Friends! Where did last week go? When I started sharing our “Teach Yo Tots” at-home lessons over a month ago, I committed myself to getting the posts up by midnight on Sundays so that you can fit them into your week anywhere you want, starting with Monday, so I am sorry that last week’s lesson was absent. Last week was a recovery week for me, honestly, since the week prior was hard on me. We had 7 straight days of rain in San Diego that week, and rainy weather throws such a wrench into things in these parts — we couldn’t go outside and we’re so used to having the sun on our side here, so that was rough! Ryan was also at peak busyness with work, and when he is going 110+ with his job, I’m doing the same with mine, so those busy spells with his job leave us both wiped out. Hence the recovery week. And by “recovery” I mean I spent my evenings away from my computer working and instead I had legit conversations with Ryan (since he didn’t have to work as much after bedtime last week either!), reading books before bed, and man, going to bed early (cue the happy tears)!! Recovery weeks are good for the soul. 🙂
That said, let’s jump into this week’s lesson! We get to teach yo tots allll about dirt…
DIRT
Topics covered: biology, baking, writing, presenting
GROUP DISCUSSION
– Ask the kind of funny but necessary Q, “What is dirt?” Your kids will nail this answer but taking somewhat abstract concepts that we glaze over in our everyday living, like dirt, and making them concrete through discussions and definitions is what real learning is all about. My girls said that dirt is “the stuff that plants grow in” and “the part of the earth where bugs and plants can grow.” See? Nailed it! Share this final definition: dirt – or soil! – is a mixture of lots of “stuff,” like rocks, clay, sand and organic matter, and the specific parts of dirt depends on where you live. In other words, there are hundreds of different types of dirt! From there, grab some pencils and paper, and make a data table like so…
– And teach your kids about data collection – the process of collecting and then analyzing information about something – in this case, dirt. Scientists are always collecting data in order to learn about the world and how to best operate in the world. For this lesson today, gathering information about different types of dirt in your area and analyzing them will just be straight up fun, so with your data table ready to go, let’s hit the road!
– Get outside and find 3 different types of dirt in your area! As you collect your samples, talk about the dirt’s color, texture, and its composition — the “stuff” mixed in with it. For our first sample, we started with the dirt in the planter around our house…
Then we drove up the street to our closest park and snagged some dirt next to the sidewalk (our parks are still closed, so we got what we could)!
And finally, I drove the girls to a trail in our area that isn’t closed off yet, knowing that the dirt there is pretty different (it’s gritty!) from the dirt around our house.
That’s the last sample there! With some annoyed girls that I asked them to smile for a pic, haha 🙂
Their completed data tables…
And our samples up close. We reviewed the girls’ responses in their data tables and oohed and ahhed over how dirt is actually pretty different and pretty rad.
— Next up, now that you have your data, let’s review dirt — with a twist. As your kids watch this short video answering “What is dirt?”, have them write down 1-3 facts from the video that they think is the m most interesting, because at the end of class, they’ll write a short report about the lesson for the whole day.
— Head to your kitchen now to make “Dirt Dessert,” or Dirt Cups – you know – that classic treat of layered pudding and crushed Oreos! Actually, if you want to be a sly mom and pull a swift one on your kids ;), introduce this part of the lesson by saying that you’re going to make Dirt Dessert, and then proceed to get your dirt samples and dump them into a mixing bowl on hand – watching your kids’ jaws drop as you go – and then as you start stirring and talking about mixing in mud, they’ll ask if you’re serious and you can say YES, and then their faces will explode with shock. HA! But really, I did ran with that trick for a hot minute and the girls got a kick out of it. After they got over their shock. 😉
Mash your Oreos (or Joe Joe’s, if you’re a TJ’s fan)!
Layer away…
And ta-da! Dirt Dessert. 🙂
— From here, top off your dirt reports and then sit back and listen to each other share! My girls really love presenting, actually, especially Claire. Standing up in front of people and sharing something you wrote is still pretty novel to her, and she has seen Olivia prep oral reports for first grade, so Sis was all over this part of the lesson. Olivia was “meh” about it – she was done with class by this point! – but she put on a good face and did a great job presenting, too. We brought Ryan down from his office, and listening to them present their favorite facts from the class was the cherry on top!
And with that, class is dismissed!
Stay tuned for next week’s lesson, which I’m 99% sure will be up by next Monday (I guess you never know, huh?? 😉 ). I honestly haven’t decided yet if I want to teach the girls alll about electricity or eggs for the letter “E” — eeek! I’ll figure it out ASAP. 🙂 xoxox!
