These Thy Gifts

Five In a Row - The Story About Ping

The Story About Ping - A duck learns there are worse things than taking the consequences for one's mistakes.

• Day 1 - Social Studies - Talked about what can happen if we try to run away from consequences.  Looked up China in our atlas.  Looked at a really neat video of cormorant fishing online.


• Day 2 - Math - Ping has a mother, a father, two sisters, three brothers, eleven aunts, seven uncles, and forty-two cousins.  We added these up on our hundred board - 69 total in Ping's family!
  

• Day 3 - Art - Imitated artwork in book: Drew setting sun reflected in water, used trailing wavy lines to create illusion of movement, and broken, irregular circles around objects to give the appearance of being surrounded by water.


• Day 4 - Science - Learned more about ducks by reading the appropriately titled Ducks.  Also read Make Way for Ducklings.  Nathan noticed that the author (Robert McCloskey) was the same as the author of Lentil.  He wondered if the artwork would be similar and we discovered it was.  I love how FIAR teaches the art of observation!

• Day 5 - More Social Studies - We finished up by visiting the Dragon Boat Festival in Ann Arbor yesterday.  We saw Chinese kites and yo-yo demonstrations, watched the boat races, tasted zongzi, and went out for an authentic Chinese dinner on the way home .

Five in a Row - Lentil

Lentil - A boy discovers that he has a special talent and uses it to make a difference.

• Day 1 - Science - discussed sound waves and acoustics and why Lentil liked to practice playing his harmonica in the bathroom.  Explained sound waves with one of those small bouncy balls - it bounces higher from a hard surface than from a soft surface, where much of it's energy is absorbed instead of "reflected".
• Day 2 - Art - Looked at the charcoal illustrations and how shading can be used to make the drawings look more three-dimensional.  Practiced drawing with a charcoal pencil.  Noticed the architecture of Colonel Carter's Second Empire style home and looked up similar homes online.  Learned about mansard roofs and dormer windows.  Social Studies - Talked about why Old Sneep is so grumpy all the time and what jealousy can do to a person.  Today is Patriot Day (9/11) so we discussed patriotism, put our American flag outside, and colored an American flag.  We learned why there are 50 stars and 13 stripes.

• Day 3 - Science - Discussed taste buds and tasted lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder to label the appropriate parts of the tongue.  Talked about why people used to have ice delivered and looked online at old-fashioned ice boxes.

• Day 4 - Social Studies - went to City Hall to see Dearborn's Veteran's Memorial and compared it to the one in the book (click on the picture to enlarge it).

Five in a Row - Storm in the Night

Storm in the Night - Because a fierce storm has put out the lights, Thomas's grandfather says, "I shall have to tell you a tale of when I was a boy."

• Day 1, Social Studies and Art - Thomas boasts that he isn't afraid of anything.  We discussed what boasting is and how everyone is afraid of some things sometimes, also how it is possible to overcome our fears.  Used dark blue tempera paint with a large brush to make large blue "night sky" splotches, then a very small brush with white paint to make raindrops and lightning streaks on top.


• Day 2, Language - Looked at the words in the text that were italicized and talked about using italics for emphasis.  Also discussed how quotation marks are used to denote dialogue.  Lastly, learned a new vocabulary word - "bough".

• Day 3 - Math and More Art - Used pattern blocks and a geoboard to copy the patterns in Grandfather's quilt.  Noticed light sources, profiles, and reflections in the artwork.


• Day 4 - Language - Two more vocabulary words: "errand" and "mandarin".  Also discussed the setting of the story.


• Day 5 - More Art - Drew simple faces with the characters looking different directions.

We didn't end up doing any of the suggested science activities, nor did we do every activity in every category.  Some of the stuff is too advanced for a 4 year old.  But that's the beauty of this program.  In a few years when it's time to repeat this with Zachary, I can read the book to both of them (or maybe have Nathan read it to Zachary) then do age-appropriate activities with each.  This is fun!

Five In A Row

This is a lovely program that uses picture books to open the door to art, history, vocabulary, geography, science, social studies, math, and writing.  The same story is read to the child five days in a row, and is followed by different activities each day.  Each time the story is read, the child notices again the things that were discussed earlier in the week, cementing the lesson and teaching critical reading skills.  Last year we loosely used Before Five In a Row, the version for 2-4 year olds.  I checked out each of the books from the library and we thoroughly enjoyed them, but read them only as we felt like it and only sporadically did any associated activities.  And there was certainly nothing wrong with this!

This year we are moving up to Volume 1 of Five in a Row, which is geared to 4-8 year olds, and I'd like to be more structured about it.  If we do end up home educating in the future, getting into the habit of a daily learning and activity time now will help me to grow into the needed discipline.  Plus Nathan loves it!