Last August, the kids and I started on a home-school pre-school book called
Before Five In A Row. It has 23 mini-units based on children's books for ages 2-4yrs. It is a pre-curser to the actual homeschooling program for kindergarters and up called
Five In A Row. I am not planning to homeschool, at this point. I chose BFIAR because I wanted a plan. I wanted goals throughout the week and ideas on what we were going to do/learn/play. Also, I love children's books and each weekly lesson is based on a different children's book that we get to try. Plus, the ideas each week cover topics in Bible study, Character, Art, Science, Math, Language/Vocabulary, Music, Shapes, Memory, Literature, Drama, Cooking, etc.... The nice thing about it is that you can pick and chose from the ideas, add to them or think of your own, depending on time and interest. I also like to check out additional library books and/or toys/learning toys from Family Connections that relate to our book/topics each week. This does take a little foresight, but worth it! I also thought BFIAR could relate and work for both of my kids ages.
We covered about 10 books last fall. Here is a little of what we did for each lesson/book. We definitely tried to read the book every day. With the first book, I will be a little more descriptive of what we talked about too each week, so you can get a better idea of the lessons. I put a star next to my favorite books/books I would recommend.
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? *
When we started the first book last August, Ella was still doing her home pre-school group where the mom's switched off teaching each Friday. So, the week we did Jesse Bear, I also was teaching pre-school that Friday.
- We talked about the importance of being cheerful and having a happy heart. Prov. 17:22
- Our song was Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear with all the motions and everything. So, to go along with that, I checked out a book from the library based on that song with all the movement/motions.
- Checked out about three audio books from the library - It's About Time Jesse Bear (same author) & Jamberry
- We made bear pancakes one morning for breakfast.
- As we read the book throughout the week, we did a lot of detail/can-you-find searches for hidden pictures in the book.
- We went on a nature walk and collected flowers from around our neighborhood.
- There are a lot of shapes in the book, so at pre-school we did potato stamping.
- We made bear cookies and brought them for a snack at pre-school for everyone.
- I checked out an audio book that week by the same author - It's About Time Jesse Bear.
- I made little cardboard bears and clothes for the kids to dress them. The clothes were all clothes that Jesse Bear wore in the book.
- I checked out a getting dressed puzzle from FC. (emphasis on order/steps in dressing)
- I found a bear memory game online that I printed out and the kids got to play. It is a color memory game.
- At pre-school, we did two worksheets - one tracing the letter "B & b" and then a bear connect-the-dot picture. This was only for Ella's age, of course, not Caleb.
- We talked about expressing love/affection within your family, like Jesse Bear and his family did.
Yellow Ball- Read and talked about the bible story of Jesus calming the storm.
- Painted with wartercolors and tried to reproduce the cover of the book.
- Talked about storms/weather.
- Talked about small v. large perception. We took a big bouncy ball outside and stood on the sidewalk across from each other and then I scooted way far back and talked about it.
- We listed things we saw in the beach picture in the book.
- Worked on sequencing. I checked out some sequencing puzzles from FC - showed scenes/stories and the kids had to figure out the order in which they happened.
- Looked at reflections in mirror and water.
My Blue Boat- Verse in Psalms about being out in the ocean and the wonders you see out there.
- More watercolors; painted the ocean/boat on back of paper plates.
- Looked at Van Gough paintings online and compared to pictures in our book.
- Learned new words related to boats/ocean - Ex: harbor, swell, steer, beacon, dock...
- Checked out library books about boats.
- We watched online videos of whales/dolphins and listened to their noises.
- I bought glow-in-the dark stars for the kids and surprised them by putting them up on their ceiling above their beds. We looked at real stars up in the sky at night.
- We made/decorated/named boats and took them out to a little stream at a nearby park to sail them. The boat design I found didn't quite work out. The boats sank and one of the kids got ant bites. So, it didn't turn out like I had hoped, but I think the kids had fun being outside nonetheless.
The Little RabbitThis book was different because the story showed real pictures of a little girl caring for her rabbit.
- Verse about kindness to animals - Prov. 12:10
- Talked about camouflage with animals; pictures on the computer where we had to find the animal.
- Went to pet store to see rabbits. We also decided to let the kids pick out a pet fish (Tetra) and tank to keep it in. Unfortunately, I accidentally killed the fish about two months later when I was changing the water in the tank. I got the water too hot.
- We talked about animal babies. Checked out animal sequencing cards/pictures from FC that showed various animal babies turning into adults.
- Talked about problem solving/thinking of various solutions to a problem - similar to the book.
- Read other books by same author that are written the same way, but about different animals - Duck, Kitten. Checked out other books from the library about rabbits.
Ask Mr. Bear *
This is an older book - first published in 1932. Same author of the Angus books. It is a wonderful and very sweet story. I have since purchased this book.
- We acted like the various animals in the book through actions/movement and sounds.
- We made animal puppets and put on a puppet show - told the story through puppets. I put on the show for the kids and the wanted to do one for me to watch. Here is a picture of our puppets. We only had to make four because we had puppets already for some of the animals.
Ella stuck with me the whole time making the puppets. Caleb didn't make it through, but he really enjoyed the puppet show. This was one of his favorite books.
- Memory recall - we would talk about and recall from memory all the presents the animals suggest for the little boy.
- Checked out a few books with other bear stories and learned about "bear hugs" and gave them frequently to each other!
Blueberries For Sal *
I remember reading this book when I was a kid - written 1948. It is wonderful! Plan to purchase it. The author, McCloskey, has another great book -
Make Way for Ducklings.
- Checked out the audio book for this one from the library.
- Talked about the bible story about Ruth and Naomi
- Looked at pictures of blueberry bushes on the computer.
- I threw raspberries on the ground in the kitchen and the kids had to "pick" them and put them in their pails. Acted out pages 8-9 - this involved counting/addition/subtraction - eating/spilling blueberries. I tried to buy blueberries at the store that day and the one day I actually wanted to buy fresh blueberries...they did not have them. Had to buy raspberries.
- Started our animal cards - I have been printing out real animal pictures and glueing them to index cards/laminating and writing the names on the back. We add animals we read about in our various books. Talked about animal classifications and did a little of this.
- Talked about the art in the book - everything is in blue ink; what was our favorite picture, etc.
- Colored pictures of Sal and the bear and drew mountains.
- Talked about history and how kitchens/cars looked different many years ago - saw pictures.
Goodnight Moon- Verse - Gen. 1:14-19 Day four when God created the stars. I have some creation magnets, so we read the whole creation story from our children's bible and the kids had to put up the right magnets when I read the right day.
- Checked out the Goodnight Moon game from FC. This is a great game!
- Worked on memory - see picture in book, close book and try to remember what we saw.
- Read "Hey Diddle Diddle" - this nursery rhyme is pictured in the book.
- Read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" - also pictured in the book.
- Worked on shapes a lot this week.
- A couple months later, we took the kids to the Paramount Theater to see this show acted out, along with the next book, Runaway Bunny. See post - http://calebandella.blogspot.com/2010/01/goodnight-moon-runaway-bunny.html
Runaway Bunny- Art - talked about black and white drawings compared to color drawings; favorites; art from Runaway Bunny also in Goodnight Moon.
- More shape work - added crescent, disc, spheres, etc. - real object example
- Memory - recall all the things the bunny wants to be and then what the mother wants to be.
- I actually set up a tightrope in our playroom (low to the ground) and the kids tried to walk on it - very funny!
- Outing with Daddy - Ella went fishing with Daddy and some friends. Caleb got to go on an outing with daddy also (motorcycle shop and ice cream - although nothing to do with the book!)
The Big Green Pocketbook *
This was one of my favorite books. It was not only the book I liked, but I enjoyed this week of activities most of all. I also purchased this book. Our biggest adventure for this book was taking a city bus ride and running some errands. I made the kids green pocketbooks, which didn't turn out very green - tried green cool-aid and green crayons. We started at the Lakeline bus station and rode the bus down to the Jollyville station.
We got out and had to backtrack/walk a little back up to the bank, where I deposited some checks. Then we stopped at Krispy Kreme to get donuts and the kids collected a hat for their pocketbook. We went across the parking lot to watch cars getting washed.
Then we caught the bus back up to the Lakeline area and during that ride, the bus driver gave the kids a sucker for their pocketbook. We stopped at Petsmart to get Laci some dog treats, went to the mall for lunch and then the Disney store to pick out a small present for their pocketbooks. In the book, the little girl accidentally leaves her pocketbook on the bus, and this actually happened to Ella too. We had to backtrack about a mile to another bus stop to get her pocketbook off the bus. Fortunately, we found it...but in reviewing the day, it was a little too much walking for me being about 5months pregnant and pushing them both in the stroller. If we had rode all the way into downtown, it may have been easier to run errands...more stores closer together, but up here in suburbia, stores are further apart. But, the kids loved the day and still talk about riding the bus. Other things we did that week:
- Verse - Luke 15 - woman and lost coin...looking for it...similar to the girl losing her pocketbook in the story.
- We mixed paint - blue and yellow to make green - and did some painting.
- Memory practice - what stores did she visit and what did she collect in her pocketbook
- Talked about manners - saying please and thank-you
The ABC BunnyI enjoyed this book mostly because it was so old and included grammer that you don't hear very much any more. The pictures were also beautiful - black and white.
I didn't do as many things this week with the book because I was also preparing to teach Ella's preschool that Friday and the topic was unrelated to the book. But, we did a few fun things...I made bunny bags for the kids to have a bunny snack in one day. Got the bag idea from
http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/
Twice a year, our neighborhood has a wonderful Safety Festival. They got too sit in a lot of different emergency vehicles, jump in bouncy houses, do arts/crafts, etc. They also have a petting zoo that comes and this year they had little bunnies the kids could hold, along with so many other little animals. Here are a few pictures from the festival.
We also did a bunny craft using cotton balls. Caleb looks o-so-excited to show off his picture...
Looking back at the fall, I really enjoyed going through BFIAR with the kids and I think they really had fun. My favorite books that I would recommend are -
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?,
Ask Mr. Bear,
Blueberries For Sal, and
My Big Green Pocketbook.
We took a break from the book during the Christmas holiday, but started back up again in January. I will post again about our 2010 BFIAR adventures and give my book recommendations.
Family Easter picture at church on Sunday. God would bring us little Silas four days later.
We had an Easter egg hunt at my sister's house with her family. My mom and step-dad came in also for the weekend.
I like this picture of Caleb...eager anticipation!
He eventually decided he had enough hunting and sat down and opened his eggs and ate as much candy he could. We told them there were still more eggs...and he kept saying he had enough eggs. :)
My sister and her family.
Grandparents with all the kiddos.
