Victory Gardens!

Diana's White House Garden takes place in 1941 and America is at war.  This book is based on a true story about the ten-year-old daughter of then-White House advisor Harry Hopkins.  Diana wants to do her part to help the war effort on the home front.  She makes many well-intentioned attempts including trying to scare off enemies by sticking pins in the couch cushions, placing a "quarantine" sign on her father's office door, and spying on the housekeeper.

When President  Roosevelt urges citizens to grow their own food so that the produce grown on large farms can go to the soldiers, Diana finally finds a way she can truly help:  a Victory Garden!   She teams up with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and helps plant a garden right there at the White House.  A wonderful mix of history, gardening, patriotism, and childhood mischief.  We love the sepia-tinted illustrations done in a style that truly reflects the time period.  This is a new favorite in our house. 

It also provides a wonderful context for current-day discussions about growing our own food.  At the time of this blog post, we are in the middle of the global Coronavirus pandemic, our own enemy that needs to be defeated, and many of our struggles are mirrored in this story and time from the past.



We are using this book as a jumping-off point in our house to both study World War II and plant our own Victory Garden.  Here is a link to our mini-unit that I created to go along with our unit study. Included in the printable pack are hand-drawn garden marker cards that will be a great addition to your victory garden!  My daughter enjoyed using the Garden Map page to draw out where she wanted to plant each vegetable that she chose.  

Jack and the Beanstalk: History, Science, Math, and Language Arts, OH MY!

What do ancient Mesopotamia and Jack and the Beanstalk have to do with each other?  This was a really fun spin-off from our history unit.  In my daughter's second grade history lesson (we use Curiosity Chronicles) we were learning about the first farmers in ancient Mesopotamia.  One of the suggested add-on activities was a bean growing experiment to see how difficult it must have been in ancient times to begin farming without having all of the knowledge and tools that we do now.  We read a lot about growing from seed and what plants need to grow and thrive.  We placed lima beans in different ziploc bags, creating a different growing environment for each using cotton balls, mulch, water, etc., and taped them in a window.  We studied the life cycle of the bean plant with our model from Safari Ltd and then read about other crops that were grown at the time.  We really enjoyed Food Like Mine from the Children Just Like Me series.  The Pod and the Bog from the Zoey and Sassafras series was a great independent reading tie-in for my daughter, sharing all about what a plant needs to grow.

This idea of plants and growing our food, let this librarian momma to The Little Red Hen and Jack and the Beanstalk, to name a few. We read about barley, one of the first crops, and read The Little Red Hen. 

We read Seeds to Bread and learned about wheat, how it is grown and harvested, and the process of making it into bread.  We made barley soup, tried our hand and grinding wheat berries into flour for our biscuits, and continued to wait four our beans to sprout (or not)!  That week we read so many versions of Jack and the Beanstalk.  We read traditional versions told in old language, more contemporary versions that were easier to read, fractured versions and everything else in between.  I think we read over twenty different copies of the story.  We, of course, have a few favorites.  :)  My daughter's favorite was Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne.  I think this was mainly because the main character was a girl, but also because it used a fairly traditional "Fee Fi Fo Fum" line that some of hte other versions we read did not have.  To be exact, the author used "Fee, fi, fo fum'un, I smell the blood of an english woman!"  I loved that is an empowering story for girls but still maintains some of the integrity of the original tale.  

A close second favorite was Jack and the Beanstalk by E. Nesbit. This seemed to be a more traditional telling, however, the illustrations were beautiful ,which is why it was one of my picks.  This version has a fairy in it, but none of the "Fee Fi Fo Fum" business.  It was a longer story and used older language that made it a little less accessible.  Lastly, we both loved the fractured version called Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries by Mark Teague.  This version has the giant and Jack bonding over their distaste for beans, and problem solving a solution to the overabundance of beans program, rather than just complaining about it.  Win, win.  

We played several of our fairy tale themed games ( Enchanted Forest game, Story Time Dice Fairy Tales,  Eboo's Create a Story Fairy Tale Mix-Up).


We also did some of the activities from this fun pack of Jack and the Beanstalk Fairy Tale Activities from Teachers Pay Teachers. We also used our leftover lima beans and made a fun story/sensory bin which both my 4 year old and my 7 year old enjoyed!

We finished the week by reading Jack and the Beanstalk Fairy Tale Fixers: Fixing Fairy Tales with Stem.  We were able to discuss how this version was a like our different from all of the others we'd read AND this one had three different STEM activities woven throughout the story.  The first two were related to bean-growing so we just talked about those rather than doing, since we'd already done our own experiment.  The last one we did was a fun one to using straws to make a sturdy enough beanstalk to hold Jack.  It was a fun way to experience the classic tale.  We had a fun week and it was a great way to tie in a bunch of other subjects into our history unit.  It made the learning opportunities greater and the time spent together richer. 

September STEM Challenge, Stories, and Activities: Apples

I love when I find new products that I can use to encourage learning, creativity, and logical thinking in my home!  We are planning to use these new Seasonal STEM Challenge cards from Carson Dellosa in our homeschool this fall for my second grader, but even if we weren't homeschooling, I would incorporate these into learning @ home activities! 

The card set comes with thirty seasonal activity cards, ranging everywhere from gravity and stacking apples, to how to make a trap to catch a leprechaun and how to build a zip line to rescue your Elf on the Shelf! 

Here are the resources that I've pulled together to use in September when we study all things apples!

The STEM Challenge card I have chosen is called Apples On Top.  The challenge is to try to stack five apples on top of each other in a tower and have them stand independently.

If you want to do more, there are several other apple and STEAM related activities on the back of the card, as well as a hint to accomplishing the challenge, and the science behind the challenge.

I love to include picture books into any type of learning so today I chose a few that featured apples falling from the tree and bonking someone on the head, much like the story of Issac Newton goes.   Ouch! by Ragnhild Scamell is a fun story story for fall.  Hedgehog just finished preparing her nest for winter when an apple falls from the tree and gets stuck on quills on her back.  And now she doesn't fit in her nest anymore!  Oh no!  Letting Go is in the Loopy Coop series of early readers by Janet Morgan Stoeke.  Pip, Midge, and Dot, the lovable and goofy hens of Loopy Coop Farm wrestle with the age old question--why do apples fall?  On their way to their own unique conclusion, they go from being scared silly to just plain acting silly. 

Newton and Me by Lynne Mayer is a rhyming story that takes us through the day of a young boy and his dog, Newton.  While at play, they discover the laws of force and motion and realize that Newton's Laws of Motion describe experiences they have every day and they recognize how the forces affect the objects around them.  Educational information is included in the back matter.   I had to add some good non-fiction and National Geographic Kids never fails to provide great information with phenomenal photographs.  Apples for Everyone did not disappoint.  I also pulled Gravity is a Mystery from the Let's Read and Find Out Science series.

Carson Dellosa also sells a non-seasonal STEM Challenge card set that looks like lots of fun, too!  Want both?  They sell a bundle with both sets.

I purchased the following activities from TeachersPayTeachers to round out the day.

3-D Apple Craft

Hedgehog and Apple craft

Life Cycle of an Apple

Invitation to Play: Dear Zoo Story Basket

Story baskets are a great way to encourage imaginative play while practicing early literacy skills.  Plays is one of the five early literacy practices that can help teach and encourage narrative skills, vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, print motivation, and print awareness.  Reading, writing, singing, and talking are the other four important early literacy practices.  Your child can experience independent play and discovery if they are investigating this story basket on their own, or you can expand their exposure by reading and talking with them during one-on-one time with the tray.  I recommend a little of both independent play and one-on-one with parent or caregiver.

Story baskets, or story trays, are easy to put together with things you have around the house.  Little animal figures are a staple in our house--we use them for so many learning and play activities!  If you don't have them, you can use stuffed animals, or hand-drawn and colored pictures.  Depending on the story that you choose, you may find appropriate items in the kitchen, dress-up bin, or craft box.

The book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell is been a long-time favorite in our family, so it made the perfect choice for this week's story basket.

Click the image above for a video of how I put together our tray. 

Here is what I included in this week's story basket:

-Safari hat 
-Safari LTD Jungle Friends TOOB  
-Safari LTD Pets TOOB
-Safari LTD Reptiles TOOB
-Brown decoupage boxes
-Dear Zoo Board Book
-Magnetic letters are from the dollar spot at Target.

Growth Mindset

I have to be honest, I hadn't heard this phrase until I attended my daughter's Kindergarten curriculum night last year.  But after hearing it, and doing a little research, I wondered where it had been all my life!  A person with a growth mindset believes that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.  Instead of "I can't read!" they might think "I can't read YET." I have put together a list of excellent picture books that help support a growth mindset.  These are great books to have in your general home library, and also support lots of fun extension activities.  We were recently given a copy of the Growth Mindset print-ables from Big Life Journal to review.

We have done two activities so far.  First we read Your Fantastic Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It to go along with the I Can Grow My Brain poster activity.  It was at a great level for my six-year old and my three year old listened to the story and helped us color.  We also read a favorite, Beautiful Oops!, and followed it up with the Take Chances, Keep Going worksheet where we got to finish the drawings left by raccoon and fox.

Here is a description of the Growth Mindset Printable Set from their website:  "This bundle of Growth Mindset Printables Set from Big Life Journal is designed to help children develop the mindset and skills they need to realize their full potential.  It's great for ages 5-11. This printable kit is different from Big Life Journal, none of the materials overlap.  The dynamic worksheets, activities, posters and coloring pages are designed to help children truly understand that they have the capacity to learn anything!  The colorful and engaging activities teach kids to pick themselves up after they fall down, find strategies to apply to challenging tasks, and persevere when learning gets tough.  The kit also contains valuable growth mindset handouts and guides for parents and teachers."

You can see my full video review here.

Hold my place!

We have a lot of books in our house, even though we use the library multiple times a week.  I try to go through periodically and "weed" out some that we don't NEED.  But we still have a lot.  For the most part I don't mind but it makes me happiest when they're at least organized.  The kids pull out lots of books and read them,which makes my momma heart happy, but they don't put them back very nicely, which, well, you know...  :)  I spent a lot of time sorting the books and finding ways to make it easier to access what we want and put them all back where they go and where there's room for them.  I have a pretty good system down in the kids' room and our play room, but the books in the living room were still giving us problems.  Target Dollar Spot to the rescue!  I've been drooling over YouTube videos of all of the new learning items people are finding at their local stores.  Luckily, my store hasn't stocked a lot yet, which is helping my fairly non-existent self restraint.  I did find these little beauties for $1 each.  As soon as I saw them I knew that they would be perfect. 

I believe they are meant to be pointers for teachers to use at the board with their students.  But we're using them as shelf markers!  When they pick out a book, they slide a shelf marker in its place.  When they bring the book back, they know right where it goes.  Of course, my kids think they're the coolest things ever.  Even if they don't become master shelvers, they are beginning to understand the concept of putting books back where they go so that we can find them again later.  I think we might start taking them to the library with us, as well. 

Library Scavenger Hunt

If you read my post about summer reading, you may remember me mentioning our library scavenger hunt cards.  I created these cards to use with my six year old this summer to help encourage her to spend time selecting books at the library before she plays.  I also want to begin to teach her about how things are organized in our library, including the Dewey Decimal System.  She has a lot of fun with these cards.  I have a huge pile of them that I printed on card stock and laminated.  She picks one from the pile on our weekly library trip.  We use a dry erase marker to check off what she finds. You can find the cards available here in my TeachersPayTeachers store.   As I mentioned in my previous post, I love that we have such play-centered libraries at our disposal, but I wanted to make sure that we were also slowing down a little bit to appreciate all of the books available to us as well.  I created around thirty cards that cover different Dewey numbers, as well as topics without their Dewey number.  I also created a "cheat sheet" bookmark with the Dewey categories on it for us to use as we're learning.

Before I introduced the cards for the first time, we read the book Do You Know Dewey?: Exploring the Dewey Decimal System to learn a little about the types of non-fiction and how they are organized in the public library.  For good measure, we also talked a little bit about how we should treat books, especially those that we're borrowing.  So far it's been a hit and she asks for the scavenger hunt card if I forget to mention it.  Our summer reading is going great and we're checking out lots of new and interesting books we might never have found before!