Who doesn't love sweet adorable Corduroy?! This book is awesome! So much fun playful learning this week with this book! We were able to pull so much out of this book.
Scripture: Proverbs 17:17- "A friend loves at all times."
Math concepts:
1. Money - In the book, Lisa has a piggy bank in which she has been saving money and she uses this money to purchase Corduroy. Ellie made a piggy bank with paper mache and an egg carton. We blew up a small balloon, then using old newspapers and glue, covered the balloon with three layers of saturated gluey newspaper. Once that was dry, we glued on 4 egg crates from a cardboard egg carton as feet. We used cardboard and a cutting off a paper towel roll to create a snout. Once all was glued on, we painted the pig all over. When this was dry, we used a pink pipe cleaner and curled it up for a pig tail, glued on eyes, and cut a hole in the top to be the coin slot. In the bottom of the big, I cut a small hole and stuck a wine cork in. We discussed the benefit and purpose of a piggy bank and then looked at coins. We discussed the different sizes, values, and presidents on the coins (which also allowed a small history lesson). She placed them in her pig and we counted them as she did so. We counted the quantity of coins and then counted the value of the coins. She liked the sound they made. We discussed that God is our provider of all things, including money. Money is valuable and essential for buying food, clothes, paying for things we are responsible for, and for desires, like Lisa's desire for Corduroy. We must be good stewards of our money and we must be responsible with our money as well. There was so very much to discuss in this one project and we hot on it all week long.
2. Counting: Another mathematic concept was to count the lamps and the beds found in the "palace" at the top of the escalator. We counted every time we read and she looked forward to it. We made our fingers "jump" on the beds.
3. Grouping/ shapes: We had a bucket sensory bin for play. My grandmother had a huge bag full of old buttons with different shapes and colors and sizes. Ellie matched the buttons and she grouped and counted them into "button families."
Art Play:
When we read the sequel to "Corduroy," "A Pocket for Corduroy," we met an artist at the laundromat in the story who was inspired by the swirling colors through the glass in the machine. Ellie used glass marbles to swirl around in a tray on top of paint splotched paper to make some really beautiful swirly prints. She did this for almost an hour and made several paintings. She chose different colors each time, practiced her swirling and balancing as she slid the marbles back and forth. She even on her own brought up the artist in the stroy as she worked asking, "Why did the artist dry Corduroy's clothes?" She remembered and wanted to have discussion. I love that natural interest.
In the Kitchen:
Ellie and I love baking and cooking. I've said it before and I'll say it again - so much learning happens in the kitchen! Measuring, chemistry, hands on skills, discussion and conversation, patience, etc. We made Button Cookies. We made a healthy recipe using cashew butter and almond flour and stevia to sweeten. We made our own dough and then placed little dough balls on trays to bake. Once almost finished baking, we made impressions upon the cookies with large buttons. They weren't "pinterest perfect" but they weren't a fail, either! Haha! Since we saw the buttons in the sensory bin had many different colors and patterns, I thought it would be fun to give these button cookies each a little decoration as well. So I gave Ellie some sprinkles and let her go to town with it. I saved a few for myself that were not decorated so I could enjoy guilt free!
Sewing / Handicraft:
We are Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers. So handicrafts are important to us! I don't know what Ellie will find a passion for as she is older but I believe all children can benefit from learning to simply sew a few stitches. It has served me so well in life being able to sew by hand. Ellie has already shown so much talent in knot tying and threading beads and fine tiny detailed intricate work. So, using a needlepoint grid and needle and thread, I taught Ellie to sew this week and she really loved it and picked up on it. She of course is no master but she learned to totally thread and sew through and through, up and down all by herself to the point I was able to let her work while I read books to her. She needed help with the technique of double knotting and knotting the thread to the needle. At 3 years old she can thread and stitch and I can't wait to watch her grow in this skill. She will be able to do so much with this. The reason we chose to do this of course this week with this story is because Lisa sews Corduroy's button on his strap. Again, it is so good that one knows this skill! Even my husband can do it and I find that very attractive! Practical life skill.
Fun Field Trip / Experiences / Memory Making / Bonding:
I love taking my daughter on dates. There was no "academic benefit" in this but there was a really fun day of bonding and getting a couple of new experiences when I took Ellie to our mall to "Build a Bear" where she got to pick out her very own "bear" (Cat, actually) and choose a special outfit for it to take home like Lisa. Then, hand in hand with myself and her new friend, Suzie the Cat, we found an escalator (which Ellie calls "excavator") and we went up and down it over and over and over! She LOVED it! She braced herself to jump off and took her time stepping on. She wanted to go again and again and again! We always enter and exit through one of the major department stores and this particular one also has an escalator within it. So after our rides, we were leaving and she saw this other escalator and said, "Please can we go on that one?" OF course we did...over and over yet again. She told everyone about it the next few days! She then understood when we continued reading what "mountain" Corduroy was climbing. She would see him on it on the pages and squeal out, "Excavator! I been on that before!" Haha!! We got in the car and she said, "I had so much fun on our date, mommy! Dates are my favorite!" That makes me so happy! Bonding is so important and it's one of the major reasons I choose to Homeschool - so I can be the one with my child all day and not some other man or woman. I get to be the one to share in these moments and raise my child and it is so joy giving!
Skills / Motor development / observational skills:
1. Button Bucket. We had a little tiny bucket with scraps of fabric inside. Each swatch of fabric had a slit cut in the middle. On the handle of the tin bucket I tied a long ribbon. At the other end of this long ribbon, I sewed a large button. The idea of this "game" as we called it was so let Ellie button all the fabric onto the ribbon. My land! She went to town and had at it real quick. She LOVED this activity and this was so great for those buttoning practice skills. It encouraged this desire in her to button her own clothes, in fact. She is an independent girl and this enhanced that characteristic in her. The entire week she asked of me to let her try with her own buttons when dressing herself which is about the only thing she needs out of me when it comes to dressing anymore. She got them no problem and her self confidence sky rocketed!
2. On Amazon you can purchase your little one their very own Corduroy bear. Your child can button and unbutton his overalls. This was a great visual and hands on tool and practice for Ellie as we read this book. She would do and undo his buttons over and over. It is as if she found it soothing. She LOVES hands on work.
3. Where's the button? Game: One button, 3 matching opaque cups. Line up the cups, place the button under one of the cups showing your child which cup it is under. Encourage your child to keep his/her eye on that cup as it moves so that they will be able to identify the cup it is under when all the cups stop moving. Move the cups around, starting slowly and simply. When you stop moving the cups, ask your child, "which cup is the button in?" And let them point! This is so good for observational skills and attention span growth. Ellie loved this game and her eyes were hilarious to watch during!
Here are our go along books:
We loved all these cute little Corduroy books. We also enjoyed reading this books all about all the types of bears our great God created! I learned a lot through this "Bears" book. Ellie has been privileged to see real life bears on more than one occasion on our adventures so this just helped to concrete that experience and knowledge.
Happy Rowing, friends!
