HOP ON THE BUS, GUS: Together, we read Magic School Bus Rides the Wind. Fun story that helped the kids learn about weather-related tools like weather balloons, wind socks and anemometers. We also learned that wind is caused with heavy air pushes into lighter air.
CLOUD COVER: Also in the weather vane (get it? weathervane?!), I thought we'd learn a bit about the different types of clouds we see hanging overhead. There are lots of cloud resources online, many of them not so engaging. We wound up on the National Center for Atmospheric Research Web site. (Their Kids' Crossing and Educators' Bridge are definitely resources we'll revisit.) Today, we played the Cloud Match game (matching photos to the proper cloud name/type. We also spent some time studying their cloud chart.
COIN CONUNDRUM: After lunch, I thought we'd review coins and their values - something we've been working on for weeks/months. Poor CJ, it's just not happening for him. I've tried worksheets, games, videos, you name it. He, for whatever reason, just cannot remember which coin is which. If you don't know which coin is which, then you're probably not going to be able to do much with counting/sorting, etc. We didn't dwell on it. Tomorrow's another day - and I found a song/chant I think he might like:
Penny, Penny, Easily Spent, Copper brown and worth 1 Cent!;
Nickel, Nickel, Thick and Fat, You're worth 5 Cents, I know that!
Dime, Dime, Little and Thin, I remember, You're worth 10!
Quarter, Quarter, Big and Bold, You're Worth 25, I Am Told!
CJ's body language in this photo tells you everything you need to know about his money frustrations ...
MIGHT AS WELL CATCH THE WIND:This afternoon the family headed up to "Hilltop Play Park" (formally known as Ella Bailey Park, and formerly Magnolia School). True confession time: Today was the First Day Ever that our kids have flown a kite. We have like 3 kites, we just haven't gotten around to flying them before now. : / However, the weather was just right for today's maiden voyage. Needless to say, we all had fun.
MONDAY MATINEE: In preparation for the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," we visited the film's official Web site. There, we read each of the character bios. They used some pretty big words. So today, CJ and Annabelle learned the meaning of several new words ...
Tourist = visitor or traveler from somewhere else
Mayhem = trouble, confusion
Smorgasbord = a bunch of food spread out all over
Self absorbed = kind of bad, think mostly/only of themselves
Optimist = thinking good things will happen
Sidekick = someone who helps
Stump = outsmart or out think
Inflate = make something bigger by blowing something (like air) into it
Deflate = make something inflated smaller by letting the air (or whatever) out
Christian took the kids to see the movie in 3D at the Pacific Science Center's IMAX theater. Upon returning home, Annabelle declared the movie "Awesome!" Christian was slightly less enthused. CJ is already working on a sequel to the movie, involving "the revenge of the weather-food-machine." : )
NO NINTENDO?!: As CJ and Annabelle were playing around the house tonight with the new pup, I realized that CJ had not played even one minute of a Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS game today. He never asked - and I certainly never offered. Interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment