Madeline

"The story of twelve little girls in two straight lines, the smallest one being Madeline, who wakes up one night with an attack of appendicitis." ~ book summary

For our craft this week, we made Madeline school-girl hats out of paper plates, bowls, paint, and crepe ribbon.  Instructions found here (scroll down to Madeline crafts.doc).

Aubrey found Paris, France, on the world map and put the story disk right next to the disk from The Glorious Flight.

Addison watched "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", placed the letters "M" (Madeline) and "X" (x-ray) onto the coconut tree, colored a Madeline page, and circled and practiced both letters on her worksheets from Kidszone. 

Aubrey did word searches and writing practice for the letters "M" and "X" from First School, the next reading lesson on Starfall, and drawing with copywork from Draw Write Now.

Aubrey and Addison also worked on tangrams of a boy, girl, and dog.

Since Madeline had her appendix removed, this was a great opportunity to have the girls' first lesson on their body organs.

They watched a video on the Digestive System and learned about the main organs and where they are located inside their bodies. 

Madeline was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, so the girls learned how to call 911, state their emergency, and give their address.

What better way to work on fine motor skills than to play a tedious game of Operation.

For our fun snack this week, we made an Eiffel Tower when some friends came over.  Directions found here.

We had a fabulous time with friends on our field trip to the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine's open house tour.  Although the story of Madeline had nothing to do with animals, Madeline did have surgery in the hospital.  The UGA Vet School shows little ones the process of getting ready for surgery and surgery itself, allbeit on stuffed animals. 

Aubrey and Addison assessed the vitals of their stuffed animals before surgery.

Then they got dressed in their gowns, masks, and gloves.

Little ones get to help throughout the surgery.

Aubrey's bunny rabbit was first.  She helped hold the oxygen mask.

Then it was Addison's turn to assist with her stuffed doggie.

All of the girls (including our friends the Farley's) enjoyed the unique experience.

We observed skeletons and preserved organs of animals and took a tour of the hospital (although pictures were not allowed).

The girls practiced their skills with a laparoscope by trying to retrieve gummy bears and put them in a cup.

We really enjoyed rowing this book and all of the activities we were able to combine with it.

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The Rag Coat

"Minna's family can't afford a coat for her, but Papa keeps her warm in winter with a burlap sack and Mama's patchwork quilt; this happy family understands that ``People only need people, and nothing else.'' Soon, Minna loses one of those people: Papa, a coal miner, gets the lung sickness and dies, after urging eight- year-old Minna to start school. There's still the problem of the coat, solved by neighbors who contribute scraps and help to make one of patchwork lined with the old sack, ready almost as soon as cold weather begins. At first, the other children tease Minna about her outlandish garment; then, learning that the patchwork contains bits of their own histories, they begin to honor Minna and the stories she tells about the coat's many pieces."  ~ Kirkus Reviews, Amazon

After reading the story, we observed and talked about the quilt coat that I found on ebay (see photo of Aubrey above).  Then Daddy showed the girls the quilt that his Granny Nash made out of feed sacks around 1945.  

The story takes place during America's colonial times, where cooking was on a wood stove in a log home, children walked to a one-room schoolhouse with or without shoes, and evening activities were done by candlelight.  For our field trip, we had a picnic and went to the Colonial Market Faire at Fort Yargo State Park.

We learned about typical homelife during that time: how families dressed, cooked, cleaned, slept, played, made furniture and pottery, and sold their wares.

 The girls were fascinated with the children who were dressed in colonial-era dresses.

(Log home and cooking area)

We visited each of the market tents.

We watched a demonstration of wood carving to make a table leg.

After watching this woman wash dishes in a pot of boiling pot, we were reminded of how blessed we are to have a dishwasher!

It was a treat to watch the transformation of a mound of Georgia red clay into a beautiful pitcher.

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