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!!!".

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

Wordless Wednesday: Beauty in Bloom