Ll is for Leaf

L is for leaf! I was sad to leave the space unit, but was happy that the next one was all about nature. We learned about the different parts of plants, different uses for plants (food, clothes, shelter), and about different kinds of plants. Our sight words for the week were Plant, Leaf, and Tree.

I told lij to draw a tree with the trunk, branches, leaves, and roots. I was quite impressed when I saw that not only did he add sunlight, "because they need it to grow", but that he also had the ground water in the picture for the roots. His hydrogeologist father was proud, too :o)

We took a number of walks, even in the rain, and took notice of the plants around us. We also collected leaves and did things like contests to see which ones fall faster and comparing and contrasting how they fell. It was interesting to see which ones twirled, fell flat, or whooshed away. 

We researched to find out what kinds of leaves are in our yard, and then pressed the leaves. We painted their outlines and we painted on the leaves themselves.

We also learned about magnetic forces during this unit, which was quite fun. One of the things we did was to make a list of things we (he) thought might be magnetic. Then he went around and marked what he learned. I love this magnet set he got from a friend for his birthday. So fun!

We also made a new tree for our hallway and put up all of our thankfulness leaves from last year. We will be adding more from this year soon enough.

We also had a Leaf Day at my dear friend Allison's house. She planned fun activities and while a storm ruined our plan to go on a leaf walk, the kids had a blast and learned lots! My favorites were the little leaf men the kids designed and the leaf salt dough ornaments. SO cute.

Hansi is in love with their dog, Lucy.

 

We also had a leaf cookie decorating day. I'm a big fan of cookie days!

Meanwhile, we let the little boys "play"... which is actually them staring at each other and Hansi stealing all the toys. But not for long! :o)

During this unit we also did science class at the zoo, which is an AWESOME program for home schoolers and I am so thankful to have it as an affordable supplement. Each class has a subject ranging from physics and forces to geology. The kids learn about it and have hands on experiements and activities. They also get to meet a couple of different zoo animals each week and the teacher also has a way of tying in the subject to something about the animal. This week they got to meet an owl and learn how drag helps her fly. Each student got to make parachutes and predict which ones would get the best drag.

Hansi also turned 7 months around this time. He is my happy boy who loves to chew on everything and army crawls like crazy.

And he likes to help with the laundry :o)