Brilliant Mornings

This week, we invite you to explore the stages of the butterfly's life cycle - you can even order a kit in which you receive caterpillars and watch them form cocoons and become butterflies!

Number of the Week: 17
Poetry: Haiku (17 syllables); 
Concept: What is a syllable?  Find out how many are in your name! 

You will need:
1. (Optional) Butterfly Kit
2. Math manipulatives (counters): if you can find 17 toy animals or butterflies, this would be perfect for today! 
3. For older children: notebook for Haiku writing and analogy writing (Prompt: What stage of the butterfly life cycle do you feel you're in?)

What was childhood like in Poland in the mid-20th century? Today we learn about growing up in Częstochowa fifty years ago, and we finish the mystery story which traces Copernicus' path (and secrets) around Poland! 

Number math: sums that equal 16
Reading Chunk: AI
Calendar: Months of the Year

Note on Story: We strive to be historically accurate in all accounts; however, the idea of Leonardo da Vinci contacting Nicholas Copernicus is fictional, but possible. =)
 

Who is hungry for a blueberry pierogi? This special episode features interviews with family members who remember some challenging times in the history of our mystery country.  Join us as we celebrate this amazing nation! 

You will need:

1) Math manipulatives for counting
2) Hands-on activities for children to play with as they listen to the fascinating story that spans 1000 years! 

Sometimes we need to show true bravery! Today we welcome a guest who will tell her story of bravery when she found a mouse in an unlikely place! The Pizza and Poetry Group travels today to the mystery country and is introduced to its cuisine, a glittering town, a mountain range and wildlife. 

You will need:

1. Write down the following rhyming words on a blackboard, whiteboard, or on separate cards: pain, rain, train, main
2. There are many directions in which you can go today as you research the mystery country!  Here are some:
3. The Town of Kraków (for older children - the Mongol Invasions of Europe in the 1200’s)
4. Eastern European Foods: Bigos, beet soup, open-faced sandwiches (try making open-faced sandwiches for lunch!)
5. The Carpathian Mountain Range - you can find them on a map/globe and then research the wildlife there!   

3. Continue to practice skip counting in 2’s and 4’s, as far as your children can go!

4. Find words with the “ai” chunk as you read lots of books today!

5. On your next nature walk, what wildlife do you find? Do any of the mystery country’s animals also live in your habitat?  

6. Continue to bake, letting your children do the measuring - especially if it involves ounces and pounds this week! 

There are many ways to be brave! Today we will hear about one man who had to be brave enough to go against an idea that most of the world believed. His new idea was called heliocentrism.  The children in our mystery story will make a model of our heliocentric solar system using round cookies.  Today we continue to learn about the special number 16 and the “ai” chunk.  

You will need:

1. Math manipulatives: counters to count from 1-16
2. Round objects to make into the sun and planets.  Create a model of the sun in the middle and planets orbiting around the sun.  Draw lines around the sun to show the orbits of each planet.  (You can make cookies and decorate them to look like planets.) 
3. Something that weighs one pound so your children can feel how heavy a pound is.
4. Books/Internet to research Nicholas Copernicus further! 

This week we will hear stories of people who displayed true bravery!  We will read a poem about bravery to apply to our lives.  We begin with our Months of the Year Song, encourage a Months of the Year Clock craft, then dive into the numbers 12 and 16, both multiples of 4. We'll hear the "ai" chunk in use and learn new map skills (lines of latitude) to try to locate our mystery country.

You will need:
1. Math manipulatives (objects to count, from 1-16)
2. Math notebook and pen/pencil to write numbers 1-16 (for those who write)
Suggested: Display numbers 1-16 so that students can copy them
Suggested: sand, shaving cream, rice, or other appropriate filler for a sensory box for younger children to draw numbers or at least the circle shape
3. Globe or map with lines of latitude.  It should show the Equator and Tropic of Cancer lines.
4. View Instagram (Brilliant Mornings) to see the craft - available after 12 PM. 

See It Through

By: Edgar Guest (1881-1959)

When you're up against a trouble, 

    Meet it squarely, face to face; 

Lift your chin and set your shoulders, 

    Plant your feet and take a brace. 

When it's vain to try to dodge it, 

    Do the best that you can do; 

You may fail, but you may conquer, 

    See it through! 

Black may be the clouds about you 

    And your future may seem grim, 

But don't let your nerve desert you; 

    Keep yourself in fighting trim. 

If the worst is bound to happen, 

    Spite of all that you can do, 

Running from it will not save you, 

    See it through! 

Even hope may seem but futile, 

    When with troubles you're beset, 

But remember you are facing 

    Just what other men have met. 

You may fail, but fall still fighting; 

    Don't give up, whate'er you do; 

Eyes front, head high to the finish. 

    See it through!

https://poets.org/poem/see-it-through

Where did the Indian civilization begin? Why did they need to win their Independence? Who was Gandhi? Today we wrap up our fun activities with the number 15, counting in 5's, Fibonacci's Sequence, the pr- blend and understanding love! 

You will need:
1. Counters
2. Any pictures/books to provide visuals and familiarize yourself with India and Mahatma Gandhi.
3. Activity: Try eating a bland meal without salt, and then add in the salt and taste it again.  Picture how it must have felt for some of the Indian people to have to take their meals without salt before the Salt March (remember most Indian dishes are full of flavor)! 
4. Singing Voice! 
5. Cards, each with a PR blend word written on it, such as pretty, princess, proud, or protect, (or choose a blend you are learning). Have your child pick 5 cards and make a tongue twister with the words!

Today is our Mystery Country Reveal!  

As we continue thinking about Fibonacci's Sequence and his number patterns found in nature (see the Brilliant Mornings Instagram for a fun video on how to draw the famous spiral) we will discover a colorful land which also produced mathematic geniuses!  

You will need:
1) Counters (Math manipulatives)
2) Optional, to go further: Research tools (books/Internet) to dive into further discovering the mystery country 
3) Optional: chalk to draw the Fibonacci spiral 
4) Materials for writing a letter to a loved one
5) Materials for writing a poem (to be done with a parent for younger children)
6) Find a copy of The Panchatantra (fables for children), translated into English; these texts were written in Sanskrit over 2,000 years ago and will provide for interesting conversation and learning of morals!

Can you video yourself drawing the spiral and send it in to be featured on Instagram? Videos must be less than 1 minute long! 

Conversational Topics: Talk about showing love to others

A musical and poetic feast awaits listeners today as we move from a mystery creature, to counting by 5's, to personification with a special guest, to a detective investigation, wrapped up with a new musical interpretation of our positive quotes from 1 Corinthians 13.  Enjoy!

You will need:
1) Math counters!  Ten group manipulatives (ten sticks/beads/other objects) for counting and adding
2) Nature sketchbook 
3) Your singing voice! 

Time to catch those thieves!  Learn about Fibonacci's number sequence as we work with detectives in Pisa, Italy.  Find these special numbers all around you!

You will need:
1. Paper and instruments for writing
2. Nature journals
3. (Optional) A way to view Instagram (BrilliantMornings) to find a tutorial video by our math expert, and helpful visuals to understand the Fibonacci sequence.
4. Math manipulatives for counting and adding! 
5. (Optional) An apple and banana to cut open and find sections. 

Review the Fibonacci Rap from yesterday's podcast!