We were so excited to row this book, because it’s one of Jordan’s favorites!  This post isn’t following our usual format, because we’re mixing subjects as we move from country to country.  Hang on, it’s an adventure to remember!

BIBLE:

Memory Verse:

We decided to memorize Psalm 17:8 for this book.  I created a Bible verse printable specifically for this row.

You can purchase this Bible verse pack from our TPT store.  There’s a FREEbie in the Preview!

SOCIAL STUDIES:

I usually post by subject, but this row flows a little better by location.  First stop….Italy!

Italy:

We took a steamship to Italy and arrived at harvest time.

 

That morning we read about Italy and placed our story disk on the boot-shaped country.

I set up an Italy box for the boys to work on during this unit.
The boys worked on building the Italian flag and adding Italy to their lapbooks.

We also went over some of Italy’s landmarks.

We reviewed the story sequence using various toys I collected around the house and our Multi Panel Map World Multi Fabricfabric world map.

Harvest on the Farm:

I absolutely LOVE fall, farms, and apples and fall seemed the perfect time to start rowing this book.
Since it was harvest time, I made an apple, cinnamon, and wheat berry farm inspired by Delightful Learning.

 

We read several books about farms, harvest time, and apples.

We tried manually grinding our wheat, but that was SUPER hard.

We dumped it into our mini food processor and it grinded it much fast than we could (although the texture wasn’t as fine as the flour we would purchase from the store.

We brought out our farm cards and went through each stage from seed to flour.

The Little Red Hen:

Since we were learning about harvesting wheat, we took a day to study The Little Red Hen (Little Golden Book)The Red Hen.

First we read Usborne’s Little Red Hen (Usborne First Reading)The Little Red Hen.  Then we read Little Golden Book’s The Little Red Hen.

After reading both books, we compared the character’s using a giant Venn Diagram.

After reviewing it together, I gave each boy a copy of The Little Red Hen Venn Diagram worksheet with cut and paste animals to complete on their own.

Baking Bread:

We continued our bread theme with reading How God Gives Us BreadHow God Gives Us Bread.  Afterwards, we headed to the kitchen to make some bread, because reading about bread isn’t as much fun as making it!

I made a batch of dough earlier and left it in the oven to rise.

The boys couldn’t believe how puffy it was.

They had fun getting their hands in the gooey dough.

We rolled the dough into buns and baked them in the oven.  This ends our tour of Italy during the wheat harvest.  Next stop….France!

FRANCE:

We took a train to France to find a chicken and…

We read France (A Visit to)A Visit to Franceand I added a France box to our Learning Lane.

Jordan LOVED building the French flag out of LEGO DUPLO All-in-One-Box-of-Fun 10572 Creative Play and Educational ToyLego Duplos.

The boys colored in France on the map (www.homeschoolshare.com) and added some France facts in their lapbooks.

We continued to review the story – all the ingredients and where they came from.

Chickens:

We read about chickens, fiction and non-fiction, and watched a fun video about chickens on our Epic app.

We read several chicken themed books and watched a video about them.

From Chicken to Egg:

I set out an egg transfer activity using an old Easter candy egg carton and some mini white pom-poms.

Using tweezers, Jordon moved the pom-poms from the nest to the carton.

We brought out our farm cards and reviewed each stage from chicken to egg.

After lunch we read The Boy Who Wanted to Cook on our Epic app.

We reviewed the modes of transportation using our How to Make an Apple Pie Cards.

Parker worked on his road safety signs which aligned with his Sonlight Core A studies. LOVE when that happens!

Sri Lanka:

We made it to Sri Lanka in search of the Kurundu tree…

We thumbed through a book about the land, culture, and people of this country.

The boys marked Sri Lanka on their map, colored the flag, and added a cinnamon insert in their lapbooks.

Ocean:

While crossing the ocean, we made sure we collected some sea water…

 

We read another great book from the Start to Finish series, From Sea to Salt (Start to Finish, Second Series)From Sea toFrom Sea to Salt (Start to Finish, Second Series) Salt.  Afterwards, we headed into the kitchen to mix up some “sea water” (salt added to boiling water).

 

First, the boys added salt, quite a bit of salt, to our boiling water.

Next, they stirred it really well until it became a salt water solution.

 

Then they poured it into their miniature pie pans.  We waited several day before checking on our salt water tins.

The crystals formed at the bottom of the pie tins.  They were beautiful!

They boys used their magnifying glasses to check out the tiny sparkling salt crystals.

 

Jordan LOVES science and this experiment did not disappoint!

Salt Transfer Tray:

I set up a salt pouring tray activity that I saw on Delightful Learning.  It was a HUGE hit….all three kids couldn’t get enough of this activity!

 

England:

We made our way to England to find a cow and…

I set up an England box in our Learning Lane.

 

We read about the United Kingdom as well as London.

Jordan created the UK flag with Lego Duplos.

Cows, Calves, and Milk:

We read Cows and Their Calves: A 4D Book (Animal Offspring)Cows and Their Calvesand headed to the kitchen to whip up some butter.

I poured heavy whipping cream into clean empty baby food jars and screwed on the lids as tightly as I could.

 

I gave each child a baby food jar and we shook, shook, shook, and shook some more. After several minutes of VIGOROUS shaking, our butter formed!

 

We read more about cows and farms and brought out our farm family cards.

We used our Safari Ltd Farm TOOBFarm Toob and Safari Ltd Farm Babies TOOBBaby Farm Toob to match the bull, cow, and calf.

We brought out our farm product cards and reviewed the process from cow to milk product.

 

The boys added their cow anatomy and other cow related inserts in their lapbooks.

Jordan brought down Popcorn, his horse and turned him into a milking cow.I just LOVED watching him transform the schoolroom into a dairy farm.   He’s such a cute, funny, and clever little boy!

Jamaica:

We made our way to Jamaica in search of a sugar plantation….

We didn’t spend much time in Jamaica, but we read From%20Cane to Sugar (Start to Finish)From Cane to Sugar and talked about sugar plantations.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

The boys continued working through their Sonlight Language Arts activities and we wove apple themes here and there.

Skill Builders:

I created a play dough mat and presented it with some apple pie dough, a rolling pin, and a play knife.

 

Parker worked on cutting playdough and shaping it into his letter of the week.

 

Parker worked on cutting shapes with an apple shapes worksheet.  He then glued them to construction paper and turned them into apple people.  Too cute!

Grammar:

Jordan worked on counting syllables with apples and pumpkins.

Bub used his five senses to describe apples and recorded those adjectives on an apple worksheet for his grammar lesson one day.

Spelling:

 

I made little spelling apple tree worksheets for the boys to go along with their Sonlight LA assignments.

 

I transformed spelling into an apple orchard one week…

 

And Little Red’s hen house another week.  We try to whip a little bit of whimsy into the mundane.

Letter Recognition:

 

We rowed this book for three weeks, so we continued to use our Apple Alphabet Matching Cards for his letter of the week activities.

MATH:

The boys continued to work through their Horizon Math assignments and we incorporated a few extra apple math activities too.

Sorting:

I created an apple eraser estimation jar and an apple-inspired jar with various red, yellow, and green beads, erasers, and other thing-a-ma-jigs.

 

Parker used our apple jars for a Sonlight estimation activity and for MANY different sorting activities.

Skip Counting:

I brought out our apple sorting basket and used it to help Jordan with skip counting and early multiplication drills.

Jordan used our apple colored pom-poms to help with skip counting and early multiplication practice.

 

I created several Apple Picking Skip Counting Packs and the boys used them MANY times during this row.

Liquid Measuring:

I tinted some water and brought out our measuring cups for Jordan to practice measuring and pouring.

 

Jordan LOVES cooking with me and he has a knack for adding up fractions in his head while we cook together.

 

I created a little notecard with some fraction questions that he needed to solve by pouring and measuring the liquid.

Dry Measuring:

What better way to practice dry measuring than by making pie crust.  And we couldn’t study this book without making a pie….that would be WRONG!!!

 

Our absolute FAVORITE apple pie recipe comes from Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie.  This is one of my absolute favorite children’s books.  It captures Autumn, apples, and baking…a must have!  Anyway, we read the book and headed for the kitchen.

 

The kids measured the dry ingredients first.

 

Then they cut up the butter, trying not to handle it too much.  Keeping it cold helps make the pastry flaky and yummy!

 

We put our dough in the fridge to chill.

Long story short, Mommy whipped up the rest of the pie, and voila!

We baked it in the oven and THE MOST DELICIOUS pie was made….EVER!   Buy the book, bake the pie, and you WON’T be disappointed…I promise 🙂

SCIENCE:

Apple Tasting Tree:

This year our apple tasting tree was a part of this row and our Sonlight Core A skill builder activity.  Parker needed to paint with string, so I created a bare tree and let him use string and an assortment of fall colored tempura paints.

He dragged the string through the paints and across the tree.

He continued this process until the tree took on the fall colors.  We set it aside to dry and hung it up on our closet door in the classroom.

Apple Tasting:

Every year we try to gather as many different apple varieties we can find.

Jordan is slicing a new variety to try.

Sampled with a little cheese….not sure if he liked this variety or not 😉

 

They continued adding apples to the tree each time we tasted a new variety.

We kept it up throughout the entire fall season and changed the title to “Autumn Blessings” throughout our Cranberry Thanksgiving row.

Fresh Ingredients:

We talked about how using the freshest possible ingredients reduces food-born illnesses. This was a great opportunity for a life skill activity!

I brought out our food storage file folder and Jordan went through the food items and placed them in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer.

ARTS, CRAFTS, & MORE:

Market Scene:

I saw this art project a long time ago and REALLY wanted the older kids to do it.

 

First, the kids sketched the market scene with charcoal pencils.

 

Next, they used their new watercolor pens from their grandma.

 

Lastly, they painted the picture with their Crayola 16 Ct Washable WatercolorsCrayola watercolors.

They turned out beautiful!

Apple Weaving:

I cut out apple shapes from posterboard and set them out on trays with red tempura paint and brushes.

 

The kids painted the apples and we set them aside to dry.

 

The kids wove several shades of red, pink, white, and green string and ribbons around the apple.