We are in the last few weeks of Kindergarten! It’s hard to believe honestly. While we finish up our regular curriculum, we are also going to do a month long unit about the ocean! Last month my dad and stepmom went to Florida for a few weeks and brought my son and niece back a bunch of books, shells, posters, and sea glass to go along with their lessons. They have enjoyed exploring their discovery table this week!
We started Tuesday with an introduction to the ocean and ocean layers. We made an ocean layer jar – well I did while I explained to the kids, a little demo – and I had to improvise as I did not have Karo syrup. I subbed molasses which didn’t quite work and the bottom layers were a bit muddled. But the kids got the main point of what I wanted to illustrate, so I am calling it a win. My dad also brought the kids back stuffed animal sharks that I surprised them with on our kick off day.
We also started off with small creatures this week, crabs and jellyfish and seahorses. I have to admit, I was pretty fascinated by some of the facts we learned about jellyfish. I can’t say I had read anything about them ever before, so it was kind of all new to me as well. Two things I learned – that jellyfish sort of float out of their mother’s mouths when they are born, and that they don’t have a brain. Since it was a short week and we had a lot to fit in, our craft project this week was a simple one, but both kids enjoyed it. Paper plate jellyfish! Well, my niece had a paper plate one, I yet again had to improvise. I apparently did not have my materials together this week! This time though, my improvisations turned out. I don’t have a picture of Dino Girl’s but it was super cute.
Resource Round Up:
Ocean Animals Mega Unit from Crystal McGinnis
Books We Read:
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Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha || Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan
I absolutely loved Night of the Moonjellies, and so did the kids and my mom. I think it is a new favorite for all of us. I couldn’t recommend it more!
And really this is it for this week! Next week is all about sea turtles (my favorite) and sharks!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
What fun! Great photos, and moments to remember.
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It was a good start to the month!
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The ocean is always one of the best themes. The possibilities and ideas are endless.
Glad you had so much fun with it.
Have a wonderful weekend!
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Yes! I love that this is just a small tiny fraction of what could be done. Such a fun theme.
Thank you!
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Are the requirements strict for homeschooling in your town?
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Sadly and weirdly, no. It seems like it is all on the parents to make sure things are progressing, which I guess you are signing up for when you homeschool. Michigan has no checks at all for homeschooling. None. It is sort of weird! My friend has a daughter in the same grade as Wyatt and she goes to public school, so I will check in with her periodically to see what she is doing and see if it matches. I was very proud that it did. 🙂 Our methods were different but we seemed to be keeping on target.
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