April Fools Day Lesson Plan

     As a homeschooler I am getting much better at recognizing learning opportunities.  Seems like anything can be spun into an educational moment... even April Fools Day pranks! ;)

Can't Hear My Voice? - How the Ear Works
     In the morning, I started to mouth my words to Marley without actually speaking.  She smiled and asked, "Mommy, what are you doing?"  I kept up my silent words for about 5 minutes and Marley started to copy me by speaking without sound.  I then let her in on my joke.  We then discussed how sound and hearing works.  Here are a few links on that subject:
- Hearing and the Ear
- Facts About Hearing
- How the Ear Works (video)

Frozen Cereal - How Liquids Freeze
     Last night I poured my kids cereal and milk and put the bowls in the freezer.  This morning they had a little surprise.  Obviously, the frozen milk didn't stop my Dylan from digging in to her cereal. Hahaha!


After we had some giggles, we discussed why things freeze and how temperature works.  Here are some good information links:
- Freezing Liquids Experiment

- Melting and Boiling

- States of Matter Worksheet
- 3 States of Matter (video)

Brownies, er... Brown Es - Lower Case & Upper Case
     I told my girls that I had baked them some brownies. Okay, well technically I didn't say the word "brownies" but they got all excited and ran to the kitchen.  When I opened the oven, Marley said, "Wait a minute!  These aren't brownies."  I said, "Yes they are.  They are brown Es aren't they?... April Fools!"

She was laughing and was such a good sport about it.  I thought she would be sad that they weren't real brownies.

Since she took it so well, I decided to bake real brownies with my girls afterward.  But before that, I had them separate the brown Es into lower case and upper case letters.  Done! Let's bake! ;)  Here are links to upper case and lower case practice:
- Upper Case & Lower Case Game
- Upper Case & Lower Case Worksheets