Germany Unit

In our co-op each family chose a different country to do a presentation on.  We were pretty excited, or should I say I was exited.  I picked Germany because I have such awesome memories of when I lived there when I was younger.  My dad was in the Army and we were stationed there.  I loved that I was able to share all my memories and knowledge with K and our friends.  We shared our presentation with our great friends, they have a grandmother who is German.  It was so much fun learning new things and reliving some old moments while preparing the presentation.

GERMANY

Germany is one of Europe's largest nation, with one of the largest populations.  It has been a single, unified nation for less than 100 years.

Emblem: the Eagle 

Main regions are the Bavarian Alps, which from the boundaries with Austria and Switzerland.

FLAG

The three main colors of the flag are black, red, and gold.

EDELWEISS HAT

Originated in Bavaria, a region in Southern Germany.  The hat is part of the traditional Bavarian costume for men.

WINDMILL

Up until 2007, German produced the most wind power of any country in the world.

PRESENTATION DAY

Cuckoo Clock: The German Black Forest is the birthplace of the cuckoo clock.  Around the year 1640 by replicating a time piece brought back by a peddler.  

Schultute: which is the pink looking cylinder on the table, is a large cone filled with candy and school supplies.  Students get it when they start first grade.  

Christmas: it's a very big holiday in Germany.  Christmas trees, Advent calendars, and singing carols "O' Christmas Trees" originated in Germany. 

It was exiting to display everything we had learned about Germany.

Some of the items came from when I lived in Germany many years ago and the rest were from the kids grandmother who is German.

Our little group 

FOOD DISPLAY

The food we brought as part of our presentation, top was like an apple strudel, and the bottom is chocolate.  

Some of the food that are common in Germany are bratwurst, sauerkraut, gummy bears, and Black forest cake.

There are so many interesting information about Germany.

Here's one of the great links I found for information on Germany: http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/04__W__t__G/05/01__Kids/00/Kids.html.

SOME OF KIDS FROM OUR CO-OP

Yoga

Today we went to the library (like we normally try to do on Wednesdays), and had a special treat.  Mrs. Emily gave the class a yoga lesson.  It was a lot of fun and enjoyed seeing the kids getting into it.  

Mrs. Emily read several books which the kids did some yoga moves too.  One of the favorites was Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?

 

So much fun posing as a tree.

This was a very fun class to observe the kids doing yoga. 

Always fun at the Library 

Our Pets

We are an animal loving household.  Wish we had more land or a bigger house so we could have more.  Guess it's a good thing we don't.  I'm so grateful we are raising our kids as animal lovers. We are their only voices.  

COCO

Here is our beautiful Cock-a-Tiel who is 9 years old.  He is such a calm and loving bird, has never bitten anyone.  He's actually one of the quietest birds I've ever had.  Love our Coco!

ZEUS

Here is our Dachshund/Rat Terrier Mix, he is a rescue, 5 and half years old.  We got him from an abusive home from a co-worker.  He was very skittish of everyone and would hide all the time.  Terrified of a leash and collar, since he used to be dragged when he was puppy nearly choking him to death.  He also has a scar in his left eye due to being hit in the eye with a stick.  Seeing how he is today you could never tell he was abused as a puppy.  We got him when he was 6 months old and I was 4 or 5 months pregnant with K.  They have grown up together and are so close, our son loves him.  He is so full of energy and life and loves to welcome everyone that walks through the door.  He's also very protective and alerts us of everything.  Love our little puppy Zeus, he will always be my puppy no matter how old he is.

LARRY BOY

Our Bearded Dragon Larry Boy, who is 2 years old, K named him.  He was my birthday present 2 years ago, K was only 3 at the time.  I wanted to name him Relic, but as soon as K saw him she named him Larry Boy.  Since we are all Veggie Tales fan we kept that name.  He is one sweet dragon who loves chasing brooms and anyone who is barefoot.  Loves running around the house and exploring and getting into everything.  He loves dandelions and crickets, even though he prefers me holding the crickets for him so he doesn't have to chase them.  

FLOWER

This is K's Betta fish who she named Flower.  We just got her this year as an Easter present for K.  She wanted a fish since our last fish died from our 50 G fish tank.  After taking the tank down and not having any fish it just didn't feel right so we agreed in getting her own fish.  It teaches her responsibilities, which she has down an excellent job with.  K loves singing to her fish and feeding her.  She is constantly thanking us for getting her, her very own Betta fish.

RUBY 

This Betta fish belongs to little D.  This too was an Easter present.  K said it was only fair to also get her little brother a Betta fish.  She has stepped up in caring for his fish too, since he is too young to care for it.  I'm so proud of how she has taken it upon herself to care for the two Betta's even though only one is hers.  She has always been such a big help, always willing to lend a hand.  We have truly been blessed to have such a wonderful daughter who has a giving heart. I pray it always stays that way.

Earth Unit

In honor of Earth day (4/22/2015) we dedicated this week to the study of Earth and how to take care of it.

BOOKS

These are some of the books we used.

RECYCLE

Learned about recycling, we used recycled paper to print this puzzle out.  She cut half of it by herself then got tired and I cut the rest for her.  K loved using the glue, even though she uses more than I would like.  It's a great fine motor skill.  

More projects on recycling.  Here after cutting out the pictures she had to glue it from largest to smallest and then from smallest to largest.  We also watched several shows on recycling and she wanted me to take a picture of her dog Rocky from Paw Patrol.  

OWEN GARDEN CENTER

We had a field trip at the Owen Garden Center.  We pass the center all the time and have never gone in, so I was pretty excited to finally get a chance to see it up close.  K was very impressed with the tall giraffe statue they had in the garden. 

Mrs. Susan was so sweet and patient with the kids.  She talked about all the flowers in her garden and gave us a tour of her place.  Mrs. Courtney showed the kids how to make recycled flower pots for their seeds out of newspaper.  It was really neat, since you can actually plant the newspaper pots in the soil.

K made an apron out of one of her old jeans.  She was very happy since she can use it when she gardens with me to hold her tools.  

Here she is planting some of the flowers Mrs. Susan gave to all the kids.  K was very excited to be able to take the flower home.  

PLANTING FLOWERS AT HOME

When we got home we planted all our flowers we had bought for our garden.

BIRD FEEDERS

As a way to give back to mother nature we made bird feeders with cheerios and pipe cleaners or fuzzy sticks. Great hand eye coordination.

K wanted to wait till daddy got home to hang her bird feeders and feed the birds.  We used one of our old pie pans to put some bird food for the birds and squirrels.  

GROOT

What's Earth day without Groot.  He's so cute.

GIVING BACK

We wanted to give back to the church that has let us have our co-op there.  They have been so generous and sweet to let us use their facility.  So we wanted to do their landscape in honor of Earth Day.  Got to say the finished project was beautiful.  

INSIDE THE EARTH

We studied the inside of the Earth.  

Inner Core: is the hottest part of the earth.  It is very heavy because most of it is made of metal.

Outer Core: is made of hot, liquid rocks containing iron, nickel and other metals. 

Mantle: contains mainly heavy rocks.  In the deepest part of the mantle, these rocks melt because of very high temperatures.
Crust: is like a hard, rocky shell around the earth.  It consists mostly of two types of rock--granite and basalt.  
(From the book: World Book's Young Scientist Plant Earth and Water pages. 12-13)

INSIDE THE EARTH MODEL

I made a model of the inside of the earth with play-doh.  Had a lot of fun making this model.  Gave K some floss to cut the earth in half, which worked out quite smoothly.  She was very excited to see the inside.  Once it was cut in half we identified the layers and then I had her identify them with the flags I made.  Got to say she did awesome in identifying each layer.  Once we were done talking about the layers she quickly asked to mix all the colors together.  That was very fun to do, it came out so pretty.  

SHAVING CREAM FUN 

To end our studies of the earth we decided to use shaving cream to make some Earth.  After making our Earths we wrote some of the things we learned during the week. 

We should always protect our Earth, it's the only one we have. 

 We always love using shaving cream for sensory play, there are so many different things we can do with it.

Rearranging

I've been busy trying to rearrange things, you can say it's my OCD taking the better of me.  I'm glad I actually kept at it till I was finally happy with the results.  There's still some more work to be done but I'm liking the process.  

ENTRANCE

The two carts hold many different materials, each drawer labeled to make things easier.  It holds: chalk, clay, paint supplies, office supplies, writing utensils, pom poms, felt, beads, many different things for crafts.  Kids can go and pull out a bucket, which are also labeled, and do what's in the bucket.  One favorite bucket is the GEO BOARD, in the bucket there is also a folder that shows different things the kids can do with the board.  On top of the shelf holds two Betta's which are new to the family.  It's made K so happy to have fish again, love how responsible she has been in making sure they are fed every morning.  

BEHIND THE FRONT DOOR

Put the Easel/Dry Erase Board behind the door, mostly just to sit there.  Whenever K wants to use it she just slides it over to the multi-purpose room and uses it.  This easel has gotten so much use.  I love how even little D uses it in his own way.  He likes placing the magnets on the board and taking them off and writing on the chalkboard.  Next to the easel is the plastic container that holds everything for little D, like diapers wipes, bibs, etc.  

PLAY AREA AND READING NOOK

Moved the toys to where K's computer table used to be.  I like how open this area looks like now.  Then I placed a wooden table in the corner with a chair.  On the top of the table is a basket that holds some books that K has picked to read or look over.  On the bottom is a basket for little D's books.  As soon as I finished this section little man quickly sat down and grabbed a book from his basket and started looking through it.  

SENSORY TUB/COMPUTER TABLE

Little man got a sensory tub for his birthday, they have both loved it.  Love that we can use it for anything.  We can put water, pasta, rice, sand, etc.  We've used it a lot so far and I know we will continue to use it a lot more.  Moved her computer table to the corner which she actually likes.  I was worried as to whether or not she would like it there.  Next is the library, I moved the books there since K asked me to please move them closer to her table.  

SENSORY SHELF

Here we have different work stations: 3 buckets hold different activities that I let the kids choose from, 2nd shelf are some work stations which get changed every other week, 3rd shelf is the writing station, 4th shelf are some stations for little D to be able to do.  He likes to have his space since he loves copying his sister.  The bottom shelf holds all the blocks.  

WRITING STATION

I have set up a writing station for K, to get her into writing more.  So far it has grown her interest into writing more, which make this mom so happy.  In the tray I put a dry erase board and a chalk board.  In the small pink basket are some sandpaper letters (A-D) and in the small green basket are the writing utensils she would need: pencil, pen, chalk, and dry erase markers.  There's a composition book for her to practice her writings.  In the oval pink basket are the bananagrams tiles.  We use these to spell out her name, sight words, and family words.  In the box is sand with some paper that has some drawings of different lines for her to do in the sand.  We all use the sand to write letters out.  I interchange the sand with salt and shaving cream.  The shaving cream is always a lot of fun.

These are the changes I've made to the multi-purpose room, now to move on to the other rooms.  It's been fun changing things around and finding new ways to keep the kids interest in learning through their environment.  Still have a lot of work ahead of me but it definitely will be very rewarding when the work is completed.  

Animal Unit

Due to going to two different farms last week K wanted to concentrate this week on different types of Animals.  Which is right up my alley, I love everything that has to do with animals.  It's a joy to see how K's love for animals has grown.  If it was up to her she would have our house full of animals.  

BOOKS

These are some of the books we read and studied this week.  

MATCHING

Bought these when I used to sell AVON.  They are made for the bath tub, but the kid like to take them everywhere with them.  

LEAP FROG

Bought this game at the Dollar Tree and we have had a lot of fun with it.  K actually beat her dad and me.  She's got some good aim.

ANIMAL GROUPS

Here I asked her to divide the animals with ones that are in the water, land, and air.  She even divided the ones that go in a farm, and both in and out of water.

PUZZLE

We love puzzles and really love this floor puzzle from Melissa and Doug.  This puzzle shows where different animals live around the world.  

LACE & TRACE

We have many different types of lace and trace cards.  She never gets tired of them, they are awesome for hand eye coordination.  

STENCIL

Stencil art is always an all time favorite.  

FUN ACTIVITIES

The blocks have 6 different types of pictures that the kids need to build, it's almost like a puzzle.  The other are stamps of different animals.  Third is a puzzle where the child needs to match the shapes with animal.  Fourth is a see and spell game, the kids see the picture and spell out the word.  This has helped her identify words in different stories we read.  3 of 4 of these are by Melissa and Doug, love their products.  Wish I had some pictures of her using these items but we were a bit busy having fun.  

These are just some of the things we did for this week.  

Kinetic Sand

K got a kit with Kinetic Sand inside for her birthday.  We've been meaning to get some just never got around to it.  It's our new favorite sensory play.  We will be adding more colors, it's awesome.  

Ice Cream fun

She loves the feel 

Really into it

Ice Cream anyone

It's so soft and not as messy as regular sand or sticky.  

Modable sand without the mess