Yucky Worms!

Once upon a time, in a neighborhood far, far away, I was a little princess.  I wouldn't touch dirt, always wore dresses, and only played with My Little Ponies... well...having little brothers changed that.  They just do not understand the value of playing make-believe kings and queens or Little House on the Prairie. As they grew older, we had to play things like football, ghost in the graveyard, kick-the-can, and bike-tag.  I was completely outnumbered and this helped turn me into a true tomboy. There wasn't a time when I wouldn't climb a tree, go fishing, or find myself in the middle of whatever all the guys were doing. 

All of this is to say how much I appreciate having little girls...they like to play dress-up, are able to play quietly (on occasion), and don't bludgeon each other with anything that resembles a stick or club. My girls are definitely a mix of princess and tomboy, so it is always fun to see what they come up with to talk about. Recently, it was worms! They found one under a board in our backyard. (Seriously? Couldn't they have found some ladybugs or something?) Just to prove that worms don't bite, I had to hold one....and then they each held it!  I have pictures to prove it!

Now that we have finished our  Little Hands to Heaven curriculum, we are taking things a bit slower, but still doing some schoolwork every day. Usually, we work on The Reading Lesson first and then move on to a unit study or some worksheets. We recently started a unit study on gardening (I will post more on that later), but I couldn't find one of the recommended books at our library. Instead, I found a book called Yucky Worms! I just had to check that out-- it just fit in too well with our recent worm experience.

As luck would have it, my little niece Abby was at our house the day we read this book.  It is a truly delightful book, with tons of factual information on worms.  All three girls loved the book, but they really loved that we were going to find some in the garden!

After reading the story, we headed out to the yard and proceeded to dig up a few worms.  Everyone watched very carefully for their little heads to poke out of the dirt and then the girls would carefully dig them up.

Mikayla and Susannah were very excited to touch and hold the little, wriggling worms.  Abby was a little timid, but soon joined her cousins in gently poking the little guys.  I am pretty sure she thought they were a little crazy in holding them!

Then, we relocated them to our garden with the hope they will provide some great fertilizer! 

While Abby was there, we also incorporated several activities from Ready2Read at the Moffatt girls site. I can't wait until all the units are complete...the girls enjoyed all these activities.

Mikayla and Abby are very close in age, so they completed the same activities.  First, we did the sight word butterfly. Mikayla likes to make things into puppets with craft sticks, so we had to do that with these pretty butterflies!

Then, they made a sight word caterpillar.  Each girl made their own caterpillar and turned that into a puppet as well.  We enjoyed having Abby in our class and everyone had lots of fun!

While I was at work, Mikayla completed the sight word flashcards and the word family apple tree for homework-- definitely good practice!

Whether they are being princesses and playing dress-up or digging in the dirt to find worms, my girls will definitely keep me on my toes during our time schooling at home!