This week we are wrapping out the October In The Orchard theme from Mother Goose Time with some critter fun. We have been learning about turtles through Natalie’s Kindergarten curriculum and so we decided to make some turtle pets out of previous MGT materials that we have had laying around for a couple of months.
These were what we came up with and I think they turned turned out pretty well.
(Peter’s turtle)
(Natalie’s turtle & one of the cute airplanes that came with next month’s manipulative set)
While the kids were decorating, I was able to discuss some turtle facts and ask questions. It was a great way to sneak in some info while they were engaged in their creations.
Some of the things we learned are
Turtles live in water (rivers, lakes, or larger bodies of water like oceans) and tortoises live on land.If you run across what seems to be a turtle that does both, they are called a terrapin.
As turtles can stick their head and limbs into their shell, but all use their shell for protection.
And a turtle’s shell is attached to their backbone.And since we had just been to the Scarium at the Chattanooga Aquarium (Halloween event), we had just been able to see a lot of different types of turtles. Although at this moment, Peter was more interested in Mario than the sea turtle passing by.
Of course we did a lot of focusing on the letter T as well. (The little ball next to Peter became Peter’s little hedgehog pet.)
And I made up a few color by number sheets for Peter out of some coloring sheets I found on Pinterest and our good ‘ole dot to markers.
Although turtles don’t tend to live in orchards, we expanded our conversation to other animals and how they protect themselves from predators.
Natalie had seen the Porcupine day baggie earlier this month as I was flipping through our MGT materials, and had been hounding me about talking about it. So she was quite excited to get into the content.
(Natalie’s little purple hedgehog pet)
We made our puppets and discussed the differences between porcupines and hedgehogs. I honestly didn’t know, so it was really interesting for me to be able to identify some of the distinguishing features.
In case you didn’t know, hedgehogs are smaller than porcupines and and not naturally found in North or South America. Unlike the hedgehog (and spiny anteater), the porcupine does not curl up into a ball when threatened, but backs up into its predator, releasing the quills on its back once it strikes its attacker. It also has longer quills than a hedgehog.
Overall, it was a really fun way to close out our October curriculum.
And so far, our weeks have followed suit. Although we haven’t started yet and it is Nov 7th, we have been traveling the past two weeks and our conversations have really paved the way (haha, transportation humor) for our focus this month, pointing out different types of vehicles (cars, trucks, RVs, trains) and more than enough road signs.
And I’ll leave you with two sweet moments from the past week. While my kids are not like this pretty much 95% of the time, it is the moments like this that encourage me to keep going. I know God has called me down this path, and it is so easy to question it sometimes, but I am thankful for these moments, and by faith, choosing to the thankful for the hard times, too, knowing He is faithfully orchestrating our lives for His purpose.
These two. One of the benefits that we heard in testimony after testimony at the Teaching Them Diligently Homeschool Conference we attended last spring was the close relationships that siblings can have when they are homeschooled and really only have each other primarily to learn social skills, how to serve, how to hopefully be peacemakers, etc. We loved that idea and it’s been our prayer that we can foster an environment where they can find that type of friendship with each other. Most days, it doesn’t feel like we are making any progress. But then we have sweet moments like this and I see a glimmer of hope.
These little trees are gonna be our reminders to count the blessings during this season. For me, that is a practical way that I can fix my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of my faith, and to remember there is purpose in the mundane and routine of my days.
What do you hold onto when life gets hard?
What do you use to remind you of what God has called you to in the rough seasons?
I would love to hear!
As an official Mother Goose Time Blog Ambassador,
I receive curriculum in exchange for posting about our honest and authentic experiences with the curriculum.
Click here for more information on Mother Goose Time.
T is for Turtle (and Thankfulness)
JennyThis week we are wrapping out the October In The Orchard theme from Mother Goose Time with some critter fun. We have been learning about turtles through Natalie’s Kindergarten curriculum and so we decided to make some turtle pets out of previous MGT materials that we have had laying around for a couple of months.
These were what we came up with and I think they turned turned out pretty well.
While the kids were decorating, I was able to discuss some turtle facts and ask questions. It was a great way to sneak in some info while they were engaged in their creations.
Some of the things we learned are
Of course we did a lot of focusing on the letter T as well.
(The little ball next to Peter became Peter’s little hedgehog pet.)
And I made up a few color by number sheets for Peter out of some coloring sheets I found on Pinterest and our good ‘ole dot to markers.
Although turtles don’t tend to live in orchards, we expanded our conversation to other animals and how they protect themselves from predators.
Natalie had seen the Porcupine day baggie earlier this month as I was flipping through our MGT materials, and had been hounding me about talking about it. So she was quite excited to get into the content.
We made our puppets and discussed the differences between porcupines and hedgehogs. I honestly didn’t know, so it was really interesting for me to be able to identify some of the distinguishing features.
In case you didn’t know, hedgehogs are smaller than porcupines and and not naturally found in North or South America. Unlike the hedgehog (and spiny anteater), the porcupine does not curl up into a ball when threatened, but backs up into its predator, releasing the quills on its back once it strikes its attacker. It also has longer quills than a hedgehog.
Overall, it was a really fun way to close out our October curriculum.
Next up: On The Go
And so far, our weeks have followed suit. Although we haven’t started yet and it is Nov 7th, we have been traveling the past two weeks and our conversations have really paved the way (haha, transportation humor) for our focus this month, pointing out different types of vehicles (cars, trucks, RVs, trains) and more than enough road signs.
Fun things ahead! Check out these projects!
And I’ll leave you with two sweet moments from the past week. While my kids are not like this pretty much 95% of the time, it is the moments like this that encourage me to keep going. I know God has called me down this path, and it is so easy to question it sometimes, but I am thankful for these moments, and by faith, choosing to the thankful for the hard times, too, knowing He is faithfully orchestrating our lives for His purpose.
These little trees are gonna be our reminders to count the blessings during this season. For me, that is a practical way that I can fix my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of my faith, and to remember there is purpose in the mundane and routine of my days.
What do you hold onto when life gets hard?
What do you use to remind you of what God has called you to in the rough seasons?
I would love to hear!
As an official Mother Goose Time Blog Ambassador,
I receive curriculum in exchange for posting about our honest and authentic experiences with the curriculum.
Click here for more information on Mother Goose Time.