- A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
- Posts where I share what I have been up to with my early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).
Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme. Feel free to link up more than one post.
Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up.
I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).
It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.
We are continuing our Arctic Fun unit in the Pre-K class at our homeschool co-op. The first week we learned about polar bears and how they keep warm. The second week we learned about the arctic fox and camouflage. The third week, we learned about the walrus, and discussed sinking and floating. The fourth week, we learned about the snowy owl and talked about their super eyesight and hearing.
I have been sharing my Pre-K unit posts on Fridays this month. However, it is on Tuesdays that I have been sharing the craft that we made.
I had a difficult time deciding what our topic would be for the fifth week of this unit. Originally I was going to do a narwhal craft. But I couldn't find enough engaging children's books about the narwhal. Then I wanted to do the beluga whale, but I couldn't really come up with a craft, though I had a decent amount of books. Then I thought of the orca, because I did have a craft idea, and tons of books, but then I realized, though the orca preys on arctic sea life, it is not found just in the arctic. So, three whales, but how to choose. So, I decided to make the Paper Plate Arctic Whale Wheel to feature all three. And when you spin the wheel, it looks like the narwhal and the beluga are fleeing from the orca, which is a good thing, because the orca will eat them.
We started by painting the paper plate with the window light blue. I took white paint and added just a dab of blue. Then they used the cotton balls attached to clothespins to apply the paint. I do love this as an alternative to paint brushes. And egg cartons make wonderful paint holders.
Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:
The Crew year has begun! I have four reviews due in February. We have been listening to the newest Heirloom Audio Adventures release titled, For the Temple. That review will post later this week. Three of the children have been using the IXL Learning site, which we have a year membership to. We have also been reading the newest books in the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series. We reviewed the first two books a year or so ago. And I have been working with Harold on math using Singapore's Dimensions Math.
In March I will be sharing reviews for a US Symbols Unit Study from Homeschool Complete, STEM activities from Tied 2 Teaching, and Poetry for the Grammar Stage from Memoria Press
It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.
We are continuing our Arctic Fun unit in the Pre-K class at our homeschool co-op. The first week we learned about polar bears and how they keep warm. The second week we learned about the arctic fox and camouflage. The third week, we learned about the walrus, and discussed sinking and floating. The fourth week, we learned about the snowy owl and talked about their super eyesight and hearing.
I have been sharing my Pre-K unit posts on Fridays this month. However, it is on Tuesdays that I have been sharing the craft that we made.
I had a difficult time deciding what our topic would be for the fifth week of this unit. Originally I was going to do a narwhal craft. But I couldn't find enough engaging children's books about the narwhal. Then I wanted to do the beluga whale, but I couldn't really come up with a craft, though I had a decent amount of books. Then I thought of the orca, because I did have a craft idea, and tons of books, but then I realized, though the orca preys on arctic sea life, it is not found just in the arctic. So, three whales, but how to choose. So, I decided to make the Paper Plate Arctic Whale Wheel to feature all three. And when you spin the wheel, it looks like the narwhal and the beluga are fleeing from the orca, which is a good thing, because the orca will eat them.
Paper Plate Arctic Whale Wheel
You will need:
Ordinary paper plates (2 per project)
White paint
Blue paint
Blue marker
Clothespins
Cotton balls
School glue
Cotton Swabs
Glue sticks
Metal paper fastener
Scissors
Pictures of narwhals, beluga whales, and orcas/killer whales
White tissue paper cut into squares
In preparation I cut a wedge shaped window in half of the paper plates we would be using. It is approximately 1/3 of the paper plate and is cut below the ridged edge, but it does not come to a point in the middle, I left a bump for the paper fastener. Then I trimmed the other plates by approximately 3/4 of an inch. This was to make it easier to grasp the edge in order to spin it. Then I used a sharp knife to punch small holes in the middle of the plates. I then found pictures of the whales online, put them into my word processing program, and shrunk them to size. Finally, I printed them and cut them out.
We started by painting the paper plate with the window light blue. I took white paint and added just a dab of blue. Then they used the cotton balls attached to clothespins to apply the paint. I do love this as an alternative to paint brushes. And egg cartons make wonderful paint holders.
We set those aside to dry, and then we used glue sticks to attach the whales to the other paper plates. I instructed the children to make sure the whales' bellies faced the hole in the center of the plate.
While the children were in their gym class, I attached the top, painted plate to the bottom plate with the pictures.
When the children returned, we finished the project by gluing the tissue paper ice to the arctic sea. I gave them each a cup of an egg carton which I poured a bit of glue into, and they used cotton swabs to apply it to the paper plate.
We layered the tissue paper, so it would show up better.
Paper Plate Arctic Whale Wheels
Make sure to spin them counterclockwise to watch the narwhal and beluga whales swim away from the orca.
The Crew year has begun! I have four reviews due in February. We have been listening to the newest Heirloom Audio Adventures release titled, For the Temple. That review will post later this week. Three of the children have been using the IXL Learning site, which we have a year membership to. We have also been reading the newest books in the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series. We reviewed the first two books a year or so ago. And I have been working with Harold on math using Singapore's Dimensions Math.
In March I will be sharing reviews for a US Symbols Unit Study from Homeschool Complete, STEM activities from Tied 2 Teaching, and Poetry for the Grammar Stage from Memoria Press
Here are a few things I would like to share with you:
Valentine's Day Fun
The Tons-of-Fun Valentine's Day Round Up
More of our Arctic Fun
Now onto:
Valentine's Day Fun
The Tons-of-Fun Valentine's Day Round Up
More of our Arctic Fun
Littles Learning Link Up Features
On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there was only one wonderful post linked up. Sadly, that is what happens when I am late posting. I'm sorry I fell behind last week.
Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.
This week's featured post is:
Brandy from The Barefoot Mom shared Heart Fish Valentine's Day Craft.
Join the Party!
I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.
Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.
Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.
Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.
Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.
No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.
I am sharing over at
I am sharing over at
Such a cute idea!
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