Digging for Prehistoric projects

 

This month, as you may know from my previous blog post, we are studying Dinosaurs. I thought I might share with you lovely readers some of the fun dino-related, hands-on projects we've done.

One of the kids' new favorite repeat activities is 'digging for dinos' in rice. I put a few pounds of leftover rice from a huge bulk sack into a bin, then put that onto a tarp on the kitchen floor. I used the tarp on the kitchen floor because I figured if any rice left the bin it would be easier to pour it back in from the tarp. And if any left the tarp, the kitchen floor is the easiest to sweep. Then I buried several dinosaur toys into it and told the kids that they were paleontologists (that's one of our vocabulary words) and they had to find the dinos.

 T-rex was the easiest to find, as he was the biggest.

 I had the toddlers involved in this project, and they LOVED it, but I had to make them take turns.

 They reburied and unburied those guys for an hour!

 

After they were done, I had them pull out the puppet theater (also mentioned in a previous post) and tell me a story about the dinosaurs. The 3 older kids worked together to come up with a story to tell the toddlers first.

 It was about the 3 Tyrannosaurus Rexes, since there were three toy T-rexes, 1 big one, 1 medium one and 1 small one. You can guess what the story was like. They wandered the land looking for herbivorous dinosaurs to rip apart and devour. (Yes 'herbivorous' was also on our vocab list.)

 "The big T-Rex followed the medium T-Rex, and the baby T-Rex followed the big T-Rex..."

 "And then the medium T-rex tore the head off the Triceratops and ate his intestines..."

So lovely.

 Then it was time for the toddlers to be the story-tellers and the school-agers to be the audience.

We really don't know what the story was about, but we do know that it was adorable. And also probably just as violent. Darn Carnivorous dinosaurs.

Another activity that's always a real hit with my kiddos is anything to do with play-dough. I love to have them make their own, as a project in and of itself, with the mandatory 30-min. of post play. 

(Here is the recipe I use that makes the playdough the most like Play-Doh. It also lasts longer and doesn't crumble as long as you keep it air-tight between play-time.)

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon powdered alum
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
food coloring

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until reaching the consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and food coloring. Divide into balls and work in color by kneading the playdough.

(I don't always use the vanilla, but it makes it smell better.)

We made brown play-dough this time, to represent the dirt, mud and ground in which you would find fossils. Then we took the same Dino toys from before and pressed them into the small ball of dough they each had, to make texture impressions to look like fossils.

Iguanodon fossil.

Tyrranosaurus fossil.

Big T-Rex footprint. (something we learned about)

Another footprint.

Triceratops face-print. (Note the horn-holes)

They also love to color, and I found a dinosaur one in the pile of color-books I have. It was mostly blank. I like some of them.

The kids were asked to write their top 5 favorite vocabulary words on their paper, and the meanings. They were asked to use their best handwriting, and in some cases, that isn't saying much. Needless to say, we're working on that part.

 

 This is the cursive -learning student's practice page.

By the way, this one, by my 1st grader, has "Coprolites" as #2. One of my kids' favorites. It's the scientific word for the fossilized "dino-droppings" scientists use to find out what the dinosaurs ate.

They also like to paint with water-colors a good deal. I used the uncolored pictures from the coloring book to trace pictures onto painting paper, and they chose their favorites to fill in with paint.

 My little almost-three-year-old. He really, really liked to paint. As you can see, I had him do it on a mat so as to save the table.

Here's his Pteranodon.

Tyannonsauraus

Triceratops

Stegasaurus

As you can see, some of my students are realists, while others are more impressionistic artists. At least, I get the impression that they "could paint inside the lines if they wanted to," but its more fun to just throw paint all over...

We did several other activities, but I failed to have my camera there to document them, so these will be all I am putting on the blog. I am currently working on the crazy activities for the next unit.... Stay tuned. 

Field Trips are awesome: Pumpkin Patch Part II

Ever feel the dread of fall? Worry that it will be the beginning of the long, dreaded winter season?

I used to, but recently, I have come to believe that Fall is one of the most beautiful seasons, especially here in the Great State of Oregon.

We were able to take another field trip on Friday, October 21st. with our former home-school co-op. The reason I called it 'former' is that we are no longer attending due to my recent baby addition to the daycare and the shear distance from our house. But we still keep in touch and can attend the field trips they hold. This time it was a day at one of our local favorite pumpkin patches, so we went to patch #2. This was a previous sign-up, pre-paid type of trip, so we saved our $ at the Roloff Farm by not getting pumpkins there, since at that point we had already paid for this one, which included pumpkins.

The day that we went to the pumpkin patch, it was gorgeous weather. I was worried because the forecast said it had a chance of showers, but the majority of the time we were there, we got lots of sunbreaks. It was just another example of the way fall can be sometimes in Oregon, absolutely amazing.

The only thing about this trip was that we had to take all the kids. I have an awesome minivan, but it only holds 5 kids in the back, and with all my kids and the daycare kids, I have 6, not including one that attends kindergarten during the time we would be at the patch.  My husband would have to drive his car with some of the kids in it. As it happened, however, one of the toddlers stayed home sick with his mommy. So I had just enough kids to fit into my sweet van. Yeah, we can all go in one vehicle!

Handsome Hubby at the Helm :)

I had a strollers for each baby, plus my toddler. But with only 2 adults, I had to assign a stroller to one of my older kids. My little princess, was happy to take on the job most of the time, and traded with her brother for breaks occasionally.

The first thing we did was enter the corn maze. Now, thought I had been to this particular pumpkin patch several times before, I had never gone through their famous corn maze, and neither had my family. This was going to be exciting!
We made our way through the rough ground and wind-y maze, stopping to look at the displays along the way, not getting lost, because our sense of direction is just amazing.  My kids were having fun taking turns being in the lead, and pushing the stroller. There was a great spot for a photo opportunity, so of course I took advantage.

 

We really enjoyed the walk...until we came to the STAIRS.

Q:How can 3 strollers go up these stairs? And get back down? 

A: Heroic gentlemen including my heroic hubby. Way to go, Babe! And thanks to another family that was also involved in the Co-op for helping lift and carry the babies. We made it!

 Doors? Where do they lead? Which door to choose? What's behind door #3?

"Having fun, honey?" "Sun's in my eyes." "Hey, at least it's not raining."

On the way through the maze, I ran into former co-workers and students from my old Learning Center. It was so nice to see some of these kids and how big they got in a couple years, and nice to see my old friends I spent a lot of time with. And, I gotta say, it was nice for me to have them see me looking good and being "successful" in my at-home business, out on a field trip. Okay, I admit, I'm kind of... what's the word? self-conscious, sometimes.

After the maze, we made it over to the kids area, the place the kids look forward to every year.

It has the best attractions: haymaze, 'sandbox' full of corn kernels, race track with tricycles, merry-go-round, crawl tunnel that looks like a castle, playhouse, etc. And that's not all, just what I can remember at the moment. :) 

 We loved the merry-go-round.

 Here's the second time around.

 And the third...

 Here's one of my little "princesses" I care for. She really enjoyed the pit of corn.

She played in here quite a little while before she attempted to put it in here mouth and I had to take her out.

 Even thought his feet couldn't pedal the bike, it didn't stop him from running that thing all over the track.

 This little playhouse was so cute, and our little cruiser loved standing in it while holding onto the tables. She felt so big!

"I see you!"

From there we went into the pumpkin field to pick our pumpkins.

"I found one! Don't worry, it was over here in the dirt."

Ew, don't eat it.

"Is this the right size?"

"I got my punkin!"

 Here's me with my other Little Princess. Isn't she a doll.

Here's really close close-up. I was holding her and my camera at the same time. 

We made it home with our "li'l punkin's"carrying their little pumpkins .  But we never got around to carving them this year, due to so much other out-of-the-house activities this season, and lack of energy towards wanting to deal with the mess. We've made up for it in previous years by doing pumpkin carving several times in a month, so I figured it was time for a break. We'll be sure to do it next year. 

I sure hope our next outing is as lovely as this one was.

Digging for Truth

Hello again! I am happy to report that the exciting adventures of unit study homeschooling has recommence in our home. After all the fun, craziness and altered routines of  holidays in the last 3 previous months, or so, we have resolved to get back into the swing of things. And to my kids, that means much more fun than the boring workpages. So their attitudes have improved immensely. YAY!

The only issue is the subject they chose this time. DINOSAURS.

They have been asking to do this for a while. Every year when we have our brainstorm on which themes they would love to learn about, dinosaurs have always been on the list. I have been very hesitant to even add it to mine for a very simple reason:
As a Bible-believing Christian, I firmly believe in Creation. As most of you are aware, almost every single bit of literature and information on dinosaurs is peppered with the concept that they lived MILLIONS of YEARS ago, and that different species of the ones discussed in said literature have evolved from other species. And also that they became extinct MILLIONS of YEARS before man evolved from apes...

This type of info is very hard for anyone to get around. It is somewhat evident that the theory of evolution was formed and then the scientist started fitting the evidence they found into the theory, as opposed to finding evidence and forming a theory to fit what they found. We have so much of the facts of what was actually found blended into supposition and theory that is also stated as fact, it's too hard to sort through the two and find the truth.

I have lived my life seeing VERY strong evidence that God not only exists, but also loves me very personally and speaks directly to my own heart, proving Himself to me on more occasions than I can count. I know that He is real, because of the evidence. I want my kids to know that, too. On very personal levels.

Since I know God is real, and the Bible is real, I know that whatever evidence we find of dinosaurs will have truths and when we see that, we can be sure of it. The only problem is finding fact about what we do and can know about the bones and fossils we have found, and what their remains can tell us, using all the modern info and technology we have, that has not been littered with suppositions and guesses fitting into the evolution theory and stated as fact along with the actual facts.
Really tough to find, folks. So, because of that, I have not taken this project on until now.

So, where to start? First of all, I googled.

I like this one the best :)

I looked up the key words Dinosaurs and the Bible. There were several very informative websites right at the beginning of the search. I stuck with those after reading through them a few. I just knew I couldn't have been the only one searching for truths amidst the myths. If this subject interests you, here are some of the websites listed:

www.AnswersInGenesis.org/articles/1999/11/05/dinosaurs-and-the-bible

www.clarifyingChristianity.com/dinos.shtml

www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/behemoth.html

www.dinosaursinthebible.com

The main info I got is:
1) That there are dinosaur fossils and evidence.
2)They did become extinct at some point.
3) According to the Bible, God created the whole earth and everything in it in 6 days and rested on the 7th. And that He created animals and man on the same day, the 6th. So from this we know that man and dinosaurs must have roamed the earth at the same time.
4) That the name 'dinosaur' was not given by Adam, but coined in 1841 by Dr. Richard Owen. So obviously we would not find the term "dinosaur" in the Bible.
But since they did exist and we know this from the evidence, there must have been something about them, being so big and all, written somewhere in history, right? That's when they get into the creatures referred to as Behemoths in Job.

I thought I would start teaching the kids the difference between the stuff we can know from the evidence as fact, the stuff we can suppose, based on likelihood from the stuff we do know, and the other stuff the scientist say they know, like exactly how old the dinosaurs  and earth are, and how long the eras were, etc. and simply state as fact. That way I can read through the science books from the library and just skim over the suppositions.

Then I got a lot of stories that are cute, fun, kids stories that include dinosaurs but aren't factual, just fiction fun. They can either read them to each other or I can read them aloud and show them the pictures. Stories like "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight?" by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague,
 
and "Saturday Night at The Dinosaur Stomp" by Carol Diggory Shields & illustrated by Scott Nash.
 
The fun of these books is that they name certain dinosaurs and with the color illustrations, I thought it would be a fun way to introduce the species. And help the kids with reading and vocabulary.

The next part is "Hands-on".
(Side note: I have these great art devices called Bendaroos.

Brightly colored, wax-coated string that sticks to itself, but can easily come apart for reuse, and sticks to surfaces but come off easily without residue. They can be bent into any shape. It's better than play-dough, people. Get some! That is, if you wanna...)

Each day I encourage the kids (including the toddlers/ preschoolers in this part) to create or explore with hands-on play. Some days it's play-dough and they have to make dinos and their nests, some days it's dino stickers, some days we have a big tub of rice and bury toy dinos in there, and they have to uncover them, like real paleontologists do. I also had them try to make skeletons out of either Q-tips or craft sticks. Fun.

I can use this pattern and have them build onto it with the craft sticks, and glue. 

Another hands-on activity is getting leaves and other things, and doing rubbings on paper with them, to replicate fossils. 

I also like to do a memory verse a week in my class. Not every time I have picked verses have I related them to the unit subject, but in this case, I thought it would be very appropriate to include versed that back up the creation-based truths we need to remember when reading about dinosaurs. The first verse of week one in January was Exodus 20:11

   " For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy."

Other things I do with the dinosaur subject is incorporate it into math, spelling and vocabulary and penmanship (all in one), and science and history.

I read the science books that have historical facts about what and when certain fossils were discovered and by whom and quiz the kids. I have them repeat a word they don't recognize and I give them the meaning, write it and the meaning out on the grease-board, have them copy it in their notebooks and then rewrite it in their best handwriting, then quiz them on the spelling. 

Math is more creative. But I found a website that I became a member of that allows you to print out worksheets that incorporate themes, and they have dinosaurs as one of their themes. I can choose the grade level (up to 3rd) and which worksheets to print out. Works out really well.  It is called www.learningpage.com and you go under theme sheets and pick the theme from the six themes they have. Then click the 'funsheets' tab and choose your grade level and subject.

I also have them act out stories of the dinosaurs in the puppetshow theater. They didn't make puppets, just used toy dinos. But a fun way to use their imaginations.

I really like teaching in this format. It evokes a lot more cooperation from my lovely students. And I get to be way more creative. And I learn as well. I try to keep my kids' learning styles in mind as I go, breaking up writing with active stuff and reading with hands-on stuff, letting my son recite and memorize things while standing and marching, etc... This works out the best. 

There you have my unit on dinosaurs. Next month we'll just have to see how it goes...Stay tuned.

I thought this was cute, and kinda funny.