P is for Penguin

   Since we took a break from My Father's World K curriculum to do the Olympics study, I decided to skip ahead to the penguin unit while it was still cold outside. Honestly, Tobin could skip to the last unit and do just fine keeping up with the phonics and math. I love it that kindergarten is so easy for him now. We are working on doing the units in 5 days instead of 6, just because he needed the difficulty kicked up a notch. We are also getting more library info books as he loves learning facts about the different animals.


I found this craft idea on pinterest. What better way to get the phrase "I show love to everyone, especially my family" into his head than to make a loving penguin family? Each unit we are suppose to make a "badge" where we cut a little figure for the unit and write the phrase we are learning on it. He has decided that they are too silly for him to wear, so I am trying to find other creative ways of learning through crafts.
   

We learned about Emporer penguins, and that the Daddy actually takes care of the egg. This is how penguins tie into the character learning of loving your family. My 6 year old (he just had a birthday!) is a naturally nurturing child. He LOVES babies. If you need proof, here is the journal entry he did for the week:

I always have him draw and write a sentence each Monday about something cool that happened the week before. Meeting his new nephew trumped a huge snow storm and his birthday!! 

Here they are practicing being Daddy penguins. This didn't last long, but Tobes got OBSESSED about taking care of that egg.

HE put them both in a nest, aka basket of weeds

 My three year old's egg turned into this within minutes:

Tobes made a "don't touch" sign, a little nest, and was listening for babies heartbeat. I told him that it was hard boiled and there was no baby inside, but he insisted that there was. 

Emperor penguins are almost as tall as Tobin! But Fairy penguins are no where near as tall as Jonah.

It's sad, but the only penguin toys we have are Batman related.

 He did this painting without a picture reference to look at. I was impressed.

Our favorite books were about Tacky the Penguin. We found one about the Winter Games even!

We watched Mr. Popper's Penguins....3 times!!!! They LOVED this movie.

As I type this, it is now in the 70's and the windows are open. We finished this unit just before the warmth, though they say another cold front is expected soon. Even so, we are ready to learn more about farm animals now. Bring on the cows, goats, and horses!