currently have a $5000 fine at the library, I was avoiding going and checking out some weather books.  Yeah, we homeschool.
Anyway, here is our cool tornado in the jar (via pinterest).  I was skeptical, but it actually really works.  We have left it sitting in the widow of our kitchen all month because it is so fun to play with!

We did a couple of fun weather crafts.

My favorite activity was the weather bath!  Add some blue food coloring and shaving cream clouds to a regular old bath, and it becomes super special and super fun!  Graham and Grayson had a ball playing!

Graham did an experiment in the tub with shaving cream and blue food coloring to demonstrate how rain drops through the clouds.

Last month, I started the "All about Reading" Level 1 with Graham.  He zoomed through the pre-reader level, so I figured he was raring to go for the next step.  Ummmm, not so much.  I had to pull my hair out to get him to sit still enough to do the lessons every day, and when he did sit still enough, he was getting frustrated with the material.  He was just not ready for it.  Totally Okay.  And totally why we homeschool.  So, I am putting it away for a few months to re-visit it next fall.  Anyway, I have decided to work on some other skills for awhile.  We have been doing alot more math lately, and Graham has really enjoyed it.  I think SO much of it at his age is him developing a positive view of math and building some math confidence.  This is something I sorely lacked from the moment I walked through the doors of the public school until the day I walked out.  I think this has much to do with why, even now, I am very reluctant to teach math.  But my boys both LOVE math and so far both of them feel pretty competent and I don't want to do anything to hinder that!
So, one of the things we did this month was to set up a "numbers station."  I pulled out a ton of stuff I had on hand: number stickers, number magnets, number dry erase boards, manipulatives, bingo markers, etc. and just let him play.

One day we got out our scale and he weighed all kinds of things.  He had big fun with this, and I couldn't believe how long he played with it.  We talked alot about why things weighed more, how to get the scale even, and why sometimes one side of the scale was heavier even though there were less objects on it. 

Little Bubba also got in on the action.  He seriously had a ton of fun putting stuff on the scale and playing with the smooth river rocks.

I gave him an egg carton and he played with it forever ("forever" in toddler time is around five minutes or so).  He put rocks in it and then I gave him all sizes of colored pom poms.

Graham is into Star Wars right now.  We did a Star Wars preschool pack.  One day I had Isaac read Graham a Star Wars book.  This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it warms this mama's heart! Notice diligent/organized/project-oriented child fully dressed and ready for the day while creative/messy/somewhat lazy child is still in his pajamas.  Not that we put anyone in boxes around here or anything.

For Geography studies, Isaac is learning about South America.  We did a diorama of the rainforest.

Here is Graham looking SUPER cute next to the diorama.  Isaac is noticeably missing because when I attempt to take a normal photo with him in it....

....this is what happens.  Part of having a nine year old boy I guess.

I was starting to second guess our geography curriculum, and was about ready to think the whole year had been a massive waste of time from an academic point of view, until I started really working with Isaac and quizzing him on some geographical things.  He can tell you on what continent, what country and often what city many major geographical landmarks are located (El Castillo, Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, Itsukushima Tori, Grand Canyon, The Parthenon, etc.).  He can identify where most major countries of the world are, he knows about many of the important eco systems of the world, and can tell you at length what the differences are between a temperate/tropical/arctic climate.  I am so proud of him!  And, the best part is...I am learning right along with him!

January and February Preschool Unit Study: Snow, Winter and the Arctic

Much like the months of January and February in North Dakota, this unit study seemed to drag on and on and on. Mostly because of some other things this mama has had going on in my life, I haven't had the time or energy to focus on doing alot of the fun stuff I had planned on doing. However, we did get to some fun things.
We made these adorable polar bears (Isaac says they look more like Panda bears, but whatever!)

I made this cute snowman felt playset (thanks Pinterest!)

We also made these adorable penguin footprints (I am a sucker for any craft that involves their little hands or feet...they always end up in my "art projects to keep" momento box!).  Thanks again, Pinterest!

We did several ice-related experiments, which Graham had a ball with.  Some (like this one pictured below) I got off of Pinterest.

The others we did were part of the arctic kit we got from our Kiwi Crate.  I LOVE our Kiwi crates, and Graham does too.  These photos are from a robot inspired kit we got a few months ago.

And last, but not least, are some of the winter-inspired reads we picked up at the library!
 

October Unit Study: Elections, Presidents, and Voting

Our October unit study was all-things election! We really packed a TON into this unit study. Although most of my monthly unit studies will be focused on Graham, this one also involved Isaac. Here are a few of the things we did this month:
*Patriotic art projects: Uncle Sam mask, Popsicle stick flag, 3-D White House
*Wrote Essays on "What I would do if I were President"
*Participated in a mock election (photos below)
*Read facts about each president during calendar time every day
*Learned about the branches of government, the electoral college, and the women's suffrage movement
*Went on a field trip to vote on election day!

Here is Graham looking adorable in his Uncle Sam mask:

Here are a few of our other art projects:

For our mock election, we read from three books: (1) "Duck for President, (2) "Grace for President" and (3) "My Teacher for President."  The election we held was between these three "candidates."  We spent some time a couple of weeks before our mock election talking about campaigning.  We made some campaign posters.  I thought it was hilarious when Graham excitedly had me come outside to see that he had proudly stuck his poster to the bumper of his car as a bumper sticker!

Here's Graham on our mock election day:

Our Voting station was equipped with a ballot box, "I Voted" stickers and a laminated photo ID for both of the boys to present before voting.  I assigned electoral votes to myself, Isaac and Graham based on age (guess who had the most electoral votes?) prior to our election.

Isaac casting his vote:

Graham casting his vote:

Proudly wearing their "I Voted" stickers!

The election break-down: Grace won!

Here we are on the REAL election day!

Even though this election didn't quite turn out how we had hoped, we learned a TON this month, and it was so fun to be learning about things that were unfolding in real life.  There are SO many great election-themed and patriotic children's books out there.  Below are a few of the books we read this month.

Fall Unit Study Wrap-up

For the month of September, our unit study was "fall." Graham did lots of fun activities and projects to go along with our unit study. Among them were:

*Made fall tree cupcakes

*Made a fall "wreath" out of leaves and acorns collected outside

*Completed a "Leaf" booklet

*Made a picture frame out of acorns

*Did a science experiment to help us understand why leaves change color

*Made "Bountiful Beauty Baskets" and went on a nature walk.

Here is Graham on our nature walk:

And here is little guy along for the ride!

On our nature walk, we found these fuzzy balls on the backs of leaves.  We (I) assumed them to be caterpillar eggs of some kind.

Here's Graham looking over his "eggs" a little more closely back at the house.

We decided to put our cute little eggs in our butterfly observatory.

After a few days, nothing happened so I decided to do a little investigation.  It turns out they were actually unfertilized wasp eggs.  YUCK!  Back outside they went.

With all of our collected things from our nature walk, we made a giant graph on the cement.  First we graphed by leaf color, and then we graphed by type of item.

For this unit study, here are some of the fall-themed books Graham and I read:

Our next unit study will be on voting, elections and presidents.  Although most of my monthly units are for Graham,  this one will also involve Isaac.  I am so excited to teach the boys about our great nation and help them learn a bit more about our upcoming election!