Hedgehogs

After morning French class...

There was reading.

There was play.

There were 12 children eating lunch.

 Then we had our nature lesson. This week concluded our study of mammals with an emphasis on mammals in Britain. We learned about hedgehogs and then ventured into the garden to collect insects (favorite food of the hedgehog) and other creepy crawlies. Did you know that a hedgehog may eat 7 oz of insects in one night?

Yummy.

Hedgehog Freeze Tag - Curl up into a ball to stay safe from the predator.

The boys picked a rough "camp spot" for snack. First there was fruit. 

Then there were hibernating hedgehogs. Use your imagination. The hedgehogs are under a pile of leaves.

The girls had a "tea party" snack in the playhouse.

Muscles and Math

We're continuing our study of the human body. This week we focused on muscles.
There's been a lot of flexing going on.  

Cooper worked on estimates and had a little help. 

Haydn and Giotto

We finished reading Joseph Haydn, The Merry Little Peasant by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher. Another great read. There were two notable highlights for the boys. 1) Hadyn visited England and was invited to Oxford where he enjoyed walks and picnics along the River Thames (us too!). Do you see the Sheldonian Theatre in the picture above?  2) His surprise symphony has a sudden sharp chord that was meant to wake the ladies who nodded sleepily during the concerts. We had to play Adante from the Surprise Symphony several times so the boys could crack up at the surprise chord. 

This book introduced us to Giotto. It was also the perfect follow-up to our last two art lessons on Cimabue who was Giotto's teacher. 

Weekly art project:

First, cover cardboard with white or grey oil pastel. 

Look super cute while doing so.

Next, apply black pastel liberally over entire surface.

Finally, scratch picture. We used nails.

Fishy Fun, Body Parts, and Athenian wax tablets

We read Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Lucy Collins' Hooray for Fish! Caleb completed a number of fishy projects as well as other "F" work.

We're now studying the human body in science. To get things started, the boys identified and labeled body parts. 

Caleb rolled the die and did some graphing.

Yesterday, we read about the Spartans and today the Athenians. The boys attempted to write on "wax" tablets. We all decided paper and pencil is an easier (and neater) option.

"E", Birdies, and Cimabue

 Preschool practice continues with the letter E:

We read Elmer and did several activities.

Egg starts with E. Caleb and Cooper put together a Humpty Dumpty puzzle.

Caleb attempts to put Humpty together again.

We've been studying birds at our Thursday nature class. We put these felt garden birdies together on a rainy afternoon.

 Cimabue has been the focus of our art lessons the past two weeks. We have no gold leaf, so we made do with yellow construction paper.

Artistic Pursuits

We began our new art program, Artistic Pursuits, on Friday. So far, so good. 

Cooper's inspiration.

Photo Catch-up

Since I haven't posted in a while, here are a few photos of some of our recent additions/activities...

A history timeline now graces our wall.

After reading Nate the Great, the boys colored Fang yellow (like Annie) and then red (like Harry) resulting in an orange dog.  

Caleb waters our basil plant so the boys can observe water absorption.

Noah and Cooper examine soil from our garden.

This was an excellent read! Beethoven has been a favorite.

Another great read!

Black and white illustrations and excerpts of music are interspersed throughout the book.

We began investigating animals and their habitats last week.

The boys sorted land animals by habitat.

Making Mycenaean shields after our history lesson.