Spring project 2010

During our homeschooling years I often used ideas from others people's blogs. It was useful in many ways because the work had been tried and tested and comments were added for ways to better their experiences. I thought, from time to time, that I would also post about projects and things we studied back in the not too distant past, with the idea that it might also help others who are studying at home. It also brings back great memories, I can assure you.

During the spring of 2010, when my last homeschooler was 8 1/2 years old, we decorated our kitchen door with a spring project. It all looked very jolly and we had so much fun doing it.

We included all our areas of study. Here's how (please note that all of the family speak two languages as a regular thing but for written work, at this stage, I normally treated English as a second language, with Catalan being their first):
Language arts
Catalan:
- a short essay titled "When I hear the word 'spring' I think of..."
- a list of twenty-two spring words to be put in alphabetical order
- look up, discuss and write down sayings about springtime
Spanish:
- learn a poem titled "La primavera ha venido" by Antonio Machado
English:
- colour by letters - an umbrella (from edHelper.com)
- butterfly word search with secret message (from EnchantedLearning.com)
- spring alphabet code (from EnchantedLearning.com)
- making plurals of spring nouns (from EnchantedLearning.com)
Music
- learn a song in Catalan "Els ocells han arribat"
- learn to play the same song on the recorder
Bible studies and memory verses
- discuss and learn - Song of Solomon ch. 2 verses 11 and 12, Hosea ch. 6 verse 3, Joel ch. 2 verse 23
- talk about the significance of the butterfly, rain and rainbows in God's word
Nature studies
- learn about the life cycle of a butterfly
- learn what metamorphosis is and talk about other creatures which go through the same type of life cycle
- learn about the nests of different creatures - fish, wasps, field mice and birds
Social studies
- learn when spring officially starts and how the moment is calculated
- talk about the equinox and the solstice
- learn about the tilt of the earth and how this causes the seasons
- Make a weather chart and plot morning (8:00 am), midday (2:00 pm) and evening (8:00 pm) temperatures + a daily pictogram of the general weather trend
Mathematics
- plot a graph picture using a series of given coordinates (from edHelper)
- learn about symmetry using bugs (from EnchantedLearning.com)
- study simple fractions (using worksheets from EnchantedLearning)
Art
- study and colour various typical spring flowers and learn their names in all three languages - tulips, daffodils, poppies, violets and roses
- study and discuss the growth of the grape vines and draw fortnightly developments
Physical activity
- plenty of nature walks around where we live

Later, we converted the work into a manageable project. Here's how in photos:

The front cover:

Social studies:

Translation of last paragraph. "The word 'primavera' comes from two Latin words - 'prima' meaning 'first' and 'vera' meaning 'green'. Thus, we can say that spring is the 'first green' of the year.

Nature studies:

Catalan:

Spanish:

Maths:

English:

Music:

Art:

Each study subject is separated with  a piece of decorated paper, thus:

I have not included all the work we did as this would have taken much more time. I hope, however, you get the general idea.

If you go here you will find a lapbook about Catalonia (in Catalan).
If you go here you will find a character study (in Spanish).
If you go here you will find details of a project about butterflies and moths, including a mosaic of a Camberwell Beauty butterfly and a quiz to find out how much has been learnt (in English).