January is Penguin Month!

At least it is at our house! We're all about penguins here as that's the learning unit we are focusing on.

Our unit is based on the book Mr. Popper's Penguins, a book I remember fondly from my childhood. We will incorporate lots of go-along books, both fiction and non-fiction, as we explore a variety of topics related to penguins, including:

• the lifecycle of a penguin
• where in the world penguins live -- did you know they can be found on 4 of the 7 continents?

• the different species of penguins -- there are 17


• what penguins eat (and what animals eat penguins)

We've already done quite a bit of geography and map work -- reviewing the continents and oceans, learning about the different hemispheres, as well as things like reading map keys and learning about latitude and longitude . . . I don't remember learning this stuff in second grade, never mind preschool! And the best part of all -- they don't realize how much they are learning . . . they're just having fun! (Which is the way learning should be, in my opinion!)