Homeschooling Week #8

This week is all about McCloskey's Blueberries For Sal. I'm really falling in love with the illustrations in his books. However, Noah wasn't so fond of this book. It took me a few days to convince him to read/listen to it.

Reading/Literature:
We read the story and talked about the similarities and differences between Sal and her Mommy and the Mommy & Baby Bear. 
The story focuses on the sounds the berries make in Sal's bucket and counting the berries. This lends to some great activities!

Field Trip:
We visited a local farm and picked blueberries. Noah doesn't like blueberries. He's never liked them, but he had a lot of fun picking them and listening to the sounds they made as they filled his bucket "kerplunk!" 
It also gave us an extra opportunity to talk about colors as he had to learn to pick only the "blue" berries and not the pink or green unripe berries.

Math/Counting:
We counted our berries as we dropped them in the bucket (starting over when we reached 10). 
Then, I found this fun game that works on counting too. It's easy to make your own version. We used a paper bag instead of a tissue box. You can find instructions and a bear face printable here from the National Wildlife Federation.

Science/Bible Study:
We will be practicing science in the kitchen again this week. Noah loves helping me cook! We're going to make blueberry muffins. I know he won't be interested in eating them, but we're going to use them for our bible study.
As we learn about giving to others to show the love of Jesus, we will give muffins to our neighbors.  I think Noah will get a big kick out of it! He loves doing kind things for others.


Art:
With the leftover blueberries, we're going to make an awesome blueberry paint to play with. Noah isn't interested in eating them, but mashing them and rubbing them all over paper is right up his alley!
Pictures from the blueberry patch and our muffin and paint adventures coming soon!
-The Crazy Earth Mama