Ocean Unit

June was the month of Jaymi's study of the ocean, in her kindergarten class, so we supplemented at home as well.
Last week I took her to one of her favourite places to go downtown...Undersea Gardens.
It's different for her every time we go.
We hadn't been since last summer, and she has been asking for months!
There are tons of windows where you can see a variety of ocean creatures, such as starfish, sea stars, anemone, an octopus, wolf eels, rock fish, crabs, etc. There is also a show every 1/2 hour, where a diver will go into the water and show you (and tell you about) a bunch of the creatures.
One of Jaymi's favourite parts this time was hearing about how the sea star eats its prey...it pushes its stomach out of its body, digests the prey and brings its stomach back inside.
Having a better concept of numbers now that she's 5 1/2, she really understood that 1,600 suction cups on the octopus tentacles was a huge amount!












On Monday, the kindergarten class went to a Marine Ecology centre where they have a bunch of touch tanks and lots of ocean creatures to look at and learn about.
They even got to see a tiny octopus in a jar, and a porpoise fetus (umbilical cord still attached!).
























Yesterday, Jaymi had her Show and Share in class. She brought her big blow-up crab, a Ziploc bag full of ocean creature magnets, and she also brought an ocean storybook.
The surprise to me, was when I walked into the class and saw Jaymi sitting in the teacher's chair with the 'reading quilt' on her lap (just like the teacher does at storytime), reading the entire book out loud to her classmates!
Yep, that's right...she actually read it OUT LOUD. :) I am so proud of her. I know that she would have been scared to do this.
That is one example of why I want her in school, at least part time.