Bird Day

Our Social Studies Unit includes exploration of habitats, life cycles and comparing the needs of animals.

I asked these questions to the children,

1 Where do birds live?
-- How do you build a nest? What materials are used?
*We will make edible bird's nests:

Directions

Ingredients

Place squares of wax paper onto to individual plates. Put cereal in a large bowl. If using brick chocolate, break into pieces. Melt chocolate chips or pieces in the microwave, or over low heat on stove, just until melted. Pour melted chocolate over cereal, mix together to coat. Place mounds of chocolate/chow mien mixture onto several plates (on top of waxed paper). Have children form the mixtures into nests. Be sure the chocolate has cooled, but don't wait too long or it will harden! Using peanut butter as an adhesive, "glue" down the jelly beans and candy coated chocolate eggs inside the nest cavity. "Glue" marshmallow chick on the edge of or inside of the nest.

Rice Crispies, broken shredded wheat, or Chow mien noodles chocolate chips or brick chocolate Jelly beans or candy coated chocolate eggs marshmallow chicks (optional) peanut butter wax paper paper plates (colored plates optional)

2 - What do birds eat?
3 - What sounds do birds make?
4 - Why do birds fly south for the winter?

AWESOME Website for Science Questions:

It's National Soup Month

January is National Soup Month
Soup has been so popular throughout time that it’s actually considered one of the first fast foods. There is documentation that as early as 600 B.C., the Greeks sold soup as a fast food on the street, using peas, beans and lentils as main ingredients.

Before there was soup, there was broth, which people used to pour over a piece of bread in a bowl. That bread was known as sop, and from sop came the word soup.
No matter what you call it, there are lots of variations on the basic theme of soup, each offering a wide range of nutritional benefits.

Together we will make a simple soup for lunch...

Ingredients:
* 1 tbs Olive Oil
* 6 Cups Chicken Stock
* 1 tbs Tomato Paste (optional)
* 1/2 Cup Pastini
* 1/4 Cup Peeled, diced Carrots, Celery, Peas
* 1/4 Cup Diced, pre-cooked chicken

To Cook your soup:

Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan you can use a deep saucepan to start the vegetables off in... Soften the vegetables over the gentle heat on the top of the stove until they are soft but not browned.
Add the stock and pastina to the vegetables. Add tomato paste to the stock if you wish. Add chicken. Continue to cook the soup in a saucepan on a gentle heat on top of the stove until a simmering heat or less is suitable.

Child Meditation

In order to curb some of the behaviors the "bug" has been exhibiting, I have decided to start introduce him to yoga and meditation to relax him before bed.

With his cast on, we'll start with some REALLY easy stretching and avoid the broken arm and once he's in his pj's and in bed, we will do a bit of visualization before letting him say his prayers and go to sleep.

"Let's go on an adventure... But instead of rushing up and out the front door, we'll take a journey into our imagination, a beautiful place in our thoughts. Lying on your bed, stretch you legs out to a comfortable position, resting easy like a doll, gently close your eyes. Although you are staying still and lying in your bed, imagine standing up and walking right out your door onto the beach. Feel the sand between your toes and smell the gentle ocean breeze. Hear the waves crashing slowly onto the shore, and the birds gentle chirp in the sky above you... Find a nice comfortable spot on your imagination beach to sit and watch the waves crash, the birds sing and the sand circle you..Now, nice and relaxed, drift to sleep."

 

ADHD & Med Free

Once you discover your child may (or has been confirmed) to be afflicted with ADHD, the whirlwind CONTINUES! I would say begins, BUT knowing a child with ADHD, the whirlwind had begun YEARS before the diagnoses.
I am a FIRM believe in our natural world, for hundreds of years people survived the SAME afflictions we have today WITHOUT medication, of course this was either because the medication did not exist or the diagnoses did not. REGARDLESS, we survived!
I do NOT like any medication, I find that our bodies were constructed to fight off, pain, discomfort and to some extent illness. I am not a radical-naturalopathic-hairy-hippie-femisnist-christian-homeschooling mom,, . I do vaccinate my children when necessary, Tylenol them when they are ill, and feed them junk WHEN I want too. I just don't take ANY medications myself, or have them prescribed unnecessarily to my family.
We plan to manage our son's ADHD medication free. And here is the plan....
Give shorter lessons and more of them, which makes it easier for children to stay focused. Focus is so limited at this young age anyway!
Acknowledge even partial success and extend approval generously. We have a marble jar that is WONDERFUL!
Compliment even in mid-assignment to encourage continued focused performance.
Make corrections with a light hand. Instead of “try harder next time,” try – I see how hard you tried. Keep up the effort. It’s really paying off.
Lots of smiling, make eye contact with child, or pat him on the back.
Alert child’s attention with phrases such as “This is important.”
Break down longer directions into simpler chunks.
Allow physically hyperactive children out of their seats for FREQUENT movement.
Compliment a child, publicly, at least once daily, on some organizational or attentional task or effort.
Take a moment or two once or twice daily to speak privately; give a two-second pep talk, mention something positive you happened to notice regarding his work, behavior, self-control, focusing, etc.
I am also planning a somewhat Buddy system for cooperative learning both at and above level.

I will not make excuses for him, but rather encourage him strongly to manage his own behaviors and succeed despite the challenges ahead.

Home-Made Bread Day

What a great reason to celebrate on November 17th. Find ideas for crafts, games, and other activities.

Crafts to Make:

• Make a collage by cutting out pictures of different breads and grains out of magazines.


• Try this Bread Painting Activity.


• Make creations using this Bread Clay Recipe.


• Make a Chef Apron.


• Make a Bird Feeder out a piece of bread.

Other Things To Do:

• Bake Bread!


• Visit a bakery.


• Set up a dramatic play area depicting a bakery.


• Talk about different shapes and textures of breads (for example, bagels, tortillas, bread sticks, pocket bread, etc.)


• Compare the tastes and textures of different kinds of bread.


• Make some Bread Pudding!


• Learn about the kids' food guide pyramid.

Teddy Bear Poem

A poem for your Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Teddy bear turn aroundTeddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.Teddy Bear touch the ground
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do.
Teddy Bear run upstairs Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers.Teddy Bear saying prayers
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn out the light.
Teddy Bear sleepingTeddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say “Good night.”

Balloon Day

Tomorrow is National Balloon Day and in honor of such…
Balloon Vampire Bat

Get two black balloons. Inflate one of the balloons fully; inflate the second only half way. Duct tape the tied ends of the balloons together so they form the body of a bat. Instruct the child to cut out two oval eyes and two triangular fangs from white construction paper. Have her cut two small pupils to sit in the center of the bat’s eyes, two triangular ears and a pair of wings out of black construction paper. Assist her in attaching these features to the body of the bat with black duct tape. Use the tape to attach a ribbon where the balloons meet. Attach the ribbon’s other end where you’d like the vampire bat to hang.

Balloon People

After your kindergartner chooses a balloon, inflate it. Direct the child to form a face by decorating the balloon with markers or stickers. Cut out a base shape to resemble a pair of feet from construction paper. Ask the child to color and decorate these feet with markers. Place a small hole in the center of the feet-shaped base, and thread the tied end of the inflated balloon through the hole. If the balloon does not stand up correctly, tape a coin to the bottom of the feet to balance it.

Balloon Octopus

Cut up several colored drinking straws into 1-inch lengths. Direct your kindergartner to thread these straws over eight separate pieces of string. Tie a bead at the end of each string to prevent the straws from falling off. Next, inflate a balloon. Assist the child in taping the strings around the balloon to act as arms of the octopus. He can then draw a face on the balloon to complete this fun octopus.

Balloon Bean Bags

Blow up a balloon to stretch it, then allow it to deflate. Attach a funnel to the balloon neck, then allow your child to pour in dry lentils until the balloon is completely full. Tie the neck of the balloon in a knot, then cut off any excess. Get a second deflated balloon. Cut off the neck completely and throw this away–making sure to save the bottom half. Using the bottom half of the second balloon, stretch it over the lentil-filled balloon. Make sure you are covering the knot you tied on the first balloon. Add more layers for extra security.

Hot Air Balloon

Place two long pieces of ribbon crosswise on a flat surface. Tie a knot where they meet. As your child to decorate a paper cup with paints or markers. It will act as the hot-air balloon’s basket. Pierce four equidistant holes around the paper cup’s rim. Thread the four ribbon ends through these holes and fasten with knots. Position an inflated balloon inside the ribbons. Glue the ribbons to the balloon surface to fasten.

Preschool Art

Have the children decorate blown-up balloons at the art table. Balloons can be decorated with glue and sparkles, beads, or other colouful shiny items. Have children use items of their choices as well. A list of Art-Shelf ideas can be found in our online E-Book available on our site.Once dried, the childrens’ balloon creations can be hung around the room. Or you can paper mache newspaper strips over the balloons and have children decorate them once dried. Pop balloons inside mache and pull out. Their balloon creations will never deflate.

Preschool Math

Keep a record and count how mant days it takes for the balloons to deflate. Count how many balloons you are waiting to deflate.

Science Experiment

Blow up a few different shapes of balloons. Place balloons side by side on top of a shelf but still visible to the children.If needed, tape or sticky tack to surface to prevent the balloons from falling or being blown around. Record how long it takes for the balloons to start to deflate.Does one balloon deflate faster than another? Have children draw pictures of what they see happen as the balloons deflate.

Sensory Activity

Once the balloons are deflated, place them in a sensory bin with other balloons. The other balloons can be filled with air, water, rice, popcorn kernels, oatmeal, etc.
Let the children FEEL the difference in the balloons;HEAR the sounds they make; SEE the difference in size, shape and colour and SMELL the balloons (4 out of 5 senses used)