Caps for Sale

Our plan for the summer is to spend some informal homeschooling time with a different book each week.  We’ll be focusing on several of the books featured in Before Five in Row, simply because lots of resources for these already exist and I’m trying to keep my prep time to a minimum. 
I have to give a huge shout-out to Homeschool Share for providing a wealth of printable activities and lapbooks, and also to Delightful Learning for being my inspiration.  I’m gathering so many ideas for fun activities, links to other resources, and organizational tips from Michelle and her crew, and I’m especially excited to keep a record of our summer adventures with a Lap Journal / Scrapbook of sorts.
And now, without further ado…
Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina
Last week was all about caps, coins, and monkeys at our house.  I love this story and have enjoyed telling it to many children as a librarian.  How fun it has been to share it with David as well!






CAPS FOR SALE!  FIFTY CENTS A CAP!
 
We took the change jar down from the shelf and identified the different types of coins and their values.  We also did a little impromptu sorting of the coins and put together the How Much is it Worth? book from Homeschool Share.  Then we talked about ways to make fifty cents using various combinations of coins and did some crayon rubbings of the coins (the idea for this came from Delightful Learning).

A PEDDLER AND TWO MONKEYS




We spent a day out at Max and Macy’s house and took along a bag of caps so that we could act out the story together.  Everyone took a turn at being the peddler, but I think they really enjoyed being monkeys more.





ILLUSTRATION & NARRATION



For each book we explore this summer, I plan to type up a summary of the story according to David and pair it with a story-inspired illustration or piece of art that he creates.  This first go-around was quite fun.  He thoughtfully paged his way through the book, retelling the story along the way.  I provided him with a tree outline and was pleased to see how carefully he sketched out a couple of monkeys – one with a red hat and one with a blue hat.



MORE MONKEY BUSINESS
To go along with the monkeys in Caps for Sale, we enjoyed chocolate-covered frozen bananas – an especially tasty treat after participating in a 5K Walk/Run on a very hot Sunday afternoon.
While I was at work on Saturday, Keith took the kids to the zoo, where they made a special visit to a rare baby Javan gibbon, born earlier this spring.  Keith told me that David was so excited to visit the monkeys and kept mentioning Caps for Sale on the way there.  We go to the zoo so often that I didn’t think he would even make a connection between our focus on the book and this trip, but he did (not that it really matters, but it sure did bring a smile to my face).


A LOOK AT OUR BOOK JOURNAL