Five Minute Friday:: Celebrate

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I can't help but notice the decorations that are creeping into the stores for the upcoming holiday season and normally I would be as giddy as all the other 'pumpkin everything' loving girls...

Not this year...

There is a change in the atmosphere in our home. Something, no someOne is whispering it in our hearts-

"My Holy Days are steeped in richness and beauty, come let me show you how to really celebrate and rejoice."

And just like that we are preparing to celebrate the most joyous feast of the year, the Feast of Tabernacles.

I can't help but hold back tears as I read in the Old Testament the commands for celebrating these feasts and then, oh and then, how they have been fulfilled or will one day be fulfilled in the New Testament. It takes my breath away.

The last several years, while we were celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter, no matter how hard I tried to make these holidays about Him, I found myself, no I found Him pulling me away little by little. Each year he whispered to me, it's ok to celebrate with your family and friends but I have more for you.

What did that mean?

Well, we are about to dive head first into these feasts and I hope to share with you more about our celebrations...

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Before Five in a Row - Katy No-Pocket

Katy No-Pocket is a Before Five in a Row book and a good launching pad for exploring the 'land down under'. We used many of the lessons from the manual, but since they are geared towards younger children I added in a few additional lessons for my older son. As I shared before I wasn't planning on using BFIAR this year but after looking through all the manuals I felt like my kids were right in the middle of BFIAR and FIAR. Plus, there are so many wonderful books they I don't wont them to miss out on.

Marsupials:

In the book Katy No-Pocket, there are several different animals mentioned and drawn through out the story. The manual has a lesson on classifying all the animals but I chose to focus on marsupials. My children LOVE the Ranger Rick Jr. Magazines. They have had subscriptions to two other magazines and these are the only ones they want to read and re-read over and over again. They are informative with fun facts, amazing photos, and a story told in a 'living book' kind of way.  We read through the articles about marsupials and went into depth about kangaroos. 

They learned that a male kangaroo is called a 'Boomer', a female is called a 'flier', and the baby is called a 'joey'. Gabriel thought the two kangaroos boxing in the photo below was hilarious! After our first week of school I learned quickly that a book or magazine is sometimes all we need for a lesson and that not everything has to include a project. We mainly read and talked about the animals. They asked questions and I answered them. Simple.

Math/Geography:

This was a very fun activity and probably the most memorable thing we did.

Katy travels to the city to find a pocket and meets a man with an apron full of pockets. His apron is filled with tools so we pulled out Gabriel's tool bag and he explained to me how they all work and what they are used for. He was excited to use his tape measure to measure see how far a kangaroo can hop.
The kids drew a starting line and then I helped them measure 25 feet.


They were shocked that a kangaroo could hop that far!

Then we measured the distance of their hop: Gabriel-3ft 3in and Gracie-preferred to hop like a bunny so her distance measured a whopping 6in!

I asked them how many hops they thought it would take for a kangaroo to get to the end of the sidewalk.

This was their first lesson in measuring distance. We stood at the starting line and counted how many steps it took to reach 25 ft, the length of the kangaroo's hop. He took smaller steps than normal but he counted 26. To find out how many hops it would take a kangaroo to reach the street we counted 26 steps and made a mark on the sidewalk representing each hop. In the end it was a total of 11 hops.

Australia:

We read Are We There Yet as a go along book for the week. It is about a family from Australia who travels around the whole country exploring the different regions. 

I wanted so badly to love this book. While there were lots of interesting facts, my children were not very engaged in the story. 

The book did provide us with lots of information and we all learned new things about Australia so not a total loss!

The illustration of Australia  in the top right corner mapped their journey through the book. The kids enjoyed following along.




Here is an example of Aboriginal art found in caves and on rock walls. The kids made their own 'aboriginal art'.

Meat pies and Pavlova and Anzac Biscuits, Oh My! 

I could have easily made a meat pie and pavlova at home, but when there is an Australian bakery not too far??

You go to the bakery! 

The people there were so friendly and excited to hear that they kids were learning about Australia. My kids may have giggled a little when they were welcomed with a "G'day Mate!" 

The food was amazing and we regretted only buying one of each. Gabriel was hesitant to try the meat pie but I can't really blame him. When I think of pie I too think about a fruit or cream pie. Meat? Not so much. He finally tried it and gave it a huge thumbs up. On the way home he asked when I could make one for dinner. :)



We listened to a recording of a didgeridoo and at the bakery the kids were able to see one up close!

City vs Forest

Most of the story Katy No-Pocket takes place in the forest with all the animals but when Katy travels to the city, there is a clear distinction between the forest and the city. We compared the two as well as the different regions visited by the family in Are We There Yet.

Koalas and Eucalyptus:

My children could have looked at pictures online of Koalas all day long. They asked numerous times when we could have one as a pet. :)

I found this simple guide to drawing a koala online. Both Gabriel and Gracie drew several of them throughout the week and they glued dried eucalyptus leaves on the tree.

I use many herbs and herbal remedies in our home so I was excited to share with them one of my favorite herbs for colds, eucalyptus. They thought it was fascinating that I had 'koala food' in the pantry!

Dried Eucalyptus leaves

Eucalyptus essential oil

(This is a milder oil and one of the safer ones to use with and around small children)

Smelling the dried leaves and comparing it with the essential oil.

We looked through several of my herb books and learned about the medicinal properties of the plant. For teatime the kids tasted eucalyptus tea but preferred chamomile with honey.

Generosity:

The Bible lesson from the BFIAR manual uses two verses to discuss generosity: Deuteronomy 15:8 and 1 Timothy 6:18.

The man with the apron freely and cheerfully gave his apron to Katy when he saw that she had a need. At the end of the story, Katy shows generosity by sharing her apron full of pockets with all the other small animals. 

This was a simple but deep lesson to learn. My children had many opportunities to practice generosity and sharing with each other. We will be able to come back to this story and example of giving to those in need. This lesson alone is one of the many reasons why I don't want to skip the Before Five in a Row books  with my kids. Beautiful truths that will last them a lifetime can be found in some of these books.

Sheep Shearing:

We didn't spend a lot of time on sheep and how their wool is used but just touched on this topic briefly. In the spring we will go to a 'sheep to shawl' event and watch a live sheep shearing. They watched a short video on Youtube explaining the whole process.

Fairy Bread?:

Buttered white bread covered in colorful sprinkles. What kid wouldn't love this Australian treat? 

Even Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a poem titled Fairy Bread

Other Resources:

These are a few of the other books that we read during our trip to Australia.

Katy No-Pocket is a fun book with many possibilities for rabbit trails. I am sure we will 're-row' this books in the future!

Five Minute Friday:: LEARN

After two weeks of homeschooling I think I have learned more than they have.

I have learned more about how they learn and have confirmed what I have always known...that they are oh so different.

He wants to  curl up on the couch sitting next to me, almost crawling inside my skin and read books all. day. long. Picture books, chapter books, fiction or non, magazines, atlases, encyclopedias, they're all fair game.

I've learned that he listens and observes, taking it all in one story at a time. He can take or leave any hands on project or activity. He sometimes enjoys them. He sometimes tolerates them.  I will find him on his own creating something, and that's when I know that what we have read has not gone in one ear and out the other but has sunk in...deep. He is learning too.

I've learned that she sometimes enjoys sitting and listening to a book, all curled up on the couch. Sometimes, most times, she tolerates it. She would rather be sitting at the table coloring, cutting out pictures from magazines to add to her ABC book, or putting a puzzle together.

I've learned the most about her these last two weeks and her learning style. When I don't think she is paying any attention to what we are talking about or reading, I couldn't be further from the truth. Like this morning when out on our nature walk: she sees bubbles coming from the river and asks if a crocodile is in there, something we read about in Katy No-Pocket. I tell her crocodiles don't live in this river. She continues talking about them telling us they can walk and swim and  that they carry their babies on their back. She is learning too.











I've learned that he would rather listen and talk with me and create later.

I've learned that she would rather listen and create with me and talk later.

I've learned that being outside is some of the most precious time we have together. There is an undeniable peace that permeates the air.




 

Five in a Row {Volume 2} - Harold and the Purple Crayon

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a sweet little book about a boy who draws his adventures (with his purple crayon) as the story is told. The FIAR manual suggests 'rowing' this book during review week because it is an easier book without a lot of subtopics. Seeing as it was our first week of school, I thought this would be a great choice as we are finding our new rhythm and routine.

Finding the Color Purple

We had a lot of fun with this color mixing experiment to find out which two colors are needed to make purple. Gabriel already knew the answer, but he was a good big brother and didn't ruin it for Gracie! 

Before we began the kids made a color chart leaving the middle boxes blank.

G and G watched for several minutes as the paper towels began absorbing the colored water. Gracie was all giggles and she waited to see which jar would end up with purple water. Gabriel was fascinated by the water "walking" up and over the jar, so we had a little side lesson about why that happens.

The water finally made its way to the middle jars and we had our results!

More color mixing fun with paint...

Survival Skills- Gaining a View from Altitude

Harold doesn't want to get lost so he climbs a hill but knows that the higher up he goes the farther he will be able to see. So, he climbs a mountain instead!

A lesson from the manual suggests teaching your child this practical skill in case they ever find themselves in a situation where they are lost. ( Now in order for this to be effective they will have to be familiar with their surroundings. This is something Charlotte Mason taught  as part of her geography lessons.)

We made a list of things we could see while still on the ground before climbing the 'mountain'





As they reached the top they were so excited to be able to see things from the higher altitude that they were unable to see on the ground.

Transportation- On Land, Sea and Air

Harold uses many forms of transportation throughout his adventure. Gabriel made a list of them and we added to it and come up with some pretty silly ways of getting around! He looked through magazines and cut out pictures of different modes of transportation and glued them on paper to be added to his binder.  (He will add to it as he comes across new modes of transportation in other books)

Harold falls off the top of the mountain but thinks fast and draws a hot air balloon so he can land safely on the ground. Since we didn't have one of those handy, Daddy helped us out! ;)

Art-Vanishing Point and City Scenes

These lessons were quite interesting to my children. They were very engaged as I discussed the different art techniques and demonstrated them, but were not too keen on trying it themselves. I filed these away in the Art Section of their binders and they can use it as a reference when creativity strikes! 

Setting

At the beginning of the book the setting of the story is unknown. We read The Little Red Hen and compared the opening scenes of each book. Both Gabriel and Gracie were able to describe the setting of The Little Red Hen from the first illustration. We talked about how the setting is progressive and in Harold's imagination. This lesson also came from the manual.

Science: Moon

The moon follows Harold through the story and I could have easily planned a 'Moon Unit' to go along with our 'row. However, there are other FIAR books that have more emphasis on the moon so we will study it in depth while 'rowing' another book. I did want to touch on the moon a little bit so we casually talked about the different phases and what the moon is made up of. They put a space puzzle together and found the moon and pointed out the craters.

Role Playing: Picnic

Our time with Harold and his purple crayon wouldn't have been complete without a simple picnic lunch with nothing but pie! They didn't seem to mind that it wasn't lunch time or the fact that there was only one pie instead of nine! :)

Our first week of school brought all of us joy and laughter. I had very low expectations but still expected them to be met. Gabriel's favorite thing we did all week were his reading lessons. Ah, music to my ears!

This coming week we are hopping over to Australia! 

Revised Curriculum: Part Two

If you missed Part One you can find it here

Months, weeks, hours, and I must admit even a year or two went into planning our first year of homeschooling using Five in a Row. I read the manuals cover to cover and researched each book to choose THE PERFECT schedule for kindergarten. Well, a week before school started, what I thought was THE PERFECT schedule was tossed out the window. After talking with my husband and spending time in prayer, within minutes, our school year was completely rescheduled and I couldn't be more pleased.



In my original curriculum plan, I chose books based on geographical location. While there isn't anything wrong with that, I would have needed to buy/borrow over 20 books. Again, there is nothing wrong with needing books for school, after all our homeschool method is based on rich living literature :).
On my book shelf sat 20 or more FIAR books that I wasn't using this year and that my friends is where I went wrong.



With a cup of peppermint tea in hand, I pulled out all the Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row books we own and got to work. I looked through each lesson and made a tentative plan as to what we will do, hi-lighting and jotting down notes in the margin. I planned a few books based on the calendar year like, Cranberry Thanksgiving in November and The Snowy Day in January. I am not worrying about not rowing The Story About Ping during Chinese New Year or The Little Bunny in the springtime. I read a blog post recently by Heather at Blog, She Wrote:

Resist the Urge to Teach FIAR Books in Large Themes– Oh it is so tempting! It makes so much sense in our brains to teach all the seasonal books at once or to follow a travel itinerary. However, it diminishes the value of variety with which the curriculum was written. You’ll have more than one summer season to enjoy FIAR, don’t use all the books up at once! This approach allows you to lay down one layer of knowledge at at time getting deeper as you go.

Oh, how deeply this resinated within me. It was just what I needed to hear (or read!) and helped me to make the decision to change our FIAR plans for this year.

Note: titles with an * are not a FIAR book

1st Term:

Harold and the Purple Crayon
Katy No-Pocket
Mirette on the High Wire
The Story About Ping
The Story of Ferdinand
The Red Carpet
Corduroy
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel
Beatrice's Goat*(A living book about a girl who lives in Uganda whose family received a goat as a gift and how it helped provide for them. This will be around the time we pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and begin looking through our Gift Catalogs from Compassion International, Samaritan's Purse, etc.)



2nd Term:

Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving*
The First Thanksgiving*
Cranberry Thanksgiving
Truth in the Tinsel, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift*
The Snowy Day
Angus Lost
Ask Mr. Bear
The Glorious Flight
When I Was Young in the Mountains



3rd Term:

Stranger in the Woods*
Goodnight Moon
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Make Way for Ducklings
If Jesus Came to My house
Play With Me
The Little Bunny
Corduroy
Caps for Sale
Jessie Bear What Will You Wear?

I never intended to 'row' Before Five in a Row books this year and I am so grateful my eyes were re-opened to these wonderful books. There are some books that I am anticipating taking us longer than a week based on the the subtopics of the story, I am thoroughly looking forward to those! We just finished out first week of school and had lots of fun learning new drawing techniques with Harold and the Purple Crayon.