science week: Solar System

last week was SCIENCE WEEK here at the widmaier house. last summer i came up with the idea to do a themed week each week of the summer. the wid kids dont do well with down time. someone ends up crying because they are hurt, or in time-out because they hurt someone. as much as i would love to say i love lazy summer time and we just hang out and get along all day, that is not the case. maybe it is the age. they need to be entertained and have a schedule.

after doing a themed week last year, i realized that the kids really loved it and it helped me get through the day by having a plan. not gonna lie, a lot of prep goes into this but it sure does help make the days go by smoother.

science was their favorite week last year so that that is what we started with this year.

i had already done a bit of research and came across some great lesson plans that i wanted to work off of for the week so Monday we took a trip to our library and got books to go along with the science subjects we were going to study. the kids always have a good time at the library. i always leave feeling a bit frazzled. again, maybe the age.

anyway, monday and tuesday we studied the SOLAR SYSTEM. we got a bunch of books, read about the planets and solar system, made flash cards with excellent drawings of the plants and what made each one special, made up songs, and even made a solar system model. i just picked up one from walmart. we had a great time painting and learning.

tuesday i served them a solar system lunch. they LOVED it. it was just a fluke thing when i thought about cutting their sandwiches into circles. then i found enough other circle things for each one of the planets. i really think God gives me those little victories to help keep me encouraged throughout the day.

i am still amazed at how much they learned in just a few short days and how much they still remember. the song we made up has really helped them.

(sung to the tune 1 little, 2 little, 3 little indians)

mercury, venus, earth and mars

jupiter, saturn, uranus, and neptune,

pluto is the smallest, but its still a planet

in Gods awesome solar system

the sun is a star, and mercury is closest to it,

venus is hottest, earth we live on,

mars is the red planet, jupiter's the biggest,

saturns rings are made of ice.

uranus is slow and takes a long time to orbit,

neptune is freezing, and pluto is far away,

god made the solar system and it is perfect,

so we praise him everyday.

maybe i can get a video of them all singing it. brenna even sings parts of it and asks me to sing it to her all the time.

question????? i know some of my readers are homeschool teachers or have taught in a school setting. what do you teach about pluto now? is it a plant? all the books i found at the library said it was, but they were older books. i found about 50/50 on the internet whether it was a planet or not. i taught them it was...

you can click here to see the other things we did last summer for science week:

sandwich bag explosion

liquids, solids, and maple syrup