Robert McCloskey was born and grew up not too far from here. In fact, just last month I learned of an event honoring Robert McCloskey and a couple other Hamilton, Ohio notables at Hamilton Heritage Hall downtown. We packed up the kiddos and went down for a fun read aloud (always nice when someone else reads aloud to my kids, ha!), scavenger hunt through the old courthouse, and some vintage toys. I also kept in mind that we were going to study Lentil this year and going back through Hamilton, getting some more information from the local historians – this is an even sweeter read. Many of the buildings in Lentil’s town of Alto were inspired by, now historic, buildings and landmarks throughout the east side of Hamilton.
Social Studies
We had to stretch Social Studies into Language Arts day too because there was so much to talk about and my kiddos still have a pretty short attention span. We talked about Ohio, where we live, so that was fun. We talked about Veterans and reading this book about the young woman who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial fit right in for our learning.
Patriotism is a hard part for me. I don’t want my kiddos to think they can’t be appreciative of being born in this country because there are bad parts of it. But I also don’t want them to think that only the USA has good qualities and that mistakes have never been made in our history. It’s a hard balance – also making sure that we are talking about things that are at the right maturity and comprehension level for these little ones. I am purposefully avoiding the phrase “our land” and instead saying, “the land around us” or “the land on which we live” in order to acknowledge that the land was once managed by different people over history.
Art
It is just so fun to look at how people have lived over history and compare/contrast those with our own homes or the homes of extended family and friends. I did not know that Ancient Rome had multi-story apartment buildings. Incredible!
These books were fun to look at while looking at different home architecture. We were amazed and inspired at these gingerbread houses. We also loved seeing real examples of the mansard roofed Second Empire home as Colonel Carter throughout our home state. As we flipped through the pages, my 5 yr old began to point out the homes that fit the description.
Science
Thankful that the kids have learned about the 5 Senses in Sunday School, so we had an easy entry to these books. Also cut up a lemon with our lunch, and then promptly tossed it into the compost. haha! Not even the dog was interested after taking a lick! These kids really like learning how their bodies work.
As the Tag-Along student took her nap, the 5 yr old and I put together a box guitar. He really liked strumming and I cut out a cardboard pick for him to use too. He then popped his harmonica in his mouth and is on his way to becoming a one-man band. Just need some cymbals!
We adapted a poem from Mother Goose called “Whistle” here:
“Whistle, daughter, whistle;
Whistle, daughter dear.”
“I cannot whistle, mommy,
I cannot whistle clear.”
“Whistle, daughter, whistle;
Whistle for a pound.”
“I cannot whistle, mommy,
I cannot make a sound.”
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Complete Book List:
- “Lentil” by Robert McCloskey
- “Celebrating Ohio” by Jane Kurtz
- “Veterans Day” by Rachel Grack
- “Maya Lin” by Jeanne Walker Harvey
- “A Guide to Historic Houses in Ohio Open to the Public” by Elizabeth P. Allyn & Elisabeth H. Tuttle
- “How to Make a Box Guitar” by Barbara Alpert
- “My Amazing Sense of Taste” by Ruth Owen
- “Old-House Dictionary” by Stephen J. Phillips
- “The Amazing History of Homes” by Heather Murphy Capps
- “The Gingerbread Architect” by Susan Matheson and Lauren Chattman
- “Native American Homes” by P. V. Knight
- “A World of Sound” by Nancy Leber and Robin Bromley
Xapa to the World 