U is for Us

God made us Wonderful!

This unit Liberty focused on the letter U.  Each week we are giving special attention to one letter while continuing to work on other reading a writing skills.  This unit took us a little longer than normal because we went to a little vacation in the middle (just one of the more brilliant things about homeschool--we can come and go as we please!)

Liberty is really getting good at reading and spelling three letter, short vowel words.  I have to admit I was blown away by how quickly she is picking it up.  I can ask her to spell just about any three letter, short vowel word and she can do it no problem.  For some reason, it is easier for her to spell words I say then for her to read them herself when they are already written down.  I know it will click soon.  During this unit I decided to make Liberty some short vowel cards she could practice with.  Each card has a picture and Liberty matches the correct word with the picture.  She loves doing these more interactive activities.

Our science topic this week was "Us."  We did a basic overview of our bodies and then focused on the five senses.  I love to do lapbooks whenever we can.  It's a great way to introduce new material and I really feel like Liberty gets more out of it because she is actually creating something in the process.  I couldn't find a lapbook I liked, so for this unit I created my own.  For my first lapbook, I thought it turned out good. 

My favorite part was adding the smells.  Liberty also thought this was really fun.  I wish I could think of a way to make the smells last longer, unfortunately they fade.  Does anyone remember the scratch and sniff stickers that were so popular in the late 80s.  I had a ton when I was a kid.  I thought about using something like that, but I didn't have the slightest idea where to find them.

We read several different books for this unit.  My favorite was "The Listening Walk" by Paul Showers.  It is so good.  After reading it, Liberty wanted to go on a listening walk.  The only problem was, she wanted to do more talking than listening :).