Homeschooling with Lapbooks: The Cricket In Times Square

For the past few weeks we have enjoyed reading The Cricket In Times Square. We created lapbooks that showcase some of what we have learned. My kids love lapbooks. They really help to cement the concepts of each story and they then have their own personal reference for their favorite books. Among the things we researched were Times Square New York (check out the web for live web cam and history on TS); Chinese culture and language, we made our own Chinese food and practiced writing Chinese symbols. Although there is no Chinese alphabet in existence, we found a cool site with what could be Chinese lettering and practiced translating and decoding messages to each other. Pun'kin Head was so inspired, he created his own secret letters and made a copy for his best buddy so they can send each other messages! We also studied crickets, their habitats and character traits. My bug-loving girl even created her own cricket cage with a rubber cricket (it's actually a grasshopper!) she had in her collection, complete with the bell for him to ring, just like Chester. My boy is anti-bugs, but did participate in our attempt to trap and catch a cricket of our very own. We had been hearing one in our basement for the past month, so we found an idea online. Take a small, empty water bottle, pour a couple teaspoons of juice in the bottom and place on it's side, without the cover, of course. Place outside near basement windows or inside on the floor. For some reason, the crickets will go in but become confused and cannot find their way out. We didn't succeed in a capture, much to Pun'kin Head's relief, but we did catch quite a large family of ants! We also became familiar with big city maps, subway systems and utilizing a compass rose. Most days, while working, we listened to some of the great classical composers of music that Chester played for all of NYC. As with each book we read, the characters become a part of our family and will not soon be forgotten. But we look ahead to next week and the next adventure we will go on together as we read a new book! :)