Lesson 1: Math - Classifying by shape. My daughter is The Shape Master, so we did the required workbook exercises (which was to group different sizes/colors/appearances of the same shapes together, and to find matching patterns, etc.), then we moved on to do some "fun" Tangram puzzles using shapes. Tangram is a Chinese mind-exercise puzzle where you must use and arrange each shape provided to create a predetermined picture.
Lesson 2: Social Studies - Emergency Preparations. We are, what you might call, "Preppers." We're not extreme enough to make it past the first round of casting calls for the next reality show, but we are prepared for almost anything. I pulled out some of the basics that most people should have in their Readiness Kit and explained to my daughter what each item is, what it is for, and why we would need it in an emergency. Related story: we saw this really cool episode of MythBusters, where they were "stranded" on an island with nothing but duct tape. They made everything from a mat, to a hunting net, to an escape canoe from found items in nature and duct tape! My daughter LOVES that episode! So, we have Duct Tape in our kit because it is magical. We also have bins full of 20-year shelf life food, and I showed her where we keep most of the supplies, just in case we need to "grab and go"!
Lesson 3: Language Arts - Joyfully Jot Jumbo Jj's Juggling Junctions Jubilantly
We watched a video link the Connections Academy had sent, on Brain Pops Jr that told all about the concept of Plot. We reread "The Little Engine That Could," "The Tortoise and the Hare," "The Lion and the Mouse," and "The enormous Turnip" and answered questions about the Plot, Characters, and Main Ideas.
Lesson 4: Discovery Walk Activity (Science & Social Studies related) - Different types of homes. First we walked around our property (there is a lot to see because we live on acreage, with greenspace/forest area and creek in the back!). We took a picture of a [currently empty] nest on our deck that houses baby birds twice a year. Then, we looked under rocks to find earwigs, ants and spiders. Next, we checked on the chickens in the coop (Rosabelle, our Miniature Horse, is free to roam around and she is hanging out in the shade behind the chicken coop in the photo!). We walked down to the creek and found water skimmers and evidence of the newts who live there - we saw tail trails in the mud under the water, but didn't see the newt. Then, we walked down the street a little bit to see the "big" homes humans live in - although we live on acreage, we are in the middle of a suburban neighborhood! Then, when Daddy got home from work, he helped the kids make a bird house from scrap wood!
Lesson 5: Music - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I saved this lesson for after it got dark, because I just thought it would be much cuter to sing it with the stars twinkling above us. She did, of course, make a wish! After we sang it a couple times, I told her about how stars are millions of miles away and that the stars only appear to be twinkling. I know it is kind of a Childhood Wonder buzz-kill, but she has to know someday that they aren't really "diamonds" twinkling in the sky! She learned that it is just our atmosphere creating the illusion of a twinkle - it is sort of like we are looking through a dirty window, making what we are seeing blurry. If we were looking at the stars from outer space, through the windows of a Space Shuttle, the stars would NOT twinkle! That is because we are not looking at them through layers of atmosphere that our planet has surrounding it like a protective shell or blanket. Then, I told her that Planets in the nights sky do NOT twinkle, not even when we look through our atmosphere! So, if she is on Earth and sees a "star" that is not twinkling, it might be a planet.
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