Gingerbread Theme Unit

This was the perfect theme to welcome in the holidays! Although I learned that sometimes homeschooling is no different than any other kind of school in that December is a tough time to focus on schoolwork! So our workload was a bit light.

Books:
The Gingerbread Man
Gingerbread Baby
Gingerbread Friends
Gingerbread Thematic Unit

The highlight of and inspiration for our theme was a very cool exhibit on the Science of Gingerbread, which will be happening again this year, too.

We had fun comparing the different versions of the Gingerbread stories.

We also made a simple lapbook with printouts from the Gingerbread Thematic Unit,

smelled some yummy spices,learned a bit about Germany,and of course, we invited friends over to make a gingerbread house, which sadly collapsed before it was ever really finished!

Colors Theme Unit

Books:

All the Colors of the Earth
Color
Mouse Paint
Planting a Rainbow
A Rainbow of My Own
Little Blue and Little Yellow

A Color of His Own

Science:

Make your own rainbow using the garden hose.

We experimented with color mixing. Add a drop each of two different colors of paint into a ziplock bag and then squished until a new color formed.

Math:

We observed the results and wrote a math sentence.

We used our color mixing bags in our first self-created and designed lapbook:

Social Studies:

Colors can be symbolic. Think of some colors that represent different things.

Red, white, and blue = United Stated of America

Red=stop, green=go, yellow=slow.

Green=nature or environment

Also school colors, sports teams, other nations, etc.

Bible:

Read the story of Noah's Ark in Genesis 6-9.

Memory Verse:

Genesis 9:13

Art:

Make a tissue paper rainbow.

Learn about primary colors and look at Piet Mondrian's work. Make your own Mondrian inspired art!

Tidepools Theme Unit

This was our first on-the-road unit and our first unit with a lapbook. We worked on the lapbook before we went on our trip and it definitely took longer than I expected, but Gracie loved it! So between the lapbook and the field trips we didn't have a lot of time for much else, but I think we covered the topic pretty well!

Books:

One Small Place by the Sea
A House for Hermit Crab
Magic School Bus Gets Crabby

Movies:

Into the Deep (IMAX)

Eyewitness: Fish

Lapbooks:

House for a Hermit Crab Lapbook from Homeschool Share

Field Trips:

Birch Aquarium is a great place to explore sea life in a controlled environment. They have a hands on tidepool full of amazing little creatures. We also enjoyed the huge tank they have that makes you feel like you're underwater.

Tidepool Hunting

Bible: Jonah and the whale, of course!

Memory Verse: Psalm 93:4

Pumpkins Theme Unit

Books:

Pumpkin Soup
The Pumpkin Patch
From Seed to Pumpkin
What Columbus Found: It Was Orange, It Was Round
The Ugly Pumpkin

Math:

Estimate how many pumpkin seeds are in a pumpkin. Open one up, scoop out the seeds and count them. Don't forget to roast the seedsto eat later!

Estimate how much a pumpkin weighs and then check your guess on a scale. You can do this easily at the grocery store.

Get a ruler or tape measure and find out how tall, wide, and round your pumpkin is.

Science:

Learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Here's a great little project that we used.

Make a cute little jack-o-lantern,and pull out the stem to see
all the stages of a pumpkin's life cycle!

Make observations about your pumpkin. Here's an observation sheet to help.

Plant a pumpkin seed and care for it. Keep a journal and observe the changes.

Social Studies:

We read What Columbus Found: It Was Orange, It Was Round which perfectly connected our pumpkin unit to our previous unit on Columbus. Good chance to review.

Make a picture map of how a pumpkin gets from the pumpkin patch to the table as a pie. Who helps it along the way? You can include a farmer, truck driver, grocery store clerks, baker (be it mom, grandma, or a professional!), and others.

If timely, discuss the origins of holidays such as Halloween or Thanksgiving in which the pumpkin plays a traditional part.

Writing:

Write a letter to someone inviting them over for pumpkin pie! And don't forget to bake the pie!

Bible:

Read the story of Elisha and the Poison Pumpkin in 2 Kings 4:38-41. Think about how God provides food for you. (Money to buy it, a garden to grow it, a stove to cook it, etc.)

Memorize Psalm 111:5.

Shapes Theme Unit

Books:

The Dot
The Shape Game
The Silly Story of Goldie Locks and the Three Squares
Shapes at Home: Learning to Recognize Basic Geometric Shapes

Math:


Make Tangram pictures
Create patterns with different shapes
Introduce symmetry
Make shapes on geoboards
Sort shapes by characteristics

P.E.:
We went on a geometry walk and took pictures of the shapes we had learned (Square, triangle, rectangle, circle, oval, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, cube, cone, and sphere).

Here's triangle:
We happened to have a fairly good hexagon shape in a stepping stone:


I drew these shapes onto construction paper to be pages in a mini-book. Gracie cut out the shapes, glued the pictures onto the pages, and traced the shape within the picture.

The other really cool thing we did was create a geometric hut out of rolled newspapers. It lasted about a week. Not too shabby!

Bible: Stumped me! Anyone else have some inspiration?

Check out the other theme units we covered in kindergarten here.

Autumn Theme Unit

Books to read:

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
Hello, Harvest Moon
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic
How Do You Know It's Fall?
In November

Sort leaves by their characteristics (color, shape, pointy vs. smooth edges, etc.).

Write an autumn sensory poem following the model: I see_______. I smell______. I hear______. I taste______. I feel________.

Make celery leaves change colors by putting them in a glass of water with food coloring.

Take a nature walk and observe changes going on.

Adopt a tree and visit it regularly. Observe the changes throughout the year. Take pictures of the tree or sketch it.

Make leaf rubbings.

Make a collage of leaves between 2 layers of wax paper. Iron the layers together.

Make a leaf silhouette by holding a leaf in place and painting around the edges of the leaf onto the paper. You will have created a negative space leaf.

Acorn math. Find some acorns on a nature walk to use as counters for counting, adding, or solving word problems.

Make a life-sized scarecrow using old clothes stuffed with newspaper.

Observe a fresh-fallen leaf over a few days as it dries out. Hypothesize what is happening.

Read Psalm 104 and reflect on God as Creator. Make a list of all of God's creations mentioned in the Psalm.

Discuss some of the figurative language (or word pictures) in this Psalm such as heavens like a tent, or wings of the wind. Draw a picture of your favorite image.

Memorize Psalm 104:19.