Saturday, May 21, 2011

W...Water

**Wrote this last weekend, but haven't published it yet**

We had so much fun this week learning about water.

Our memory phrase was "Jesus gives our spirit living water".

The Bible verse was John 4:13,14 "...whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The first day we really talked a lot about the story in John 4, when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well.   I introduced the idea of our Spirit to the girls.  I do not expect them to understand it (I don't fully understand it), but I wanted to start the conversation.  We talked about how when we get hot we are thirsty.  All they have to do is ask for a drink and I will give it to them.  It will satisfy their thirst for a moment, but eventually, they will be thirsty again.And, you must drink water in order to live. You can not go long without water.  Well, everyone's Spirit is thirsty. Without the living water that only Jesus can give, our Spirit is dead.  But, when he gives us "Living Water" it will lead to eternal life.

We did some fun science experiments with water.  It all started with a really great book called I Get Wet.  This books helps you understand why water is wet and leads you through simply experiments to help you learn.  The girls loves this. We read this book in the kitchen, in the bathroom, at the table...wherever we needed to be to do the demonstrations.


We watched water drip our of faucet, discovered why water doesn't wet wax paper, but does wet construction paper, etc.


After this exercise, Nicole begged me for her science experiment kit. I found a few easy experiments to do with her kit.  We tested several objects to see if they would sink or float.

We mixed oil with water and discovered that is always separates itself again.






And then she spent an hour mixing different water colors and just playing with the equipment.

We were suppose to talk about solid, liquid, gas this week...but we hit that pretty hard with CC earlier this year.  So, instead we talked about the water cycle.  It was a perfect week to do it, because it (finally!) rained...so we got to watch the water cycle in action.

I found this wonderful book...The drop goes plop, that introduces and walks you through the water cycle.

We sang a catchy song to the tune of "She'll be comin round the mountain"
Water travels in a cycle yes it does...
Water travels in a cycle yes it does....
It goes up as evaporation
Forms clouds as condensation
Rains down as precipitation, yes it does.

This is their coloring sheet about the water cycle.  Nicole can't do anything without cutting yarn, can you tell?

This song helped them learn those really hard words.  We also tried to make rain in a bottle.  I did not succeed at this task.  I'm guessing that I did not add enough hot water?!?    I don't know why it didn't work. To see a successful rain in a bottle experiment, go here.


We also used water and a cotton ball to simulate how a cloud gets really heavy with water and starts to rain.  I think this exercise helped Hannah understand rain a bit more.


Of course, we also worked on our math, writing and reading. Hannah does an amazing job of tracing letters.  She can finally write a few letters on her own too.

I saw a great improvement in Nicole's reading this week, which is exciting.  I still would not say that she can read, but I think it's catching on to her.  I just need to be consistent practicing with her.


I also (finally) finished a few file folder games.  I introduced one to Hannah the other day, and it kept her busy while I worked with Nicole on her math. She had to match animals with how they move (jump, walk, swim, fly).  She really enjoyed this game.  Makes me want to make more (they are time consuming though!)



Well, I think that is it. Busy, but fun week!  This week....I may have to spread into two weeks I have so much planned, hehehe.  Until next time....

3 comments:

Amanda said...

Ooooh I should send you some of our file folder games. They are time consuming to make, but they don't hold their attention long. Like they don't want to play them over and over for weeks or anything. I'll try to gather some up that my aunt has sent to us. They might be a little too easy for Hannah, but fun nonetheless!

All this looks awesome. I never succeeded at making rain in a bottle, either. I never do well with this type of science. I ask too many questions in my head to be able to answer the questions kids have.

Aunt Julie said...

AWESOME!!! Thank you for sharing all of that. Also, it is awesome that Nicole is learning to read. Now you and Jeremy cannot spell things to each other and expect her NOT to say them out loud. LOL!!! Same for the grandparents when the kids are around...Nicole will try and figure out what you are spelling. :o)) It could be a fun game also. :O))
Many (((HUGS))) for you all. God Bless!! Miss you all.

Tiffany said...

This material looks like so much fun, I've heard a lot of things about it-enjoy! Probably a nice change from the intensity of CC huh?