We did
insects this week, you know...6 legs, exoskeleton, 3-part body and all that jazz. I think it is pretty important to introduce all things in the world and let the girls pick and choose what they like and what they don't.
I, personally, am squeamish around/about insects. They creep me out, they move fast, you never can tell where they're going to go. They bite and sting and buzz in your ear. Most are pretty ugly. They are crunchy and gooey. The language used in
entomology just makes me sick to my stomach, one word...maggot. Did all of that stop me from teaching bugs?!
NEVER!
BTW, if you can't stand insects don't get this book...
Ah, but I digress...let's get back to what we did.
Counted insect legs and labeled body parts, made a list of actual insects and a list of non-insects and compared the two (now that I made that list I find myself getting very annoyed with people that refer to non-insects as insects)
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| I really need to clean that chalkboard! |
Circled insects and crossed out non-insects on a printable I found on the web (I can't remember where at the moment)
Used modeling dough balls to make pattern caterpillars
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| Lexi overseeing with her marker cigar |
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| This pattern confused her at first |
Used pom poms glued onto clothespins to make caterpillars, then we place the caterpillars in a "chrysalis" which was just a toilet paper tube (there were pretty elaborate ideas for that part online but I wanted something easy to open) and told Char that her caterpillar would soon be a butterfly. I then made wings for the caterpillars and put them back in their little homes while Charlotte slept and when she woke the next day they were butterflies! She was so excited and has no idea whatsoever that I actually did it, sneaky sneaky.
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| Char's on the left, mine on the right |
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| Putting them in their new homes |
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| Waiting to turn into a butterfly |
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| She couldn't believe it had wings! |
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| This little guy lost an eye |
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| This little guy lost an eye as well |
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| Charlotte's inner eye |
I made ten ladybugs with dots 1-10 and Charlotte counted and placed them on their correct numbers. She did extremely well with this. We count a lot but I've never pushed numbers on her (taking an unschooling approach with it like I am with reading) and she got the majority of them without any help from me! I have to credit her dance teacher with her newfound enthusiasm for counting though, they do a little warm-up exercise where they count and Char has taken off with it!
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| Where to begin... |
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| She did it! |
We had a bug hunt outside but since it's winter we didn't find much at all, a few worms but those aren't really insects!
Of course, like always, we checked out some awesome books. Here were the favorites:
picture books
and some nonfiction
(especially awesome if you are willing to house insects for observation)
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