The problem then was that my bug loving boy was so very eager to do the hands-on-fun of seeing catterpillars turn into butterflies, but he was not ready for the reading skills expected in unit #21 (almost the END of kindergarten). So we did the fun butterfly crafts and saved the worksheets for... now.
Take #2 on unit #21:
Since we already did the butterfly garden, I wasn't sure that I wanted to do it again. At least not two years in a row. Then, I got a really good coupon in the mail from Insect Lore for 25% off ANYTHING in their store. Those bug people know how to make this mom buy things:). So instead of butterflies I ordered a ladybug kit and a praying mantis egg sac (since I have the butterfly garden still to put it in). Tobes LOVES BUGS, and I wanted to make kindergarten an unforgettable, awesome year.Not to mention, get some cool mom points to outweigh all the boring school stuff I make him do.
We received the praying mantis egg sack and the ladybug larvae:
watched the ladybug larva double in size and then attach themselves to the wall:
and then turn into adult ladybugs!
About a week later we decided to let them go out by the Tennessee River
My boy loves his bugs. He talked to them and told them they were going to love their new home.
Goodbye Ladybugs!
Hello, Praying Mantis nymphs:
These little guys were so cool. So tiny and slow moving. They are my new favorite bug (yes, my six year old requires me to have a favorite bug).
We decided to let them go at our family's property on Lookout Mountain
And this is my new favorite picture of my boys:
coolest creatures ever:
PLUS, we learned that both praying mantises and ladybugs are helpful bugs that kill harmful bugs for plants:
They were so small it took a million tries just to get my camera to focus on them.
Hopefully we will find some of them as adults in the future up on the mountain.
Oh, we did a lot of learning with this. We read a LOT of bug books, worked a LOT on "b" versus "d", read our favorite " Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar" book and got creative too.
This is a pinterest free, 100% percent me idea! (ha! That's a rare find nowadays)
Well, maybe not 100%, as the curriculum had under "additional activities" that you could make a paper chain caterpillar using alternate colors to make a pattern. I decided to instead, make it part of the story.
As we read each day, we added a chain for the amount of food he ate. (for example, on Monday he ate through one apple- so we added one red paper chain, but on Saturday he ate through 10 things, so we added 10 white paper chains.) Okay, this is sorta hard to explain, but you get the idea, I hope.
We had lots of paper strips leftover, so I took the opportunity to make butterflies that show mirror image pattern, plus we learned the abbreviations for the days of the week.
Working on recognizing words that begin with "B", "D", and "P".
We made our bug paper airplanes (from Chick-fila kid meals)
and buzzed around to Flight of the Bumblebee.
We made hand butterflies on the free printables from http://www.mamajenn.com
This is a great one to involve my preschooler with as he loves to draw
(he just doesn't do the copywork part)
So hopefully I haven't lost all my readers at this point after posting a million pictures.
The cool thing about this unit, was that I was teaching it the week of Easter. So, as we learned that "God can make me new", I was able to tie in that Jesus died for our sins, so that we can be in his family and be new- just like the butterfly! This made a huge impact on my 6 year old. He is a deep thinker and feeler, and he had already been asking so many questions about heaven and Jesus. This Easter it finally made sense to him, and he understood his need for the Savior to make him new. On April 23rd, 2014, my son became my brother in Christ. He asked Jesus to be his Savior!!!!!! I will tell more about this as he actually made the decision in the middle of a "f is for frog" lesson. So, even though I'm busting at the seems to tell the good news (and I've already made a very long post), this shall be left as a "to be continued".....
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