Charity Shop Bargains!

These were my latest charity shop finds in England (back in July, before we came home to the US).  I paid very little for all of these items—I don’t think anything was over £2, and some items were as low as 50 pence.

1.  I thought these bowls and trays were cute!  I’m not sure what they’re made of, but they’re not breakable.  It’s two bowls with rabbits on them and two trays.  They’ll be used for a Tot School activity, not for eating out of.  I could use ideas (hint, hint).

2.  These little metal boxes were too cute to pass up!  Again, these will be used for Tot School.  Any ideas?

3.  Gabriela enjoys playing with these whenever she has a doctor’s appointment, so I bought her this little one.

4.  Basket and wooden tray to use for Tot School…ummm, ideas are welcome!  (I know sorting is something, but if you have any specific ideas, please let me know.)

5.  Magnetic Gears with lined magnet board…these came together, but I’m sure we can use that lined magnet board with magnetic letters too!

6.  Pull-the-tabs times tables book

7.  Magnetic Hangman

8.  Both the girls love this little baby doll carrier!

9.  Colorful, velcro wallet for Gabriela.  I added old train tickets, cards (not credit cards of course), and laminated photos.  We took it on our plane trip back to the US, and she really enjoyed playing with it!

 

And here’s a few more things I got back in June (at charity shops):

10.  Puzzle Sums:

11.  Curious George books (these were practically new):

I do have lots more bargains I’ve found in the US, at yard sales and also at Target!  Since I started blogging over a year ago, I don’t know how many blog posts I’ve read about all these wonderful $1 bargains people have found at Target.  You don’t know how I LONGED to get to a Target!  They don’t have Target in the UK!  Oh, and also the Dollar Tree!  I’ve seen so many cute things other moms have found there, and I couldn’t go!  (Go ahead, cry for me, boohoo.)  So since I’ve been back to the US, I’ve been to both Target and the Dollar Tree, and I did find lots of things!  However, I’m not going to tell you about them in this post, because I haven’t taken pictures yet.  And I haven’t really been to very many yard sales…yard sales aren’t any fun in 95-100 degree weather.  So anyway, I’ll just have to do another post on my bargain finds!

The Rest of 3rd Grade Science

It’s been quite awhile since I posted any of Isaac’s science activities from this past year.  In fact, I think I only posted once!  Oh, and I posted one science lapbook.  We used the book Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space.  You can read previous blog posts about his science HERE and HERE.  Wow, I thought I did more than that!  Well, this post will describe (briefly) what he did the rest of the year until school was out.  However, I probably will post his science lapbooks separately.

1:  Volcano (we purchased this kit):

2.  I believe this one had something to do with glaciers.  We made an incline and raced clean frozen ice with frozen ice/dirt/sand/etc.  It was back in January, and our science book is in England (I’m in the US), so if I’m not right, I’ll correct it when we get back!

 

3.  Ummmm, honestly…I don’t remember what this was!  It was an instrument of some sort…

4.  Our atmosphere chart.  Isaac attached the labels and pictures to show what each level was and what you might find there…

5.  Making a cloud:

6.  Our rain gauge:

7.  Tornado bottle:

That’s all for now!  I need to check when I get back to England to see if I got everything!

Tot on a Plane

Based on the comments from my last post, I’ll start with our plane trip home to the US (even though it was over a month ago) and how Gabriela (my tot) did on the long flight!

Just to start with, this was Gabriela’s 3rd trip on a plane…the last 2 times were to the US and back to the UK when she was 1 year old, so of course she doesn’t remember them.  This past year she has become fascinated by planes.  She spots them in the sky and shouts, “O-plane, o-plane!”  She likes Isaac’s toy planes, and she has enjoyed playing with the Fisher Price airport and plane set I found her at a church rummage sale.

When we arrived at the airport, she enjoyed watching planes outside the window.  Then it was time to board.  I wish I could have captured this moment with video and photo, but I was waiting in line with arms full of hand luggage.  We were in that tunnel thing you walk through to board (what is that thing called?), and as we approached the door to the plane, you could see the whole plane by looking through the gaps.  It was at this moment I glanced down at Gabriela next to me, and she was all astonishment (I think I got that phrase from a Jane Austen film).  Her eyes were huge as she looked at the plane, and her hand was covering her mouth for a really long time—it was like she was frozen in awe and wonder at the thought that she was actually getting on a real airplane!  I can’t describe it any better than that, but we enjoyed watching her, and the pilot at the door was getting a kick out her reaction too!

Gabriela did great on the flight, which was about 8 hours in duration.  Before we left I posted a blog about what I was taking along for her entertainment.  You can read about that HERE.

The items I had for Gabriela included a Winnie-the-Pooh sticker storybook, a small baby doll, a small drawing pad with pencils, soft-chew candy, and a wallet with laminated family photos, old train tickets, and an old gift card—all packed in her very own, tot-sized, Winnie-the-Pooh backpack.  I took out one item at a time and let her use each one until she was tired of it.  All the items were a huge hit, and she really loved the wallet!  She did some drawing in the pad, but she really wanted me to draw things for her.  She mostly requested cats.  We also brought her blankie on board, so that helped when she finally did take a nap.  The hardest part was when we’d have snacks and drinks or our food tray.  She was sooooo tired of sitting in a seat, that her little legs were just plain antsy!  She was constantly kicking her tray and mine, so it was a bit frustrating trying to keep food and drink from bouncing off.

NOW THEN, I’ll tell you the #1 thing that kept Gabriela occupied on the trip!  It’s something I had on board to use on her…but not something I packed in her bag for her to play with.  However, it worked wonderfully well!  A BABY WIPE!  Yes, a simple baby wipe ended up being the most entertaining to Gabriela!  I don’t remember how I ended up thinking of it, but after she had gotten tired of everything else in her bag, I gave her a wipe and her baby doll and told her to clean her baby’s face.  After carefully washing her baby for some time, she proceeded to wash her own face and hands and arms.  Then she started in cleaning the tray in front of her.  She continued using the wipe even after it dried out.  I don’t know how long this occupied her, but it was a long while!

Other than the wiggles, she really did well on the trip.  The older two were fine as well—they enjoyed everything in their bags.

Now we’ve just taken our first long car journey (with more to follow).  We bought a portable DVD player…very handy thing to have, really.  Isaac sits in the middle and holds it in his lap so the girls can see.  However, he’s now experiencing Gabriela’s antsy legs—she kicked him and the DVD player all the way to Iowa!

Just a final note I have to share about our trip.  We’ve made numerous flights between England and the US.  The trips from England to the US are always during the day, and for the first time ever, our pilot took us directly over the south coast of Greenland!  We had seen the coastline from a distance on one previous trip, but this was the first time directly over land, and it was clear skies.  It was SO amazing…I couldn’t stop taking pictures out the window!  We saw tall, snowy mountains, lakes, glaciers, and fiords.  Talk about a spectacular view!

 

Okay, well that’s enough photos I guess.  LOL!

Catching Up--Help Me Decide What to Post Next!!!

Okay, I've just managed to finish posting all my geography units from Isaac's 3rd grade year (this past school year). I'm still WAY behind, and I want to catch up before I start this school year (after Labor Day). So, please help me decide what to post about next!

I need to post about the following: Gabriela's Tot School (one post to finish off last year's stuff), Moriah's Kindergarten (including her graduation), Isaac's science (one post to finish off the year), Isaac's history (one post), Isaac's lapbooks (earth science ones and also literature units), my charity shop and yard sale finds, how Gabriela did on our plane trip (a "what worked" post), and field trips. Did I remember everything??? Arrrgghhh! So much to write and so little time! Which of those would you rather read about first??? Let me know, so I can decide where to begin!

Thanks a zillion!

Geography Travels to Germany

Okay, this is my last geography post for Isaac’s 3rd grade (last school year) studies!  This was the last country we studied before school ended in July.  I am so happy to be caught up!  (At least on the geography—I still have lots more posting to do!) 

Germany was fun.  I’ve always been fascinated by this country because my parents lived there back in 1969-1970 (US Army), and I grew up watching their slides, looking at their postcard scrapbooks, and playing with German souvenirs!  Although there were lots of things to learn about Germany, we mostly focused on castles, composers and fairy tales.  How fun is that?!!  Well, we enjoyed it anyway.  So…..here’s a look at Germany:

NOTE:  We did the Fairy Tale Travels activity throughout this unit.  I found the lesson plans online; however, they are no longer there!  I did find the MAP, though!  (Hurray!!!)  So, here’s what you do.  You simply read the following fairy tales and map their locations:

The Fisherman and His Wife -from the region of Holstein, along the Baltic Sea.

The Bremen-Town Musicians-from Bremen, of course.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-from Alfeld, on the river (south of Hannover).

Sleeping Beauty -did it really happen in Sababurg Castle in the Reinhard Forest (northeast of Kassel)?

Hansel and Gretel-from the area of Marburg on the river Lahn, where Jacob and Wilhelm attended the university.

Little Red Riding Hood -from the river Schwalm area near Alsfeld.

Rapunzel -from Steinau on the river Kinzig, where Jacob and Wilhelm lived from l791 to 1796.

Rumplestiltskin--from Bad Konig or Heppenheim (northeast of Heidelberg).

Source: Fairy Tale Festival Map published by the German Tourist Office.

Week 1

Monday: Stamped passport with flag sticker, located  Germany on world map and globe, located capital,  bordering countries and water bodies, looked up Germany in atlases, read A Visit to Germany, and watched a YouTube travel video.

Tuesday: Map page (printable from Homeschool Creations), Geography from A to Z: forests, mountains, rivers, marshes, meadows; listened to Western Europe Song, Fairy Tale Travels: The Fisherman and His Wife (map)

Wednesday: Notebook page (printable from Homeschool Creations), Time for Kids website, other websites(Brandenburg Tor, Brandenburg Gate Panorama, and North Frisian Islands), Famous Germans chart, listened to Western Europe Song, Fairy Tale Travels: The Bremen-Town Musicians (map)

Thursday: Flag page (printable from Homeschool Creations), Government & Religion, currency, listened to Western Europe Song, Fairy Tale Travels: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (map)

Friday: Castles of Germany/Rhine River (this website has an interactive map of castles on the Rhine) youtube video on castles on the Rhine, Neuschwanstein and “Mad” King Ludwig (see THIS really cool website for a nice photo tour and fascinating history of Neuschwanstein and of Ludwig II himself…the site also includes a few games, a great crown craft, and puzzles for kids), intro to Brothers Grimm (2 good websites to read their fairy tales online:  Grimm’s Fairy Tales and National Geographic: Grimms’ Fairy Tales), Fairy Tale Travels: Sleeping Beauty (map).

Week 2

Monday: German Language (YouTube videos and also Genki German site—it teaches German with songs!), German Composers: Bach, Favorite Classic Composers, pp. 6-7 and listened to music selections, Fairy Tale Travels: Hansel and Gretel (map).

Tuesday: WW2, Hitler, Berlin Wall, German Composers: Beethoven (Beethoven-Haus Museum), Favorite Classic Composers, pp. 12-13 and listened to music selections, Fairy Tale Travels: Little Red Riding Hood (map)

Wednesday: Autobahn, lederhosen, steins, alpine hats, bratwurst, German dogs report (with pictures), German Composers: Brahms, Favorite Classic Composers, pp. 16-17, listened to music selections Fairy Tale Travels: Rapunzel (map)

Thursday: Read Look What Came From Germany, studied important people: Einstein, Wernher von Braun, Gutenberg, Travel for Kids: Germany (website), Black Forest and Rothenburg (youtube), Fairy Tale Travels: Rumplestiltskin (map).

The finished fairy tale map:

Friday: Around the World in 80 Tales, p. 98 “The Dwarf’s Gift,” ate some apple strudel, read Berlioz the Bear, read Destination Detectives: Germany, and discussed German cars (Volkwagen, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and more).

Not long after this unit, we traveled back to the USA.  Since then we’ve watched some of my parents’ slides of Germany, and I’m also planning to show Isaac that postcard scrapbook! 

Resources used:

For more geography posts, please visit Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn.