Thursday, October 11, 2012
Living on Less week 3
My husband was out of town on business and with it just being myself and the kids for the week I went on a cooking strike. I went to Dollar General and spent $10 on bread, dog food, and some snacks. The rest of the week we ate out or had sandwiches at home. Our eating out total came to $71. It would have been a lot less, but one night we splurged and went to Olive Garden. So we went over our $75 grocery limit by $5. I also had to spend $40 on gas to get us to preschool, karate, and the airport to pick up dad. We also had an emergency dr. visit which ended up costing $152 (of course when I got there we had a balance) and $13 for meds. Then everything finally got straightened out for us to be able to get our Kentucky state tags/drivers license which totaled at $159. Of course during my hubby's business trip he found a restaurant that didn't take his company credit card and had to use the bank card for his meal which was $24 (of course for this we will be reimbursed). At the beginning of the month I put $400 in savings and after everything we ended up using the $400 for these things that popped up during the month. While I am slightly disappointed that the $400 didn't get to stay in savings I am VERY happy that we were frugal enough that we had the extra money for these things and didn't have to dip into savings.
Monday, October 1, 2012
October Week 1 Wrap Up
Monday:
M worked on 2 sheets of math (Filling in numbers to 100 and less than/greater than), did a lab on snails, practiced writing his x's and w's,
P worked on writing the number 10 and counting to 10, practiced her French numbers, and practiced writing z's and picking out things that start with the y sound.
They both listened to the 1st chapter of The Wind Through the Willows, painted to classical music,played outside, and listened to a story about Confucius.
Tuesday:
Is our day off. The kids painted, played outside, we went to the library, post office, and cleaned the house.
Wednesday:
P went to preschool.
M worked through the 1st chapter of life of Fred apples, listened to more of the wind in the willows, learned about the mycenaeans, did some spelling, went over nouns, labeled the parts of a snail, And went over long vowel sounds.
Then we spent our afternoon at the county clerk office trying to get our car inspected.
Thursday:
P went to preschool.
M and I spent our morning going downtown to try and get my tags. We weren't able to get them (my husband had to be there and wasn't), but I think it was a learning experience for M.
Both kids spent the afternoon playing outside.
Friday:
We spent our morning at the park. P was out of preschool and we had a playdate with one of her friends. In the afternoon we read more of the wind in the willows and I started history with them. During this time my husband and grandparents called. The children dispersed in multiple directions (bedrooms/outside) and I guess I didn't try to hard to get them back together.
I read more of Wind In The Willows to M before bed and more of Winnie The Pooh to P. They are really enjoying these books. It's been a while since they begged me to keep reading and ask me to read it multiple times a day.
M worked on 2 sheets of math (Filling in numbers to 100 and less than/greater than), did a lab on snails, practiced writing his x's and w's,
P worked on writing the number 10 and counting to 10, practiced her French numbers, and practiced writing z's and picking out things that start with the y sound.
They both listened to the 1st chapter of The Wind Through the Willows, painted to classical music,played outside, and listened to a story about Confucius.
Tuesday:
Is our day off. The kids painted, played outside, we went to the library, post office, and cleaned the house.
Wednesday:
P went to preschool.
M worked through the 1st chapter of life of Fred apples, listened to more of the wind in the willows, learned about the mycenaeans, did some spelling, went over nouns, labeled the parts of a snail, And went over long vowel sounds.
Then we spent our afternoon at the county clerk office trying to get our car inspected.
Thursday:
P went to preschool.
M and I spent our morning going downtown to try and get my tags. We weren't able to get them (my husband had to be there and wasn't), but I think it was a learning experience for M.
Both kids spent the afternoon playing outside.
Friday:
We spent our morning at the park. P was out of preschool and we had a playdate with one of her friends. In the afternoon we read more of the wind in the willows and I started history with them. During this time my husband and grandparents called. The children dispersed in multiple directions (bedrooms/outside) and I guess I didn't try to hard to get them back together.
I read more of Wind In The Willows to M before bed and more of Winnie The Pooh to P. They are really enjoying these books. It's been a while since they begged me to keep reading and ask me to read it multiple times a day.
Living on Less Week 2
I have my menu planned out for the 1st week of October. So far I had to make an emergency trip to the grocery store for milk and butter. That leaves about $220 for the rest of the month. Here is our menu for this week. I grocery shop on Friday's.
1st- Breakfast: cheese grits
AM snack: yogurt
Lunch: leftover turkey pot pie and fruit
pm snack: cheese its
Dinner: Spaghetti (no meat)
2nd-Breakfast: pancakes
Am snack: animal crackers
Lunch:PB&J & fruit
Pm snack: cheese its
Dinner: Baked pork chops and veggies
3rd-Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, grits
Am snack: animal crackers
Lunch: Leftovers
PM Snack: cheese sticks
Dinner: Sausage Pizza
4th-Breakfast:Pancakes and sausage
Am snack: animal crackers *my kids will never want to see animal crackers again after this week!*
Lunch: PB&J with cheese puffs
PM Snack: jello
Dinner: Chicken and rice with veggies
5th-Breakfast: cereal
Am Snack: jello
Lunch-Leftovers
Pm Snack-Cheese balls
Dinner-Roast with veggies
1st- Breakfast: cheese grits
AM snack: yogurt
Lunch: leftover turkey pot pie and fruit
pm snack: cheese its
Dinner: Spaghetti (no meat)
2nd-Breakfast: pancakes
Am snack: animal crackers
Lunch:PB&J & fruit
Pm snack: cheese its
Dinner: Baked pork chops and veggies
3rd-Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, grits
Am snack: animal crackers
Lunch: Leftovers
PM Snack: cheese sticks
Dinner: Sausage Pizza
4th-Breakfast:Pancakes and sausage
Am snack: animal crackers *my kids will never want to see animal crackers again after this week!*
Lunch: PB&J with cheese puffs
PM Snack: jello
Dinner: Chicken and rice with veggies
5th-Breakfast: cereal
Am Snack: jello
Lunch-Leftovers
Pm Snack-Cheese balls
Dinner-Roast with veggies
Friday, September 28, 2012
Living on Less Week 1
This is not directly homeschool related, but as a homeschool mom I am always looking for ways to save money since we are living on one income. This summer we didn't do a good job putting money in savings. We traveled and had fun, but now it's time to start putting money away again. Last September my husband took a new job in a new state which increased his salary. After going back and reviewing our budget then and our budget now I decided we should be able to put around $1000 a month into savings if we REALLY try hard. We did the Dave Ramsey plan for a few years to get ourselves out of debt so we are not new to a strict budget and living on less. We also have motivation to save this money and me and my hubby are taking a trip to Dallas in December and want to take the kids on a small trip for Christmas.
Now the question is can we as a family of 5 live on $1000 less than what we normally spend each month??? In the previous months we were spending $800-$900 on groceries and anther $100-$200 on eating out. Ummm....can we say CRAZY! This month there will be no eating out and I dropped our grocery budget to $300 for the ENTIRE month. That is only $75 a week for 2 adults, 3 kids (6,4,1), a dog, a cat, and a bunny!
Today is payday and grocery day so the living on less process begins today. I am going to try different stores each week to see where I get the most for our money. Today I went to our Neighborhood Walmart. (For those of you unfamiliar with Neighborhood Walmart it's basically just the grocery part of Walmart as a stand alone store. I had never heard of one until we moved here to Kentucky.) My total was $73.35 and I purchased 32 items.
Generic capri suns $1.97 for 10
All purpose flour (Lily brand bc it is the only one I can find w/o barley which my son is highly allergic to) $2.78
Pedigree dog pouches (my spoiled Stella a faux frenchbo won't eat anything besides wet food) $6.68
Generic Canola Oil $2.88
Frozen chicken breasts 3 lbs $7.98
Generic canned peaches x2 $.98
Johnsonville Brats (sale) $3
Bag of yellow onions $1.96
Generic can of Lima Beans $.98
Snap peas (margaret holmes brand) $.98
Beef stew mix $.92 x2
Yoplait yogurt $.58x6
Generic Pear halves $1.68
Roast $8.23 3.14lbs
Pork Chops $4.93 3.18lbs
Spaghetti Sauce 1.88
Coffee Creamer (HELLO...Smores is the new fall flavor!) $1.91
Campbells Chicken and Stars (which was oddly the same price as generic) $1.25x2
Can of Succotash $.98
Bananas $.52 per pd x 3.45lbs
Generic cream cheese $1.78
Instant grits (was not happy they didn't have the big container of quick cook!) $2.38
generic spaghetti noodles $.88
24 pk of cokes (yeah...yeah....but I wouldn't make it through the day w/o it! $6.98
I went and picked up all of this without meal planning. I am so burnt out on meal planning. No one ever wants to help suggest meals, but they all want to complain about the meals :/ Now I get to sit down and go over everything we have in the pantry (we had quite a bit before this trip) and come up with meals.
Now the question is can we as a family of 5 live on $1000 less than what we normally spend each month??? In the previous months we were spending $800-$900 on groceries and anther $100-$200 on eating out. Ummm....can we say CRAZY! This month there will be no eating out and I dropped our grocery budget to $300 for the ENTIRE month. That is only $75 a week for 2 adults, 3 kids (6,4,1), a dog, a cat, and a bunny!
Today is payday and grocery day so the living on less process begins today. I am going to try different stores each week to see where I get the most for our money. Today I went to our Neighborhood Walmart. (For those of you unfamiliar with Neighborhood Walmart it's basically just the grocery part of Walmart as a stand alone store. I had never heard of one until we moved here to Kentucky.) My total was $73.35 and I purchased 32 items.
Generic capri suns $1.97 for 10
All purpose flour (Lily brand bc it is the only one I can find w/o barley which my son is highly allergic to) $2.78
Pedigree dog pouches (my spoiled Stella a faux frenchbo won't eat anything besides wet food) $6.68
Generic Canola Oil $2.88
Frozen chicken breasts 3 lbs $7.98
Generic canned peaches x2 $.98
Johnsonville Brats (sale) $3
Bag of yellow onions $1.96
Generic can of Lima Beans $.98
Snap peas (margaret holmes brand) $.98
Beef stew mix $.92 x2
Yoplait yogurt $.58x6
Generic Pear halves $1.68
Roast $8.23 3.14lbs
Pork Chops $4.93 3.18lbs
Spaghetti Sauce 1.88
Coffee Creamer (HELLO...Smores is the new fall flavor!) $1.91
Campbells Chicken and Stars (which was oddly the same price as generic) $1.25x2
Can of Succotash $.98
Bananas $.52 per pd x 3.45lbs
Generic cream cheese $1.78
Instant grits (was not happy they didn't have the big container of quick cook!) $2.38
generic spaghetti noodles $.88
24 pk of cokes (yeah...yeah....but I wouldn't make it through the day w/o it! $6.98
I went and picked up all of this without meal planning. I am so burnt out on meal planning. No one ever wants to help suggest meals, but they all want to complain about the meals :/ Now I get to sit down and go over everything we have in the pantry (we had quite a bit before this trip) and come up with meals.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Week 1 Wrap Up
This has been a really good first week of school. M started 1st grade.
This is what Goose does during most of our morning lessons.
The kids took a liking to my camera and declared themselves photographers. I think I had over 100 pictures that they took. P took this one and I just love it. Oh, that's our school room they are in.
M liked taking pictures of things rather than people.
He did take a few self portraits.
Our neighbors grandson came over one evening and played with the kids. (Social Interaction!! lol)
P started preschool on Wednesday. I think her and I are a lot alike. Right now it's better if she gets to go the preschool a few days a week. She is really loving it. She has brought home lots of art projects already!
Another of P getting ready to go off to school.
P in front of her class. She is in the turtle class.
A friend of mine started up a geography class for homeschoolers 2x a month and we had our 1st class this week. The kids learned what a globe was, what a compass is and does, and made a suncatcher globe.
They are supposed to be learning the continents, but M found a spider. Of course spiders are much more interesting to little boys than continents.
Listening to a book about the world.
Goose found the leaves pretty interesting while the big kids had class.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Day 1 School is Back in Session
Today is M's first day of 1st grade!
We did some math, reading, spelling, french, and science.
Then we went out to the garden and collected the ripe veggies.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Postcrossing
We really love postcrossing. We started postcrossing back in 2010, but after the newest edition, the move, and being busy we haven't sent out anything in a while. I wanted to get back into it and bought a 8 postcards at the beach 2 weeks ago and sent them out. Today we received 3 postcards. We ask the sender tell us about themselves, their city (including historical info), send recipes, ect. After we receive them we read them, find where they were sent from on our wall maps, and talk about how far they travelled.
From a preschool teacher in Luftkin Texas.
From Birgit in Monchengladbach Germany.
Vintage postcard from Renee in Norwalk Iowa.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Fall Semester 2012
The older kids are away at Grandma and Grandpa's house this week and I am using this time to get all my projects and to do items done. So last night I sat down and wrote out our entire fall semester schedule! I still need to order a few books before school starts, but I have everything planned out. I even filled out my teacher planner with all the lessons and chapters! WOO-HOO!
Here is what it looks like for Monday - Thursday:
Math: Singapore 1b-Singapore 2a 2 lessons daily + 5 minutes math drills
Reading:Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We will start will lesson 1 and do 2 review lessons daily + 1 new lesson (starting at lesson 60 where we left off)
Language Arts:First Language Lessons 1 lesson each day
Spelling/Vocabulary: Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary 1 lesson each day+ weekly test and Evan Moor A Word a Day Grade 1
Science:Real Life Science Odyssey 2 lessons each week
History: History Odyssey Ancient Times 2 lessons each week
Spanish: Learning songs and practicing conversational phrases
Literature: We will be reading the following books over the course of the fall semester: Wind in the Willows, Oliver Twist, Moby Dick, and Where the Sidewalk Ends
Grammer: Evan-Moor Grammer & Punctuation Grade 1 daily
Logic: Evan-Moor Critical & Creative Thinking Grade 1 daily
Writing: Evan Moor Daily 6 Trait Writing Grade 1 daily
On Friday Master M will be attending a homeschool co-op from 10-3 and take the following classes:
-Conversational Spanish
-Learning with Aesop
-American History Through Art
-Drama
We are also part of another homeschool group that meets weekly for playdates. There has been talk of starting a book club where the kids would read a book each week and discuss it at the beginning of the playdate.
Last year we started homeschooling through k12 in August. Quit with k12 in September due to my husband's job relocation. The kids and I moved to my inlaws and continued to use the k12 material for the 1st few weeks. Then for the remainder of the fall we unschooled since I was traveling a lot and it was hard to get everything done in the k12 material. When December rolled around we were moving into our new home and took December and January off to get settled in. In February we started back school and following a more classical education line of curriculum. It must have been exactly what we needed because not only did Master M finish up all his kindergarten work he started on 1st grade work. When we stopped the 2011-2012 school year in June he was 3/4 done with 1st grade math, 1/2 done with 1st grade science, right on for 1st grade reading, 1/4 done with 1st grade language arts, and a few lessons into 1st grade history. I know if a school year of upheaval and only doing school work for a few months looks like the above that he can soar to amazing heights this year if I am organized.
Here is what it looks like for Monday - Thursday:
Math: Singapore 1b-Singapore 2a 2 lessons daily + 5 minutes math drills
Reading:Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We will start will lesson 1 and do 2 review lessons daily + 1 new lesson (starting at lesson 60 where we left off)
Language Arts:First Language Lessons 1 lesson each day
Spelling/Vocabulary: Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary 1 lesson each day+ weekly test and Evan Moor A Word a Day Grade 1
Science:Real Life Science Odyssey 2 lessons each week
History: History Odyssey Ancient Times 2 lessons each week
Spanish: Learning songs and practicing conversational phrases
Literature: We will be reading the following books over the course of the fall semester: Wind in the Willows, Oliver Twist, Moby Dick, and Where the Sidewalk Ends
Grammer: Evan-Moor Grammer & Punctuation Grade 1 daily
Logic: Evan-Moor Critical & Creative Thinking Grade 1 daily
Writing: Evan Moor Daily 6 Trait Writing Grade 1 daily
On Friday Master M will be attending a homeschool co-op from 10-3 and take the following classes:
-Conversational Spanish
-Learning with Aesop
-American History Through Art
-Drama
We are also part of another homeschool group that meets weekly for playdates. There has been talk of starting a book club where the kids would read a book each week and discuss it at the beginning of the playdate.
Last year we started homeschooling through k12 in August. Quit with k12 in September due to my husband's job relocation. The kids and I moved to my inlaws and continued to use the k12 material for the 1st few weeks. Then for the remainder of the fall we unschooled since I was traveling a lot and it was hard to get everything done in the k12 material. When December rolled around we were moving into our new home and took December and January off to get settled in. In February we started back school and following a more classical education line of curriculum. It must have been exactly what we needed because not only did Master M finish up all his kindergarten work he started on 1st grade work. When we stopped the 2011-2012 school year in June he was 3/4 done with 1st grade math, 1/2 done with 1st grade science, right on for 1st grade reading, 1/4 done with 1st grade language arts, and a few lessons into 1st grade history. I know if a school year of upheaval and only doing school work for a few months looks like the above that he can soar to amazing heights this year if I am organized.
Monday, April 30, 2012
VACATION! Days 1-3
We are officially on VACATION! We will be completely off from school for 2 whole weeks. When we come back we will start schooling on our summer schedule.
Saturday (Vacation Day 1):
-Took P to French class. She is such an outgoing, never shy child but at French class she is very reserved and forgets everything. I know she is picking it up though because she will say things like colors and body parts in French :)
-We spent our afternoon at the park hiking. We hiked a 1.25 trail that was easy. We all enjoyed getting out and getting some exercise. The kids were a little scared to hike the trail through the woods though. They kept thinking a bear was going to get us!
-After hiking we went home to grill out. Hubby brought the food in just as a storm was rolling in. Half way through dinner we had to leave our plates and run down to the basement because the weather was so bad. We had high winds and a TON of hail. This is a picture of our back porch.
Sunday (vacation day 2)
-Hubby had to go to work so the kids and I spent the morning hanging around the house and cleaning up.
-After a big lunch we headed to Target to pick up some things for our trip on Thursday. Like new shoes for Goose.
-I finished reading Fifty Shades Darker.
-Started reading Money Can Buy Happiness. I am REALLY enjoying this book and have spent a lot of time since starting it working through our finances. We have followed Dave Ramsey's plan until now and have been feeling really stressed out by it even though we are in a better place financially.
-Spent 2 hours cleaning out my car and scrubbing the inside. My poor car needed it SO bad. We feel like we are riding in a new car now!
Monday (vacation day 3)
-Took P to speech therapy. She has started saying I by herself some. She still says me a lot in place for I, but we take what we can get.
-Went to the car wash. The kids LOVE driving through the car wash. I don't care for it. Being in that little room with the brushes and things beating up against the car makes me feel clostraphobic and trapped. The car is now looking GOOD. It has been washed, vacuumed, and armoralled. Of course as soon as we got home a bird pooped on it :/
-Spent the rest of the day trying to get some things done before our trip. All day I felt like I took 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I did manage to keep the rooms I spring cleaned maintained and a few loads of laundry done.
-The kids spent the rest of the day driving each other CRAZY! I kept telling myself "Only 1 more day till Hubby is off for 12 days!!!".
Saturday (Vacation Day 1):
-Took P to French class. She is such an outgoing, never shy child but at French class she is very reserved and forgets everything. I know she is picking it up though because she will say things like colors and body parts in French :)
-We spent our afternoon at the park hiking. We hiked a 1.25 trail that was easy. We all enjoyed getting out and getting some exercise. The kids were a little scared to hike the trail through the woods though. They kept thinking a bear was going to get us!
-After hiking we went home to grill out. Hubby brought the food in just as a storm was rolling in. Half way through dinner we had to leave our plates and run down to the basement because the weather was so bad. We had high winds and a TON of hail. This is a picture of our back porch.
Sunday (vacation day 2)
-Hubby had to go to work so the kids and I spent the morning hanging around the house and cleaning up.
-After a big lunch we headed to Target to pick up some things for our trip on Thursday. Like new shoes for Goose.
-I finished reading Fifty Shades Darker.
-Started reading Money Can Buy Happiness. I am REALLY enjoying this book and have spent a lot of time since starting it working through our finances. We have followed Dave Ramsey's plan until now and have been feeling really stressed out by it even though we are in a better place financially.
-Spent 2 hours cleaning out my car and scrubbing the inside. My poor car needed it SO bad. We feel like we are riding in a new car now!
Monday (vacation day 3)
-Took P to speech therapy. She has started saying I by herself some. She still says me a lot in place for I, but we take what we can get.
-Went to the car wash. The kids LOVE driving through the car wash. I don't care for it. Being in that little room with the brushes and things beating up against the car makes me feel clostraphobic and trapped. The car is now looking GOOD. It has been washed, vacuumed, and armoralled. Of course as soon as we got home a bird pooped on it :/
-Spent the rest of the day trying to get some things done before our trip. All day I felt like I took 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I did manage to keep the rooms I spring cleaned maintained and a few loads of laundry done.
-The kids spent the rest of the day driving each other CRAZY! I kept telling myself "Only 1 more day till Hubby is off for 12 days!!!".
Friday, April 27, 2012
Weekly Wrap Up: 4/23-4/27
This week we struggled! We are going on a 11 day vacation to visit my parents and inlaws next week and school work was a drag this week. We are all so happy to be off for the next 2 weeks!
This week we did some graph work for math, learned about our respiratory system, finished 3 lessons in our reading book, completed a spelling unit (Master M made 100), and completed week 1 in History Odessey. We have also been practicing our French. The kids are learning their numbers 1-10, colors, and some basic words- hello, goodbye, snack, baby, dad, mom, girl, boy, dog, cat, ect. P is really enjoying her French lessons. I'm enjoying learning with her and teaching the other kids what we are learning.
Our highlights of this week were being able to watch P practice her ballet and tap recital pieces and going to Master M's baseball game. He got a hit all the way to the fence!
This week we did some graph work for math, learned about our respiratory system, finished 3 lessons in our reading book, completed a spelling unit (Master M made 100), and completed week 1 in History Odessey. We have also been practicing our French. The kids are learning their numbers 1-10, colors, and some basic words- hello, goodbye, snack, baby, dad, mom, girl, boy, dog, cat, ect. P is really enjoying her French lessons. I'm enjoying learning with her and teaching the other kids what we are learning.
Our highlights of this week were being able to watch P practice her ballet and tap recital pieces and going to Master M's baseball game. He got a hit all the way to the fence!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Weekly wrap up 4/15-4/22
This week Master m worked on: blending 2 consonants in reading
started the 2nd book of Singapore math 1st grade
did 2 science labs about the body's circular system. We had a lot of fun making "blood"
Learned more about ancient Egypt
This week Princess P (previously known as Pork Chop):
Declared she no longer wants to be Pork Chop
Rowed the book Red Clogs
Learned her colors and numbers in French
We also had a playdate at the park with friends.
Master M had:
karate and learned a new move
His 1st baseball game of the season. He is playing 1st base and made 3 outs
His baseball parade and had his picture in the news! (picture 3 Yankees)
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012304210098
Princess P:
Got her dance recital costume in
Learned a lot in French class
started the 2nd book of Singapore math 1st grade
did 2 science labs about the body's circular system. We had a lot of fun making "blood"
Learned more about ancient Egypt
This week Princess P (previously known as Pork Chop):
Declared she no longer wants to be Pork Chop
Rowed the book Red Clogs
Learned her colors and numbers in French
We also had a playdate at the park with friends.
Master M had:
karate and learned a new move
His 1st baseball game of the season. He is playing 1st base and made 3 outs
His baseball parade and had his picture in the news! (picture 3 Yankees)
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012304210098
Princess P:
Got her dance recital costume in
Learned a lot in French class
Friday, April 6, 2012
Week 14 Weekly Wrap Up
Sunday:
- Master M completed the entire shapes unit (4 lessons) in math. He has known his shaped since his 4th birthday so it was just review for him.
-I read the first 3 chapters of Captain Courageous to Master M. Added a disk tomap to show where Newfoundland is.
-Dad finished reading the Angelina Ballerina chapter book to Pork Chop.
-Master M reviewed 2 lessons in OPGTR and completed a new lesson. OPGTR is really working for him. Since we started this book in late January he has made serious improvement.
-On Saturday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and a book on the human body for the kids. While I was there I found a Dover coloring book on the human body (My First Human Body Book). The kids colored a page on your skeleton to add to the science notebook.
-We are going through The Egyptology Handbook for history and read lesson 2. Master M colored a picture of the Sphinx to add to his history notebook.
-Master M took a pretest in spelling on his new words and old words he spelled incorrectly. He got all but 2 right (the 2 he missed were new).
-I finished up Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I really enjoyed this book.
Monday:
-Spent an hour practicing baseball with Master M.
-Started Rowing Mike Mulligan.
-Reviewed all the disks on our map.
-Pork Chop had speech therapy. Her homework for the week is to work on saying I and not me. If she does this for 4 weeks her therapist told her she would be able to get something out of her treasure chest.
-Master M revied 2 lessons in OPGTR and completed a new lesson.
-Master M completed a page in his spelling book.
-We read lesson 3 in The Egyptology Handbook and added a page to our history notebook on Saqqara.
-Pork Chop made a number caterpillar (1-10) for math.
-Master M completed the measurements unit in math (2 lessons). This was another review for him. His Papa has had him measuring and building things since he could walk. He showed off during his lesson by counting by 2's,3's, 4's, and 10's.
-For science we colored another page in the Human Body coloring book. I read a page on your skeleton while the kids colored and had them tell me what they learned. I wrote it down on a notebook page and added both things to our science notebook.
-I read chapter 4 of Captain Courageous to Master M and Make Way For Ducklings to Pork Chop and Goose.
-I started the book Savannah Breeze. My mom gave me this book to read a few months ago and I just haven't had time to read it. In fact I had forgotten all about it until today when I was down in the basement looking through some of the moving boxes (GASP! Yes there are 3 boxes in our basement with junk that I never unpacked) and found it.
Tuesday:
-The kids played outside all morning and found a tent caterpillar. They put it in a jar so we could keep it.
-We met some friends at the park in the afternoon.
-Master M had karate class. While he was at karate Pork Chop, Goose, and I walked next door to the pet shop and bought a little plastic home for our caterpillar.
-I read chapters 5-8 of Captain Courageous to Master M and The Rooster Crows to Pork Chop and Goose.
Wednesday:
-Master M did a math unit on weight.
-Master M completed lesson in OPGTR.
-The kids wrote a story about a caterpillar.
-Pork Chop went to dance class.
-The kids spent a lot of time outside.
Thursday:
-The kids hung out in the house playing because of the rain.
-After the rain stopped they watched the glass guy replace my windshield.
-The kids played outside in the afternoon.
-Pork Chop asked me to download the umizoomie math game for her on the Ipad and I did. She spent about 30 minutes playing it.
-We went to the library.
-Master M had baseball practice. His coach said that he will be playing 1st base!!!
-I read several chapters of Captain Courageous to Master M and started the book Dolphin Adventures with Pork Chop.
-Goose is trying to sing the alphabet song and is now saying bath.
Friday:
-We rowed Mike Mulligan for the last day. The kids did some Mike Mulligan word problems, we talked about creative problem solving and road egineering, and the kids drew trees for art.
-Master M took his spelling test and made 100% including the words he missed last week.
-Master M took his end of the book test for 1A in Singapore math and made 100%. I have the HIG (home instructors guide) to 1B, but I am waiting on the workbook and text book to come in.
-We read Croco'Nile for history and the kids drew their favorite part.
-We made an arm in science that shows how your muscles work.
-The kids played outside and found another caterpillart to add with the one we found earlier this week.
-I finished the book Savannah Breeze.
- Master M completed the entire shapes unit (4 lessons) in math. He has known his shaped since his 4th birthday so it was just review for him.
-I read the first 3 chapters of Captain Courageous to Master M. Added a disk tomap to show where Newfoundland is.
-Dad finished reading the Angelina Ballerina chapter book to Pork Chop.
-Master M reviewed 2 lessons in OPGTR and completed a new lesson. OPGTR is really working for him. Since we started this book in late January he has made serious improvement.
-On Saturday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and a book on the human body for the kids. While I was there I found a Dover coloring book on the human body (My First Human Body Book). The kids colored a page on your skeleton to add to the science notebook.
-We are going through The Egyptology Handbook for history and read lesson 2. Master M colored a picture of the Sphinx to add to his history notebook.
-Master M took a pretest in spelling on his new words and old words he spelled incorrectly. He got all but 2 right (the 2 he missed were new).
-I finished up Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I really enjoyed this book.
Monday:
-Spent an hour practicing baseball with Master M.
-Started Rowing Mike Mulligan.
-Reviewed all the disks on our map.
-Pork Chop had speech therapy. Her homework for the week is to work on saying I and not me. If she does this for 4 weeks her therapist told her she would be able to get something out of her treasure chest.
-Master M revied 2 lessons in OPGTR and completed a new lesson.
-Master M completed a page in his spelling book.
-We read lesson 3 in The Egyptology Handbook and added a page to our history notebook on Saqqara.
-Pork Chop made a number caterpillar (1-10) for math.
-Master M completed the measurements unit in math (2 lessons). This was another review for him. His Papa has had him measuring and building things since he could walk. He showed off during his lesson by counting by 2's,3's, 4's, and 10's.
-For science we colored another page in the Human Body coloring book. I read a page on your skeleton while the kids colored and had them tell me what they learned. I wrote it down on a notebook page and added both things to our science notebook.
-I read chapter 4 of Captain Courageous to Master M and Make Way For Ducklings to Pork Chop and Goose.
-I started the book Savannah Breeze. My mom gave me this book to read a few months ago and I just haven't had time to read it. In fact I had forgotten all about it until today when I was down in the basement looking through some of the moving boxes (GASP! Yes there are 3 boxes in our basement with junk that I never unpacked) and found it.
Tuesday:
-The kids played outside all morning and found a tent caterpillar. They put it in a jar so we could keep it.
-We met some friends at the park in the afternoon.
-Master M had karate class. While he was at karate Pork Chop, Goose, and I walked next door to the pet shop and bought a little plastic home for our caterpillar.
-I read chapters 5-8 of Captain Courageous to Master M and The Rooster Crows to Pork Chop and Goose.
Wednesday:
-Master M did a math unit on weight.
-Master M completed lesson in OPGTR.
-The kids wrote a story about a caterpillar.
-Pork Chop went to dance class.
-The kids spent a lot of time outside.
Thursday:
-The kids hung out in the house playing because of the rain.
-After the rain stopped they watched the glass guy replace my windshield.
-The kids played outside in the afternoon.
-Pork Chop asked me to download the umizoomie math game for her on the Ipad and I did. She spent about 30 minutes playing it.
-We went to the library.
-Master M had baseball practice. His coach said that he will be playing 1st base!!!
-I read several chapters of Captain Courageous to Master M and started the book Dolphin Adventures with Pork Chop.
-Goose is trying to sing the alphabet song and is now saying bath.
Friday:
-We rowed Mike Mulligan for the last day. The kids did some Mike Mulligan word problems, we talked about creative problem solving and road egineering, and the kids drew trees for art.
-Master M took his spelling test and made 100% including the words he missed last week.
-Master M took his end of the book test for 1A in Singapore math and made 100%. I have the HIG (home instructors guide) to 1B, but I am waiting on the workbook and text book to come in.
-We read Croco'Nile for history and the kids drew their favorite part.
-We made an arm in science that shows how your muscles work.
-The kids played outside and found another caterpillart to add with the one we found earlier this week.
-I finished the book Savannah Breeze.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wordless Wednesday
I've spent a good bit time this week reading. I read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in 2 days and am currently reading Savannah Breeze. I should finish it by the end of the day.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Week 13 Wrap up
This has been a tough week for me. Not because the kids are acting crazy and refusing to work, but because we are implementing a new schedule. Dad and I talked and Dad told me that he thought Master M needed more down time from school. He suggested that Master M have off the days he has outside lessons/activities. I needed some time to think about this, but I said I'd give it a go. This means he would school Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (Dad then went on to say that if he had his off days broken up between his work week he would enjoy his work week more.)
Sunday we went to church and then came home and had a nice family lunch. The kids played outside most of the day. Master M did some school stuff in the afternoon.
Monday Pork Chop had speech therapy. Her therapist told me that she is doing very good during their sessions and she is really trying hard to hear the different sounds and say them correctly. While she was having her therapy session Master M and I read a story for history. It's out of this fun book we picked up at the library. One of those you choose your way books about Ancient Egypt. We are working through all the scenarios and then notebooking them. The kids watched a Magic School Bus episode on the human body for science. Our FIAR book this week is the Story About Ping. We did the 3 R's too.
Tuesday (our new off day) the kids played with clay, Pork Chop drew all the stuff in a How to Draw Clifford book, and they painted with water colors. It was pretty cool out so they didn't spend much time outside. They have been extremely helpful this week and spent an hour helping me deep clean the house. In the afternoon we went to the library to pick up some things I had requested. While there I picked up a couple of books on hands on preschool activities. Pork Chop wants to have her own work, but she doesn't like puzzles or worksheets. She really enjoys what we are doing with FIAR, but she wants more. I found a book called 1,2, Buckle My Shoe that looked like it had some good ideas in it. I also picked up a copy of The Well Trained Mind. We already use OPGTR and notebook practically everything so I figured it was time to read about classical education. The kids picked their library books in record time (15 minutes) and we were already half way to karate so I just drove over. We had an hour to blow before karate started and Goose (13 months) was asleep so we read our next book in the Magic Treehouse Series #7 Sunset of the Sabertooth. At karate Master M did 100 kicks. After dinner I dove into reading TWTM while the kids played and Dad did some work at the table. I read everything that pertained to children of my kids age range and found that we were already doing classical education. It was very reassuring to sit back and say "Hey, we are already doing this.". Dad thought it was wonderful that in the book they state 4 days of school is enough since he suggested that SAME thing on Saturday!
Wednesday I used the review in Master M's math book as a test. He completed it all on his own *I did read the instructions* and made 100%. I am so glad I ordered all the books for Singapore 1b because he is ready. I told him if he made 100% on his test he wouldn't have to do math for the rest of the week. Next, will be a big review for him since it's shapes, patterns, lengths, and weights. While he did his math test Pork Chop did her assignment from the book I picked up from the library. On a white paper I wrote 1-9 and drew banana shapes (I say banana shapes bc I am a horrible drawer). On a piece of yellow construction paper I printed out enough banana's to fill all my banana shapes. I cut them out and had her glue them on which took her longer than it took Master M to do his math test. She LOVED this and asked if we could do more tomorrow. I decided to start her on OPGTR today too. She loves being read to and pretends to read to Goose. Master M did his OPGTR lesson and spelling lesson today without much complaint. He doesn't like it when I make him go back and rewrite a letter, but he did it. He tells me he doesn't like reading, but I caught him reading a BOB book to his sister this morning :) We read Ping again and added sequencing cards and vocabulary to our FIAR book. The day has been really nice and warm so the kids have been outside a lot. We have big wooden swingset in our back yard the kind with the clubhouse and sandbox under it. Well, ours just has a dirt box under it. The kids like dirt better than sand. Master M made a river in the dirt box and then he explained to me and his dad about his river, how he was growing crops on the other side of the box, how he was digging irrigation tunnels to water his crops, and how he had built a damn so that part of his river was now a lake. I think what he is learning about Ancient times is sinking in :)
Thursday: Goose woke up at 3 am. By 7am I had the house looking very good (THANK YOU COFFEE!). I was very glad that it was our new off day. The kids spent the morning playing outside. I called the music teacher that does suzuki violin and cello and got info about starting Master M. I am giving him until the end of April to pick. That gives us plenty of time to get him signed up and an instrument before classes start in June. I secrectly want him to play the cello. At lunch Master M was trying to figure out how butter was made from milk. So after lunch we watched a How It's Made on butter. We all love that How It's Made is available on Netflix for whenever we need it. While I helped Pork Chop put together a 100 piece puzzle Master M watched another How It's Made on bathtubs, helecopters, and some other stuff (toothpicks???). Then it was back outside. Master M had baseball practice and that went well. His coach has him on 1st base. He still needs to practice his catching, but his hitting was spot on. On the way home from baseball Pork Chop told me she was mad at me. She said it wasn't fair her brother has reading class, math class, science class, and history class. She claimed she never got to do ANYTHING. So Dad cooked dinner while I did a lesson out of OPGTR with her and some m&m math. After dinner Master M read a Level 1 reader (with help).
Friday: We read Cells are Us for science and made a page for our science notebook. Master M had a review lesson in OPGTR and Pork Chop continued to learn vowel sounds. Master M had his spelling test today and only wrote 2 words correct. We went over them a lot this week, but when he wrote some of them he sounded out an a sound instead of an e sound. He has a really hard time with the short e sound. We finished up The Story about Ping and read some more about Egypt for history.
Sunday we went to church and then came home and had a nice family lunch. The kids played outside most of the day. Master M did some school stuff in the afternoon.
Monday Pork Chop had speech therapy. Her therapist told me that she is doing very good during their sessions and she is really trying hard to hear the different sounds and say them correctly. While she was having her therapy session Master M and I read a story for history. It's out of this fun book we picked up at the library. One of those you choose your way books about Ancient Egypt. We are working through all the scenarios and then notebooking them. The kids watched a Magic School Bus episode on the human body for science. Our FIAR book this week is the Story About Ping. We did the 3 R's too.
Tuesday (our new off day) the kids played with clay, Pork Chop drew all the stuff in a How to Draw Clifford book, and they painted with water colors. It was pretty cool out so they didn't spend much time outside. They have been extremely helpful this week and spent an hour helping me deep clean the house. In the afternoon we went to the library to pick up some things I had requested. While there I picked up a couple of books on hands on preschool activities. Pork Chop wants to have her own work, but she doesn't like puzzles or worksheets. She really enjoys what we are doing with FIAR, but she wants more. I found a book called 1,2, Buckle My Shoe that looked like it had some good ideas in it. I also picked up a copy of The Well Trained Mind. We already use OPGTR and notebook practically everything so I figured it was time to read about classical education. The kids picked their library books in record time (15 minutes) and we were already half way to karate so I just drove over. We had an hour to blow before karate started and Goose (13 months) was asleep so we read our next book in the Magic Treehouse Series #7 Sunset of the Sabertooth. At karate Master M did 100 kicks. After dinner I dove into reading TWTM while the kids played and Dad did some work at the table. I read everything that pertained to children of my kids age range and found that we were already doing classical education. It was very reassuring to sit back and say "Hey, we are already doing this.". Dad thought it was wonderful that in the book they state 4 days of school is enough since he suggested that SAME thing on Saturday!
Wednesday I used the review in Master M's math book as a test. He completed it all on his own *I did read the instructions* and made 100%. I am so glad I ordered all the books for Singapore 1b because he is ready. I told him if he made 100% on his test he wouldn't have to do math for the rest of the week. Next, will be a big review for him since it's shapes, patterns, lengths, and weights. While he did his math test Pork Chop did her assignment from the book I picked up from the library. On a white paper I wrote 1-9 and drew banana shapes (I say banana shapes bc I am a horrible drawer). On a piece of yellow construction paper I printed out enough banana's to fill all my banana shapes. I cut them out and had her glue them on which took her longer than it took Master M to do his math test. She LOVED this and asked if we could do more tomorrow. I decided to start her on OPGTR today too. She loves being read to and pretends to read to Goose. Master M did his OPGTR lesson and spelling lesson today without much complaint. He doesn't like it when I make him go back and rewrite a letter, but he did it. He tells me he doesn't like reading, but I caught him reading a BOB book to his sister this morning :) We read Ping again and added sequencing cards and vocabulary to our FIAR book. The day has been really nice and warm so the kids have been outside a lot. We have big wooden swingset in our back yard the kind with the clubhouse and sandbox under it. Well, ours just has a dirt box under it. The kids like dirt better than sand. Master M made a river in the dirt box and then he explained to me and his dad about his river, how he was growing crops on the other side of the box, how he was digging irrigation tunnels to water his crops, and how he had built a damn so that part of his river was now a lake. I think what he is learning about Ancient times is sinking in :)
Thursday: Goose woke up at 3 am. By 7am I had the house looking very good (THANK YOU COFFEE!). I was very glad that it was our new off day. The kids spent the morning playing outside. I called the music teacher that does suzuki violin and cello and got info about starting Master M. I am giving him until the end of April to pick. That gives us plenty of time to get him signed up and an instrument before classes start in June. I secrectly want him to play the cello. At lunch Master M was trying to figure out how butter was made from milk. So after lunch we watched a How It's Made on butter. We all love that How It's Made is available on Netflix for whenever we need it. While I helped Pork Chop put together a 100 piece puzzle Master M watched another How It's Made on bathtubs, helecopters, and some other stuff (toothpicks???). Then it was back outside. Master M had baseball practice and that went well. His coach has him on 1st base. He still needs to practice his catching, but his hitting was spot on. On the way home from baseball Pork Chop told me she was mad at me. She said it wasn't fair her brother has reading class, math class, science class, and history class. She claimed she never got to do ANYTHING. So Dad cooked dinner while I did a lesson out of OPGTR with her and some m&m math. After dinner Master M read a Level 1 reader (with help).
Friday: We read Cells are Us for science and made a page for our science notebook. Master M had a review lesson in OPGTR and Pork Chop continued to learn vowel sounds. Master M had his spelling test today and only wrote 2 words correct. We went over them a lot this week, but when he wrote some of them he sounded out an a sound instead of an e sound. He has a really hard time with the short e sound. We finished up The Story about Ping and read some more about Egypt for history.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
This Week's Literary Picks
Here are our literary picks for the week.
Pork Chop's Picks:
Babar Family Times
Mary Engelbreit's A Merry Little Christmas
Sailor Moo Cow at Sea (Lisa Wheeler)
Curious George Takes a train (Margret & H.A. Rey)
A Beach Tail (Karen Lynn Williams)
Max's ABC (Rosemary Wells)
You Can't Take a Ballon Into The Museum of Fine Arts (Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman & Robin Preiss Glasser)
Pork Chop's Picks:
Babar Family Times
Mary Engelbreit's A Merry Little Christmas
Sailor Moo Cow at Sea (Lisa Wheeler)
Curious George Takes a train (Margret & H.A. Rey)
A Beach Tail (Karen Lynn Williams)
Max's ABC (Rosemary Wells)
You Can't Take a Ballon Into The Museum of Fine Arts (Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman & Robin Preiss Glasser)
Master M's Picks:
Bone Soup (Cambria Evans)
Harry Bear and Friends Count Fish (Elliot Kreloff)
Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss)
Ten Apples up on Top (Dr. Suess)
-Seadogs An Epic Ocean Operetta (Lisa Wheeler)
Mom's Kid Picks:
-The Biggest Bear (Lynd Ward)
-The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (Arthur Ransome)
-Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharoahs (Gail Gibbons)
-Ancient Egypt An Interactive History Adventure (Heather Adamson)
-Mummies (Kremena Spengler)
-Ms. Frizzle's Adventures Ancient Egypt (Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen)
-The Valley of the Kings: Egypts Greatest Mummies (Michael Burgan)
-Pharaoh's Boat (David Weitzman)
-Great Ancient Egypt:Projects You Can Build Yourself (Carmella Van Vleet)
-The Gruesome Truth About The Egyptians (Jillian Powell)
-See Through Mummies (John Malam)
-You Are In Ancient Egypt (Raintree Perspectives)
-Life in Ancient Egypt (Paul Challen)
-Pyramids and Mummies (Seymour Simon)
-The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body (Joanna Cole)
-Little Pear (Eleanor Frances Lattimore)
-How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Marjorie Priceman)
(Can you tell we are studying Ancient Egypt????)
Monday, March 19, 2012
Week 11 Wrap Up
Sunday: We went to the zoo today. It was 80 and beautiful. I think everyone had the same idea as we did because the zoo was packed. Master M HATES crowds of people and was very upset that the herpaquarium was packed. We have a membership that we use quite often, but dad has only been with us once. On that particular trip it was our first time at the zoo and we missed the herpaquarium and the lorakeets. Oh, those lorakeets. They were the downfall of our zoo trip. The line was long and because so many people had come in and out the lorakeets were hiding. On a normal weekday there are a few other families at the zoo. We can hit up everything and spend 20-30 minutes in with the lorakeets (Master M really loves those lorakeets). Last time we went the bird guy told us the baby lorakeets were old enough to be added with the rest. Master M was SO excited about seeing those new lorakeets, but not bad enough to wait 30+ minutes in line. After that he was done. It was so wonderful though to see him telling dad all about the animals at the zoo. He was even telling dad which mallards were males and females.
Master M played reading eggs for a while today. He just started playing it yesterday and is already on lesson 27. He sees it as a video game and he hasn't met a video game he doesn't want to beat. I also had him read a beginning reader book to me (with quite a bit of help).
Dad isn't home a lot during the week and Master M asked if we could start doing a science lab on the weekends so dad could participate. Our next lab was building cells out of our RSO life curriculum. I already had the stuff bought to do it so when we got home from the zoo we started making our jello plant and animal cells. The jello is the cell membrane, the grapes are the chloroplasts, and the strawberry is the nucleus.
Monday: This week our FIAR book is How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World. We read it and put story discs on each one of the places they visited. We also put a story disc on the Indian Ocean. We also colored in the countries on a printed map and wrote what continent each place was on. Master M colored in flags of every country listed in the book. After we finished up our FIAR stuff it was time for snack and the kids ate the plant cell they made yesterday. They both said it was yummy. Then we were off to speech therapy. Today was Pork Chop's first day of speech. While she did speech I went over Master M's spelling words with him (We are using Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary) and had him spell them a couple of time with alphabet tiles on a white board. Then it was time for the pretest. This is our first week with this curriculum and he has a really hard time pinpointing the individual sounds in words so I was afraid he was going to get them all wrong. He really suprised me when he was able to sound out and spell all but the last two words. (Can and Fan) He wrote cat and fat. When we went over the words he realized he wrote the wrong letter and happily wrote them correctly over in the correction section. Pork Chop's therapy lasts for 1 hour so we had time to read a little reader and the first 6 chapters of our Magic Treehouse book (I can't think of the name but it's book #6 Amazon something). After lunch we worked on math which was adding past 10 by making 10's and 1's. Master M picked it up super quick and was coming up with the answers quicker than I could have him move our manipulitives!
Tuesday: Was a long day. You know those days when your children are ornery? Yeah, this was one of those day. Still we did an experiment on evoporation, spelling, added to our timeline, reading, and worked on adding 2 digits where the sum is greater than 10. We alse had a new friend come over and play. Then it was off to karate where Master M had his first class as on orange belt:)
Wednesday: Ran very smooth. We finished up our work in a short amount of time. I started Pork Chop on the MEP's Primary Practice book 1a. She has been asking me for more worksheets so I figured this was a start. She did 2 pages and seemed very happy with it. We added to our scrapbook on How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. Master M can now group numbers like 8+7 into 10+5 to make 15 in his head. I was taught math completely different than what I am teaching him so this method of adding is ver new to me and I am having to relearn the basics. This way seems so easier than what I was taught (I don't have to count on my fingers anymore *cough*cough*). I am NOT the math whiz of this house. Master M is also really picking up speed on reading. He still doesn't *like* to read (he HATES sounding words out), but he can read BOB books pretty profiently (Just 1-2 helps). We used our afternoon to go get Pork Chop some new glasses, pick up some groceries, play outside (for a few minutes 87 is quite hot!), play with model magic, and finish up reading our Magic Treehouse book "Afternoon on the Amazon". Then we whisked Pork Chop off to dance.
Thursday: Was just plain HORRIBLE!! That's all I have to say about that. I did manage to decide what we are using for Ancient History. I decided to use A BOOK IN TIME's book list and notebook history.
Friday:Went much better than Thursday. It was rainy when we woke up and we all just hung out until around 10 when we started school work. We started our Ancient History Notebook today and Master M is REALLY into it. He asked if we could work on it first. When we were done he said "I know we don't have school tomorrow, but can we still work on this." When people say "the joy of learning" I'm pretty sure this is what they are talking about :) Master M finished up his first week of Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary and took his spelling test today. I told him at the beginning of the week if he made 100% I would give him $1 (He is trying to save up money for the dinosaur gift shop exhibit at the zoo in April). He rose to the challenge and spelled every word correct!!! I was SO proud of him! Then we moved on to reading. This has not gone good this week (understatement!). I asked over on HIVE MIND for help on a child who isn't putting forth a good effort for reading and someone suggested to really draw out the words. Since we are at a point in OPGTR where we can't go forward until he is able to really read short vowel sound words we worked with letter tiles on a small white board. When he came to a word he didn't know and of course refused to sound out (which is just crazy because he sounded out all of his spelling words during his test!) I really drew out those words. After the 3rd time doing it he looked at me and said "You can stop that now." I guess annoying mom sounding out words was enough for him to really try himself! We only spent 20 minutes on reading, but he was really working at it and that's all I wanted. For science they watched a Magic Schoolbus video on the body and then we journaled it. Math was finishing up yesterday's lesson on adding numbers larger than 10 while hiding in the basement from tornadoes. Then we finished up our FIAR book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by drawing street scenes for art.
Master M played reading eggs for a while today. He just started playing it yesterday and is already on lesson 27. He sees it as a video game and he hasn't met a video game he doesn't want to beat. I also had him read a beginning reader book to me (with quite a bit of help).
Dad isn't home a lot during the week and Master M asked if we could start doing a science lab on the weekends so dad could participate. Our next lab was building cells out of our RSO life curriculum. I already had the stuff bought to do it so when we got home from the zoo we started making our jello plant and animal cells. The jello is the cell membrane, the grapes are the chloroplasts, and the strawberry is the nucleus.
Monday: This week our FIAR book is How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World. We read it and put story discs on each one of the places they visited. We also put a story disc on the Indian Ocean. We also colored in the countries on a printed map and wrote what continent each place was on. Master M colored in flags of every country listed in the book. After we finished up our FIAR stuff it was time for snack and the kids ate the plant cell they made yesterday. They both said it was yummy. Then we were off to speech therapy. Today was Pork Chop's first day of speech. While she did speech I went over Master M's spelling words with him (We are using Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary) and had him spell them a couple of time with alphabet tiles on a white board. Then it was time for the pretest. This is our first week with this curriculum and he has a really hard time pinpointing the individual sounds in words so I was afraid he was going to get them all wrong. He really suprised me when he was able to sound out and spell all but the last two words. (Can and Fan) He wrote cat and fat. When we went over the words he realized he wrote the wrong letter and happily wrote them correctly over in the correction section. Pork Chop's therapy lasts for 1 hour so we had time to read a little reader and the first 6 chapters of our Magic Treehouse book (I can't think of the name but it's book #6 Amazon something). After lunch we worked on math which was adding past 10 by making 10's and 1's. Master M picked it up super quick and was coming up with the answers quicker than I could have him move our manipulitives!
Tuesday: Was a long day. You know those days when your children are ornery? Yeah, this was one of those day. Still we did an experiment on evoporation, spelling, added to our timeline, reading, and worked on adding 2 digits where the sum is greater than 10. We alse had a new friend come over and play. Then it was off to karate where Master M had his first class as on orange belt:)
Wednesday: Ran very smooth. We finished up our work in a short amount of time. I started Pork Chop on the MEP's Primary Practice book 1a. She has been asking me for more worksheets so I figured this was a start. She did 2 pages and seemed very happy with it. We added to our scrapbook on How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. Master M can now group numbers like 8+7 into 10+5 to make 15 in his head. I was taught math completely different than what I am teaching him so this method of adding is ver new to me and I am having to relearn the basics. This way seems so easier than what I was taught (I don't have to count on my fingers anymore *cough*cough*). I am NOT the math whiz of this house. Master M is also really picking up speed on reading. He still doesn't *like* to read (he HATES sounding words out), but he can read BOB books pretty profiently (Just 1-2 helps). We used our afternoon to go get Pork Chop some new glasses, pick up some groceries, play outside (for a few minutes 87 is quite hot!), play with model magic, and finish up reading our Magic Treehouse book "Afternoon on the Amazon". Then we whisked Pork Chop off to dance.
Thursday: Was just plain HORRIBLE!! That's all I have to say about that. I did manage to decide what we are using for Ancient History. I decided to use A BOOK IN TIME's book list and notebook history.
Friday:Went much better than Thursday. It was rainy when we woke up and we all just hung out until around 10 when we started school work. We started our Ancient History Notebook today and Master M is REALLY into it. He asked if we could work on it first. When we were done he said "I know we don't have school tomorrow, but can we still work on this." When people say "the joy of learning" I'm pretty sure this is what they are talking about :) Master M finished up his first week of Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary and took his spelling test today. I told him at the beginning of the week if he made 100% I would give him $1 (He is trying to save up money for the dinosaur gift shop exhibit at the zoo in April). He rose to the challenge and spelled every word correct!!! I was SO proud of him! Then we moved on to reading. This has not gone good this week (understatement!). I asked over on HIVE MIND for help on a child who isn't putting forth a good effort for reading and someone suggested to really draw out the words. Since we are at a point in OPGTR where we can't go forward until he is able to really read short vowel sound words we worked with letter tiles on a small white board. When he came to a word he didn't know and of course refused to sound out (which is just crazy because he sounded out all of his spelling words during his test!) I really drew out those words. After the 3rd time doing it he looked at me and said "You can stop that now." I guess annoying mom sounding out words was enough for him to really try himself! We only spent 20 minutes on reading, but he was really working at it and that's all I wanted. For science they watched a Magic Schoolbus video on the body and then we journaled it. Math was finishing up yesterday's lesson on adding numbers larger than 10 while hiding in the basement from tornadoes. Then we finished up our FIAR book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by drawing street scenes for art.
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