Angus Lost {Before FI♥AR}

Our  next B4FIAR book, Angus Lost, is about a curious dog who wanders away from home and gets lost. Our focus was on Angus finding his way home again and we had much fun making a dog house, playing pet-store, pretending to be dogs and more.

Our go alongs for this book were: "Angus Lost" in Harry the Dirty Dog... and More Playful Puppy Stories, "Angus and the Ducks" in Make Way for Ducklings ... and More Delightful Duck Stories and Angus and the Cat .

Our Learning Fun ~ 

Dog House

Since we focused on Angus finding his way home, we made Angus a dog house.

Pet Store

We talked about how to take care of dogs and the things that they need ~ water, food, exercise and love.

We made some things for dogs to "sell" in our store.

Dog Food

Dog Bones 

A sign for the store (handwriting copywork and illustration).

Our basket of finished goods.

Pet Store Items:

1. dog food {Leapin' Lemurs cereal}
2. dog leash {jumprope}
3. dog bone treats {bone shaped peanut butter cookies}
4. beef rawhide twists {berry fruit roll-ups}

And, of course, money exchanging was involved to practice with coins.

We had so much fun with this! And much of our fun was in the getting ready part and all the anticipation. They couldn't wait to "row" Angus!

Note: To make the dog house and pet store, I turned a washer and dryer box inside out. (This is much simpler and more economical than painting the box). To do this, you breakdown the box so that it folds flat, gently open the seam (the one that overlaps), turn inside out and re-glue the seam. I used hot glue and then used brown packing tape on the seam for the dog house and white duct tape (trim) for the pet-store.  Then we decorated it ~ the kids each had 2 sides and free reign with the markers!

Angus Lost Sensory Tub



Contents:

1. White tissue paper and cotton balls {snow for winter time}
2. Scottish Terrier {Angus}
3. Cat {the "same" cat that lives with Angus}
4. Fence, dog toys, food and water dish, grooming supplies, etc. {Angus' yard at home}
5. Collie dog {the dog Angus tries to run after}
6. '32 Ford {a car like the one that Angus chases}
7. Snow covered cave {where Angus spends the night when he gets lost}
8. Cow {where milk comes from}
9. Duck and Squirrel {animals in the pictures}

Other go-along ideas: the goat that tries to get Angus, the milkman, milk bottles, horse that pulls the milk carriage

Dog puppets

(I forgot to have them draw the mouth and whiskers)

File Folder Fun:

Puppy Matching Game

Dig-in-the-dirt Milkshakes

 Chocolate Milkshakes and Crushed Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Mustache Fun

This last activity was planned, but not at the moment it happened. I had just bathed the kids and they were ready for bed ~ and it worked out perfect.

Obedience School {fetch, sit, lie down, roll over, bark, beg, come}

Begging

Playing Dead ~ this was Malachi's idea (lol)

Howling

Must have been a "Look Cute" command. :-)

Dogs need lots of love. :-)

Ready for bed. 

The last command: Go to sleep ~ Mama's tired! 

All tucked in. 

I loved seeing their feet sticking out of the boxes each night.

Narrations:

"Angus Lost" By Malachi

"Till winter came, Angus was bored of the same yard, the same cat and everything he knew about. He was curious about other places, so one day he got out. Then Angus looked down and looked up and he could see no end. Then a dog said, "Ruff" and Angus said, "Ruff, ruff." The other dog ran. Angus ran. Faster ran the other dog. Faster ran Angus but the dog ran around the counter. Instead there stood a stranger. And Angus said, "Ruff." The goat said "Baaaa."  Then dark came. Then angus saw two eyes looking from a tree. Angus said, "Ruff." The two eyes said, "Whooo." Then angus ran away to look for his home. But snow came and wind came and Angus crawled into a cave. Then day came. Rattle-clink-clink. There was the milkman. So Angus followed the milkman door to door until he was at his home. The end."  

-Narrated by Malachi age 5 1/2 10-14-10

What did you like about the story?

"I liked it when he got home and got back to the cat and he followed the milkman." 

"Angus Lost" By Eliana

"Angus was tired about the same house, the same cat, the same things that he ever knewd about. Then a stranger came. "Woof, woof," said Angus. "Baaa," said the goat. Faster runned Angus. The horns were getting close to Angus. Then a car came. "Woof, woof," said Angus. "Honk, honk," said the car. Ran away did the car. Then dark came. Two eyes were looking from a tree. Rattle-rattle-clink-clink. The milk man was here. He followed the milkman to his home."

-Narrated by Eliana age 3 1/2. 10-14-10

What was your favorite part of the story?

"Angus getting home and following the milkman."

I love these!

Note: I type their narrations in Getty-Dubay font (our handwriting program) as they narrate them to me, print them and put them in our notebook.

And as usual, we covered the discussions from the B4 manual, such as what it must have felt like to be lost, how YHVH is with us wherever we go so we should never be afraid, safety (why we need to balance curiosity with wisdom), what a silhouette is, dog safety, where milk comes from and more.

Lap Journal:

I left space for a picture of Mali and Elli together. 

After this "row," I need a simple and easy one next ~ if I can help it!

Delightful Links:

Tot School @ 1+1+1=1 (More ideas for ages 1-3)

Preschool Corner {& 5K too!} (More ideas for ages 4-5)

T.O.B.Y Homes-Cool Highlights @ Hearts in Training

stART
Read. Explore. Learn.
If You Give A Mom a Book
PreKinders Pet Unit {ideas for dog house, pet store, pet food, obedience school}
Puppy Matching Game {File Folder Fun}
Angus Lost resources at HSS