All About Horses Lapbook

 

All About Horses was the first lapbook that Noah and I ever did - and the first template that I made. This year, I'll be redoing it with my horse-crazy girl. If you'd like to make it too, download it here. 

A note about free curriculum downloads:

I am happy to share curriculum I've put together; just because I like to reinvent the wheel doesn't mean everyone else should! All I ask is that you sign up to follow my blog and/or Facebook page before downloading. As with all our free curriculum downloads, please notify me of any errors or problems with the download links.

For the lapbooks, check out the lapbook archive and corresponding unit study posts; I'll usually have pictures of our completed book to help you along the way. If you like the way it turns out, please consider sharing thoughts or pictures of your experience on our Facebook page.

Enjoy, and happy homeschooling!

More Horsin' Around

Noah had his second riding lesson today, and after a brief session on the lunge line, she turned him loose to steer on his own. He was completely at ease and - with the exception of keeping Harb from snacking on grass from time to time - had no trouble walking him around the ring by himself. Wow! Ava was thrilled to ride Toby, the miniature horse, again but soon became more interested in finding "her bug" (a roly poly she'd played with there the week before).

Horsin' Around

Noah had his first official riding lesson today, and Ava talked the instructor into letting her take a ride on "the little horse". All I can say is that we're in BIG trouble!

Horse Tales

Remember when I said this blog wasn't all about homeschooling? Like my life, it's still just a teeny tiny bit about me (at least every once in a while). Well, this is one of those times.

Yesterday, we made a trip to the tack shop to buy the kids a riding helmet. You see, our recent unit study on horses has really stirred up something in all of us. For the kids, it has sparked an interest in riding lessons. For me, it's brought back memories of my childhood and given me the desire to help my kids to find something they are passionate about - whether it turns out to be horses or something else.

I rode competitively growing up and always thought that riding and teaching would be my career. Turns out, the fun went out of it once it became a job. So after riding 3-8 hours a day for the better part of 10 years, I walked away and never looked back. Until now.

Today, we went to "test ride" a horse available for partial lease. I'd really like to teach the kids myself, but at the same time, I wonder if I'm rushing things. Would it be better to do lessons for a few months and see if the interest sticks? Of course, at the same time I'm online searching real estate listings for horse-friendly houses, so compared to that, a partial lease sounds almost rational. I'm very curious to see where this will lead, and only time will tell.

All About Horses

We wrapped up our unit on horses today with a lapbooking co-op. I was really pleased at how it turned out, and Noah really enjoyed it (I did the cutting, and he did the gluing and writing). I'm trying to figure out how I can upload files and make the template available for download. Here is our final product:

Sneak Preview of My Lapbooking Debut

I've been intrigued by the idea of lapbooking. Not knowledgeable, not at all experienced . . . just intrigued. I'd been hearing about it for a while, and it didn't spark the smallest bit of interest. But after I saw one for the first time, I loved the idea!

So, what does one do to learn about lapbooking? Research online? Try one of the free lapbook templates? No, not me. I sign up to teach a lapbooking co-op! Sigh. Seemed perfectly logical at the time. But with the class only days away (and still having absolutely no knowledge in the lapbook department), I began to doubt my decision.

Fortunately, I seem to have pulled things together with - as usual - way too much effort and twice as much stress. The upside is that - as usual - the end result is exactly as I like it. My sample came together nicely last night, and I'm currently printing off 18 of these babies in preparation for Monday's class. My husband did finally talk me into letting everyone do their own cutting so perhaps this will not consume my entire Mother's Day.

I will be sharing the template once it's finalized, but in the meantime, check out these wonderful lapbooking resources:

Homeschool Share - Great ideas for lapbooks & unit studies
Lapbook Lessons - Free downloadable lapbooks

Enjoy, and happy lapbooking!

Little Black Book Club

Our book club discussion of Little Black was the third event in our unit on horses. We started by reading the book, with many of the kids volunteering to read a page or two. After discussing the book and its theme of friendship, the kids answered discussion questions on the book's main points and picked out events from the beginning, middle and end of the story. They then drew pictures of their favorite part of the book, and we listed the similarities and differences between Little Black and Big Red in a Venn diagram. Finally, the kids made horse bookmarks to help them keep their place in the next book, Little Black Goes to the Circus.

Black Stallion Literacy Program

Today we joined SLC for a trip to Arabian Nights as part of the Black Stallion Literacy Program, a wonderful curriculum that uses horses to inspire children to love reading. The kids had already made a visit to a horse farm to experience a ride and had read the first of two books for the first-grade program - Little Black, A Pony. Today, they rotated through four stations, each of which taught a different aspect of horse care.

• The first gave an overview of horse shoes and a demonstration (on Noah!) on how they are put on.

• Next, we learned about what horses eat, saw samples of the different types of hay and grains and learned about a few surprising treats they enjoy.

• The third station, which covered grooming, let the kids handle a variety of brushes and even a hoof pick (which Ava enjoyed trying on herself).

• Finally, we learned about the different types of tack used in riding and handling horses, and each of the kids got a turn in the saddle.

At each station, the kids had the opportunity to read a few passages from the book to the horse and handler; it was fun to see how this motivated some of the kids who would normally not have wanted to read in front of the group!

After the stations, we returned to the arena for lunch and a special visit with two of the book's characters, Little Black and Big Red.