Presidents Day 2013

Presidents day this year I decided to teach Lily and Aj about a president they haven't learned about yet. I picked John F Kennedy. Since we live in so close to the Kennedy Library we went on a field trip to Boston to learn about this president!


We explored the museum and learned a lot about our 35th President!




We also talked about the presidents we already know who are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Lily and Aj Enjoyed doing a paper plate craft of Abraham Lincoln. We Read tons of books and watched a movie leading up to presidents day!

Clown of God

The Clown of God
By Tomie DePaola
The Clown of God is the retelling of an Old Legend, a story of a "gift for the child."


The first time we read this book Lily cried and said she did not like this book and we needed to return it to the library. When asked why they didn't like this book "Lily said it was too sad because the main character dies at the end." Both Children had a lot of questions about life and death. Some of these questions where- "When will I die?, When will our cat die?, When will other people die?, etc..." I tried to answer them using carefully chosen words so not to upset them. In retrospect I wish I hadn't picked this book this month. Lily and Aj have experienced death of loved ones within our family over the past couple of years. I have not been able to shelter my children from death but I don't want them to dwell on the subject. I decided to do some activities after reading this book but I kept them on the lighter side.


Social Studies-(Geography:Italy,Renaissance,Orphans,)
The story Of The Clown Of God is set in Italy in the Renaissance. Lily and Aj found Italy on our map. They colored a map, flag and did a worksheet On Italy. We talked about the difference in how we live today compared to in the Renaissance. We read tons of books. Lily and Aj enjoyed making their own pizzas and eating Gelato on Italian night. I also explained the term "orphan" and discussed how children are cared for throughout history.


Science-(rainbows)
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection of light. In the Book the main character juggles beautiful rainbow colored balls. Lily and Aj enjoyed eating a rainbow breakfast and rainbow cookies. They also made their own rainbows out of construction paper. We did an experiment using a box, cd and flash light to create our own rainbows. We also read a great book on rainbows.



Math-(counting, addition)
Lily and Aj reviewed their numbers and used flash cards to do addition. They also did a couple of math work sheets with clowns on them.



Art-(Clowning, Juggling)
There is an art to juggling and being a clown. The main character Giovanni entertains people by doing just that. Lily and Aj learned that juggling takes rhythm, practice and timing. They tried juggling balls that they made and decorated themselves. Putting on clown makeup was a big hit. We also read 2 books on juggling, watched a movie and found a utube video on the Big Apple Circus.


Language-(Vocabulary)
We learned 5 new words while reading this book-(troupe,maestro,torches,violet,brothers) Lily and Aj drew pictures of each of these words after learning the meaning of them.

Valentines Day 2013

Today we made Valentine cookies. The kids also made kiss books, cards and decorated bags to do a Valentine card swap. The book we read was called Cupid, which they really enjoyed.