I asked Camille recently what she'd like to learn about. Her reply was "college-ology" or something like that. Baffled, I asked her to describe what she was meaning. "You know, Mom. Like rocks and dirt and stuff." Ah, GEOLOGY!
So, off to the library we went. We grabbed a ton of books on rocks, the earth, minerals, etc.. and we've had a blast learning about our world! What incredible fun :)
Today, I surprised Camille with a little science lunch. We ate hard-boiled eggs which represented the earth. The shell was the earth's crust; the white was the mantle; the center was the core. We didn't eat the crust ;) She even winced and let out a big "OUCH! That's hot!!!" when she gobbled up the core! Too funny :) We also talked about the composition of the earth's surface - land & sea. Pickles and Berry Blue Kool-Aid were our props.
She doesn't know this, but tomorrow we're going to go mining. I've got chocolate chip cookies and I'm going to have her excavate the chips with a toothpick!
I just love these tangible discussions - I think learning is so much more fun when it's hands-on. I also love that with homeschooling, we're going to have more freedom in structuring our studies around Camille's interests. I would've never thought to develop a geology unit study for my 5 year old, but she showed an interest, and I'm able to go with her on that. Oh, what fun days lie ahead!!
3 comments:
How fun!! You are one Crafty Mommy. Here is an activity that you could incorporate into you Geography unit.
Treasure Stone
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup used coffee grinds
* 1/2 cup salt
* 1/4 cup sand
* 1 cup water
Mix all dry ingredients together. Slowly add the water to make a stiff dough; you might end up using only half the water - add it slowly or your dough will be too runny!!
Break the dough into desired rock sizes. Hide toys and surprises in the center of a ball of dough.
Set in a safe place until totally dry. Atleast 3 - 4 days. You can also bake these in the oven on 150 for about 1/2 hour and then set them out to dry. The longer they dry, the harder they will get.
Once it is dry, the dough will look and feel like a rock. You can carefully break open the home-made rocks with a hammer to reveal the hidden treasures inside.
You can also add a tablespoon of powder tempera paint to tint the rocks.
Some ideas for the stones:
Meteors
teaching about fossils
Scavenger hunts for any themed party, just make the trinket theme related
Don't hide anything in them and paint them for a rainy day activity
Hi, christine! Thank you for coming by & leaving a note. You girls have really lifted me up after that post got so ugly, so I appreciate all the support. xoxo
TOOOO WILD!!! I just love the fun ways you can teach your little one.
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