Wee Gillis
This week's book: Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf. It is a story about a boy in Scotland who found a way to live peacefully in the midst of strife and uncertainty. We had heaps of fun with this one. For one thing, I knew nothing about Scotland to start (I guess that goes for the kiddos as well); we learned a lot, and our interest is peaked for more. We enjoyed the black and white sketched illustrations by Robert Lawson, and learned how to problem solve with wisdom, be slow to speak and quick to hear/obey, from the example of Wee Gillis.
This book is out of print, so we had to borrow it through the interlibrary loan system. This is my chance to rave about the library. The copy we borrowed came from State College, PA in perfect condition, on loan for 3 weeks! Also, it was renewable. Without interlibrary loan system, we would have lost the opportunity to enjoy Wee Gillis this week, and learn about Scotland. Hooray for the Library! Hug a librarian today! (I should make a t-shirt that says that :). Okay, just kidding, back to Wee Gillis.
For Math: we continued our conversation from last week about measuring time and expanded it to months and years. We talked about the New Year.
We learned our months of the year in French and Spanish. Still need some work on those! I used a video song from learning station on Youtube to start in English and then added the French and Spanish to that tune.
In History/Geography/Social Studies: we learned about Scotland. We colored the flag, located Scotland on the map, read about the Highlands, Lowlands and the people. We talked about the family plaid (and designed our own family banners), the flora and fauna, the food, literature, and the political ties to England as part of the United Kingdom. I'm not sure how much of this they understood. We listened to bagpipe music, the kids were not fans. We also talked about the popular sports, Soccer and Golf.
Literature: we discussed a balanced story. Munro Leaf balances his story by going from Highlanders to Lowlanders and equally comparing the two, and giving them equal space in the story. Anastasia borrowed Disney's Peter Pan this week from the library and we read it many times. Interestingly, the original author of Peter Pan, Sir James M. Barrie was from Scotland. We read some Robert Lewis Stevenson Poems for Children and also read a quick biography of Robert Burns and dove into some of his poems. I have such a greater appreciation for Auld Lang Syne now that I've read the words and sought to understand them.
Art: we introduced the term, Monochrome and drew some monochromatic pictures. I also printed one page from Wee Gillis and allowed the children to fill it in full color. We practiced using crosshatch shading techniques to make our pictures look real without adding color.
Science: We learned about a few mammals: Red Deer and Sheep. Wee Gillis' family raised long haired cows, but since I planned my week before reading the story, we went for sheep. It actually became a memory hook for the kids, Anastasia told me many times "Sheep live in Scotland, but Wee Gillis' family raised long haired cows". Both animals are ruminants, so there's that. We learned about heather, the evergreen shrub and about the water cycle clouds, fog/mists. We made fog in a jar, one of my favorite simple experiments.
Some books we enjoyed this week: Haircuts for the Woolseys, Tomie dePaola
A Drop of Water, Gordon Morrison
Snow Bear, Jean Craighead George
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffrs
This book is out of print, so we had to borrow it through the interlibrary loan system. This is my chance to rave about the library. The copy we borrowed came from State College, PA in perfect condition, on loan for 3 weeks! Also, it was renewable. Without interlibrary loan system, we would have lost the opportunity to enjoy Wee Gillis this week, and learn about Scotland. Hooray for the Library! Hug a librarian today! (I should make a t-shirt that says that :). Okay, just kidding, back to Wee Gillis.
For Math: we continued our conversation from last week about measuring time and expanded it to months and years. We talked about the New Year.
We learned our months of the year in French and Spanish. Still need some work on those! I used a video song from learning station on Youtube to start in English and then added the French and Spanish to that tune.
In History/Geography/Social Studies: we learned about Scotland. We colored the flag, located Scotland on the map, read about the Highlands, Lowlands and the people. We talked about the family plaid (and designed our own family banners), the flora and fauna, the food, literature, and the political ties to England as part of the United Kingdom. I'm not sure how much of this they understood. We listened to bagpipe music, the kids were not fans. We also talked about the popular sports, Soccer and Golf.
Literature: we discussed a balanced story. Munro Leaf balances his story by going from Highlanders to Lowlanders and equally comparing the two, and giving them equal space in the story. Anastasia borrowed Disney's Peter Pan this week from the library and we read it many times. Interestingly, the original author of Peter Pan, Sir James M. Barrie was from Scotland. We read some Robert Lewis Stevenson Poems for Children and also read a quick biography of Robert Burns and dove into some of his poems. I have such a greater appreciation for Auld Lang Syne now that I've read the words and sought to understand them.
Art: we introduced the term, Monochrome and drew some monochromatic pictures. I also printed one page from Wee Gillis and allowed the children to fill it in full color. We practiced using crosshatch shading techniques to make our pictures look real without adding color.
Science: We learned about a few mammals: Red Deer and Sheep. Wee Gillis' family raised long haired cows, but since I planned my week before reading the story, we went for sheep. It actually became a memory hook for the kids, Anastasia told me many times "Sheep live in Scotland, but Wee Gillis' family raised long haired cows". Both animals are ruminants, so there's that. We learned about heather, the evergreen shrub and about the water cycle clouds, fog/mists. We made fog in a jar, one of my favorite simple experiments.
Some books we enjoyed this week: Haircuts for the Woolseys, Tomie dePaola
A Drop of Water, Gordon Morrison
Snow Bear, Jean Craighead George
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffrs
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