Plans: Cycle 1 - Week 13

Africa

Can you possibly study Africa without watching Lion King? Well, I guess you could, but it sure wouldn't be as fun!

History

* Read SOTW1: Kush, Chapter 11 (pp 88-90).

* Read this from the wonderful Mr. Donn.

* And read this from KidsPast.com.

* Check this book out from our library:

* Watch this BBC documentary on Nubia (Kush):

(I personally don't believe the earth is millions of years old, so as the girls get older I'll have to correct those parts when they hear that something dates back to 30,000 BC, but right now I don't think they'll even notice. But, as always, please screen everything yourself and use your own judgment.)

Geography

* Continue reviewing with our Map Friends book.

* Continue reviewing with the Geography Flash Cards (thanks again to Crecia at CCing it one day at a time for putting these together!). 

See here and here.

* Read SOTW1: Africa. Chapters 2, 4, 11-14.

* Read SOTW2: Africa. Ch. 29.

* Read SOTW3: Africa. Ch. 37.

* Do some crafts:

Make an African Mask! 

The above picture and link from Sola Gratia Mom, which is a great CC blog if you're looking for more ideas!

And make an African Necklace!

Math

* Please allow me to introduce you to...

Measurement Man!

The link above has a free printable template, so we'll definitely be doing this fun activity this week! There are lots of variations of Measurement Man, aka Gallon Man, on Pinterest and across the internet, so if this guy doesn't strike your fancy, keep on lookin'!

And here's a gallon-thingy that's cute and girly:

* Read this book about liquid measurements:

* Listen to the Liquid Equivalents Song mp3 (weeks 12-13) from C3, which was uploaded by NoGreaterJoy5. We have all of her Math songs for the remainder of the year in a playlist ready to go. I really enjoy her voice and the tunes she uses. If you're looking for pleasant CC songs, give hers a try!

* However, if you're looking for a really fun song that you can dance to, check out this one called Lemonade Stand. It just screams 'puppet show' or 'funny lip sync video' to me! We love this song!

* And we'll keep looking at our Math Review book, too.

Science

* Look at this happy guy:

* Do this great activity, again from Sola Gratia Mom (really, go check her out if you haven't already!):

* There are many videos on Youtube about the Earth's layers. Take your pick:

Here is a rap song by Mr. Lee.

Here is a folky version (love how the guy didn't close his closet!).

Here is an educational video by Make Me Genius (great idea of comparing the earth to an egg).

Here is Geology Kitchen's take on it (dig the apron).

Here is one from MIT's School of Engineering involving Legos and a cake (be sure to watch the credits... poor girl!)

* Make a Layers of the Earth jello pie:

(The directions aren't free, but, really, how hard could this be to recreate on my own? Hmmm... let's hope this one doesn't end up on Pinstrosity!)

* Do this coloring activity from C3:

The picture above is a preview; you have to be a member of C3 to access the file, but, trust me, the membership is totally worth it! The file is called Parts of earth circles to stack.pdf by user grismar. Grismar also has some GREAT printables for Math and History this week! And thanks to Heidi for the picture above and wonderful list of links and ideas for this week! If you haven't visited Heidi's blog yet, go check it out; it looks like she's a very well-prepared tutor!

* Read this page explaining the hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.

* And then look at this picture:

Yes, it's pretty basic, but it gets the job done for my four-year-old.

* We might play this adorable math game as we learn about the Earth's layers:

This is from First Grade Fanatics, and the link above has some other cute Earth stuff, too!

Fine Arts

* Read this book about Giotto:

* If you're really ambitious, you and your child can do this art project:

(click the picture to enlarge it)

* Be sure to check out Brandy's Cycle 1 Great Artist links from Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood. Isn't she just awesome?!

English Grammar

Sadly, I don't have anything fun or cute to introduce helping verbs. But, I do plan on teaching Mary this song to memorize them all:

(of course, we'll sing it with just a tad more gusto. ;) )

Here's a link to the lyrics; we printed them out.

Christian Missionary/Hero

This week we'll learn about Mary Slessor, who was a missionary to Africa. We're really enjoying the Heroes for Young Readers series, so we'll read this book:

For our full study schedule of Christian missionaries and heroes, click here.

Aaaand... I'm spent.

It feels really good to be planning again, but please remember that I will not, in any way, shape, or form, do all of these ideas. They're just plans, and we all know that plans can change. However, what I will do will come from this list. There comes a point in my planning stage where I just have to stop looking. There are so many great ideas out there, and this is a list of my favorite ones for this week.

I hope you're all having a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones. God bless you, friends!

This post is being submitted to Brandy's Weekly Link-Up at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood.