One Potato, Two Potato

The fresh smell of spring and the heat of summer bring gardens of plentiful learning activities. Seems like every time we turn around we are enjoying another experience involving fruits and veggies. Here's a sampling of our fun, with a few extras tucked in for good measure. (For readers who heard me speak at the FPEA-Florida Parent Educators Association-Convention, some of these will sound familiar).

Math

• Estimate the weight of a watermelon. Weigh on a bathroom scale. Figure out the price per paid per pound.
• Purchase a five pound bag of potatoes. Compare the quantity with a five pound bag of onions. Why the difference in quantity per pound? Younger children can weigh potatoes and arrange from lightest to heaviest.
• Buy a basket full of veggie. Sort according to what part of the plant is eaten: stem, leaf, seed, root, flower. Eat vegetables and dip for snack.

Language Arts

• Read Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. Make veggie soup for dinner. (Dad will love eating what the children learned.)
• Read the Farm Alphabet Book by Jane Miller. Make your own fruits and veggies alphabet book.
• Play Garden Match to learn beginning consonants.
• Read Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert.
• Read Stone Soup by Marcia Brown (a traditional tale).
• Read Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens (a trickster tale).
• Make a growing vegetable soup lapbook.
• Read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.

Spanish

• Learn the Spanish words for common fruits and vegetables

Social Studies

• Tour the produce section of the grocery store.
• Visit a working farm, garden store, orchard, or greenhouse.

Science

• Plant a garden.
• Build a grow box and grow herbs.
• Spout seeds. Discuss vocabulary: seeds, seedlings, cuttings, sprout, germinate.
• Read The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons
• Read Green Beans, Potatoes, and Even Tomatoes by Brian Cleary
• Read One Bean by Anne Rockwell.
• Sprout an avocado seed.
• Grow or purchase a pie pumpkin. Open. Clean. Bake. Puree pumpkin and make bread.
• Read The Life Cycle of a Bean by Linda Tagliaferro.
• Read Foods from Farms by Nancy Dickmann.
• Read Plants on a Farm by Nancy Dickmann.
• Read Farming by Gail Gibbons. Discuss farming around the world.
• Read From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons.
• Read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.
• Read The Victory Garden Vegetable Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta.

Arts

• Make prints using tempera paints and fruits and veggies (potato, cabbage, celery, corn, and oranges)
• Read Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork.
• Make a seed collage.
• Sing Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow. Act out the song with motions.
• Read How Are You Peeling? by Joost Effers and Saxton Freymann. Discuss the illustrations. Children may also enjoy Fast Food by the same authors.

Movement

• Play Hot Potato (hand-eye coordination)

Ever Wonder How the SAT and ACT Differ?

I am frequently asked how the content of the SAT and ACT differ. This morning I was forwarded this link. Hope the information contained on the blog will help those who may have questions.

http://www.homeschoolnewslink.com/blog/?p=241

Warning! There is an amazing amount of helpful information on the blog. You may find yourself immersed in gleaning wisdom :)

Math in Our Lunch

We've encountered math in our lunch! Amazing how the best math lessons seem to happen spontaneously. How, you ask? Here are some examples (with some added extras for the adventurous):

• Cut deli-sliced cheese and meat into equal parts. Discuss halves, quarters, thirds. Write the fractions (to extend to the symbolic representation).
• Cut a sandwich in two equal pieces. Discuss equal and half. Write the fraction. Older children could cut sandwich into fourths. Discuss equal fractions and introduce adding fractions with like denominators.
  
• Cut rectangle slices off the end of a rectangular prism of cheese. Find other rectangular prisms in the kitchen (boxes of crackers, cereal, tea bags, etc.).
• Identify additional solid figures (cubes, cones, spheres, and cylinders). Compare to geometric shapes: circle, rectangle, square, triangle, and oval.
  
• Cut each rectangle slices of cheese into two squares and placed on a circular cracker. Find other squares and circles around the house. Look for right angles. Discuss straight and curved lines. Estimate the circumference of the cracker. Write the number to represent the estimate. Measure circumference of the cracker with a string and then measure the string with a ruler. Write the actual length and find the difference between the estimate and the actual.
  
• Measured the height, length, and width of the faces of the cheese block. Older children could calculate the volume.
• Discussed right angles, sides, angles, faces, length, width, height, circumference, diameter, and radius.

These an other kitchen math adventures are available in my Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula book.

Helpful resources:
http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/cuboids-rectangular-prisms.html (concept explanations)
http://www.tcpl.lib.in.us/youth/mathconcepts.htm (book lists for related math topics)
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/grocerymath.html (math in the grocery store)

Aldi Deal Turned Amazing Math Lesson

Haven't blogged since late June...evaluation season, summer, husband home, morning sickness, pre-writing research, let's just say, blogging sadly took a back seat.

Had to take a break from my day's schedule of writing and grading to pass along the wonder and enjoyment of a learning adventure which took place in our home today. It all started with a milk-induced trip to the local Aldi supermarket. Further down the milk aisle, a fabulous deal on sixteen inch pizzas caught my eye. I loaded four into my cart.

Arriving home, children welcomed me. MILK! We unloaded, and of course the twenty-inch pizza boxes caught their eyes. Never (except for at Nanny's house on Sunday when she feeds fifteen to twenty people) had they seen so many pizza boxes. We quickly discovered the large boxes would not fit in the freezer (our first math problem). We took the pizzas out of the box and the next thing I knew shouts of joy and creativity pierced my ears. They wanted the boxes for "their restaurant".

After saving the cardboard boxes from a trip to the recycle bin, the four girls, ages four to twelve, began to brainstorm what diameter pizza would fit in the box. This was done by invading my buffet of circular platters. Each platter, after estimating its size, made its way into the box confirming the hypothesis of whether or not it would fit. Large pizza size- solved! "Oh, wait we need medium and smalls!" I heard. "We have to figure out the size of the small pizzas and see how many will fit in one box." Within an hour, a variety of small, medium, and large crusts lay on the kitchen table.

Next: the toppings. The four girls began helping one another cut geometric shapes from our scrap box of construction paper: circle pepperoni, oval sausage, triangle mushrooms, and rectangle cheese. An hour and thirty minutes later, pizzas were complete. Time to make menus.

When given the time and access to resources, great learning takes place. Oh, yes, there was mess- hundreds of shredded pieces of construction paper on the carpet. I decided to do some writing in the next room (within earshot, of course)so I would torture myself by watching the paper shredding process. Somehow, two and one-half hours later (yes, I was in and out of the room, but chose not to stress) the learning that took place outweighed the confetti party on my carpet.

The girls have now invited the neighbor over to play pizza delivery with menus and prices, so the learning continues. And I did nothing (except make the platters, paper and glue available) to make it happen. I could not have planned it any better.

Sorry there are no pictures...perhaps I will add them later when the pizzas are not being played with, I mean learned with!

Math and pizza related library resources:
Pizza Counting, Christina Dobson
Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza, Philmon Sturges
Let's Make Pizza, Mary Hill
The Coin Counting Book, Rozanne Lanczak Williams
Give Me Half, Stuart Murphy
Dimes, Mary Hill
Dollars, Mary Hill
Piece=Part=Portion, Scott Gifford

Want more ideas about how to teach math through everyday learning experiences, especially food preparation. Check out my book Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula.

Cow Anatomy and Moooore

Wading through hills of research for my latest writing project, I came across this AWESOME site. Though I needed the pages referencing cow anatomy, I soon found myself exploring page after page of fascinating animal-related information. We will be hopping back over to this site when we start our study of land animals in the fall.

So, whether you find yourself learning about cow anatomy with your children or grazing through a study of habitats, information awaits your arrival at the site.

Summer Reading List

Summer peaks around the corner. For some people packing for vacation is first and foremost on the mind. For others, summer camps and mission trips demand last minute trips to variety stores to purchase last minute necessities. In the midst of preparing for what summer will bring to our families, some of us are also visiting local libraries and used book sales to gather summer reading materials. For those who have asked about summer reading possibilities, I write this blog. The titles have been compiled over the years and are printed in Appendix D of my book You HAVE to Read This One: Raising a Contagious Reader.

"Parents choose reading materials for their children based upon several factors:
• a student’s reading ability and maturity,
• family’s values and worldview, and
• whether a book is to be read aloud or read independently.

All these factors, or a combination of these factors, will determine what titles are appropriate for your children. My list was complied for parents with upper elementary (grades 4-5) and middle school (grades 6-8) students.

The spectrum of age and maturity of students in grades four through eight is great. As a guide, I have marked titles considered more difficult—by vocabulary or content— with (M). Parents may decide to wait until grades 7-8 to introduce these books. Selections marked (2-4) may be considered acceptable read-aloud titles for grades 2-4. As always, if in doubt, read the book first."

• Adams, Richard, Watership Down (M)
• Alcott, Louisa May, Little Men (M)
• Alcott, Louisa May, Little Women (M)
• Allman, Barbara, Musical Genius
• Andersen, Hans Christian, Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales
• Armstrong, William, Sounder
• Atwater, Richard and Florence, Mr. Popper’s Penguins
• Bagnold, Enid, National Velvet
• Barrie, J. M., Peter Pan
• Baum, L. Frank, The Wizard of Oz
• Beatty, Patricia, Turn Homeward Hannalee
• Beechick, Ruth, Adam and His Kin
• Blackmore, R. D., Lorna Doone
• Brink, Carol Ryrie, Caddie Woodlawn
• Bulla, Clyde Robert, A Lion to Guard Us
• Burnett, Frances Hodgson, Little Lord Fauntleroy
• Carroll, Lewis, Alice in Wonderland
• Collodi, Carlo, Pinocchio
• Crane, Stephen, The Red Badge of Courage (M)
• Coerr, Eleanor, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
• Crockett, Davy, The Life of David Crockett (M)
• D’Angeli, Marguerite, The Door in the Wall
• Dalgliesh, Alice, The Courage of Sarah Noble (2-4)
• Defoe, Daniel, The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
• DeJong, Meindert, The Wheel on the School (M)
• Dickens, Charles, A Christmas Carol (M)
• Dickens, Charles, A Tale of Two Cities (M)
• Dickens, Charles, Great Expectations (M)
• Dickens, Charles, Oliver Twist (M)
• du Bois, William Pene, The Twenty-One Balloons (M)
• Edmonds, Walter D., The Matchlock Gun (2-4)
• Equiano, Olaudah, The Kidnapped Prince
• Finley, Martha, Elise Densmore
• Fleischman, Sid, By the Great Horn Spoon!
• Fleischman, Sid, The Whipping Boy
• Forbes, Esther, Johnny Tremain (M)
• Fritz, Jean, The Cabin Faced West (2-4)
• George, Jean Craighead, Julie of the Wolves
• George, Jean Craighead, My Side of the Mountain
• Gipson, Fred, Old Yeller
• Gray, Elizabeth Janet, Adam of the Road
• Green, Roger Lancelyn, Tales of Ancient Egypt (M)
• Green, Roger Lancelyn, The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Green, Roger Lancelyn, The Tale of Troy
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter (M)
• Henty, G.A., Beric the Briton
• Henty, G. A., Cat of Bubastes
• Henty, G. A., For the Temple
• Henty, G. A., Young Carthaginian
• Homer, The Odyssey
• Homer, The Illiad
• Hugo, Victor, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (M)
• Hunt, Irene, Across Five Aprils (M)
• Hunt, Irene, Up the Road Slowly (M)
• Keith, Harold, Rifles for Watie
• Kelly, Eric P., The Trumpeter of Krakow (M)
• Kipling, Rudyard, Captains Courageous
• Kipling, Rudyard, Just So Stories
• Kipling, Rudyard, The Jungle Book
• Langford, Alan, Tales of the Greek Heroes (M)
• Lee, Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird (M)
• Latham, Jean Lee, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
• Lawson, Robert, Rabbit Hill
• L’Engle, Madeleine, A Wrinkle in Time
• Lenski, Lois, The Strawberry Girl (2-4)
• Lewis, C.S., The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Lindgren, Astrid, Pippi Longstocking
• Lofting, Hugh, Doctor Dolittle Stories
• London, Jack, The Call of the Wild
• London, Jack, White Fang
• Macdonald, George, The Princess and the Goblin
• McGraw, Eloise Jarvis, Mara, Daughter of the Nile
• McGraw, Eloise Jarvis, The Golden Goblet
• Montgomery, Lucy Maud, Anne of Green Gables
• Morey, Walt, Gentle Ben
• Norton, Mary, The Borrowers (2-4)
• O’Dell, Scott, Island of the Blue Dolphins
• O’Dell, Scott, The Hawk that Dare Not Hunt by Day (M)
• Porter, Eleanor, Pollyanna (2-4)
• Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan, The Yearling (M)
• Rawls, Wilson, Where the Red Fern Grows
• Richter, Conrad, The Light in the Forest
• Sewell, Anna, Black Beauty
• Sharp, Margery, The Rescuers
• Sheldon, George, The Cricket in Times Square
• Speare, Elizabeth George, Calico Captive
• Speare, Elizabeth George, The Bronze Bow
• Speare, Elizabeth George, The Sign of the Beaver
• Speare, Elizabeth George, The Witch of Blackbird Pond (M)
• Spyri, Johanna, Heidi
• Stevenson, Robert Louis, A Child’s Garden of Verses
• Stevenson, Robert Louis, Treasure Island
• Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels
• Taylor, Mildred, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (M)
• ten Boom, Corrie, The Hiding Place (M)
• Tolkien, J.R.R, The Hobbit
• Tolkien, J.R.R., Fellowship of the Rings
• Twain, Mark, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (M)
• Twain, Mark, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (M)
• Vern, Jules, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (M)
• Vern, Jules, Around the World in Eighty Days
• Vern, Jules, Journey to the Center of the Earth (M)
• Wells, H. G., Time Machine (M)
• White, E. B., Charlotte’s Web (2-4)
• White, E. B., Stuart Little
• Wiggin, Kate Douglas, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
• Williamson, Joanne, Hittite Warrior
• Wyss, Jonathan David, Swiss Family Robinson
• Yates, Elizabeth, Amos Fortune Free Man

May this reading list is a springboard to many summer adventures!

Read Around the World

Travel the world and never leave your living room. Though there are distinct advantages to learning about the Colosseum while walking its cobblestone path ways or climbing to the top on worn stone steps, many of us will never have an opportunity to do so. That's where books span the ravine of being there to taking us there.

Books set in cultures and countries afar, allow us to walk across the Grand Canal, explore the Sahara, swim the English Channel, or climb the Rocky Mountains. In doing so, books broaden horizons, teaching geography and immersing us in culture as we read.

Travel the United States with:
In My Mother's House by Ann Nolan Clark
M is for Majestic: A National Parks Alphabet by David Domeniconi
The Great St. Lawrence Seaway by Gail Gibbons
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Latham
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (chapter book)
Lentil by Robert McCloskey
Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
N is for Our Nation's Capital by Roland Smith
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift
A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert

Traveled the World with:
A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World by Emery and Durga Bernhard
The Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Bluff
Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark (chapter book)
The Wheel on the School by Meindert deJong (chapter book)
A Life Like Mine published by DK Publishing
Children Just Like Me by Anabel Kindersley
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno
Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris
House and Homes by Ann Morris
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen
P is for Passport by Devin Scillian
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese

Additional Resources (some will make your mouth water!)
Eat Your Way Around the World by Jamie Aramini (yummy twists to teaching geography)
Galloping the Globe by Loree Pettit and Dari Mullins (a unit study)
Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary by Jack Knowlton (helpful reminders!)
Teaching Ideas website (ideas to get your mind traveling)
Geography Matters website (a plethora of helpful resources)
Online geography games
Netstate website (all about the 50 states, and more!)
Friends Across America (coloring pages for everything America)
Enchanted Learning (all about US Geography)
Enchanted Learning (all about World Geography)
Homeschool Share (lapbooking geography)
Homeschool Share (more lapbooking geography)
Homeschool Share (US geography)