The circle of life

Posted by lapazfarm on September 20th, 2006 filed in montessori, JBug

I’ve been busy making some more materials for JBug. She has been very interested lately in caterpillars and frogs and how things grow. I had an idea to make a book with pictures of different life cycles, but I wanted it to be interactive. So I designed it with the life cycles on the left, and a work space on the right, where she can place matching life cycle cards I made for her. Hard to explain, but pictures may help.

Cover. No big deal here. You can’t really tell from the picture that the book is actually oversize (11X14).

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Here is an example of the life cycle on left, with work space on right.

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Here you can see another, with the matching index cards.

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Here is the frog life cycle after the cards have been arranged properly.

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The monarch butterfly cycle did not fit on one page comfortably, so I made extensions and these pages open up

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To see the larger life cycle work space within.

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So far in the book I have done life cycles for Ladybug, Ant, Monarch, Frog, Chicken, and Bean plant. There are several blank pages left to do more as we study different things. (for instance we will be reading Pagoo soon, so there may be a hermit crab cycle added then). I think the last page will be human.

JBug has been very interested in watching me make this book and has already worked with a few of the pages before I got the book together. She is eager to do the rest soon.

Anyway, it was a fun project to do. It took me about 2 weeks of working in spare moments to get it together, and I think JBug will get alot of use out of it. I already am thinking of another book called Cycles of the Earth and Sky (moon phases, seasons, water cycle, rock cycle, etc.).

23 Responses to “The circle of life”

notsoevlhmschlmom Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Oh that is so cool! I sepecially like your frog page. I wish our notebook on the frog life cycle looked that good!
playingitbyear Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Wow! This book, like all your learning resources, is absolutely beautiful, and I can see something like this being of real interest even to someone as young as my eldest. I look forward to your earth/sky cycles one, knowing how interested Flopsy is in the sky etc. May I borrow your ideas?

Thanks for sharing

Lapazfarm says: Of course you may! Glad you like them.
Susan Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Ooh, I like this book! Where do you get the images? Do you buy the cards or get the pictures off the computer? My Junior (who’s almost 7) loooves index cards and little projects with them.
lapazfarm Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
I got most of the images from Google searching, then copied them to Word, sized them and added the titles, printed them and glued them to index cards. Pretty simple, really. I think I saved some of the files (but not all) if you want me to email them to you.
Tracy Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Wow! I love that idea. Do you still have the images? You have inspired me!
lapazfarm Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
I saved files for Ant, Chicken, Ladybug, Monarch and Frog. I did not save the bean plant, but it can be found by doing a Google image search.
If anyone wants the files I can email them to you.
Susan Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Thanks, Theresa. You’ve given me some good ideas!
Jennifer Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
Your notebooks are beautiful! I have lots of images printed out just sitting in a pile. That has been my biggest disappointment this year. Good for you!
Karen Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
May I have the files too…please??? These are beautiful!
Thank you so much!
Karen
kbrig@ptd.net
Nina Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
All I can say is wow. What an inspiration. I really look forward to doing something like this when my daughter is old enough. Thanks for showing the work in such detail. I’m not sure if you have explained it before but how do you get all the color copies? It almost seems like it would be worth having a color copier or at least a color printer at home.

Lapazfarm says:

Yes, a color printer. I think it is the number one most used tool in our homeschool. That and Google!
Dawn Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Theresa, this book is just gorgeous! I would love to make one like this for my younger two. What kind of paper did you use? It looks kind of stiff.

Lapazfarm says: Thanks, Dawn. It is just some large heavy-weight cardstock I had laying around waiting for a purpose.
Cheryl Says:
September 20th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Great idea, Theresa. It came out so nice.
Jennifer Says:
September 21st, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Marianna has simply poured over these pages today, excellent job!
Genevieve Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:56 am
Ohh… can I have the files too? These look great! Thanks! Let me know if you want any files from me too. I just completed parts of an animal but you still have to color in the parts.

Lapazfarm says:

I just sent them to you. Let me know if they make it OK. What files do you have? I love sharing!
Kim Says:
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Files please! We are doing lots of Life sci this year. I love the extension of having the loose cards on the second page. The left side is the control. If you covered that then the right side could be the test. I love it! Thanks for posting!
Louise Says:
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:33 pm
This is brillant! Could you email me the files too? Thanks for sharing.
laraszoo Says:
September 24th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
What a gorgeous book!
Genevieve Says:
September 27th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
You sent me a link but I couldn’t get access to the files. Do you think you try again? I have the parts of animal files but you need to color them in yourself. I also just received a huge botany file susposedly all you need for a Montessori curriculum. *laughs* Let me know if you don’t have these already

Lapazfarm says:

Sure I’ll try sending as an email attachment. I dont have any of the cards you mention, so I’d love to see any of them.
Karen Says:
October 9th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Genevieve, do you think I might have a copy of your botany file as well? I don’t know how to send you an email directly. I am so sorry for posting it this way.
Thank you very much.
Karen
By the way, I made this life cycle book and my kids just love it! Thank you so much for the file. I’ve been reading all of the Montessori books I’ve been able to get my hands on and have started visisting thrift shops (to collect materials) and making various “work.” Everyday my kids have begged me to do “work.” It’s been really fun.
Bee Says:
May 16th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Beautiful works. I am inspired. Could you please also send me the files.

Thanks
Donna Marie Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Theresa! I am so inspired that I barely know where I want to begin. My thoughts are reeling at the thought of all of the wonderful adventures we could undertake! Could you send me the file too? I love how clearly you lay things out. Your work is beautiful!
{{{{HUGS}}}}
lapazfarm Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Hi Donna Marie and Bee!
To save some time, I uploaded what files I have to my boxnet.
You can access them here: http://www.box.net/shared/1rk25kucpp
Donna Marie Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Thank you soo much Theresa!