Nov. 5, 2007 - 2nd Konos Unit - Stewardship: NERF (Nutrition, Exercise, Rest, & Fun)
Well, we ended our NERF unit last Wednesday with a Circus Culmination night with the grandparents. With this unit, we definately took it a little easier but we also ended with a bang! 
So, overall I was happy with what we accomplished and with what my children learned. Our main focus, again, was the character trait of Stewardship (of the body) and we learned bible memory verses, such as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. ". We always try to put our memory verses to a familiar tune since my children are so young and so we sang this one to "Mary Had a Little Lamb". It really does seem to help with remembering them. We talked about privilege and responsibility and read about how Daniel was a good steward of his body. We learned all about nutrition and how we need to take care of our bodies and the food we put into it (we are still working on this one-more so me with the sweets-when the kids are sleeping of course). We made up the four food groups on the floor and seperated them by tape and I did get pictures, but they are on my sisters non-digital camera. The kids then raided the kitchen & pantry to put all the food into the correct food group. They loved it. We then studied the individual groups on different days and located their origins on the map,
made macaroni collages,
bean bags, bean sprouts, tried different seeds & nuts, made a vegetable sculpture,
made a food chart
and visited the grocery store many times to learn all about the groups, nutrients, labels, additives, etc. We also made a meal that went along with that day's food group. We learned about the glycemic index, calories, and did a hike with heavy backpacks to show how much harder it is to do things with extra weight like you would have if you take in too many calories and don't burn them. We also studied exercise and how it is good for your body, by exercising. We did some workout videos, we ran around my room through the kitchen in a circle so many times, we did stretches, etc. Here the kids are doing fun exercises like the the inchworm, wheelbarrow, gorilla walk, etc.
We created a physical conditioning course in our back yard. We learned about the muscles of the body and dissected a chicken to see the muscles, tendons etc. We learned about getting enough rest to help our bodies function, the different stages of sleep, and consequences of lack of sleep. And the best part was planning & performing our Circus Night to wrap up our unit; the FUN part. It was a lot of work but so worth it and so precious. A night we definately won't forget! I will post about that next. Here are some of the books & videos that we really liked:
Nutrition - Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell / Pyramid Pal series/ Learning Your ABCs of Nutrition/ Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From/ Fresh from the Family Farm (vhs)/ Magic Monsters Learn About Health/ A Cow, a Bee, a Cookie, and Me by Meredith Hooper
Exercise - Exercise by Sharon Gordon/ You Can't Make a Move Without Your Muscles/ Get up and Go!/ The Busy Body Book/ Move 'n Groove Kids (VHS)
Rest - Sleep is for Everyone by Paul Showers/ A Good Night's Sleep by Sharon Gordon/ Sleep Well-Why You Need to Rest by Kathy Feeney/ Wide Awake Jake/ How Do You Sleep
Fun (Circus) - Kids Love the Circus (VHS)/ Clowning Around - Jokes/ Circus Time!/ At the Circus (Better Homes & Gardens)/ If I Ran The Circus by Dr. Seuss/ Circus by Roxie Munro/ The Performers - Circus Stars/ A New True Book - The Circus by Mabel Harmer/ Do It Yourself Kids Circus (CD)
Picture Books - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs/ Jamberry/ Stone Soup/ The Gingerbread Girl/ By the Light of the Moon/ Richard Scarry's Just For Fun/Princess Bee and the Royal Good-Night Story/ Close Your Eyes
Easy Readers - Mary Clare Likes to Share/ The Pizza that we Made/ So Hungry!/ Lunch Boxes/ Good Food/ The New Red Bed
Comments
Nov. 12, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Rmy1299
Thanks for sharing this! It looks like you guys had so much fun! I love unit studies, I'll have to check this one out!
Nov. 18, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Danika
Great blog, great ideas, I'll be visiting for more. Please keep it up.
