Thursday, January 14, 2010

Buggy

We were on 'insect' last week for MFW - Kindergarten. Here are a few fun pix:

Fun cookies!
Taking a field trip - getting to see bees, a few bugs, lots of animals and learning about a spider web (Emily is holding onto a piece of web in this picture:


fill a honey bear:

roll beeswax candles:
These are Rachel's candles that she wanted to share for decorating the dinner table that night:

We also made the honey balls (with their honey) for dessert! (recipe in MFW book) Considering my great distaste for insects and bugs of any kind, we had a great week! Special thanks to my Dad for his help this week!

17 comments:

Unknown said...

I just love those cookies. How cute are they!

Ami said...

That does look like a great homeschool week!

I've been disappointed to find that many extra activities really stress me out with homeschool, and I'm most energized by reading with the kids, and then just involving them in whatever I happen to be doing, like kneading bread dough. We have a hodgepodge of kindergarten curriculum, but as I look into "real" 1st grade curriculum I'm keeping all this in mind. Do the activities associated with school stress you out or energize you?

On the insect topic, my son started a bug collection in the fall. We found a dead black widow one inch from our back door in November, so I put it in a container for him. Later when we looked at it...it was alive!!!

Michelle said...

Great pictures... my son walked in and asked where to get beeswax to make our own candles. I think they might have it at craft stores around here.

I do admit, though, that the photo of the man with the furry spider on his hand gave me the heebie jeebies! LOL!

Wendi said...

I think the real bugs might creep me out a little. It looks like fun getting to make the candle and fill the honey bear.

Davonne said...

COOL!! Can you include a link to the place this field trip was? We're planning on visiting friends in NC this summer and are wanting to find some learning fun places to go. (I know NC's a big state, so it's a long shot...)

We too thrive on fun projects and field trips :) You'd probably love making something like the snowman pancakes we made here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3188849&id=504619031&l=75192f082f (That was the final activity on our unit study about weather.)

Mom said...

Knowing your history with bugs of any kind, I'd say you handled this topic quite well! Glad to see the photos of your field trip (and glad Dad could share in the fun!) -- love you, Mom

Cheryl said...

Ah, Kindergarten! It was my fave to teach when we homeschooled. We did lots of hands on activities and field trips. So much fun and the children seemed to learn and retain so much better.
Glad you enjoyed it even though you don't like insects. Thanks for sharing.

Bessers said...

Your'e doing such a graet job! I love it when you post what fun things you're doing in school-time. You inspire me!

We're doing MFW-K this year too and also just finished the insect unit. My ds is 4yo, so some of the work is too much for him, but I am trying to just keep it light and fun. My hubby has to remind me that even if we don't finish the curriculum this year, he'll still be leaps & bounds ahead of his pre-school counter-parts and has still learned a lot. My 6 yo nephew in public school K isn't yet reading as much as ds. I find it easy to focus on the math & phonics, but stetching to do the more involoved, hands-on activities which I know are SO important, so your blog-posts like this are always an encouragement to me. We were going to start goats today, and still may, but I have some left-over frosting from Christmas and think we'll try to make sugar cookie bugs like yours also. We have the ant farm that came with the deluxe kit and have all been facinated watching the ants work.

Since we're at the same spot in the curriculum, I would love to hear your thoughts/plans on finishing it. Do you plan to go into the summer, continue into next year, or try to consolidate and get it down this year?

Elise said...

What great ideas!! I love the honey bear fill-up and the candle making. You are so clever!!
Elise

Grace said...

We are on Insect this week. I wish i would have looked into something like the bee thing. I am always a dollar short when it comes to planning ahead. I will say I am very discouraged right now with HSing. No motivation whatsoever right now. I love seeing you ideas!!

Monica Wilkinson said...

Davonne, Hi! I'd prefer not to link it on my blog as I don't reference locations near my home! I'd be happy to send you a link if you'd like - but wanted to note that we live in South Carolina!

Bessers, I'm really planning to have this finished before summer and I hadn't seen any reason to need to consolidate it to accomplish that. We are nearly at the halfway point and there are still 4 1/2 months until summer. Even with a few weeks off - we should finish by the end of May.

Monica Wilkinson said...

Hi Ami,

Oh. my. If I found out I had picked up a live black widow - I'd probably pass out right then and there. Eeek!

Ok, extras energize me ~ which you probably guessed from reading my blog! I found myself really dragging and not enjoying things when we did NOT do the extras. For me, the extras make it much more enjoyable.

Tim, Allyson, and kids said...

Those candles are beautiful!

By the way, we have two giveaways going on that you may be interested in.

Songs for Saplings' God & Creation Music CD for Kids http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/2010/01/review-giveaway-songs-for-saplings.html

Plush Toy PDF Pattern of Your Choice http://a-heart4home.blogspot.com/2010/01/review-giveaway-funky-friends-factory.html

Hope you all have a great week!

angie said...

After I read the title of your post, I was trying to figure out what it had to do with a buggy (carriage)! I think I have brain freeze from our long stretch of cold weather.
Way to go on holding it together in the face of bugs. For me, it is bats! And everytime my son and I went to the zoo, he would request to go to the bat house FIRST. I didn't want to pass on my fear to him, but I could only handle so much heroics.
So many bug related activities, and I like that they focus on how important bees are to our daily life.

Monica Wilkinson said...

Hi Davonne - I tried replying to your e-mail and it came back undeliverable! Any ideas?

*carrie* said...

Cookies=cute
Big spider=not so cute

Talk to you soon!

Anonymous said...

Hi Monica:

Such cute ideas for your field trip...you are so creative and thoughtful.
Darling photos!

I'm at the computer center today I think it will work from here! Don't know what is wrong with those other computers.

Take care, Honey.

Love, Grandma