/S/ is for Sun

The last week of September was a bitter-sweet week for us. We had planned and hoped to be in Oregon with Grandma and Grandpa Cheney. It was hard for us to accept that we were unable to go this time. On the bright side, we were able to start right in to our week on the letter S and the Sun without interrupting the new routine we had just established during our introductory weeks.

We spent this week learning the sound made by the letter S and practicing writing the letter S. We even used math blocks to make an S and to make some things that begin with the /s/ sound. But the S word that had our main focus was s-s-Sun.

Some of the fun things we did to learn about the Sun were drying our own raisins, making a sundial that we used for a few days, keeping a weather chart, brewing our own sun tea and using a flashlight and globe to re-create the effect of day and night that is caused by the Earth’s rotation. We found online activities about the Sun which you can see in our next post.

We read Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “My Shadow” and even had a new story written especially for US by Grammy Sally. “Sunshine in My Tummy” (posted 9/24/07)

Here is an activity we did that you can try:

Promise not to cheat. Then put a blindfold over your head. Have someone spin you around. Now, imagine you are on a planet that has no Sun. The planet is spinning and spinning and you can’t see anything. Try to make your way to something across the room without any guidance. How did you do? Did you get lost? Did you stumble or fall? Even Dane tried this one, and none of us did very well! Aren't you glad we have the Sun to help us see where we are going?

Verses we learned to go with this lesson are :

"I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life." John 8:12

and

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" Psalm 119:105

We are learning that God's word helps us find our way and keeps us from falling into sin.