Word Family Eggs

Twist the egg and read all the words. Open to find a special treat.

Another Celebrated Dancing Bear/Russia Lapbook

Here is Gerrick's completed lapbook based on Another Celebrated Dancing Bear and the things he's learned about Russia. Most of the printable items were found through Homeschool Share.

Animals in Russia

Gerrick wanted some pictures of animals found in Russia for his lapbook. While we were looking online we found labeled images on Enchanted Learning. He really liked them, so we ended up making an Animals in Russia mini-book. We included brown bear, wolf, moose, reindeer, lynx, Siberian tiger, polar bear, walrus, and seal.

I think he did a great job on the cover (especially for a kid who thinks he CAN'T write!). It helped him that I drew a line for each letter. He wouldn't have gotten the words centered on his own, and that would have frustrated him.

We reviewed these terms. He knew herbivore and carnivore, but omnivore was new to him.

I wrote on labels and he put the appropriate one on each animal's page.

Clock Dominoes

He learned to tell time to the hour last week and now plays a mean game of clock dominoes.

Labeling the Environment

There is a post at The Snail's Trail today about "labeling the environment"--one of those professional early childhood phrases. If you're interested, please see this post for some info about this practice.

We don't label random things in our home like lamps, doors, tables, etc., but if Gerrick ever decides that he wants to do that then we'd certainly encourage him. However, we do label things that make logical sense to him and us. For example, we've been labeling his toy bins since before he was two. Here is one of our first labels that is still being used...

As you can see, we labeled with a photo and the word. Gerrick participated in picking things for the photos (you can even see his little finger in this pic.)

As he got older, I started labeling new toy baskets with only the words. These have meaning for him because he looks at them to try to figure out where things go when cleaning up--especially when he finds himself with a pile of toys and 2-3 completely empty baskets.


Lately he's asked me to make labels for things on his nature shelves. Anytime something like this comes up, I encourage him to write the label himself. So far he's refused because he wants the word to look "right"--he doesn't like how his writing looks.




Do you label your home?

Brown Bears

The brown bear is one of the national symbols of Russia. It lives in the mountains and forests of the entire country.



Here are some videos about the plight of the brown bears.

Bear hunting...



Bear cub rehab...

Russian Dancing

We've been dancing around like Max & Boris from Another Celebrated Dancing Bear--step, glide, kick, leap...

We've also been watching Russian dancers:

Traditional Russian Folk Dancing...



Dances of the Soldiers...



and of course, ballet...



We also enjoyed this short film on the making of the pointe shoe...

Balalaika

The balalaika is a Russian instrument. It has a triangular soundboard and three strings. Gerrick has a magical ukulele--it can be any instrument he desires. :) Today, of course, it was a balalaika. (He played it so hard that he ripped some skin off his finger and we had to pull out the band-aids & Neosporin!)





Here's a real balalaika...

Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf

It would be a crime to do Russian studies with a five-year-old and not visit Sergei Prokofiev and Peter and the Wolf. I think most people agree that Peter and the Wolf is the best introduction to classical music for children. Gerrick loved this CD and DVD when he was two, but hasn't pulled them out in a really long time.

Bernstein's Favorites: Children's Classics

Elmo's Musical Adventure--The Story of Peter and the Wolf

We enjoyed them both again today and also played this online game. (Thanks for the link, Mom and Kiddo!)

Praying for Stellan

We used fruit-flavored marshmallows to make his name and added it to the Gallery here.

Dancing Bears

Dancing Bears at the Moscow Circus...



How were those bears trained? Gerrick's response to this question was that they were probably taken for long walks. Interesting...



When he saw the bears being led around by chains, he said, "See! I was right!"

Tchaikovsky

We've talked about the Russian composer Tchaikovsky a bit this week. Today Gerrick decided to spend some time working on his Another Celebrated Dancing Bear/Russia lapbook and I thought it was the perfect time to let him listen to some Tchaikovsky pieces available at Project Playlist. He kept naming instruments he heard, and honestly I didn't know if he was right or not half the time, so I decided to search for videos of his favorites being performed. His favorite of the few we heard was Marche Slave; for some reason he insisted all the lights be turned off and the blinds closed when he was listening to it. :) Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good video of it being performed, but he also liked 1812 Overture:

Sprouting Lentils

Beginning Reader Shelf

We've cleared a bedroom shelf on which to keep the books that he can read all by himself. Every night as part of the bedtime routine, Gerrick has started reading at least one book of his choice to his daddy. (As you can see there are only three choices right now. I thought that keeping them on their own shelf might motivate him to want more.) In addition to the books that go along with HOP, I'm also introducing correlating Bob Books, printable books from Starfall, and anything else I can find. Do you know of any other free printable beginning readers?

Today's Outdoor Adventures

exploring the creek...

hunting for animal tracks...

examining a plump earth worm...

throwing rocks...

discovering and capturing a creek monster!...

Organizing Art Supplies

This morning I found two posts in my reader that inspired me to organize our arts & crafts cabinet: If I Show You Ours, Will You Show Me Yours? and Art Supply Round-up.

First of all, we are very blessed to have plenty of space. For the first ten months of Gerrick's life, the three of us lived in 864 square feet. Until six months ago we lived in a slightly larger apartment. Now we are in an 1876 square-foot house, and I am so grateful!

On to the good stuff...

Gerrick's main table work space is his desk which is in the corner of our family room. We bought this for him when he was 21 months old, and it has really been worth the cost. (More drawers can be added later to bring it up to standard height, too.) You can click on the photo to see things more closely. Right now the things that he uses most often are his Prismacolor pencils, scissors, scotch tape, and craft sticks.


The drawers can be opened from either side of the table. Right now they hold
12x18 white sulphite paper;
stamps and stencils;
cardboard;
8 1/2 x 11 white paper and small construction paper;
activity books, notepads, envelopes;
stickers


Our messier art supplies are kept in a cabinet in our kitchen island. Gerrick has full access, and uses paints, clay, etc., at the island or kitchen table. As you can see below, it really needed organizing.

BEFORE

AFTER


Gerrick wanted these things from the cabinet taken out to his garage space.





I put extra materials and things that he doesn't use on his own yet (like the hot glue gun) in an upper kitchen cabinet.



Getting the art cabinet organized has really inspired him. This is what he's been doing while I've been making this post.






I think I'll join him now. :)

Gerrick's Garage Workshop

I finally organized the garage enough to make a workshop project area for Gerrick. Last week I listed a Freecycle request for a piece of laminate countertop and someone nearby responded. Yay! So, as you can see, I just put it on top of my winter/Christmas decoration boxes, and it works perfectly as a table for him.

We made a list of things he thinks he also needs for his new work space:

chair (he's using his desk chair from inside in the photo)
more wood
nails
wood glue
safety glasses
notebook
pencils
paints & brushes

We should be able to round up all of this except for more wood by the end of the weekend. :)

Saturday Morning Soccer

Russian Berry Tea

This week we've been reading Another Celebrated Dancing Bear which is part of the Five in a Row curriculum. The story is set in Russia, so we've been learning lots of interesting facts about the country. According to our readings, many Russians like to drink tea--a lot of tea. We don't drink tea in our family (except for good ol' Southern sweet tea), so we decided to try this recipe from the book Russia A to Z.

(click to enlarge)

Gerrick enjoyed making it, but one sip was all he needed to proclaim, "It's disgusting!" I'm sure tea is just an acquired taste. I thought it was pretty good compared to the few other teas I've tried in the past. Do you like tea? Maybe you should give this recipe a try. :)

Happy Birthday, Ella Kate!

Gerrick had a great time at a friend's birthday party tonight.