Week 24: Louisiana Purchase, Louisiana and Alligators

This week we learned about the state of Louisiana, the Louisiana Purchase, and alligators. Back in October I was blessed to be able to take the kids (with my sister and her daughter) to visit the great state of Louisiana and our dad and other family. I was born in Louisiana and though I only lived there for 2 years, I was raised with strong Louisiana ties. 

Louisiana Read-Alouds:

• Why Alligator Hates Dog
• Louisiana Purchase by Peter Roop
• Two Bobbies by Kirby Larson
• The Cajun Cornbread Boy by Dianne De Las Casas

While we were visiting in October, we actually did a swamp tour, which was way fun, and got pretty close to some real-life wild alligators. Treyton also got along with my dad great – as they bonded over their love of swords and other weapons on destruction. :) I pulled out some pictures from our trip and the postcards from family to add to our state page – I love when we are able to add such personalized aspects to our pages. 

Louisiana Purchase Notebooking Page

Treyton is really enjoying putting together notebooking pages for his history notebook the last couple of weeks. To be honest, this surprised me a little bit, but of course I’m excited about the possibilities.

Dinner: Gumbo

MFW recommended a red beans and rice dinner, but that’s not one of my personal favorite Louisiana dishes, so instead we made Gumbo for dinner this week. We love gumbo at our house!! It was super yummy!

Language Arts: Syllables

Treyton is exceeding my expectations in breaking down syllables to read them. I printed this game from the Florida website I recommended last week, which has several other similar printables to use.

State Review:

Treyton always enjoys putting together his Melissa and Doug floor puzzle. I usually do a little review with him once the puzzle is completed.   We played our Great States game this week. Alexa actually won, and Treyton and I tied for second.

Home Economics: New Responsibilities

Treyton has been able to make Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches on his own, for a while now, but he’s been asking me a lot lately to teach him how to cook more, particularly for lunch. I decided to teach him how to cook using the oven. After showing him how to read the directions and turn on the oven, while it was preheating, I coached him on how hot it was going to be, and how he could touch the pan putting it in, but not taking it out. We took some time practicing how to use the pot holders holding the pan, and grabbing it out, by placing the tray in the cabinets. This was a great way to practice, and when it came time for the real deal, putting in the tray and taking it out – he did AWESOME! He had a little bit of healthy fear, but overall he did great.

Treyton has also been asking me for a while to let him do the laundry. Sometimes, I let him help with the soap, but beyond that, I work most everything else. This week I had him put in and start one full load in the wash. He was super pumped!  Treyton has also been LOVING all of his new baby cousins. He loves to hold them, snuggle them, rub his face up against their’s and even when they are a little restless he does a really great job. He can’t leave them alone, seriously, it’s adorable and something that this mama treasures in her heart.

Alligators

Read Alouds:

• Alligators and Crocodiles by Gail Gibson
• Alligator or Crocodile: How Do you Know?
• Alligators
• Alligator at Saw Grass Road by Janet Halfmann
• Reptiles (Usborne)

In honor of learning about alligators - I had Treyton watch the first episode of Swamp People on our netflix, which not only showed lots of alligator action and hunting, but also showed some of the beautiful swamps of southern Louisiana. Back in October while visiting my Dad in Louisiana, we actually went on a swamp tour, which Treyton was very fond of and remembers vividly.

Alligator Paper Craft

Both of the kids did the alligator craft from DLTK-Teach. I didn’t take a picture of the two pictures – I’ll try to get them on here soon (maybe). 

Alligator Notebooking Page

Treyton really enjoys learning about Alligators and other reptiles. He had a hard time, the day my sister was here, but he really didn’t want to be doing school that day anyway, but the next day he really got into it.

Math: Money

Treyton is nearing the end of his math book this week, which is like the best thing since sliced bread for him – no seriously, the kid gets ecstatic over finishing a book. This week we focused on money/cents, which he seems to finally be grasping. I printed off a Money Booklet @ Teachers Pay Teachers for free, which he enjoyed making.