One thing we didn't do enough of this week was art projects. African arts are so beautiful and fun but we didn't have time to fit them in and we had so many fabulous books to read. Some of the art projects are pinned on my September-Africa Pinterest board.
Morning Warm-Ups
We worked on handwriting worksheets this week for our morning warm-ups. K began learning how to write the letter A and B practiced the uppercase and lower case A.
Morning Group Time
- Pledge to the Flag
- Days of the Week Song by the Learning Station
K learned about the letter T this week, one that he already recognized. He has been learning sight words through the Read Well curriculum and he's so proud of himself when he gets to put those words together and make a story.
Our vocabulary this week are:
- village
- savanna
- desert
- jungle
- equator
- reptile
- mammal
- insect
Bible Story
We discussed Moses and how God gave him the Ten Commandments. We didn't spend much time on the story but instead worked on memorizing the Ten Commandment concepts on a preschool level. We used hand motions to help us remember them.
1. Keep God first
2. Worship God only
3. Don't say bad words
4. Keep Sunday holy (or special)
5. Obey Mom and Dad
6. Don't harm others
7. Don't cheat
8. Don't take other people's things
9. Tell the truth
10. Don't be jealous
Once again the International Mission Board had several resources for children to supplement their studies on Africa and other cultures. One of this is the Africa Tales Booklet which is free. We didn't use this as much as I hoped simply due to poor planning ahead on my part, but in the future I'd love to use this more as there are tons of free resources available to teach kids about African culture, language and daily life through the stories of fictional animals. Coloring pages, games and various activities are available.
2. Worship God only
3. Don't say bad words
4. Keep Sunday holy (or special)
5. Obey Mom and Dad
6. Don't harm others
7. Don't cheat
8. Don't take other people's things
9. Tell the truth
10. Don't be jealous
Reading
There we SOOOO many great picture books that we could have chosen this week but we settled for some really great ones.
There we SOOOO many great picture books that we could have chosen this week but we settled for some really great ones.
- My Dog is Barking
This book gives readers a glimpse into the daily lives of the people in Nigeria through the eyes of a missionary who watches from his kitchen window as his dog barks at the various people that pass by each day. Some of the pages include Bible verses that relate to the story and experience and children love the beautiful illustrations as they learn about the life of children in this small Nigerian town. We purchased this book from the International Missions Board website but its also available on Amazon.
- Safari So Good! All About African Wildlife (Cat in the Hat Learning Series)
The kids love the Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That and every one of these books are jam packed with fun, rhyme and information. This particular book introduces the kids to traditional African animals, prey vs. predator and other information for learning about Africa. With a list of vocabulary words in the back, one could easily plan a lesson just around the information in this book.
- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale
A cute book about a mosquito who annoys the iguana and the series of events that happens from there. The book explores cause and effect, repetition and sequence as it retells a traditional African tale using animals that are native to Africa.
Video: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
- We All Went on a Safari
We enjoyed reading this book as it highlighted the sights of Africa, traditional African names, the dynamics of tribal life, the culture of the Tanzania and Maasai people, and an introduction to counting in Swahili.
Video: We All Went on a Safari
- Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
With beautiful illustrations this book explores the relationships between people, animals and the rain as it uses sequencing and rhyming to tell the story. You may can also use the story to teach cause and effect as well.
Video: Reading Rainbow Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
- Zomo the Rabbit
Another traditional African tale about Zomo the rabbit and his quest for wisdom. I wasn't comfortable using "Sun God" in this book because my kids are still young so I changed it to "Sun King" and it worked perfectly.
- Jambo Means Hello: A Swahili Alphabet Book
An introduction to the Swahili alphabet and words with beautiful illustrations and descriptions of the African culture, history and way of life.
- A is for Africa
A walk through the sights and elements of African culture using the alphabet to organize them.
Note: I've linked most of these books to their Amazon pages but whenever possible we actually borrow them from the library instead of purchasing them. On a rare occasion that a book is not available at our library or it is and we decide that we love it so much, we use Amazon Prime to purchase our books at a low cost and free 2-day shipping!
Related Media
Go Diego Go, Wild Kratts and Justin Time all had several episodes on African safaris, animals and culture to choose from. We selected a few but if you want to focus on a specific animal, there are even more to choose from. Elephant, cheetah, hippo, etc.
Check out my BKS Prep-Africa Pinterest board for many of these ideas and more that we didn't get around to doing this week.
Go Diego Go, Wild Kratts and Justin Time all had several episodes on African safaris, animals and culture to choose from. We selected a few but if you want to focus on a specific animal, there are even more to choose from. Elephant, cheetah, hippo, etc.
Check out my BKS Prep-Africa Pinterest board for many of these ideas and more that we didn't get around to doing this week.
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