Humble Bee: FIAR Make Way For Ducklings

February 19-20

Rarely do I ever blog about homeschooling adventures but this one is definitely worth a blog post. Our literature study unit was about a new to me book called Make Way For Ducklings. This book has been around now for about 70 years! I'm sure I have not read this as a child and don't recall any teachers reading the book either. I could be wrong.

Robert McCloskey did a fantastic job writing and illustrating this book. We read the book 5 days in a row and studied the book from cover to cover. We discovered so many interesting facts hence the reason I'm taking the time to blog about his work and how we studied the unit. Make Way For Ducklings was intended for my 5 year old but my 9 year old joined in with enthusiasm.

We learned to skip count by 2's and counting practice to 20
Added and subtracted
Baked Bostonian Blueberry Muffins
Learned about Boston, MA
Made Maps
Fed ducks at Rockwood Park
Egg Experiment; Vinegar/Naked Eggs
Lifecycle of a Duck
Field trip to NB Museum
Learned parts of a duck
Duck sensory tub for toddler
Duck word cards Montessori nomenclature cards

I printed out several interesting {to us} photos and printable activities and put them in my Project Life binder. I skipped the lapbook for this one simply because I thought it was so fantastic it needed to go into the PL binder so we could look back and be reminded of how fun this unit was for all of us.

Sometimes it feels like my 5 year old is not with the program. I love it when I can witness when things click for her and I can see that she is retaining info and can remember things we accomplished. She loves to go over the story disks and can tell me all the titles of the books by the little photo in the circle. I think it is amazing she can remember the full title and an author. Why then, can't she remember to flush the toilet?

Here are some great links for free printables to go along with the unit. Personal use only!

http://www.123homeschool4me.com/2012/10/free-make-way-for-duckling-literature.html {fav}

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ducks_lapbook.php

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/ducks.shtml

http://www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com/hatch.pdf {favorite}

http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co11012003/Art/Mallard_CB.GIF

http://totallytots.blogspot.ca/2011/02/now-i-know-my-abcs-dd-is-for-duck.html {Duck cards}

http://www.ducks.ca/education/for-educators/resources/ {Great links for older grades and student field notebook with a detailed duck image inside the field guide}