Thursday, April 29, 2010

P is for Penguin

Penguins were really fun to study!  The girls loved the books and this week of lessons really stood out for some reason. 
Caroline labeled the penguin parts
and located Antarctica and other penguin locations on the map.  
She made a sweet penguin and then taught her little sisters how to make one too.
Caroline said that she missed making lapbooks so we decided to make one for the penguin learning.  
 We had collected many facts so she decided to make a double folder lapbook this time.  I was impressed with her commitment.  It took her a few days and it had a lot of information.   Most of the items came from homeschoolshare.  She still needed to add the title when I photographed it but it's done and she's proud :)

  


  

Our Penguin theme books this week:

The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins
A Mother's Journey by Sandra Markie
Antarctic Antics by Judy Sierra
Penguins of The World by Wayne Lynch
March of The Penguins by Luc Jacquet
Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton by Steven Kellog
The Little Penguin by AJ Wood

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Great job on the lapbook. We made one during penguin week also. Your projects looked like fun and full of learning!

I'm impressed with Calista learning division. How old is she? It is exciting to watch our children grow as they learn new things. I'm always amazed at how quickly they learn and often underestimate their ability.

Isabel said...

Lisa, I remember seeing your penguin lapbook a few months ago. I love the activity you did and wish I had remembered (carrying the potato like the Emperor Penguin).

Calista is 8.5 and she's doing Singapore. I'm planning on switching to Right Start but I'm not sure if I should with her too. I know you use it too. Now that I'm ready to get it I'll have to get more insight from you.

Lisa said...

You can go on RightStart's website to take a brief placement test to know which level to begin at for your children. I've only used it with my oldest (age 9) and I'm starting it with my 7 yr old. We didn't start her in K until she was 6 and I figured she would need Level A but after taking the test, I discovered that she'll start at B. You may find the same for your younsters also.

I will tell you that I have a friend that switched over from RightStart to Singapore. She loves both programs and according to her, they are similar. Her son completed RS through Level E and I think she was just more comfortable with Singapore after that since RS ends at Algebra. I think the developer is working on high school curriculum so maybe she'll finish by the time we get there!

I debated about whether or not I would use RS with our 7 yr old because MFW 1st grade includes its own math. But MFW math is confusing! I keep looking at it and just feel lost! Since I'm accustomed to using RS and know how to read the TM, I figured it would be the most logical choice. And this way, I won't have to do the transition lessons later on like I did with our oldest.

Feel free to ask me anything about it. I'll do my best to answer!

Lisa said...

You can go on RightStart's website to take a brief placement test to know which level to begin at for your children. I've only used it with my oldest (age 9) and I'm starting it with my 7 yr old. We didn't start her in K until she was 6 and I figured she would need Level A but after taking the test, I discovered that she'll start at B. You may find the same for your younsters also.

I will tell you that I have a friend that switched over from RightStart to Singapore. She loves both programs and according to her, they are similar. Her son completed RS through Level E and I think she was just more comfortable with Singapore after that since RS ends at Algebra. I think the developer is working on high school curriculum so maybe she'll finish by the time we get there!

I debated about whether or not I would use RS with our 7 yr old because MFW 1st grade includes its own math. But MFW math is confusing! I keep looking at it and just feel lost! Since I'm accustomed to using RS and know how to read the TM, I figured it would be the most logical choice. And this way, I won't have to do the transition lessons later on like I did with our oldest.

Feel free to ask me anything about it. I'll do my best to answer!