Whittling: A Summer Project

At our end of the year celebration I always send my kids into the summer with a new book to read and a some project/learning supplies.

Two of my children have been asking to learn how to whittle.  So I took that cue in planning for our party this year.  They are so excited to learn!

I purchased this whittling kit on Amazon

The kids started working with soap first to get used to the knives.  

And we watched some videos on YouTube to get started. They are learning lots already!

Bamboo learning

 M purchased a bamboo plant recently at IKEA which has inspired him to learn as much as he can about bamboo.  He 

A Time Lapse of bamboo growing:

How fast bamboo grows:

Bamboo can be made into lots of things:

How bamboo grows in a garden:

All about how bamboo is harvested:

This was fun to watch some guys build with bamboo.  M thought this was fascinating!

Black Biographies: Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington read aloud picture book

 

Black Biographies: Benjamin Banneker

 Tick Tock Benjamin’s Clock

Benjamin and just letter:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DKnwyVR4P88

Surveying

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9sPwFu_fn5w

What questions do you have?

Black Biographies: Granville T. Woods

 We learned about Granville. T. Woods today and were so impressed by his many accomplishments, which led to us asking more questions about how things work.  

I always love starting with a picture book biography when we are learning about someone. We read The Amazing Mind of Granville Woods (Good and Beautiful) and really were inspired to learn more!

Some of the questions we had: 

How do you get a patent?

How does a Steam Engine Work?

We got out our The Way Things Work book.  Then watched a few videos:

How do Steam Locomotives Work?

How Car Engines Work?

What is it like to ride in a Steam Engine?

Birds--more about migration

 We are getting ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count and are learning about a few kinds of birds.

Today we read the first story in the Birds Nature Reader (Good and Beautiful) about the Barn Swallow.

We enjoyed watching this video showing how the swallows make their nest.

Groundhog (day) and hibernation + Vivaldi's "Winter"

 We have been studying the adaptations of animals for winter...which is perfect because it's Ground Day is right during our study this year!

This video about groundhogs was wonderful!  We got to see the baby groundhogs too!

So what is the prediction for 2023?

Watch to find out!

After the hearing the prediction we learned about Vivaldi and his...

"Winter" concerto composition that he wrote.  Go to 5:55 to hear "Winter."

We drew groundhog onto our note booking page and then wrote down what we wanted to remember about groundhogs on it too! We added a shadow to ours to reflect the prediction this year.