Animal Classification Monday

The boys are doing an animal classification topic at the moment in science. We usually do our science topic on a Monday. Today they made the free animal classification lapbook from Homeschool Share. Yes, we did do the whole thing in one session, but it was easy for them, as the information was not new. It seemed a neat way of summarising key facts. We are also covering this topic with a textbook section, and wider reading of library books, although we did neither of those today. Ia also did some of the lapbook, although for her I stuck to vertebrates only.
Because this was a quick job I did not want to make a proper lapbook of it, instead I used a lap'n'note style in a ring binder again. I like this style, it is useful for when you don't want to do a full length lapbook study, but would like to make use of a few lapbook ideas to illustrate or highlight a few facts.

Later the girls went out to play in the garden again. They made themselves little notebooks and went around the garden "spotting" and noting down what they "saw". Why the inverted commas? They noted down blue whales, basking sharks, Siberian tigers.... So it was a game rather than real nature journaling. But it did lead to some independent writing from Ia, and some lines of letters from U, plus lots of laughs, maashAllah.

And I enjoyed looking round the garden. Alhamdulillah.

Collage idea

My girls have been doing their own art and craft experiments this weekend. They cut out pictures from a clothing catalogue and then collaged their own people pictures, by combining the pieces into different arrangements.

More reading and writing

I love this bush, maashAllah! It is such a performer. I don't know what it is called. In spring it is covered with flowers and in the autumn it has amazing colours. I can't get a photo to really do it justice.
We have been getting on with things for the last couple of days. Alhamdulillah Ia has written two more stories, both on dolphins, her current interest. This evening she is trying to read a Dick King-Smith book. She admits she can't understand it all, but she has kept trying for about an hour, so she must be understanding enough to sustain an interest! I think it does help that the Peter and Jane books have a lot of words on each page, so once they are used to that the child isn't so put off by "lots of words" when they move on to longer stories.

Projects

Continuing the butterfly theme this morning Ia and U made butterfly pegs from the Nature Detectives site. I really have been neglecting this wonderful free resource. Maybe it is because the boys were not really too interested and Ia was too young when I first came across it. It is good for Ia now. I've made her a nature notebook section in a ring binder file, to stick pictures and the posters and stickers you can use from Nature Detectives.

U has got started on a preschool lapbook on "The Hungry Caterpillar". She is very happy to be getting her own work, maashAllah. I find myself using more printables these days, as it just saves me time.

The boys completed their Wind in the Willows project today. I decided to take a lap'n'note approach here! So the work is in a ringbinder (together with another project from last year and another in progress). Their written work is often too long for the lapbook approach, but some sections still suit it. For this project they wrote about their favourite character from the play,

a page comparing the setting and residents of the Wildwood and the Riverbank, a page of their own script written in Alan Bennet's style, a lapbook tab book describing the main characters, a vocabulary mini fold defining terms such as "play script" and "stage directions", and finally a review.

Butterflies

Inspired by pictures posted on the Ihsan forum (link in sidebar) of butterflies for the Nature Detectives competition Ia and U decorated butterflies today. Ia made two, she'll be sending in the orange one, inshAllah.
I'm trying to get more of the home ed resources sorted today. Like with the garden, its a task which never seems to be complete, alhamdulillah!

U wants to do what the others are doing. She does not want to do "baby work", such as learning letters and sounds. So, I have presented her with her first "reading book" (above). It is a Ladybird book, just like Ia's readers. It is old, just like Ia's readers. It pleases, alhamdulillah.

Aztec farm

R has made a model to show Aztec terrace farming! Here growing corn and squash.
The boys spent the morning playing football. The girls have been doing lots of colouring in of more clothes for their Lil Muslimah dolls, and their cut out and colour theme books. They also got out some of the craft materials and started making little dolls/toys for themselves., alhamdulillah. I wanted to do some craft with them today, but alhamdulillah they did it by themselves!
I've been in the garden, gardening. I love to see all the flowers and plants, maashAllah, but it does take a lot of work, and I can't really keep on top of it. There is always so much to do.

Late Spring Garden

such a colourful time of year, maashAllah.