Monday, January 28, 2013

Before Five in a Row--The Very Hungry Caterpillar

We were out of town for most of last week, so I diverged from the "curriculum" list and chose another book that I love.  I kind of wish I had saved it for a full week because I could have easily filled up a week's worth of activities centered around this furry friend:


On Thursday, we busted out the Play-Doh (which Micah calls "tato" so I always have to clarify if he wants to play with Play-Doh or Mr. Potato Head).  Only we enhanced the Play-Doh experience by adding beads, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners.  


The goal was to make caterpillars who looked like this:


But with littles, you can't expect too much.  Here is what Sam came up with:


Micah had a mixture between caterpillar & monster.


Friday was caterpillar culinary day.  


Since China's cucumbers are about half the size of America's, our caterpillar's body was a little bit out of proportion.  I even opened a can of import black olives to complete his look.  

The boys, however, weren't very impressed.  Sam doesn't really like raw vegetables, so he just wanted to eat the banana sun.  And then the rest of the banana.  And then five more bananas after that.


Micah fared a little better but still had his hand in the carrot box for the majority of the time.  What was I supposed to expect?  It was snack time after all!


Then we talked about the process of metamorphosis.  We watched the Sesame Street "Word on the Street" podcast about metamorphosis and then acted it out.

First, I threw our collection of balls all around the living room and sent Micah the Caterpillar to eat all the "food" he could find.


Then they wrapped up in cocoons to wait for their butterfly wings to form.  After the fact, I did learn that Mr. Carle has mislead young minds for decades.  Butterflies don't actually form cocoons; moths do.  The metamorphosis of a butterfly includes a chrysalis.  Random fact of the day for ya!


Despite its scientific inaccuracy, the boys then popped out as a butterfly.  Too bad that butterfly didn't put away that permanent pile of laundry stacked up on the couch behind him.


My friend Carrie blogged about intentional parenting a few weeks ago.  She mentioned that she & her husband have chosen specific character values that they want to instill in their children.  As we've forged onward into the abyss of homeschooling, I've had to evaluate and reevaluate my underlying goals for all of this.  Yes, the structure is nice.  Sure, it feels good to stretch my creative wings.  And I'll even admit that I'm enjoying cruising Pinterest for fun ideas.  But the most important foundation I want to lay for them at these early moments of schooling is just to have a love for learning & reading.  I want my sons to be learners not just now but for the rest of their lives.  I do hope that what starts with Ezra Jack Keats & Margaret Wise Brown will blossom into reading classic literature and Puritan prose.  

3 comments:

Susan/mama/G said...

Loved the random science fact. Thanks for sharing the boys' adventures in reading. I think you are well on the road to them loving reading and learning.

Carrie said...

Beck, you are doing a fantastic job with your boys. I know it probably feels like the days are bumping along, but you are instilling in them a love for curiosity and an excitement that revolves around learning. Those are the things that 5 years from now will make homeschooling fun for all of you guys!

Leah said...

I'm impressed Beck. And I miss those kiddos!