Baby Book List (0-3 months)

Use high contrast images to stimulate your infants vision and help with their vision development. High contrast photos with contrasting patterns and images are easier for infants to focus on.

So Big! by Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz

Where is Monkey? by Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz is her absolute favorite book. It makes her smile every time we read it to her.

My Bedtime

Hello Bugs by Smriti Prasadam

Memorial Day Unit Study

In this unit study we learned more about Memorial Day and the American Flag. This unit study has 3 days of lessons.  I did this study with my 1st grader and would recommend it for Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Memorial Day Book List

Book can be read by the child or by the parent to the child, depending on the child’s reading level.

Books I used in the lessons…

Memorial Day by Trudi Strains Trueit

The American Flag by Tristan Boyer Binns

Other age appropriate books

Memorial Day Surprise by Theresa Martin Golding

The Impossible Patriotism Project by Linda Skeers

The Wall by Eve Bunting

The American Flag by Debbie L. Yanuck

The American Flag by Elaine Landau

Memorial Day by Sheri Dean

Memorial Day by Lynn Hamilton

Memorial Day Parade

We went to the parade in town for a little field trip today.

Here are some of our other Elementary Unit Studies:

Rainbow Unit Study

In this unit study we learned all about rainbows. This unit has 5 days worth of lessons. We did this unit study with cousins, from tots to 1st grade, but it would be great for Preschool age. This unit study was tons of fun for the cousins, but I guess cousins are always ton of fun whatever their doing!  I made a lapbook for each child with their work from the unit so that they could go back and remember what they learned.

Day 1 Colors of the Rainbow

Day 2 God’s Promise

Day 3 The Color Wheel

Day 4 Double Rainbows

Day 5 What Makes a Rainbow

Rainbow Book List

Book can be read by the child or by the parent to the child, depending on the child’s reading level.

Books I used in the lessons 

Liz Makes a Rainbow by Tracey West

The First Rainbow By Su Box

Take a Walk on a Rainbow by Miriam Moss

All the Colors of the Rainbow by Allan Fowler

What Is a Rainbow? By Chris Arvetis and Carole Palmer

What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz

A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

I can eat a Rainbow by Annabel Karmel

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Other age appropriate books

Noah’s Ark by Barbara Shook Hazen and Diane Muldrow

Singing with Noah by Cissy Padgett

The Rainbow Mystery by Jennifer Dussling

Duckie’s Rainbow by Frances Barry

On Noah’s Ark by Jan Brett

Elmer and the Rainbow by David McKee

The Magic School But Makes a Rainbow by Joanna Cole

Over the Rainbow by Judy Collins

Song List

Roy G Biv by They Might be Giants

Video List 

  • Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (Season 1 Episode 16) 
  • Elmo’s Rainbow 
  • The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow

Here are some of our other Elementary Unit Studies:

Ant Unit Study

In this unit study we learned about ant anatomy, the ant life cycle, ant jobs, ant colonies, types of ants, and ant enemies. We spent some time outside for this unit study so I would recommend doing it during nicer weather.  I did this unit study with my 1st grader and I recommend it for Kindergarten to 3rd grade.

Day 1 Ant Anatomy

Day 2 Ant Live Cycle

Day 3 Ant Jobs

Day 4 Ant Colony

Day 5 Types of Ants

Day 6 Ant Enemies

 

Ant Book List 

Book can be read by the child or by the parent to the child, depending on the child’s reading level.

Books I used in the lessons

Tiny Workers by Nancy Loewen

The Life Cycle of an Ant by Trevor terry & Margaret Linton

Ant Colony by Kathy Furgang

Ant Cities by Arthur Dorros

Ant by Rebecca Stefoff

Giant Anteater by Sara Antill

Dear Deer by Gene Barretta

The Ant and the Grasshopper by Mark White

The Ants go Marching! By Dan Crisp

Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl

Truman’s Aunt Farm by Jama Kin Rattigan

Other age appropriate books…

The Ants Go Marching One by One by Richard Bernal

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes

The Magic School But Gets Ants in its Pants by Joanna Cole

Little Black Ant on Park Street by Janet Halfmann

Look Inside an Ant Nest by Megan Cooley Peterson

What’s it like to be an Ant? By Jinny Johnson

Ant by Karen Hartley and Chris Macro

Ant Webvideos:

VeggieTalesSchool House Polka – YouTube

http://www.slideshare.net/bright9977/12-life-lessons-from-tiny-ants-7173883 (12 slides about ants)

Ant Movies:

The Magic School Bus Gets Ants In It’s Pants by Scholastic

Here are some of our other Elementary Unit Studies:

Butterfly Unit Study

In this unit study we learned about the life cycle of butterflies and moths, the anatomy of butterflies and moths, and the differences between butterflies and moths.  We also grew a butterfly and record our observations.  This unit study has 4 days worth of lessons, and it takes 3 to 4 weeks to grow the butterfly.  I did this unit study with my 1st grader and I recommend it for Kindergarten to 3rd grade.

Day 1 Butterfly Life Cycle

Day 2  Caterpillar Anatomy

Day 3 Butterfly Anatomy 

Day 4 Butterfly vs Moth

Butterfly Book List

Books can be read by the child or by the parent to the child, depending on the child’s reading level. I don’t think that a child is ever too old to be read to.

Books I used in the lessons

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert

Creep, Crawly Caterpillars by Margery Facklam

Caterpillar to Butterfly by Camilla de la Bedoyere

What’s the Difference Between a Butterfly and a Moth? by Robin Koontz

Other age appropriate books…

Butterfly Story by Anca HaritonButterfly House by Eve Bunting 
The Lamb and the Butterfly illustrated by Eric Carle

Painted Lady Butterflies by Martha E. H. Rustad

The Magic School Bus the Butterfly and the Bog Beast by Nancy E. Krulik and Thompson Brothers

Can You Tell a Butterfly from a Moth by Buffy Silverman

Butterfly Video List

Wild Kratts Episode 109 Voyage of the Butterflier XT

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/bugs-kids/butterflies-kids/ (Web Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vXmF5W_Wkc (Web Video)

The Magic School Bus Season 2 Episode 5 – Butterfly and the Bog Beast (DVD)

Live Butterfly Garden

We got a Butterfly Garden from www.insectlore.com.  When we got the kit we sent for the caterpillars.  They came in about a week.

There were 4 tiny caterpillars in a container with food and air holes in it.  We did not have to open the container at all.

J recorded his observations of the caterpillars in a home made butterfly journal.  He wrote an update every other day or so; he also drew a picture for each journal entry.

On day 10 two of the caterpillars hung from the top of the container in a “J” form.

By day 12 all four of them were hanging form the top in their chrysalis’.  And on day 14 we opened he container and gently moved the piece of paper under the lid that they were hanging from.  I pinned it onto the mesh sides of the butterfly house.

 Finally on day 20 one emerged from the chrysalis. Then a few days later we set them free outside.

Catch Your Own Caterpillars

We also caught our own caterpillars and put them in our butterfly house to see what would happen. 

We caught 3 that looked the same and had formed cocoons by the next morning.  We also caught 2 other types of caterpillars that we had to feed leaves for a week.  Since they were in the grass when we found them we took a few leaves from the different trees in our yard to see which type they would eat.  Then we added new leaves from that tree every day.

The moths came out of the cocoons about 18 days after they made them.   

The Butterfly House 

We also took a trip to the St. Louis Butterfly House.  They had tons of beautiful butterflies and flowers.

 The boys really enjoyed seeing all the different types of butterflies.

They also had a chrysalis viewing area.  We saw one butterfly hanging on his empty chrysalis pumping his wings.

There was a 15 minute video to watch about the life of a butterfly and a world map outline that showed where different types of butterflies lived.

Outside there was a huge stone caterpillar that they boys could play on.

The whole visit was only about an hour, but it was fun to see all the different kids of butterflies, my favorite was the blue morpho butterfly (I didn’t get a picture of one with open wings though).

Here are some of our other Elementary Unit Studies:

Christopher Columbus Unit Study

In this unit study we learned about Christopher Columbus and his journey to America. We also learned a little geography and about some different landforms including peninsulas, islands, and mountains.  We used the books Columbus by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire and Hands on History Christopher Columbus by Mary Tucker to accompany our daily lessons. This unit study was made for elementary students and has 7 days worth of lessons. I did this unit study with my 1st grader and recommend it for Kindergarten- 3rd grade.

Christopher Columbus Unit Study

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Christopher Columbus Book List

Books can be read by the child or by the parent to the child, depending on the child’s reading level. I don’t think that a child is ever too old to be read to.

Books I used in the lessons…

Columbus by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

Hands on History Christopher Columbus by Mary Tucker.

In 1492 by Jean Marzollo

Other age appropriate books…

Christopher Columbus by Lisa Wade McCormick

Christopher Cloumbus by Stephen Krensky

What’s So Great About Christopher Columbus by Amie Jane Leavitt

Christopher Columbus by Marion Dane Bauer

You Wouldn’t Want to Sail With Christopher Columbus! By Fiona Macdonald

Christopher Columbus by Jan Gleiter and Kathleen Thompson

Preschool 100 Day

We celebrated 100 Day with cousins, from tots to first grade but I would recommend it for around Kindergarten age.  We had fun counting to 100 over and over by counting candy, jumping jacks, seconds, inches, and lots more.  We read lots of books, had a snack, completed a writing activity, and covered a ton of math concepts.

Book List…

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Priczes

I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael K. Frith

One Hundred Days of  School by Trudy Harris

Henry’s 100 Days of Kindergarten by Nancy L. Carlson

Emily’s First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells

Miss Bindergarten Celebrates 100 Days of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff

Graph 100 Jelly Beans

Materials:

  • 100 Jelly Beans
  • Simple Graph

Directions:

  1. Count out 100 jelly beans.
  2. Graph the jelly beans by color on a simple graph.
  3. Ask the children which color has the most?  Which color has the least?  How many red jelly beans are there?

100 Jumping Jacks

The children jumped and counted 100 jumping jacks.

100 Piece Puzzle

The children worked a 100 piece puzzle together.

100 Quiet Seconds

The children all laid down and tried to be quiet for 100 seconds.

Name 100 Animals

We started out with the children naming as many animals as they could as I wrote them down.  I tried to write down exactly what each child said so that they would feel that their ideas are just as important as others.  For example if a child suggests dog and another child suggests Dalmatian I wrote them both down even though a Dalmatian is a dog.  When the children started running out of ideas we used the animal books for some help.

100 Days of School Poem

We read this 100 Days of School poem to the children.

I’ve never seen a hundred,

It’s pretty big, I guess.

I keep asking everyone.

And they just say, “Oh yes”…

“A hundred is an awful lot”…

“A great big huge amount”…

But I am really worried,

‘Cause I’m just learning how to count.

I’m learning all my numbers,

And I’m trying by myself,

To understand a hundred.

But I might need some help.

I can’t believe we’ve been in school

For a hundred days!

A hundred is a lot, I know,

So I am just amazed!

I like to come to school each day

And I love my school a lot.

Mom says I go to school to learn

But it’s fun so I forgot!

So we counted to one hundred

And now I think I know,

That one hundred days we’ve been in school…

And there are lots more days to go!

Lots more days for having fun,

In our very own classroom.

And if I learn to count some more

I’ll be at a million soon!

Estimating 100 Inches

Materials:

  • Yard Stick
  • Masking Tape
  • Pen

Directions

  1. Line up the children against the wall.
  2. Show the children on the yard stick what an inch looks like.
  3. Write each child’s name on a piece of masking tape and give it to him.
  4. Tell the children to put the tape on the floor where they think 100 inches would be from where they are standing.
  5. Measure out 100 inches to see how the children did.

Counting Money

Materials:

  • 100 Pennies
  • 10 Dimes
  • 1 Dollar Bill

Directions:

  1. Have the children count out 100 pennies by putting them into piles of 10.
  2. Count the piles of 10 by tens to get to 100.
  3. Trade out each pile of 10 for a dime and then count how many dimes it takes to get to 1 dollar.
  4. Show a 1 dollar bill.
  5. You can also count quarters with older children.

Fruit Loop Necklace

Materials:

  • Yarn
  • Fruit Loops

Directions:

  1. Each child counts out 100 fruit loops.
  2. Children string the fruit loops onto the yarn.
  3. Tie the ends of the yarn together to form the necklace.

Make 100 Day Hash

Materials:

  • Miss Bindergarten Celebrates 100 Days of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
  • 10 small cup or bowls plus one for each child
  • Pretzels
  • Popcorn
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Cherrios
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Peanuts
  • Oyster Crackers
  • Almonds
  • Raisins
  • Chex Cereal

Directions:

  1. You can use the ingredients that I used, the ones in the book, or make up your own.
  2. Put each ingredient in a different bowl (10 bowls).
  3. Each child takes 10 pieces from each ingredient bowl and places them into his own bowl to make 100 pieces.

Sorting Number Cards

Have the children put number cards in order from 1 to 100.  You can use any cards you have to make your own with index cards.  I used the A Beka Numbers Flashcards.

I Wish I had 100…

I made a simple writing page for the children that said…

I wish I had 100 ______________ because _____________.

On the first day of school I couldn’t _____________, on the 100th day I can.

100 Fingers and Toes

Materials:

  • Poster Board
  • Paint
  • Paper Plates
  • Bath Tub of Garden Hose for cleaning
  • Children (we used 5 children)

Directions:

  1. 5 children times 10 fingers each and 10 toes each makes 100.
  2. Set the children around the table and set a paper plate in front of each child.  Pour a little paint onto each plate.
  3. Set the poster board on the table  in the middle of all the children.Each child makes a right hand print on the poster by dipping their hand in the paint on the plate and then sticking in on the poster.  Then each child does it again with their left hand.

Then have the children wash their hands in the tub or with the hose. Put the poster board on the bathroom floor or outside if it’s nice out. Have the children one at a time place their right foot in the paint and then on the poster and then their left foot. Rinse their feet in the tub or with a hose immediately to avoid unwanted paint in the house.

After the paint dries, count the fingers and toes by 5’s (there should be 100).

I have other fun Preschool posts too: