Animals that Hibernate Preparing for winter. Nature does this without any whisper from you and me just a quiet nudging from the Lord. Summer and Fall are its time to prepare for the long cold season ahead. Some animals snuggle in for the bitter cold in a deep deep sleep called hibernation. Kids LOVE to study animals. There are so many lessons they can learn by watching critters run, jump, fly, and work. Animals that spend the bitter and unforgiving cold winter months curled up in sleep are a wonderful unit study! What is hibernation? Hibernation, also known as ‘winter sleep’, is a state of deep sleep or dormancy that an animal undergoes during the cold months of winter. During this phase, body metabolism and heart rate of the animal go down drastically and the animal practically sleeps for various days to months. There are two types of hibernation, namely ‘true’ hibernation and torpor, or temporary hibernation. In true hibernation, the animal falls into such a deep sleep that it appears to be dead. The body temperature, breathing, and the heart rate drops down. Torpor is a state of short sleep, where the heart rate and body temperature goes down but the animal is able to move around. There are various types of hibernation and not all animals go into a complete state of hibernation. Do Squirrels Hibernate? Mr. Squirrel and his family teach us about working hard and being prepared. If at all possible, go quietly into the woods to watch the squirrels carry its nuts to his pantry in his mouth. Do squirrels hibernate in winter? The answer lies in where the fluffy critters live. All squirrels hate the bitter cold and will chose to sleep when the temperature gets too low. In the northern regions, squirrels can hibernate for up to six months to survive the bitter cold! Hands on Activities that teach about hibernation. Source: https://fun-a-day.com/engineering-project-kids-dens-winter-animals/ Source: https://amzn.to/2E6GI7o It was almost winter and Bear was getting sleepy. But first, Bear had a story to tell… Do Bears Hibernate? Bears are a classic example of animals that undergo hibernation. Bears are found everywhere, from swamps and mountains to the cold Arctic regions. Before the winter arrives, a bear hunts for an appropriate place to spend the cold months in. Once the place is found, it eats huge quantities of food and stores it in its body in the form of fat. During the months that it sleeps, the bear utilizes the stored fat till the winter is over. Meanwhile, it does not eat, drink, defecate, or urinate during this period. Chart Activity A simple, but powerful activity for kids as they study bears, squirrels, or any type of animals. As they learn about the animal, add to the Can, Have, Eat chart. What can bears be or do? What do Bears Have? What do Bears Eat? Download free printable Blueberries for Sal: A Classic Children’s Story about preparing for winter Making Blueberry Jam: A Tasty Lesson! Source: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/blueberry-jam-64061 We need to prepare for the long winter months if we live in areas where the temperature drops and the snow falls too! We are blessed to live in a time where we have access to food and supplies via our cars and computers, but we still need to prepare. Winter clothingChains or auto socks for our carsExtra batteries and candlesemergency supply of non-perishable food
Teaching the U.S. Constitution Teaching the U.S. Constitution Confession. I was not excited to teach the boys about the Constitution. I have never been interested in this precious document. Terrible, I know. Funny how your heart changes as you study something… We have fallen in love with this document as we read and discuss our Constitution and the power of what was written. This past week, we were studying t and foche first few sections of the Constitution and have focused on the fact that the founding fathers kept journals of all their meetings. My boys keep journals, so I thought it would be fun to dig back through the House of Representative and Senate Journals. What a treasure! I had the boys choose a period of time in our country’s history that interested them. (They chose the Great Depression) We then searched the journals to see what was going on in the legislature at that time. Things the boys discovered: Just a few… The members of the legislature had to wait until a voting majority arrived before discussing any governmental business. (It took weeks for them to assemble enough voting members) Most of the action items we boring everyday necessities: Like budget. You can glean what was happening at the time by reading through the journals: The need to improve highway safety Death penalty revisions What a treasure to dig through historical documents with the boys! I would highly recommend seizing opportunities to dive in deeper with your own kids: regardless of what you are studying together. Do you want to browse the journals of the House of Representatives and Senate? Follow the links and see what you can discover about our nation! United States Journals
Homeschooling with Babies and Toddlers: Quiet TIme Inside: Homeschooling with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers-Let me introduce you to my greatest secret for Survival Crib-time, Play-pen time, and Room time. Without a safe place to play, and a routine, my boys literally climb the walls… Parenting has changed so much since my oldest son was born, we need to clear up some basic vocabulary, so there is no confusion. Parenting Vocabulary: Room time: a block of time ranging from 5-60 minutes built into your child’s schedule where they play alone in a safe and secure environment. Alone: child is in a safe, and confined play space just out of sight of parent. Out of sight: baby/child cannot see mom, but mom is fully aware of what child is up to. Parent: the one in control of child’s routine. Child: little person being trained for future success as a functioning adult. Parent guided: parent decides what child will do. Period. Choice: the opportunity to enjoy the activity or go without fun time. Neglect: never a part of healthy child rearing and training. Controversial: Talking about parenting techniques that put the parent in control. 1. Prepare Place toys in bins, preferably in an area that you as the parent can easily control. Choose which toys are for crib-time/room-time. Safe Place From as early as the time when a baby can sit safely, begin setting baby in a playpen/crib with a safe age appropriate toy, or bin of toys. Timer Set timer for 5-15 minutes. Turn on music. Say “It’s play time”. Leave, But Be Attentive Leave the area, but stay alert. I have some children who are more prone to danger than others. ReEnter When timer “dings” quietly re-enter and say something like “play times over, time to clean up”. I always sang the cleanup song. Help child clean up their space. Mama, please remember, “If they can empty a basket/bin, then they can be trained to fill it!” Take the time to teach your children to clean up after themselves. Routine Schedule a play time in the morning, before snack time or outside time; one for just before nap time in the afternoon, or just before dinner prep time. Practice Makes Perfect Over time, slowly increase the amount of time, until the child can self-entertain for 45-60 minutes. Why build in quiet play time? Maintains parental control over baby’s environment Provides safe play area Keeps baby/toddler right where you need them to stay Provides an area of focus Encourages self-entertainment Stimulates concentration Unlocks creativity Creates peace and stability in the child’s day Vary locations: Remember: the goal of playtime is to train contentment while simultaneously creating a safe environment for learning. I recommend varying the location of playpen time at least once a week. This helps the child be more flexible. I have one child who craves routine far more than his other brothers, this varying of location helped him a great deal! Safe Environments: I added age appropriate toys and activities to the play area Crib Playpen High Chair Baby gate to keep child safely in the room I chose. Pet corrals (like the one picture above. This one worked beautifully for outdoor play! Car Seats. That’s right. I used a car seat in my home to help little ones sit for a short period of time. Rewards of Scheduled Independent Play: All five of my boys enjoyed this quiet and controlled play environments. I can’t tell you all the benefits I have seen over the years, but here are a few of the best ones: Kids learn to focus Kids have time to really explore a toy, story or idea I could use these pockets of time to focus on older kids and their harder subjects. Kids developed and created incredible “inventions” This pocket of time transitioned to quiet reading time (or Lego Time) as the boys got older. Encourages self-control Still a highlight of each boy’s day I wish I could help you understand how big of an asset it has been for me to have this pocket of time trained into my boys’ days. Here are some things they have created or completed during quiet time: Cowboys in action. He made glasses. He followed the directions and built his robot. Notice… I have him on my kitchen counter. I am right there preparing a meal. The other boys were in their quiet zones, but this little guy was required to play quietly with the stickers I gave him:. He knitted his own beanie on a knitting loom. )All five of my boys were taught to knit on a loom.) This is his OWN Lego Creation! He made a huge Turkey. (The picture doesn’t do it justice) He solved his rubik’s cube. Notice, most of these pictures show older kids: ages 3 and up. That is on purpose for two reasons: 1. My baby pictures are not digital and I am lazy:). 2. We train our babies so that they can reap the rewards later. Babies and toddlers that learn to sit still, play quietly and concentrate grow up to be incredible artists, builders, musicians, thinkers, readers, writers, gardeners, etc. Last word: Have patience. Any child can be trained to accept and love quiet time, but it takes thought and patience on your part. When I first learned about this possibility I already had a wild 5 year old and an infant. It took time to retrain the 5 year old, but I was patient and always made it a positive activity. Last, Last word: Are my kids perfect? (she gets up from laughing on the floor…) No way! There were days that the kids “chose” to complain or whine through their quiet time. I still pressed on. 98% of the time, they settled down and focused within a few minutes. (music helped set the mood) There were days that they refused to help clean up cheerfully. (They still were required to clean up.) There were many, many days that they threw fits because they did not want quiet time to end. (Never give in to fits. I always said, “If you want to play a few more minutes you need to ask cheerfully and nicely… Let’s try that again.” Then I would leave the room and say, “ready to try that again?” Then I would re-enter and give them a chance to ask correctly. The goal was training:) There were days they did not want to play with what I chose for them. But I was pretty firm. Some days I gave them a choice. I always gave them a bin/basket of books I chose. If they were done playing, they could read. They were not allowed to simply pull out other toys. **as they got older, they would clean everything up and ask if they could “please switch bins”. I never lost sight of the fact that “I was training them in the way they should go”. It is my job as mama to teach my boys how to play, how to speak, how to listen, how to concentrate, how to respond, how to clean-up, how to sit still, etc. Your Turn: Do you train/schedule parent controlled quiet time in your day?