FIAR Book 1:The Story About Ping

General theme : Duck

Chinese : Farm Animals, ~{!04s!1~}, ~{!0P!!1~}

Literature : Story Writing - "Once upon a time..."

Phonics : The Reading Lesson~{!/~}s Lesson 2 - Covered the alphabets D, M,  and R

High Frequency Words : Revised and re-read previous week's HF words

Vocabulary : beggar, barrel, scurry, paddle

Science : Everything about ducks

Math FIAR : Followed FIAR's manual

Art : Color mixing (Getting green and how to get light colors by adding white)

World : China

Bible : The Portugal Son (From Danielle's Place)

Food : Duck rice/noodle/Peking duck, etc

Outing : The Animal Resort 

We started the book going to the market to get duck feet.  Back home, after reading the book, let Ethan observed the duck feet.  He was initially a little hesitant about touching it, but finally did so and actually enjoyed exploring it!  

Ethan exploring the duck's webbed feet

Highlighted the duck's webbed feet, and how it helps the duck to paddle when in the water.  Also talked about other animals that have webbed feet.  It helps that we happened to go to the zoo where the otter's displayed has a write up about webbed feet, and that otter also has webbed feet.

Webbed feet and bill craft 

Duck's Bill and Webbed Feet

Did a simple craft to enhance this topic.

Web feet craft:

1. Trace hand with fingers wide open on a thick cardboard paper . 

2. Connect the fingers to form the webbed feet.

3. Paint the 'feet'.

4. Once dry, punch holes on the sides, and tie elastic band.

5. 'Feet' can now be worn like a duck's feet.

Bill craft:

1. Draw bill on paper plate and cut it out.

2. Paint or color.

3. Punch holes on the sides and tie elastic band.

4. Bill can now be worn on face.

Sang "6 Little Ducks" with the bill and feet

Six little ducks
That I once knew
Fat ones, skinny ones,
Fair ones, too
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack,
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Down to the river
They would go
Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble,
To and fro
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack,
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Life cycle of ducks

Created an 'Animal' file where we will insert information and life cycles of the animals that we learnt. 

The first piece of info inserted was the "Life Cycle of Ducks"

Life Cycle of Duck

Highlighted that male ducks usually has feathers that are more attractive than females, and they are called drake.

Ethan drew the egg, cut the pictures of the ducklings, duck and drakes, and draw the arrows.

Duck food - omnivores

Food hunting:

Placed fake food that duck eat around the house (insects, worms, frogs, snails, slugs, small shellfishes, grassesm plants), Ethan pretended to be a duck, waddled around the house hunting for food.  When he found food, he had to use his mouth to pick the food up.

Through this exercise, it helped Ethan appreciate why God created duck's bill, instead of flat mouth like human's.

Went through all the food that he found, which included both 'meat' and plant.  Mentioned that ducks are omnivores cause they eat both meat and plant.

Field trip - The Animal Resort

Went to The Animal Resort hoping to find some ducks so that Ethan can have a close look and observations about them.  But there are no ducks, only geese.  Good enough, at least they belong to same family. 

Other info that were introduced and mentioned

1. Ducks waddle instead of walk.

2. Ducks, together with swan and geese form the waterfowl family, which is under the bird group.

Chinese - Farm Animals

Showed pictures of some farm animals, horse, pig, cow, cat, duck, etc...

Modified "Old MacDonald"

Sang a modified "Old MacDonald Has A Farm" song.  My version is definitely very un-typical, but I find that it really helps, especially since Ethan can't speak Mandarin at all.  Here's our modified version with both English and Mandarin!

Modified English-Mandarin "Old MacDonald"

Old MacDonald has a ~{E)3!~}

E-I-E-I-O

And on his ~{E)3!~} he has a ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc

E-I-E-I-O

And a ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc  ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc here

And a ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc  ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc there

Here ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc

There ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc

Every where ~{Q<~}/~{E#~}/~{Bm~}/~{C(~}/~{Vm~}/~{Qr~}/etc

Old MacDonald has a ~{E)3!~}

E-I-E-I-O

Sang this song at least 3 times over the 2 weeks.  By the end of the theme, though Ethan can't remember all the Chinese names for the animals but only a few (only ~{Bm#,~} ~{C(~}, ~{E##,~} ~{E)3!~})~{#,~} I think its already a good start.

What's important is, he starts to appreciate the language.

Memory Game

Made a card game with pairs of the farm animals.  Played Memory Game using it.  Ethan to say the animal in Mandarin when he flipped the card over.

Writing ~{Q<~}

Again, I use pictures to help Ethan recognise characters.

Left side is a webbed feet, right side a bird

~{Q<~} traced over the picture above

~{Q<~} rhyme

Created this Chinese rhyme:

Did this rhyme with action.

Line 1 : Arm flap like a duck

Line 2 : Rub tummy with hand, followed by bend head down pretending to be like a duck dipping its head into river.

Line 3 : Sleeping action

Line 4 : Head tuck into arms

Writing ~{4s~}and ~{P!~}

Teach this character by revising a rhyme that one of my homeschool mummy taught last year:

~{0V~} ~{0V~} ~{4s~} (hands open wide)~{#,~} ~{BhBh~} ~{P!~}(hands close near)

~{8g8g~} ~{4s~}(hands open wide)~{#,~} ~{5\5\~} ~{P!~}(hands close near)

~{=c=c~} ~{4s~}(hands open wide)~{#,~} ~{CCCC~} ~{P!~}(hands close near)

To write ~{4s#,~} mentioned that since ~{0V0V~} is ~{4s~}the 2 strokes look like ~{0V0V~}'s moustache

To write ~{P!#,~} mentioned that water droplets are very small, looks just like the ~{5c~}on the character ~{P!~}. 

Created simple worksheet for this topic.

Ethan pasted the lions under the appropriate characters

Ethan wrote ~{4s~}or ~{P!~}on the appropriate box

World - China

Flag

Making China flag:

1. Used the method in Lesson 15, but halved the size of the paper. Folded a star for the large star on the China flag.

2. Paste the star on a red construction paper.

3. Paste 4 smaller stars using star stickers easily available in the book shop.

China flag 

4th Biggest Country

Did some round discs, from 1st to 5th.  By looking at the world map, Ethan guessed which country is the biggest, which he pointed correctly at Russia.  Asked about 2nd biggest, which he pointed Canada.

For 3rd and 4th, he wasn't quite sure, so guided him that USA is 3rd while China is 4th.  Since we have covered USA, pasted '3rd Biggest Country' near the USA flag, and "4th Biggest Country" on the China flag.

The rest of the discs are at a side of my world wall, will be used when we cover those countries.

Mentioned that even though the story is fictional, the Yangtze river mentioned is an actual place in China.  Viewed some pictures of the river on the web (links below).

Model of Yangtze river

Clay Model of Yangtze River in China

Have Ethan make a model of China by (use air-dry clay):

1. Place a sheet of transparency over the China map.

2. Flatten clay on the transparency to cover the map.

3. I trace out the outline and Ethan scrap out the excess clay.

4. Mark out the location of the Yangtze river.

5. Let clay air dry.  Than use a marker to color the marked out Yangtze river orange/yellow. (Yellow is pretty light, which is why we used orange.)

Some other China facts mentioned can be seen at the links below.

Art - Getting lighter shades.

I incorporated art into our Bible lesson when we did the craft from the Danielle's website.

Needed to do some painting using green and pink colors.  Made use of the opportunity to demonstrate how we can get lighter shades of colors by adding white to the paint.

Links

Ducks

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/books/animals/wild/5ducks.htm

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Farm/ducks.html

http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/old_site/ducks.shtml

China

http://www.yangtzeriver.org/map/index.htm 

http://www.yangtzeriver.org/yzgallery/index.htm 

http://www.yangtzeriver.org/map/index.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/ 

Coming Up Next...

Here are the pictures of some of the things that Zoe does while I homeschool Ethan... Depending on the child's temperament, these activities are able to keep Zoe occupied for at least 20 minutes.

Scooping and Pouring with Rice

I know many will think this is a ridiculous no-no... but, both my children simply love it whenever I cook rice... Its so easy to set up... 

Spread the floor with shower curtain (which is our picnic mat actually, from ikea, machine washable), add a few kitchen utensils, spoon, bowl, funnels, sift, etc, done... to clean up, just pour whatever spilled over rice back. 

Water play

I doubt any 2yo will resist this.  I didn't add bubbles cos it will be too soapy and slippery in the hall way.  Its in the hall way instead of any other places in the house cause I want her to me near our homeschool area, ie, near me.

Painting

Another sure hit activity.  Spread newspaper around for easy cleaning.  This is actually a form of informal schooling for Zoe.  I usually give at most 2 colors, cause I want her to experiment the effect of mixing colors.

Playdoh and cutting

For little children who still eat playdough, homemade playdough will do the trick.

Zoe is now into cutting playdough, paper, etc....  I bought this kid's scissor from Popular.  Very good and cheap and safe. She been using it since she was just over 1yo (or younger?).

Paperclips and magnets

So so response on this.  But good enough to keep her busy for max 20 mins.

Crafts with big bro

Coloring, cutting, doodling, etc... Zoe will be happy to join in the craft that Ethan does.

more updates on this as we go along...

Cannot resist... simply wanna blog this down... She looks soooooo cute  in this rain coat! (at least in my eyes)

All thanks to Yvonne for it.  And what I love about this raincoat is that the material is so soft, unlike the one that Ethan has.  She was able to wear it without feeling hot or uncomfortable... Japan made and purchased stuffs, simply superb...

"I caught it!"

"Yey"

"Quick, Get him!"

A. invited us to support her boy's who was playing for his school's rugby team.  We went, and I'm surprised how much I enjoyed the game.  As I looked at the boys, I was as excited as any of the other parents who were there to support their boys.  In fact, when the team didn't get into the final round, felt as disappointed as the boys...

Somewhere within my heart hopes that one day, I will be going to such game, and be supporting my son/daughter plays.

I had Ethan sat with him.  This is his first time watching a game being played.  He seemed pretty interested.  I found myself actually trying to 'sell' the sport to him.  Told him things like:

"Hei Ethan, you know, rugby is the only game where you can grap or put your opponent down without mummy scolding you.  In fact, mummy will be cheering for you......" (He listens, with a little bit of interest...)

"Would you want to play when you are a big boy like gor gor J.?"

His reply : "NO!"...

okie okie, I won't push it...

Anyway, he enjoyed the game, and did cheered a little here and there.

And, the 3 boys (and girl, ie, Zoe) had a little rugby game at the side...

"Dear God, please take care of [pause]

Aunty E's daughter, [pause]

K.  Please heal her and give her good health, and, and, and... [pause]

give her strong bone and strong teeth.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

(Ethan's prayer for a friend.)

When Ethan was around 3 yo, we used to say our night prayers every night, thanking God for the day, praying for another great day, a goodnight sleep, etc etc.  However, somehow, I felt that it was becoming routine, no power, just mere words, not so sincere, and not so from the heart.  So I decided to stop that, cause the last thing I want is to give my children a ritual, a religion.  Rather, what I want to pass on, is a relationship with God, and the reality of His presence in our life.

Since than, we pray and talk to God as part of our life, as and when there is a need, as and when we want.

When he needs a good weather to go out and have fun, we pray for sunshine.

When he or someone is unwell, and need healing, we ask for good health.

When we are all tired and need a taxi during peak hours, we ask not just for 1, but for many, to meet the needs of those who are near us.

90% of the time, God's answer to Ethan is "Yes", while the other 10%, are "wait" and 0% "No". (So far he has been very reasonable with his prayers, nothing overboard.)

All these efforts seem to be showing results.  Recently, Ethan is more aware about needs, not just his own, but people around him.  Most importantly, he knows that there is a God who is there for our needs. 

He is no longer shy to say a prayer in a crowd, or in private.  When he prays, he shut his eyes, focus, and think VERY hard for the words to say.  Never the perfect word, but always something sincere from his hearts.  I never correct any grammar or vocabulary error when he prays, cause I know God sees the heart and not the language.  The least I want is for him to have a barrier to entering into God's presence.

I pray that He will continue to give me wisdom in bringing up my children to be close to Him.  That I will continue to:

"Train a child in the way he should go, 

and when he is old he will not turn from it." 

Proverbs 22:6

so that both Ethan and Zoe will indeed see:

"goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER."

Psalm 23:6