Away Went the Balloons

This book, by Carolyn Haywood, is somewhat different from the others we have read. It is the story of an elementary school (particularly a few first graders) that has a Balloon Day, at which time each child releases two balloons with their name attached. Each chapter tells the story of a balloon and who finds it and how or where they find it.

K. really enjoyed this book, and I'm being asked to re-read some of her favorite chapters. This was a fun read since each chapter was so different.

Oodles of Noodles

Math this week was oodles of fun! We picked the number 6 and glued sets of 6 noodles onto a piece of construction paper. The only rule was that each set had to have a different shape. The goal of this activity is for the student to learn that a number of items can look large or small, but still be the same amount.

Digraph Sounds

I printed a sheet of paper with pictures of 32 objects. Each object began with either sh, ch, th, or wh. K. cut the objects out and then glued each piece of paper onto the correct sheet.

Fill in the Letters

I printed out the outlines of some of the letters we are learning. K. used a paint brush to paint them with glue and then she used buttons, sequins, wood shapes, and yarn to fill them in.

Can You Make it Wet?

Science was a quick and easy lesson this week. I let K. pick four items (pebble, paper, sock, cloth napkin). She dipped them in a bowl of water. We noted how they look and feel differently when wet. Then we hung them (except the pebble) up to dry -- to see which would dry first. The paper dried first, then the napkin, then the sock.

Storytime with the Millers

We also finished Storytime with the Millers by Mildren A. Martin this week. This is the book I picked up at the CHEA Convention for K. She has really enjoyed it and requests that we read most of the stories over and over. Because each story is based on a Bible verse and character trait, we are keeping this book at the dining table to read and talk about.

Here Comes the Bus!

This week we read Here Comes the Bus! by Carolyn Haywood. It is a great book about Jonathan moving to the country and his year in first grade. It has some really fun parts, like when Jonathan forgot his birthday cake and when all the children brought their pets to school -- on the bus, of course!

In this book you meet Melissa Molasses and Taffy, which are the main characters in the later book, Taffy and Melissa Molasses.

Our Address

This week in Social Studies I took a picture of our house, printed it, cut it out and let K. glue it on a large piece of construction paper. I then wrote our address and phone number on it. It makes a nice placemat for her and reinforces our address and phone number.

Adding Heat

In science this week we saw how properties change when you add heat. We mixed up a batch of gingerbread cookie dough and cut out girls and boys of differing thicknesses. Of course, the thinner the cookies, the crispier they were and the thicker the cookies the softer they were.

We also added heat to a chocolate candy bar. I let the bowl cool a minute so Kimmi could hold it and pour the chocolate into a small pan. We then put the pan in the refridgerator for the chocolate to cool and harden.

By Stirring

This week our science lesson was: Can you stir it?

• We mixed a little bit of milk with corn starch . . . that's really fun to play with
• We shook cream and made butter, we used the butter for the crust of a batch of lemon squares and used the butter milk in our waffles the next morning.
• I had an 8 oz container of heavy whipping cream that I had used about 2 tablespoons out of. It made 1/3 cup of butter.
• We stirred (with the electric mixer) an egg white, then I didn't want to throw it away, so we made meringue kisses.
• Once the egg white is stiff, add 4 tablespoons of sugar, 1 T at a time, then add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Preheat the oven to 250°. Place meringue in large dollips on parchment. Bake for 1 hour, then turn heat off and let meringues sit in the oven for 6 hours -- do not open the door.