Blueberry Unit Study

So it turns out that if you borrow every book you can with the word "blueberry" in the title, you wind up with a pretty well-rounded blueberry unit study. This is what we've been doing for the past few weeks. Blueberries are in season, and we planned a trip with friends to go blueberry picking. So I hit the library. There were several books that weren't favorites for one reason or another. Here are the ones that stuck:

Blueberries for Sal. A classic. But I guess I either didn't read this one as a kid, or I have a short memory, because I hadn't realized that Sal is a little girl, not a boy! Excellent, since I have a girl. Sal tromps around blueberry picking in overalls, with no girly pretensions like hair bows. In terms of fitting into the unit, this book is literature, with opportunity to discuss science (how people and animals save food/fat for the winter). There's also material there for social studies (family relationships) and art. I know Blueberries for Sal is a Before Five in a Row book. My copy of BFIAR is still packed away in a box somewhere though. (Um, yeah it was over a year ago that we moved). Anyway, you can't "do blueberries" without this book.

Peter in Blueberry Land is your Scandinavian, Waldorf-y fairy tale, and it's delightful. There is so much to talk about on each page. We enjoyed this book purely for the literature, but you could launch into math discussions about relative size, as protagonist Peter is shrunk down to the size of the fairies in the story and sees nature from that perspective. There are also obvious science tie-ins. I didn't go there this time, since I'm doing this unit with a very young child who is not yet 3.

Blueberries Grow on a Bush by Mari Schuh. Ladybug has surprised me before by enjoying nonfiction, and this one was no exception. It's straight science, the life cycle of the blueberry bush, including pollination and winter dormancy. The photographs are simple and beautiful. There's very little text on each page, making this great for a toddler. Bug chose to read it several times. 
 
One Little Blueberry is a simple counting book. I almost disregarded it when I saw what it was, but I'm glad I didn't because my daughter loves it. I am less than charmed by one blueberry, two red ants, three ladybugs, etc...But that doesn't mean Ladybug won't enjoy it. What saves this book from being an ordinary counting book is the little plot: the one blueberry stays in the story for the whole book, as the increasing insects chase it, all hoping to get a snack. Insects are a nice tie-in for this unit, and my Ladybug (led by her Daddy) wound up observing a wide variety of insects on our actual blueberry picking trip, including a very cool blue dragonfly. For unit purposes, check off math. We counted bugs, and Ladybug read me the numbers on each page. 

Blueberry Mouse is just plain cute. It's a rhyming story of a mouse who lives in a blueberry pie, and tells how she eats up her delicious house. For our purposes, I'm counting it as language/poetry because of the rhyming. You could take a social studies angle that talks about the houses we live in, friends, and neighborhoods. I didn't feel compelled to analyze this book, so we just enjoyed reading it. 

To me, something just as important as the unit is how it came about. My daughter is young, and I'm still feeling out our homeschooling style. Yes, I borrowed all the books and decided we could have fun learning about blueberries in a way that enriched our blueberry picking day trip. That's me planning and directing. But I borrowed a ton more books than we actually read, and I took her lead on what to really focus on. One Little Blueberry is a good example: I almost left it at the library, but I saw how Ladybug liked it, so I brought it home. And it really filled out the math part of the unit. The unit was gentle, always fun and always following Ladybug's interests. And that's the child-led part of joyful learning that is so important to me. 

Blueberry picking is my new favorite summer tradition. There are no thorns (raspberries) and no stooping over (strawberries). I highly recommend it!

August

This morning around 7:00am I opened our back door and it was quite cool outside. Not "Not-yet-hot" with humidity that promises a scorching day as soon as the sun gets a little higher. No, crisp and cool. 59 degrees, according to Google. It feels beautiful, and I left the kitchen door open to enjoy it. But I'm not sure I like it. August. Since when does August mean cooler mornings? Since you moved to New England, silly. I grew up in the Midwest, with Augusts so hot you could fry that cliche egg on the sidewalk. Opening the back door could often be mistaken for opening the oven door.

Summer here is so short and precious. It will give way to fall, and New England fall is the most glorious and spectacular experience. But I'm not ready yet. The back to school commercials are running on the radio. Another homeschool blogger I read is writing about Fall planning (rightfully so). I just can't do it. Ladybug's playmate turns 3 this month, followed by this cascade of autumn celebrations instantly followed by Ladybug being 3 and then winter celebrations. Then before we know it 2013 is over! Did I mention I just can't do it yet? Last year I wrote "It's Still Summer," so I guess this is a thing for me around this time of year, hanging on to the last bits of heat in an otherwise chilly climate.

I'm not ready to entertain fall, but I will acknowledge late summer. The sunflower seeds we planted in spring have formed fat buds, and one is showing off tiny yellow petals. Instead of getting ahead of myself like I usually want to do, I'm reflecting on late summer as a time to savor. This heat and those flowers were so dearly anticipated back in the winter, when we were buried under 3 feet of snow in our March blizzard. This month, now, is the one we've been waiting all year for. I believe I will play in the hose and walk to the park.

Sunflowers for Summer

Last month we planted a pot of sunflower seeds, and they have since sprouted into seedlings. Ladybug has her own watering can, and we head out frequently to water them, which she refers to as flowers eating water. From the day I bought the flower seeds, I have been super excited about this project. So I'm relieved that Bug is having fun with it too.

Of course, we've been reading books about sunflowers too. Life As a Sunflower was a big hit last month. Nice photography and simple text, so that it's engaging even though it's nonfiction. Then this weekend I bought To Be Like the Sun, and I'm just in love with it. Ladybug likes it too and requested three consecutive readings today. It seems to be art meets poetry meets science meets spirituality. The text is written as a little girl addressing the sunflower seed that she is planting. She notes the white stripes on the gray seed, then tells the sunflower that although she digs the hole, the seed does the real work, sunflower work, following instructions written on its heart. Lovely.

The story takes us through the seasons, and though the words are few, each page is so rich. The girl-narrator observes that the flower bud is like hands clasped around a treasure. Ladybug and I play a hand game, making tight fists like flower buds that we open up like a blooming flower. As the flower grows, the text names the parts of the plant in a simple poetic rhythm. It encourages artistic and scientific appreciation without being didactic. Ladybug has zeroed in on the word stem when we read this page. When fall comes, leaves swirl and cardinals flock to the bird feeder stocked with sunflower seeds. So Bug talks about how cardinals love to eat sunflower seeds, and she can eat sunflower seeds too. The story ends in winter, with the little girl reflecting on the tiny seed, and how hard it worked to be like the sun. Even the end pages are fun, covered in a design of scattered sunflower seeds. Bug chose to count these, so now we've integrated math into our delightful book. I guess it has everything!

Summer Begins

This is one of my favorite pictures from this week. The weather got hot just in time for the beginning of June, and we played at the sprinkler in one of the local parks.

It's Still Summer!

We just had a really fun morning with friends at our local park's wading pool. Today was the first time any of us had visited this pool, even though it's already late summer. Back to school sales are everywhere, Pinterest is full of fall recipes, and I caught myself planning Ladybug's Halloween costume. For a planner like me, it's easy to get ahead of myself and forget where we are now.

I'm writing this post to remind myself that we just moved to a great new neighborhood, and I have found at least three new playgrounds. We have a little less than one month before the wading pool closes for the season, so I'd like to squeeze every drop of fun out of the rest of the summer. The library can wait for the (many, many) cold days ahead.

Today is August 14. I bet I could make it to the wading pool or sprinkler park at least ten more times before August is over. I will break out the sunscreen.

Seasonal Planning - Summer

Ladybug is only 18 months old, but I already do some homeschool planning. While most of it is spent on Amazon wish-listing books and curriculum ideas that will certainly change before Ladybug grows into them, some of it is beneficial to me now. Earlier this year I was inspired by a post on City Kids Homeschooling about homeschooling rhythms. I immediately started working out a similar schedule for my days with Ladybug. I have been updating them at the beginning of a new season, roughly corresponding with our music class. It helps me to take a step back and more deliberately choose how our days will flow. And it really helps me to have something to lean on during my 3:00 pm slump!

This is our summer routine. One of the best things I was able to do was recognize my 3:00 slump and plan to get outside around that time. The weather is usually wonderful, and I can't think of a better season than summer for frequent playground time.

Of course, like anything with a toddler, this routine is flexible. I adapt it to meet our needs. This is the basic outline that serves us well.