Gonna GO, gonna Go WILD KRATTS!

The newest trend in our house is Chris and Martin...also known as The Wild Kratt Brothers.  We have printed off a BILLION creature power discs, we have the vests and gloves, we have watched just about every episode on Netflix.

So when my kids LOVE something, we tie that into our learning. (Isn't that what homeschooling is ALL about!?)

This is what I came up with.

 The Wild Kratt Creature Journal

Things you will need to make your own:

Mommy's Little Learners Wild Kratt Journal Printables 

* Click here for your Cover Page

* Click here for pg 1 of Animal Recorder Sheet

* Click here for pg 2 of Animal Recorder Sheet

Wild Kratt Passport PRINT HERE

Powerdisc Printables PRINT HERE

1 Spiral notebook

2 Envelopes

glue

Stapler

The Cover page (above)

Print off the cover page (laminate if you wish) and glue it to the front of a spiral notebook.

Next, open up the notebook.  

**I found notebooks that already had a pocket page inside.***

Sorry for the side-ways picture

If you can't find these, then here's another option:

On the inside of the cardboard cover of the notebook, glue 2 letter or legal-sized envelopes.  One envelope is to house your child’s Wild Kratt passport which you can download and print here Wild Kratt Printable passport.  The 2nd envelope can house your child’s creature power discs.  Be sure and print some before hand, just for fun.  

Here’s a great link to get you started: Power Disc Printables   

Turn the page so that you have an open spread of 2 pieces of paper.  To make things different, I created the printables in landscape form, so that your child can have a top to bottom spread of information.  

Print and glue or staple the Animal Identifier Record Sheet.  With J next to me, I did some "thinking out loud" to model how I wanted this done. I wrote about the first creature which happened to be from the "frog fish" episode...my favorite!!

Then he did the next entry, a few days later, for his Writing assignment.

We used Wikipedia to help with some of the information about the Sperm Whale, which is the creature he chose to research.

We haven't used this mini-book yet, but plan to soon. It's a feature on pg 2 of the Animal Identifier Sheet.

Mini Book printable

I hope that you and your little learner enjoy making a Wild Kratt Creature Journal.

Be sure and share your ideas and pictures on our

Mommy's Little Learners Facebook Page!

or leave some comments below. That always makes my heart smile!

Happy Learning with your Little Ones!

A Peek inside our Unschooled Week

It was the end of March.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful.  And my husband and I were about to head out of the country for a special trip to Switzerland, which meant packing, preparing and really spending quality time with each of my children.

I was going to be away from my kids for 2 weeks and 2 days!!!!!!  This was a first for everyone and honestly scared the bejesus out of me. So quality time, with the 3 little ones that I love, was super important to me.  

I could have planned some structured learning.  I could have laid out books to read and planned out math lessons that needed to be taught.  But I stepped back and tried something that I will never regret…a week of unschooling.  

The term unschooling should have NEVER been created in my opinion.  Two years ago, I thought unschoolers were kids of crazy adults that had NO sense of time.  Boy, was I wrong.  Unschooling is more like "child-led learning".  

Kids play and learn naturally, you take their lead.  Am I right on this, unschooling homeschoolers out there?

During this week:

Did we stop reading…no.  

Did we stop writing…no.

Did we stop learning...NO! NO! NO!

I just stopped with my plans and had my children lead the way…child-led learning happened and I was amazed at how wonderful our week ended up being.

I simply noted (in red) all that naturally happened during this unschooling week.
By the end of the week, my planning book was COVERED in red writing.

Here is a peek inside our Unschooled Week:

These boys have Wild Kratt FEVER!!!  Lots of imaginative play in the back yard and at the park for these 2 brothers.

J wanted to print off a few power discs to play with and collect.  So this was the perfect chance for a quick intro to Google docs.  We looked up images, saved them, pasted them and printed them.  This boy EVEN learned how to laminate using my favorite tool in the house.  When you have ALL these power discs, then you better build something to put them in.  

And that led to this awesome Lego holder to house the creature power discs!

 When MiniM had some out-of-this-world fun!   

 And when you construction trucks are dirty...you better get out some soap and water to wash them clean, right?

And just when I thought it could get any better - THIS HAPPENED!

An amazing morning, hiking and learning about nature with our amazing friends.

This day clearly provided that "a classroom doesn't always have to have 4 walls".

We learned about bird migration and bees.  We hiked to a beautiful stream.  

Kids were being kids and the moms were soaking it all up.

Because of this one “unschooling” week, I have decided to claim a few unschooling weeks, just like this one, throughout our school year.  Honestly, we never stop learning at our home.  That's the atmosphere that my husband and I have created.  

But I guess claiming a week or two for just "unschooling" made me feel a freedom within our homeschool.  I felt a freshness about learning.  And if I felt this, then I know my children felt it too.

31 Reasons We Love Homeschooling

I could not sleep one night while we were vacationing in Switzerland (ugh! It's 2:30 am here). So I jumped onto Facebook and found a message from my sweet friend and fellow homeschool blogger, Ana Willis over at theycallmeblessed.org. She was planning and hosting a HUGE blog party and has asked 31 homeschooling moms to write the reasons they love homeschooling. How could I say no to this opportunity! (and I have some extra time to blog between train rides around this beautiful country) I love encouraging others homeschoolers and try my best to inspire families that might be a little unsure about how it works. 

So here's your chance to see amazing 31 difference perspectives over 31 days from 31 real homeschooling moms. 

Let the party begin! And here's how it works.

Each day, I will add a new reason from a different blogger on my blog.  Just click, read and comment and share on social media!

31 Reasons We Love Homeschooling

Reason 1 – They Call Me Blessed – The Unrushed Homeschooling Life That Creates Memories.

Reason 2 – Kingdom First Homeschool – Leading My Kids Down God’s Perfect Path

Reason 3 – Thriving As A Fulltime Parent  – FREEDOM!!!

Reason 4 – Coffee Mugs and Little Thugs – I Get the Best of My Kids and They Get the Best of Me!

Reason 5 – Thrive Homeschooling - Amy Michaels - Custom Made Kids

Reason 6 - Melinda Johnson - Spending Quality Time with Older Generations

Reason 7 - RaisingDaVinci.com - Amanda - Educating the Tortoise and the Hare