VACATION!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!!!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
December 19, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Mixed day
Art - Contrast - talked about complementary colors. We went over this some last year, but J didn't remember. Made a color wheel from construction paper and discussed complementary colors, primary/secondary colors and warm/cool colors.
Math - Geometry - found page in book that had a patchwork quilt and identified the geometrical shapes in it.
Science - Safety - Talked about what items would be necessary for a kit if the power ever went out from a storm. Made a list and made a plan to buy them all on our next shopping trip and find a good easy place to store it when it's all ready.
Five senses - Made a list of all 5 senses and when they were talked about in the story (if at all). Tried closing our eyes to see if we could hear better and it worked. J & P love it.
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 92-93 - Writing down addition and subtraction sentences derived from word problems and solving. Working with bar graphs.
Coloring: J
Finished December calendar!
Reading: P
Completed lesson 29 of 100EL - doing great! A real reader now...
Mixed day
Art - Contrast - talked about complementary colors. We went over this some last year, but J didn't remember. Made a color wheel from construction paper and discussed complementary colors, primary/secondary colors and warm/cool colors.
Math - Geometry - found page in book that had a patchwork quilt and identified the geometrical shapes in it.
Science - Safety - Talked about what items would be necessary for a kit if the power ever went out from a storm. Made a list and made a plan to buy them all on our next shopping trip and find a good easy place to store it when it's all ready.
Five senses - Made a list of all 5 senses and when they were talked about in the story (if at all). Tried closing our eyes to see if we could hear better and it worked. J & P love it.
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 92-93 - Writing down addition and subtraction sentences derived from word problems and solving. Working with bar graphs.
Coloring: J
Finished December calendar!
Reading: P
Completed lesson 29 of 100EL - doing great! A real reader now...
December 18, 2008
Happy Birthday Sue!
Short day today
FIAR: J
Language Day
Discussed contrasting phrases - In the beginning of the story, the thunder was like mountains blowing up, at the end, only mutterings of thunder. Gave him some other examples and then asked him to try to come up with some on his own.
Punctuation - Italics, Quotation marks, Exclamation points
Discussed that the author's use of italics means that he is putting stress on that word, that it is important to the sentence. We went through the book and found all the words in italics and made sure we said the sentences the right way. J thought this was really fun.
Showed him that when the characters are speaking, we can tell where it starts and stops by looking at the placement of the quotation marks.
Showed him the difference in how you would say a sentence if it ended with either: ?, !, or . J had fun saying different sentences all different ways. Good stuff.
Personification - Asked him where personification was used in this story. At first he said the cat, but I told him the cat didn't do anything a cat wasn't supposed to do. Then he came up with it... the storm! And came up with examples of how it was personified. Nice work, J.
Vocabulary - defined and discussed: mandarin (color), bough and errand
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 90-91 - Adding and subtracting to 16, working with number families
Coloring: J
Colored more of December page
Reading: P
Completed lesson 28 of 100EL
Short day today
FIAR: J
Language Day
Discussed contrasting phrases - In the beginning of the story, the thunder was like mountains blowing up, at the end, only mutterings of thunder. Gave him some other examples and then asked him to try to come up with some on his own.
Punctuation - Italics, Quotation marks, Exclamation points
Discussed that the author's use of italics means that he is putting stress on that word, that it is important to the sentence. We went through the book and found all the words in italics and made sure we said the sentences the right way. J thought this was really fun.
Showed him that when the characters are speaking, we can tell where it starts and stops by looking at the placement of the quotation marks.
Showed him the difference in how you would say a sentence if it ended with either: ?, !, or . J had fun saying different sentences all different ways. Good stuff.
Personification - Asked him where personification was used in this story. At first he said the cat, but I told him the cat didn't do anything a cat wasn't supposed to do. Then he came up with it... the storm! And came up with examples of how it was personified. Nice work, J.
Vocabulary - defined and discussed: mandarin (color), bough and errand
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 90-91 - Adding and subtracting to 16, working with number families
Coloring: J
Colored more of December page
Reading: P
Completed lesson 28 of 100EL
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
December 16, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Read The Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz
J & P liked it, didn't love it. I thought it was kinda long and boring, but nice pictures =)
Social Studies Day
Relationships - Grandfather/grandchild relationship - Discussed how we can tell that Thomas and his grandfather are close. Talked about relationships with our own grandparents.
I personally think that FIAR is a great curriculum, but I do with they would tone down on the grandparent stories... I feel like it's more than half the stories and it's only December... enough already!
Emotions - Fear - Talked about fears and what might create them and how they can be overcome. But also that it's ok to be afraid sometimes. Just remember to put your trust in God.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 88-89 - greater than, less than, adding, tally, adding columns with 3 numbers, number word recognition.
Coloring: J
2nd page of SpongeBob coloring book
Reading: P
Completed lesson 27of 100EL. Did SOOOOOOO much better today! P told me that J had been helping him remember the 'u' sound. Awwwwwwwwww.
Read The Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz
J & P liked it, didn't love it. I thought it was kinda long and boring, but nice pictures =)
Social Studies Day
Relationships - Grandfather/grandchild relationship - Discussed how we can tell that Thomas and his grandfather are close. Talked about relationships with our own grandparents.
I personally think that FIAR is a great curriculum, but I do with they would tone down on the grandparent stories... I feel like it's more than half the stories and it's only December... enough already!
Emotions - Fear - Talked about fears and what might create them and how they can be overcome. But also that it's ok to be afraid sometimes. Just remember to put your trust in God.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 88-89 - greater than, less than, adding, tally, adding columns with 3 numbers, number word recognition.
Coloring: J
2nd page of SpongeBob coloring book
Reading: P
Completed lesson 27of 100EL. Did SOOOOOOO much better today! P told me that J had been helping him remember the 'u' sound. Awwwwwwwwww.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
December 11, 2008
Happy Birthday Suzie and Alex!
FIAR: J & P
Math and Science day
Counting - counted total number of balls in story, Giovannis in story, clubs in story and vegetables/fruits in the story.
Grouping & Pre-multiplication - Got out blocks and did 7 groups of 3 - J counted to 21 and I told him that sometime next year we would be doing a new thing called multiplication or times. We did lots of different problems with the blocks, 6x3, 7x6, etc... Also told him how, just like multiplication, you can reverse the problem, and while the groups will change, the answer will be the same. He LOVEd this lesson, wanted to keep doing it even after I was ready to stop =)
Mixtures - Explained how putting different things together physically, as long as they don't change chemically, is called a mixture. Asked J to come up with examples - he came up with soup! Nice job, J
Aging - talked about how people's senses can break down as they get older - used the example of Isaac in the bible when he is tricked by Jacob and Rachel because Isaac had gone blind in old age. But told him as you get older, you may lose your physical senses, you gain wisdom and knowledge. Discussed how you help and respect the elderly.
BrainQuest: J
pgs 46-47 - calendar; tens & ones; grammar; nature; adding; sports
Math: J
Time & Money workbook pgs 28-29 - adding coin groups and coming up with total amount.
Reading: P
New sound introduced today: short u
Told him sound repeatedly (throughout lesson, no lie, probably 50-60 times) but he could not grasp it. Felt like he wasn't trying! Did not complete lesson 27. Told him if he is not going to work, I will not work either. Trying again tomorrow.
FIAR: J & P
Math and Science day
Counting - counted total number of balls in story, Giovannis in story, clubs in story and vegetables/fruits in the story.
Grouping & Pre-multiplication - Got out blocks and did 7 groups of 3 - J counted to 21 and I told him that sometime next year we would be doing a new thing called multiplication or times. We did lots of different problems with the blocks, 6x3, 7x6, etc... Also told him how, just like multiplication, you can reverse the problem, and while the groups will change, the answer will be the same. He LOVEd this lesson, wanted to keep doing it even after I was ready to stop =)
Mixtures - Explained how putting different things together physically, as long as they don't change chemically, is called a mixture. Asked J to come up with examples - he came up with soup! Nice job, J
Aging - talked about how people's senses can break down as they get older - used the example of Isaac in the bible when he is tricked by Jacob and Rachel because Isaac had gone blind in old age. But told him as you get older, you may lose your physical senses, you gain wisdom and knowledge. Discussed how you help and respect the elderly.
BrainQuest: J
pgs 46-47 - calendar; tens & ones; grammar; nature; adding; sports
Math: J
Time & Money workbook pgs 28-29 - adding coin groups and coming up with total amount.
Reading: P
New sound introduced today: short u
Told him sound repeatedly (throughout lesson, no lie, probably 50-60 times) but he could not grasp it. Felt like he wasn't trying! Did not complete lesson 27. Told him if he is not going to work, I will not work either. Trying again tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
December 10, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Language Day
Vocabulary - defined and discussed the words: juggle, eggplant, zucchini, famous, companionship, torch, amazement, serious, magnificent
Reading Comprehension - asked various questions about the story to make sure J is understanding and not just listening.
Writing skills - writing a well balanced story - in the beginning of the story Giovanni juggles, begs for food, sleeps in doorways and meets monks - this same thing happens when he is an old man at the end of the story.
Contrast - In the beginning of the story, Giovanni is happy because he can juggle - at the end when he is old he is very sad because he feels he has lost this skill. Discussed with J other things you could write about where people go from one emotion or skill to another - J came up with: Charlie was sad because he didn't know how to stack blocks, but now he is happy because he's great at it. He had another good one, too, that I can't remember now! *sigh*
Story Endings - Discussed what keeps the ending of the story from being too sad. Talked about other good story endings. Told J that sometimes stories or movies do end sadly, but told him I have when stuff ends that way. I love a happy ending! But he can like whatever kind of story he wants. Told him that at the end of the year, in June sometime, we will use all the things he has learned about writing and illustrating good stories to make a story of his own =)
Math: J
Money - Worked with paper coins to make certain amounts and to use as few coins as possible.
SSM Workbook pgs 86-87 - subtraction, coloring, counting by 5's, connect the dots (counting by 5's)
Brain Quest: J & P
pgs 42-45 - spelling; addition; subtraction; grammar; geography; wildlife; rhyming; counting
Coloring: J & P
J colored more of his December page, P colored in his puppy coloring book
Reading: P
Completed lesson 26 of 100EL - One quarter of the way done!
Language Day
Vocabulary - defined and discussed the words: juggle, eggplant, zucchini, famous, companionship, torch, amazement, serious, magnificent
Reading Comprehension - asked various questions about the story to make sure J is understanding and not just listening.
Writing skills - writing a well balanced story - in the beginning of the story Giovanni juggles, begs for food, sleeps in doorways and meets monks - this same thing happens when he is an old man at the end of the story.
Contrast - In the beginning of the story, Giovanni is happy because he can juggle - at the end when he is old he is very sad because he feels he has lost this skill. Discussed with J other things you could write about where people go from one emotion or skill to another - J came up with: Charlie was sad because he didn't know how to stack blocks, but now he is happy because he's great at it. He had another good one, too, that I can't remember now! *sigh*
Story Endings - Discussed what keeps the ending of the story from being too sad. Talked about other good story endings. Told J that sometimes stories or movies do end sadly, but told him I have when stuff ends that way. I love a happy ending! But he can like whatever kind of story he wants. Told him that at the end of the year, in June sometime, we will use all the things he has learned about writing and illustrating good stories to make a story of his own =)
Math: J
Money - Worked with paper coins to make certain amounts and to use as few coins as possible.
SSM Workbook pgs 86-87 - subtraction, coloring, counting by 5's, connect the dots (counting by 5's)
Brain Quest: J & P
pgs 42-45 - spelling; addition; subtraction; grammar; geography; wildlife; rhyming; counting
Coloring: J & P
J colored more of his December page, P colored in his puppy coloring book
Reading: P
Completed lesson 26 of 100EL - One quarter of the way done!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
December 9, 2008
FIAR: J
Read The Clown of God retold by Tomie DePaola. I think this book on one hand is a little disturbing... J thought so, too. But on the last page he said, "ohhhh... well that's nice." So I guess you could say it ends well... but still really weird.
Social Studies Day
Geography - found and marked Italy on world map.
Language - talked about some of the Italian words that were used in the story and what they mean. (Arrivederci, Grazie, Signor, Fine). Jo noticed that a lot of them sounded like Spanish words from Dora. What a smartie!
Orphans - talked about what an orphan is. J did not seem interested in going into this at all.
Elderly - talked about how sometimes elderly people aren't shown respect by younger generations. Talked about how elderly people are to be respected and we should always do what we can to help and encourage them to show them they still have worth. Talked about ways we could do that.
Thankfulness - talked about how in the beginning of the story and at the end of the story, Giovanni had nowhere to sleep and had to beg for his food and his clothes were rags. Talked about always being thankful for the things we have and listed some of what these things were.
Difficult people - Discussed the part of the book where Giovanni is attacked by the crowd for not putting on a good performance because some people only care about their own entertainment. Noted that we always need to not only care about the performance, but the performER, and J said he would have encouraged him to not give up and to keep trying =)
Occupations - J loved this discussion. Talked about occupations people have and how they can help other people. I listed a few and talked about how they help people (cooks, paperboys, doctors), and then J ran with that and named about 100 more and they were all very good! Told him to keep these things in mind when he gets older and chooses an occupation for himself.
Brain Quest: J
pgs 38-41 - spelling; numerical order; grouping; history; food; math (tens and ones); nouns and verbs; opposites; money; nature; fairy tale identification
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 84-85 - addition; subtraction; completing and reading a graph - did AWESOME! As usual. =)
Reading: P
Completed lesson 25 of 100EL -had great difficulty today with answering questions about the story after it was read. I got a little heated because I though he should be doing better and the poor kid started crying. What a bad Mommy =( I apologized and asked if we could start over. He still had difficulty but we were both able to keep our cool and get through it. Onto 26 tomorrow.
Read The Clown of God retold by Tomie DePaola. I think this book on one hand is a little disturbing... J thought so, too. But on the last page he said, "ohhhh... well that's nice." So I guess you could say it ends well... but still really weird.
Social Studies Day
Geography - found and marked Italy on world map.
Language - talked about some of the Italian words that were used in the story and what they mean. (Arrivederci, Grazie, Signor, Fine). Jo noticed that a lot of them sounded like Spanish words from Dora. What a smartie!
Orphans - talked about what an orphan is. J did not seem interested in going into this at all.
Elderly - talked about how sometimes elderly people aren't shown respect by younger generations. Talked about how elderly people are to be respected and we should always do what we can to help and encourage them to show them they still have worth. Talked about ways we could do that.
Thankfulness - talked about how in the beginning of the story and at the end of the story, Giovanni had nowhere to sleep and had to beg for his food and his clothes were rags. Talked about always being thankful for the things we have and listed some of what these things were.
Difficult people - Discussed the part of the book where Giovanni is attacked by the crowd for not putting on a good performance because some people only care about their own entertainment. Noted that we always need to not only care about the performance, but the performER, and J said he would have encouraged him to not give up and to keep trying =)
Occupations - J loved this discussion. Talked about occupations people have and how they can help other people. I listed a few and talked about how they help people (cooks, paperboys, doctors), and then J ran with that and named about 100 more and they were all very good! Told him to keep these things in mind when he gets older and chooses an occupation for himself.
Brain Quest: J
pgs 38-41 - spelling; numerical order; grouping; history; food; math (tens and ones); nouns and verbs; opposites; money; nature; fairy tale identification
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 84-85 - addition; subtraction; completing and reading a graph - did AWESOME! As usual. =)
Reading: P
Completed lesson 25 of 100EL -had great difficulty today with answering questions about the story after it was read. I got a little heated because I though he should be doing better and the poor kid started crying. What a bad Mommy =( I apologized and asked if we could start over. He still had difficulty but we were both able to keep our cool and get through it. Onto 26 tomorrow.
Monday, December 8, 2008
December 8, 2008
For yesterday, Happy Birthday to Heidi, Sean, Sherri, Mike and Milford (mslf)!
For today, Happy Birthday to Aunt Diane
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 82-83 - reading a calendar; ordinal numbers; writing numbers
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 24 of 100EL
FIAR: J & P
Read The Glorious Flight one final time and are now making flags of most of the countries we have read stories from.
Made France, England (hard!), Japan and China. Will do America another day, it'll take a while to do all those stars! Also still need to do Italy, Sri Lanka and Jamaica.
FUN DAY!
For today, Happy Birthday to Aunt Diane
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 82-83 - reading a calendar; ordinal numbers; writing numbers
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 24 of 100EL
FIAR: J & P
Read The Glorious Flight one final time and are now making flags of most of the countries we have read stories from.
Made France, England (hard!), Japan and China. Will do America another day, it'll take a while to do all those stars! Also still need to do Italy, Sri Lanka and Jamaica.
FUN DAY!
December 4, 2008
Happy Birthday Isaac!
FIAR: J & P
Math Day (and a little Science)
Discussed ordinal numbers and counted all the flights of Bleriot in the book before he could actually fly.
Also talked about Roman Numerals. Showed J: I (1), V (5), X (10), C (100), M (1000). Didn't show D or L because I couldn't remember their values offhand. I know one of them is 50... and the other probably doesn't exist...I think it's L that's 50.... ANYWAY.
J was very into this lesson. Talked to him about ancient Rome and what a long time ago those people used numbers this way. Since he showed an interest I started to show him how you do addition and subtraction with RN and he caught on instantly, almost no problems. Fun stuff!
Invention - Papa Bleriot got an idea and never gave up. He worked hard for years and years but persevered through many failures, but then, i success, he finally got to exclaim, "I DID IT!!". J was very much into this lesson, too, as he loves to accomplish things. It was good to tell him about all the failures because he is prone to giving up early. Told him about Thomas Edison (and out family ties =) and how he made hundred of light bulbs before one ever actually functioned properly. Asked him if he would like to learn more about inventing/inventors and he said "Yes!"
Writing: J
5 spelling words for week
Brain Quest: J
pgs 34-37 - spelling; addition; grammar; geography; money; job identification; wildlife; time; geology; calendar; common phrases
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 80-81 - word problems; subtraction; number families
Reading: P
Completed lesson 23 of 100EL
FIAR: J & P
Math Day (and a little Science)
Discussed ordinal numbers and counted all the flights of Bleriot in the book before he could actually fly.
Also talked about Roman Numerals. Showed J: I (1), V (5), X (10), C (100), M (1000). Didn't show D or L because I couldn't remember their values offhand. I know one of them is 50... and the other probably doesn't exist...I think it's L that's 50.... ANYWAY.
J was very into this lesson. Talked to him about ancient Rome and what a long time ago those people used numbers this way. Since he showed an interest I started to show him how you do addition and subtraction with RN and he caught on instantly, almost no problems. Fun stuff!
Invention - Papa Bleriot got an idea and never gave up. He worked hard for years and years but persevered through many failures, but then, i success, he finally got to exclaim, "I DID IT!!". J was very much into this lesson, too, as he loves to accomplish things. It was good to tell him about all the failures because he is prone to giving up early. Told him about Thomas Edison (and out family ties =) and how he made hundred of light bulbs before one ever actually functioned properly. Asked him if he would like to learn more about inventing/inventors and he said "Yes!"
Writing: J
5 spelling words for week
Brain Quest: J
pgs 34-37 - spelling; addition; grammar; geography; money; job identification; wildlife; time; geology; calendar; common phrases
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 80-81 - word problems; subtraction; number families
Reading: P
Completed lesson 23 of 100EL
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
December 3, 2008
Happy Birthday to Jenn, one of my very favorites!
FIAR - J
Language Day
Choosing a Title - explained that people don't just choose titles for stories, books, pictures, etc. carelessly. They want to use a title that will capture someone into reading. Just like J was very excited before ever having even read The Glorious Flight because it sounded exciting without even knowing what it was about. Asked J to come up with some other good interesting titles for the book. Came up with some good creative stuff!
Descriptive Writing - In the book, the author describes the English Channel in great detail so the reader can almost know what it looks like without ever having seen it. Asked J to describe a strawberry in the same way, and then to describe Spongebob Squarepants. Guess which one he did with very extreme detail???? ; )
Poetic Device - Onomatopoeia - asked J if he remembered this term from Cranberry Thanksgiving. He remembered the word for sure, but couldn't remember what it meant until I started giving him examples. Knew what words in the new story were the words in question =)
Brain Quest: J
pgs 31-33 - spelling sounds; math; weather; opposites; literature; spelling; time; seasons; nature; myth; geometry; ABC order; vegetables
My favorite part of the day was when I asked the question: "When might the tooth fairy pay a visit?" and J said, "Never. The tooth fairy isn't real." hahahahah
Coloring and drawing: J
Colored more of December page in calendar; asked for paper to draw because he wanted to draw fans... ? =)
Writing: J
Wrote out 5 spelling words for week - penmanship is greatly improving!
Math: J
SSM Workbook pg 79 - column addition (3 numbers); finding number words in a puzzle
Reading: P
Completed lesson 22 of 100EL
Architecture: C
Has been stacking blocks and books ALL DAY!
FIAR - J
Language Day
Choosing a Title - explained that people don't just choose titles for stories, books, pictures, etc. carelessly. They want to use a title that will capture someone into reading. Just like J was very excited before ever having even read The Glorious Flight because it sounded exciting without even knowing what it was about. Asked J to come up with some other good interesting titles for the book. Came up with some good creative stuff!
Descriptive Writing - In the book, the author describes the English Channel in great detail so the reader can almost know what it looks like without ever having seen it. Asked J to describe a strawberry in the same way, and then to describe Spongebob Squarepants. Guess which one he did with very extreme detail???? ; )
Poetic Device - Onomatopoeia - asked J if he remembered this term from Cranberry Thanksgiving. He remembered the word for sure, but couldn't remember what it meant until I started giving him examples. Knew what words in the new story were the words in question =)
Brain Quest: J
pgs 31-33 - spelling sounds; math; weather; opposites; literature; spelling; time; seasons; nature; myth; geometry; ABC order; vegetables
My favorite part of the day was when I asked the question: "When might the tooth fairy pay a visit?" and J said, "Never. The tooth fairy isn't real." hahahahah
Coloring and drawing: J
Colored more of December page in calendar; asked for paper to draw because he wanted to draw fans... ? =)
Writing: J
Wrote out 5 spelling words for week - penmanship is greatly improving!
Math: J
SSM Workbook pg 79 - column addition (3 numbers); finding number words in a puzzle
Reading: P
Completed lesson 22 of 100EL
Architecture: C
Has been stacking blocks and books ALL DAY!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
December 1, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Stuck with Cranberry Thanksgiving so we could do the bible study as it had a LOT of good stuff in it.
Giving Thanks - Psalm 92:1-2 Giving thanks to the Lord and singing His praises; Genesis 8 When Noah finally landed the ark, his first action was t9o build an altar and thank the Lord; Luke 7:38-50 Woman cleans Jesus feet with her tears and hair - showing that Jesus has paid the ultimate price for us, we should give him thanks in all things at all times for we have been forgiven much!
Stealing - Exodus: 15, 17 You shall not steal; you shall not covet. Explained how important the 10 commandments are and defined covet. J and P got way into this lesson and gave lots of examples of coveting. Jeremiah 2:26 speaks about the shame a thief feels when caught. Ephesians 4:28 not only tells you not to steal or covet, but to work for things =)
Forgiveness - Matthew 18:21-35 - J loved this lesson because he remembered it from another lesson. He remembered the story very well and I compared it to our own lives, God forgiving us for the ultimate sin of crucifying Christ and how awful it would be for us not to forgive someone for an offense of far less magnitude.
Judging - 1 Samuel 16:7 - Great verse! "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
Then moved onto:
FIAR: J & P
The Glorious Flight by Alica and Martin Provensen
J & P and I all loved this book. Very well written, fun, creative and imaginative drawings and a true story!
Social Studies day
Talked about the relationship between the Bleriot family
Geography - Looked on world map to find Cambrai France, the English Channel and the White Cliffs of Dover in England
Culture and History - Talked about all the weird French names of all the people in the story. I was glad it was brought up because J kept commenting on the weird names all throughout the book.
Geography - Flags - supposed to do this today but did not have construction paper. Will pick it up on Wednesday for a fun project
Writing: J
5 spelling words for week - here, bake, rope, cute, bite
Gave him these words to show the use of putting an e on the end of a word; changing vowel sounds to make new words.
Coloring: J
Started December page of calendar
Math: J
SSM Workbook pg 78 - addition and subtraction to 14; coloring; matching
Reading: P
Completed lesson 21 of 100EL (with ease!)
Stuck with Cranberry Thanksgiving so we could do the bible study as it had a LOT of good stuff in it.
Giving Thanks - Psalm 92:1-2 Giving thanks to the Lord and singing His praises; Genesis 8 When Noah finally landed the ark, his first action was t9o build an altar and thank the Lord; Luke 7:38-50 Woman cleans Jesus feet with her tears and hair - showing that Jesus has paid the ultimate price for us, we should give him thanks in all things at all times for we have been forgiven much!
Stealing - Exodus: 15, 17 You shall not steal; you shall not covet. Explained how important the 10 commandments are and defined covet. J and P got way into this lesson and gave lots of examples of coveting. Jeremiah 2:26 speaks about the shame a thief feels when caught. Ephesians 4:28 not only tells you not to steal or covet, but to work for things =)
Forgiveness - Matthew 18:21-35 - J loved this lesson because he remembered it from another lesson. He remembered the story very well and I compared it to our own lives, God forgiving us for the ultimate sin of crucifying Christ and how awful it would be for us not to forgive someone for an offense of far less magnitude.
Judging - 1 Samuel 16:7 - Great verse! "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
Then moved onto:
FIAR: J & P
The Glorious Flight by Alica and Martin Provensen
J & P and I all loved this book. Very well written, fun, creative and imaginative drawings and a true story!
Social Studies day
Talked about the relationship between the Bleriot family
Geography - Looked on world map to find Cambrai France, the English Channel and the White Cliffs of Dover in England
Culture and History - Talked about all the weird French names of all the people in the story. I was glad it was brought up because J kept commenting on the weird names all throughout the book.
Geography - Flags - supposed to do this today but did not have construction paper. Will pick it up on Wednesday for a fun project
Writing: J
5 spelling words for week - here, bake, rope, cute, bite
Gave him these words to show the use of putting an e on the end of a word; changing vowel sounds to make new words.
Coloring: J
Started December page of calendar
Math: J
SSM Workbook pg 78 - addition and subtraction to 14; coloring; matching
Reading: P
Completed lesson 21 of 100EL (with ease!)
November 28, 2008
Black Friday!
Was much too tired to do any school after shopping today. Will make up for it on Monday =)
Was much too tired to do any school after shopping today. Will make up for it on Monday =)
November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
FIAR: J & P & C
Science day
Made lots of good foods and talked about measurements. J made Grandmother's Famous Cranberry bread almost all by himself! And J, P & C all helped make CC Cookies.
But the rest of the day was for giving thanks and eating. woo-hoo!
FIAR: J & P & C
Science day
Made lots of good foods and talked about measurements. J made Grandmother's Famous Cranberry bread almost all by himself! And J, P & C all helped make CC Cookies.
But the rest of the day was for giving thanks and eating. woo-hoo!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
November 26, 2008
Happy Anniversary Sean and Des!
FIAR: J & P
Language Arts day
Onomatopoeia - A word that sounds the same as it's action. Used example of the word pop. Asked J & P to come up with some more and P immediately came up with boing. Cute! They also came up with buzz and crash.
Manuscript layout - Making a book appealing looking by putting the words at all different parts of the page. Makes a kids book more fun!
Vocabulary - aura; starch; wilt; dart; turnips; peer or peek; murmur; exquisite; bog
Elements of a good story - Talked about what parts of the story were the setting, conflict, rising action, climax and falling action (which J corrected me and said "denouement!")
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 76-77 - adding tens and ones; figuring out how many tens and ones are in a certain number; addition; subtraction; measuring; counting by ones; counting by tens; adding and subtracting 2 columns
Writing: J
Wrote out 5 spelling words for week
Reading: P
Completed lesson 20 of 100EL
FIAR: J & P
Language Arts day
Onomatopoeia - A word that sounds the same as it's action. Used example of the word pop. Asked J & P to come up with some more and P immediately came up with boing. Cute! They also came up with buzz and crash.
Manuscript layout - Making a book appealing looking by putting the words at all different parts of the page. Makes a kids book more fun!
Vocabulary - aura; starch; wilt; dart; turnips; peer or peek; murmur; exquisite; bog
Elements of a good story - Talked about what parts of the story were the setting, conflict, rising action, climax and falling action (which J corrected me and said "denouement!")
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 76-77 - adding tens and ones; figuring out how many tens and ones are in a certain number; addition; subtraction; measuring; counting by ones; counting by tens; adding and subtracting 2 columns
Writing: J
Wrote out 5 spelling words for week
Reading: P
Completed lesson 20 of 100EL
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
November 25, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Read Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin - fun!
Social Studies Day
Geography - New England - Located New England on map and marked it. Showed J & P how almost all it's states are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and three of them share borders with Canada. Also discussed things that New England is typically known for: clams, lobsters, cranberries, cold weather, beautiful fall colors, RED SOX!
Relationships -
Grandparents - This is the third FIAR book we've read that has a special relationship between grandparent and grandchild. J was challenged to ask each of his grandparents special things about them to find out some fun facts!
Disagreeable people - discussed Mr. Horace - a thief! Talked about how there will always be people that want to cheat and steal to get things, but we must never do that! We should always remember that God is with us and He will give us what we need. If He doesn't give us something we want, that means we are not supposed to have it and we don't NEED it.
Also talked about how disagreeable people give us the chance to practice forgiveness. When someone has wronged us, we should forgive them and not hold a grudge.
Judging by appearance - The Grandmother in the story unfairly judged Mr. Whiskers because he had long whiskers and smelled of clams and seaweed. Contrarily, she liked Mr. Horace because he smalled of lavender and walked with a gold cane. But Mr. Horace turned out to be a thief and Mr. Whiskers turned out to be the hero. We need to remember to never judge people just by how they look, but to get to know them first. We wouldn't want people thinking bad things about us just because they don't like how we smell or dress, right?
History -
Thanksgiving - talked about the first Thanksgiving and why it was celebrated. J remembered a little bit of the story from kindergarten.
Also talked about family traditions and being thankful for the things we have.
Long FIAR lesson today! And tomorrow's looks even longer............
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 74-75 - writing out word problems and solving; writing 10-100 by tens; writing 51-100 by ones! J hated this lesson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it was good practice. =) He really did very well.
Coloring: J
Colored first page of Spongebob coloring book - made sure J tested colors first to make sure they were just right, also focused on staying in the lines. Great job J!
Writing: J
Thanksgiving words this week - corn, thank, you, food, yum
Reading: P
Completed lesson 19 of 100EL - struggling with e and i still, but getting better and keeping a good attitude =)
Read Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin - fun!
Social Studies Day
Geography - New England - Located New England on map and marked it. Showed J & P how almost all it's states are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and three of them share borders with Canada. Also discussed things that New England is typically known for: clams, lobsters, cranberries, cold weather, beautiful fall colors, RED SOX!
Relationships -
Grandparents - This is the third FIAR book we've read that has a special relationship between grandparent and grandchild. J was challenged to ask each of his grandparents special things about them to find out some fun facts!
Disagreeable people - discussed Mr. Horace - a thief! Talked about how there will always be people that want to cheat and steal to get things, but we must never do that! We should always remember that God is with us and He will give us what we need. If He doesn't give us something we want, that means we are not supposed to have it and we don't NEED it.
Also talked about how disagreeable people give us the chance to practice forgiveness. When someone has wronged us, we should forgive them and not hold a grudge.
Judging by appearance - The Grandmother in the story unfairly judged Mr. Whiskers because he had long whiskers and smelled of clams and seaweed. Contrarily, she liked Mr. Horace because he smalled of lavender and walked with a gold cane. But Mr. Horace turned out to be a thief and Mr. Whiskers turned out to be the hero. We need to remember to never judge people just by how they look, but to get to know them first. We wouldn't want people thinking bad things about us just because they don't like how we smell or dress, right?
History -
Thanksgiving - talked about the first Thanksgiving and why it was celebrated. J remembered a little bit of the story from kindergarten.
Also talked about family traditions and being thankful for the things we have.
Long FIAR lesson today! And tomorrow's looks even longer............
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 74-75 - writing out word problems and solving; writing 10-100 by tens; writing 51-100 by ones! J hated this lesson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it was good practice. =) He really did very well.
Coloring: J
Colored first page of Spongebob coloring book - made sure J tested colors first to make sure they were just right, also focused on staying in the lines. Great job J!
Writing: J
Thanksgiving words this week - corn, thank, you, food, yum
Reading: P
Completed lesson 19 of 100EL - struggling with e and i still, but getting better and keeping a good attitude =)
Monday, November 24, 2008
November 24, 2008
Happy Birthday Shelly!
Daddy took day off so we decided to go out and have fun =)
Went to Manasquan inlet and Daddy talked about tides and mussels. We got to see a fisherman with a bucket of 600 baby crabs he was using for bait!! Fun! C loved it the most. The fisherman let the boys each hold one and throw it back out into the ocean.
Left pretty quick though, it was freezing!
Daddy took day off so we decided to go out and have fun =)
Went to Manasquan inlet and Daddy talked about tides and mussels. We got to see a fisherman with a bucket of 600 baby crabs he was using for bait!! Fun! C loved it the most. The fisherman let the boys each hold one and throw it back out into the ocean.
Left pretty quick though, it was freezing!
November 21, 2008
FIAR - J & P
Bible - Talked about showing kindness to all people and treating them how you would want to be treated, even if they are not being nice to you! - Matthew 7:12; John 4
Talked about grief and sorrow and how God is always with you and you are never alone. God is good! - Isaiah 40:1; Psalm 34:18; 2 Cor 1:3-4
Writing: J
Spelling test... 100%!!!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 72-73 - measuring; adding and subtracting 2 columns!
Reading: J
LPP chs 14-16
Reading: P
Completed lesson 18 of 100EL
Bible - Talked about showing kindness to all people and treating them how you would want to be treated, even if they are not being nice to you! - Matthew 7:12; John 4
Talked about grief and sorrow and how God is always with you and you are never alone. God is good! - Isaiah 40:1; Psalm 34:18; 2 Cor 1:3-4
Writing: J
Spelling test... 100%!!!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 72-73 - measuring; adding and subtracting 2 columns!
Reading: J
LPP chs 14-16
Reading: P
Completed lesson 18 of 100EL
Thursday, November 20, 2008
November 20, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Science
Talked about all the different land types in America
Talked about pollution and why it's important to take good care of the environment. Recycle, don't litter, etc.
Talked briefly about birds. Could have gotten a little more into it, but I just hate birds.
Coloring: J
Finished coloring November page!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 70-71 - writing out word problems into math sentences and solving; Number puzzles. Taught a bit of basic algebra today! J was having trouble with 12-8=? so I told him if he could figure out what you have to add to 8 to equal 12, that would be the answer. Excitement ensued! ; )
Writing: J
4 spelling words for week - warned him that the test is tomorrow! So he wrote each word one extra time =)
Reading: J
Chs 10-13 of LPP
Reading: P
Repeated lesson 17 of 100EL.
At first P was very disheartened to have to repeat a lesson, but I told him it was no big deal and that J had to do that sometimes, too. Told him he is still very smart! But sometimes when you have trouble, it is better to practice what you are having trouble with until you get it right than go ahead and continue to have lots of trouble. He felt better and we did the lesson and he did so much better and he was SO PLEASED! Onto lesson 18 tomorrow!
Science
Talked about all the different land types in America
Talked about pollution and why it's important to take good care of the environment. Recycle, don't litter, etc.
Talked briefly about birds. Could have gotten a little more into it, but I just hate birds.
Coloring: J
Finished coloring November page!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 70-71 - writing out word problems into math sentences and solving; Number puzzles. Taught a bit of basic algebra today! J was having trouble with 12-8=? so I told him if he could figure out what you have to add to 8 to equal 12, that would be the answer. Excitement ensued! ; )
Writing: J
4 spelling words for week - warned him that the test is tomorrow! So he wrote each word one extra time =)
Reading: J
Chs 10-13 of LPP
Reading: P
Repeated lesson 17 of 100EL.
At first P was very disheartened to have to repeat a lesson, but I told him it was no big deal and that J had to do that sometimes, too. Told him he is still very smart! But sometimes when you have trouble, it is better to practice what you are having trouble with until you get it right than go ahead and continue to have lots of trouble. He felt better and we did the lesson and he did so much better and he was SO PLEASED! Onto lesson 18 tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
November 18, 2008
Happy Birthday Phyllis G.
FIAR: J & P
Language - similes and metaphors - gave definition of both and talked about how they are used in a story. Then went back through Grandfather's Journey and found all of them and identified which was which and why, and also how it helped that they were used.
Math - Talked about the amount of time Grandfather was out on the boat - 3 weeks. How many days? Used blocks to figure out how many days in 2 weeks, 3 weeks and J figured answer for 4 weeks without blocks. Nice!
Writing: J
Wrote out 4 spelling words for week. Getting MUCH faster and neater!
Coloring: J
Continued with his November page. His skill with coloring is definitely improving with time, not so messy and is using better color choices. Just a little more to go
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 68-69 - subtracting larger numbers; working with bar graphs
BrainQuest: J
pgs 28-30 - pluralization; subtraction; vegetable trivia (?); ABC order; animal geography; other weird random stuff
Reading: J
Chs 8-10 of LPP
Reading: P
Completed lesson 17 of 100EL - had major trouble sounding out words. Was getting i and e sounds mixed up. We got through it but may repeat the lesson tomorrow.
FIAR: J & P
Language - similes and metaphors - gave definition of both and talked about how they are used in a story. Then went back through Grandfather's Journey and found all of them and identified which was which and why, and also how it helped that they were used.
Math - Talked about the amount of time Grandfather was out on the boat - 3 weeks. How many days? Used blocks to figure out how many days in 2 weeks, 3 weeks and J figured answer for 4 weeks without blocks. Nice!
Writing: J
Wrote out 4 spelling words for week. Getting MUCH faster and neater!
Coloring: J
Continued with his November page. His skill with coloring is definitely improving with time, not so messy and is using better color choices. Just a little more to go
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 68-69 - subtracting larger numbers; working with bar graphs
BrainQuest: J
pgs 28-30 - pluralization; subtraction; vegetable trivia (?); ABC order; animal geography; other weird random stuff
Reading: J
Chs 8-10 of LPP
Reading: P
Completed lesson 17 of 100EL - had major trouble sounding out words. Was getting i and e sounds mixed up. We got through it but may repeat the lesson tomorrow.
Monday, November 17, 2008
November 17, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (Kinda sad. Not the greatest follow up to the exciting and fun Apple Pie book!)
Social Studies -
Family Relationships - Talked about generations and ancestry - compared the 4 generations in the story to: Grammie and Grampa, Nana, Daddy and then J, P & C. Talked about how sometimes your relatives have things in common, like: Grampa from ME, Daddy and J all love fishing.
Geography - Located and marked Japan and San Francisco, CA on world map downstairs. Also made note of the Pacific Ocean and the journey the Grandfather took and talked about how the Grandfather traveled all of America before he settles in CA.
Japanese culture - Found kimonos, clogs and hairstyles just like in "A Pair of Red Clogs".
Tolerance for different cultures - The Grandfather loved meeting all people (black, white, yellow, red) and did not discriminate against ANYONE.
World War II - talked about some aspects of WWII. Why we joined, why war is sometimes necessary, etc. Briefly discussed Pearl Harbor, Holocaust and Hiroshima.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 66-67 - Working with number families to make + and - problems - J did so much better than last time, breezed right through it! Also did adding starting with big numbers in your head without counting them out on paper or fingers. J has been doing this a while, so he had no trouble. What a smartie!
Writing: J
Made a list of words J has had trouble with in past weeks: brave, truck, lips, bigger
Reading: P
Completed lesson 16 of 100EL
Coloring: J
Started coloring November page of calendar.
When we added holiday stickers to the November page, J asked what Veteran's Day was and I got to tie it back in to our FIAR lesson on WWII. Told him it was a day to honor all the people in our armed forces who have fought or are fighting for our country. Also that 11/11 was the day WWII was ended... or, hmmmm, was it WWI?
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (Kinda sad. Not the greatest follow up to the exciting and fun Apple Pie book!)
Social Studies -
Family Relationships - Talked about generations and ancestry - compared the 4 generations in the story to: Grammie and Grampa, Nana, Daddy and then J, P & C. Talked about how sometimes your relatives have things in common, like: Grampa from ME, Daddy and J all love fishing.
Geography - Located and marked Japan and San Francisco, CA on world map downstairs. Also made note of the Pacific Ocean and the journey the Grandfather took and talked about how the Grandfather traveled all of America before he settles in CA.
Japanese culture - Found kimonos, clogs and hairstyles just like in "A Pair of Red Clogs".
Tolerance for different cultures - The Grandfather loved meeting all people (black, white, yellow, red) and did not discriminate against ANYONE.
World War II - talked about some aspects of WWII. Why we joined, why war is sometimes necessary, etc. Briefly discussed Pearl Harbor, Holocaust and Hiroshima.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 66-67 - Working with number families to make + and - problems - J did so much better than last time, breezed right through it! Also did adding starting with big numbers in your head without counting them out on paper or fingers. J has been doing this a while, so he had no trouble. What a smartie!
Writing: J
Made a list of words J has had trouble with in past weeks: brave, truck, lips, bigger
Reading: P
Completed lesson 16 of 100EL
Coloring: J
Started coloring November page of calendar.
When we added holiday stickers to the November page, J asked what Veteran's Day was and I got to tie it back in to our FIAR lesson on WWII. Told him it was a day to honor all the people in our armed forces who have fought or are fighting for our country. Also that 11/11 was the day WWII was ended... or, hmmmm, was it WWI?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
November 14, 2008
Spelling Test today for J - not so good! Will repeat some of the harder words of the past weeks in next week's list.
Then off to Red Bank to get J's cast off! Woo-hoo!
Off for the rest of the day =)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
November 13, 2008
Happy birthday Dave, Jamie and Brian =)
What a fun day at school today!
Writing: J
wrote out 5 spelling words for the week
Reading: P
Completed lesson 15 of 100EL - reading sentences now!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 64-65 - tens and ones; adding; subtracting; matching; money
FIAR: J, P and a little C
Read HTMAAPASTW - they just ADORE this book - it is really fun!
Defined hospitality and then discussed - she invites her friends over to share her apple pie. Why is hospitality important?? Romans 12: 13b - Seek to show hospitality - God says it, that settles it!
Also talked about all the countries that are mentioned in the book - what do they all have in common?? They are ruled by God!
Psalm 113:4 "The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory is above the heavens!"
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him."
Asked Jesse how those verses made him feel. Replied: "GREAT!" Discussed trusting God no matter what happens. No matter who thinks they are in control, it is really God, and God always does what's best for us.
Math - Talked about the girl in the story dividing the apples up between her, the cow and the chicken and saving the rest for the pie. Subtraction; division.
Measuring! - Got out all the ingredients talked about i the book (the recipe is on the last page) and made a pie together! J & P measured out the flour, salt and butter and I rolled it out. Then Then P measured out sugar and salt and C measured out cinnamon! what an adventure!! Then J, P & C all coated the apples in the cinnamon mix and put them in the pie. I rolled out the top and then J brushed egg yolk and water on top of top crust to glaze it. Put it in the oven and it looks and smells great! J is so excited to eat it later, they all had so much fun helping out =)
What a fun day at school today!
Writing: J
wrote out 5 spelling words for the week
Reading: P
Completed lesson 15 of 100EL - reading sentences now!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 64-65 - tens and ones; adding; subtracting; matching; money
FIAR: J, P and a little C
Read HTMAAPASTW - they just ADORE this book - it is really fun!
Defined hospitality and then discussed - she invites her friends over to share her apple pie. Why is hospitality important?? Romans 12: 13b - Seek to show hospitality - God says it, that settles it!
Also talked about all the countries that are mentioned in the book - what do they all have in common?? They are ruled by God!
Psalm 113:4 "The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory is above the heavens!"
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him."
Asked Jesse how those verses made him feel. Replied: "GREAT!" Discussed trusting God no matter what happens. No matter who thinks they are in control, it is really God, and God always does what's best for us.
Math - Talked about the girl in the story dividing the apples up between her, the cow and the chicken and saving the rest for the pie. Subtraction; division.
Measuring! - Got out all the ingredients talked about i the book (the recipe is on the last page) and made a pie together! J & P measured out the flour, salt and butter and I rolled it out. Then Then P measured out sugar and salt and C measured out cinnamon! what an adventure!! Then J, P & C all coated the apples in the cinnamon mix and put them in the pie. I rolled out the top and then J brushed egg yolk and water on top of top crust to glaze it. Put it in the oven and it looks and smells great! J is so excited to eat it later, they all had so much fun helping out =)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
November 12, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Language - Humor in Writing - some ways you can use humor in a story: unexpected conclusions, actions, silly interpretations, etc. Talked about all the parts of the book J & P thought were funny and discussed what made them funny. J compared it to Mary Poppins and the funny things that happened in the movie. Good stuff!
Repetition - Using repetition can cause a story to have good flow. I asked J where repetition was used and he came up with pics in the story instead of phrases used! Each thing she collected in one country was brought to the next. What a smartie!
Vocabulary words: Ingredients, superb, locate, elegant, persuade, native, plantation. He was able to explain ingredients, superb, locate, and plantation without any help from me!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 62-63 - addition; subtraction; tens and ones, dividing into groups
Writing: J
writing 5 spelling words for week
Reading: P
Completed lesson 14 of 100EL
Language - Humor in Writing - some ways you can use humor in a story: unexpected conclusions, actions, silly interpretations, etc. Talked about all the parts of the book J & P thought were funny and discussed what made them funny. J compared it to Mary Poppins and the funny things that happened in the movie. Good stuff!
Repetition - Using repetition can cause a story to have good flow. I asked J where repetition was used and he came up with pics in the story instead of phrases used! Each thing she collected in one country was brought to the next. What a smartie!
Vocabulary words: Ingredients, superb, locate, elegant, persuade, native, plantation. He was able to explain ingredients, superb, locate, and plantation without any help from me!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 62-63 - addition; subtraction; tens and ones, dividing into groups
Writing: J
writing 5 spelling words for week
Reading: P
Completed lesson 14 of 100EL
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
November 11, 2008
Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all who have defended or are defending our country. =)
FIAR: J
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Social Studies - Geography (and lots of it!)
To make an apple pie, the girl in the story (nameless) goes to Italy to get wheat, France to get a chicken (for an egg), Sri Lanka to get tree bark for cinnamon, England to gt a cow for it's milk, Picks up some seawater while crossing the Atlantic Ocean for salt, to Jamaica for sugar and then to Vermont for 8 apples (one for the cow, one for the chicken, one for her and five for the pie).
Went downstairs to world map and picked out all the locations, then back up to look through the book to learn new things about each country by the pictures.
FUN!!!
Brain Quest: J
pgs 26-27 - matching similar words, money, synonyms, calendar/holiday, subtraction, identifying verbs
Math: J
Time & Money workbook - pgs 18-19 - identifying time on a clock - some trouble here!!! Not used to identifying time on clocks that are in between 5's; ie 8:42, 10:27, 7:01, etc. But after a lot of hard work and determination, he got it!
Writing: J
Spelling words for week: week, lips, rock, truck, ball
Reading: J
LPP - chs 5, 6 & 7
FIAR: J
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Social Studies - Geography (and lots of it!)
To make an apple pie, the girl in the story (nameless) goes to Italy to get wheat, France to get a chicken (for an egg), Sri Lanka to get tree bark for cinnamon, England to gt a cow for it's milk, Picks up some seawater while crossing the Atlantic Ocean for salt, to Jamaica for sugar and then to Vermont for 8 apples (one for the cow, one for the chicken, one for her and five for the pie).
Went downstairs to world map and picked out all the locations, then back up to look through the book to learn new things about each country by the pictures.
FUN!!!
Brain Quest: J
pgs 26-27 - matching similar words, money, synonyms, calendar/holiday, subtraction, identifying verbs
Math: J
Time & Money workbook - pgs 18-19 - identifying time on a clock - some trouble here!!! Not used to identifying time on clocks that are in between 5's; ie 8:42, 10:27, 7:01, etc. But after a lot of hard work and determination, he got it!
Writing: J
Spelling words for week: week, lips, rock, truck, ball
Reading: J
LPP - chs 5, 6 & 7
Saturday, November 8, 2008
November 6, 2008
FIAR: J
Science - talked about creative thinking and problem solving. The boy was the only one who had the creative idea to leave Mary Anne in the basement. It's good to think of many different ways to solve a problem rather than just one way.
Road engineering - Talking about blasting through hills and mountains. Will point out some spots on our next road trip.
Made a pinwheel to show the power of steam, but the stream from my kettle was not strong enough to power it =(
Art - drawing simple trees and complicated trees.
Brain Quest Reading: J
Story - Debbie's Dream - action words; rhyming; synonyms; comp and memory Q's
Brain Quest: J
pgs 24-25 - numerical order of large numbers; grammar; nature; counting by 10s
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 60-61 - adding to 10 inside a 3x3 box; money
Writing: J
writing 5 spelling words
Reading: J
Chs. 2, 3 & 4 of LPP
Reading: P
Completed lesson 13 of 100EL
Science - talked about creative thinking and problem solving. The boy was the only one who had the creative idea to leave Mary Anne in the basement. It's good to think of many different ways to solve a problem rather than just one way.
Road engineering - Talking about blasting through hills and mountains. Will point out some spots on our next road trip.
Made a pinwheel to show the power of steam, but the stream from my kettle was not strong enough to power it =(
Art - drawing simple trees and complicated trees.
Brain Quest Reading: J
Story - Debbie's Dream - action words; rhyming; synonyms; comp and memory Q's
Brain Quest: J
pgs 24-25 - numerical order of large numbers; grammar; nature; counting by 10s
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 60-61 - adding to 10 inside a 3x3 box; money
Writing: J
writing 5 spelling words
Reading: J
Chs. 2, 3 & 4 of LPP
Reading: P
Completed lesson 13 of 100EL
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
November 5, 2008
Oh well... God is still in control. =)
FIAR: J & P
Math - Talked about architects and construction workers and how they need to have a good knowledge of math to build things or else they won't be safe or good looking. Demonstrated with some blocks.
Geometry - The phrase, "four corners, neat and square" is often repeated in the book. Talked about what makes a square a square and not a rectangle. Went on to identify and give reasoning for: circle, oval, triangle, trapezoid, rhombus, , pentagon, hexagon, octagon, diamond.
Counting - went through different pages of book and counted objects (trees, people, houses) and broke them up into groups or various numbers.
Bible - talked again about flexibility and keeping a good attitude despite changes in life.
Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you".
Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything..."
Luke 12:7 "Do not fear..."
J had some questions about the Luke passage because it mentions people taking your body. "That's really scary!" he said... I told him God is still in control in those times, and what the passage was saying was that that's ALL someone can take from you, they can never have your soul, and as long as God is the most important thing in your life and you keep Jesus close to your heart and believe the things he says, your soul will go to Heaven, isn't that a great thing?! They both seemed comforted at this =)
Writing: J
Wrote out spelling words for week
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 13 of 100EL - read his first sentence!!!! SO HAPPY!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 59 - working with 10's and 1's. Circling groups of 10's and adding them to the ones to get the sum.
Reading: J
Chapter 1 of LPP (starting it over to read and discuss with Dad)
FIAR: J & P
Math - Talked about architects and construction workers and how they need to have a good knowledge of math to build things or else they won't be safe or good looking. Demonstrated with some blocks.
Geometry - The phrase, "four corners, neat and square" is often repeated in the book. Talked about what makes a square a square and not a rectangle. Went on to identify and give reasoning for: circle, oval, triangle, trapezoid, rhombus, , pentagon, hexagon, octagon, diamond.
Counting - went through different pages of book and counted objects (trees, people, houses) and broke them up into groups or various numbers.
Bible - talked again about flexibility and keeping a good attitude despite changes in life.
Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you".
Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything..."
Luke 12:7 "Do not fear..."
J had some questions about the Luke passage because it mentions people taking your body. "That's really scary!" he said... I told him God is still in control in those times, and what the passage was saying was that that's ALL someone can take from you, they can never have your soul, and as long as God is the most important thing in your life and you keep Jesus close to your heart and believe the things he says, your soul will go to Heaven, isn't that a great thing?! They both seemed comforted at this =)
Writing: J
Wrote out spelling words for week
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 13 of 100EL - read his first sentence!!!! SO HAPPY!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 59 - working with 10's and 1's. Circling groups of 10's and adding them to the ones to get the sum.
Reading: J
Chapter 1 of LPP (starting it over to read and discuss with Dad)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
November 4, 2008
Forgot to give a shout out on birthdays yesterday. Happy birthday boss. =)
FIAR: J & P
Language -
Story Writing - Character - talked about the variety of characters in the book; young, old, male, female, mean,happy, imaginative, etc. This is a good way to make a story interesting. Then made a list of fun characteristics of people J knows and turned it into one character: Saul, young boy, loves Red Sox, gardening, helping people, listening to music and is silly.
Elements of story - identified setting, conflict, action, climax, 2nd conflict, 2nd climax and outcome.
Personification - defined personification and asked how he thought it fit in the story and he said "Mary Anne!" Then discussed other things people might personify, ie cars, homes, stuffed animals, etc.
Vocabulary words - cellar and canal. Showed J Panama Canal on world map... in the cellar =)
Coloring: J
Colored pic in ER coloring book to mail to the guy who took Jesse's x-rays when his arm broke.
Writing: J
writing out 5 spelling words
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 58 - adding 3 numbers together to get sum
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 12 of 100EL
Phys Ed: J P & C
Walked and played with Boy Pa while I voted
FIAR: J & P
Language -
Story Writing - Character - talked about the variety of characters in the book; young, old, male, female, mean,happy, imaginative, etc. This is a good way to make a story interesting. Then made a list of fun characteristics of people J knows and turned it into one character: Saul, young boy, loves Red Sox, gardening, helping people, listening to music and is silly.
Elements of story - identified setting, conflict, action, climax, 2nd conflict, 2nd climax and outcome.
Personification - defined personification and asked how he thought it fit in the story and he said "Mary Anne!" Then discussed other things people might personify, ie cars, homes, stuffed animals, etc.
Vocabulary words - cellar and canal. Showed J Panama Canal on world map... in the cellar =)
Coloring: J
Colored pic in ER coloring book to mail to the guy who took Jesse's x-rays when his arm broke.
Writing: J
writing out 5 spelling words
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 58 - adding 3 numbers together to get sum
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 12 of 100EL
Phys Ed: J P & C
Walked and played with Boy Pa while I voted
Monday, November 3, 2008
November 3, 2008
I know no one reads this, but in case you happen upon it by accident, please vote Row A.
FIAR: J
Read Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Social Studies - History
Talked about steam powered vehicles and talked about how most things are powered now. I talked about gasoline, electricity, betteries. J said, "solar power!". What a smartie.
Stewardship
Talked about taking care of things we own and responsibilities we have. J was very into this conversation and felt it was really improtant to take care of things and do your best.
Flexibility
Asked J if he knew what flexibility meant and he said no. So I reread the end of the story where Mike and Mary Anne are willing to give up their old job and start a new one. J then took off on that and talked about being happy with whatever you're doing and giving it your very best. =)
Writing: J
5 spelling words - book, back, brave, nose, tree
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 56-57 - turning word problems into math sentence problems and solving; counting by 10s, connectingthe dots by 10s
Money - reviewed coin values and made random $$ amounts with coins.
FIAR: J
Read Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Social Studies - History
Talked about steam powered vehicles and talked about how most things are powered now. I talked about gasoline, electricity, betteries. J said, "solar power!". What a smartie.
Stewardship
Talked about taking care of things we own and responsibilities we have. J was very into this conversation and felt it was really improtant to take care of things and do your best.
Flexibility
Asked J if he knew what flexibility meant and he said no. So I reread the end of the story where Mike and Mary Anne are willing to give up their old job and start a new one. J then took off on that and talked about being happy with whatever you're doing and giving it your very best. =)
Writing: J
5 spelling words - book, back, brave, nose, tree
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 56-57 - turning word problems into math sentence problems and solving; counting by 10s, connectingthe dots by 10s
Money - reviewed coin values and made random $$ amounts with coins.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
October 24, 2008
Spelling test only today - J got an 80%
Off to Mom's to visit with my brother and his girlfriend who are up from FL.
Off to Mom's to visit with my brother and his girlfriend who are up from FL.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
October 23, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Science - Health
Talked about developing basic good habits to help prevent illnesses and keep general good health. Some we came up with were: brushing teeth, washing hands, eating good foods, drinking water (fluids), exercise.
Bible - order and discernment
Luke 9:14 (feeding 5,000) shows how Jesus gave order to a situation that could easily get confusing and out of hand. 1 Cor 14:40 instruct the church that everything should be done decently and in order. Tied this into the girls always having an orderly routine.
Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." - Talked about how this verse wants us to think on the good things God gave us and to not dwell on the things that are bad. (The girls smiled at the good...)
Proverbs 1:10 - "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent" - Talked about this verse a lot and how sometimes people, even friends, can ask you to do things that are not good. They may even say they are good! But you should use discernment to think about what is good and bad, and if something is bad, say "no way!" We decided to memorize this verse. (...and frowned at the bad.)
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 53-55 - addition; subtraction; numerical order; weight measurement
Spelling: J
Wrote 5 spelling words 4x each
Reading: P
Completed lesson 11 of 100EL
Science - Health
Talked about developing basic good habits to help prevent illnesses and keep general good health. Some we came up with were: brushing teeth, washing hands, eating good foods, drinking water (fluids), exercise.
Bible - order and discernment
Luke 9:14 (feeding 5,000) shows how Jesus gave order to a situation that could easily get confusing and out of hand. 1 Cor 14:40 instruct the church that everything should be done decently and in order. Tied this into the girls always having an orderly routine.
Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." - Talked about how this verse wants us to think on the good things God gave us and to not dwell on the things that are bad. (The girls smiled at the good...)
Proverbs 1:10 - "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent" - Talked about this verse a lot and how sometimes people, even friends, can ask you to do things that are not good. They may even say they are good! But you should use discernment to think about what is good and bad, and if something is bad, say "no way!" We decided to memorize this verse. (...and frowned at the bad.)
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 53-55 - addition; subtraction; numerical order; weight measurement
Spelling: J
Wrote 5 spelling words 4x each
Reading: P
Completed lesson 11 of 100EL
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
October 22, 2008
BrainQuest: spelling; subtraction; geography; sound association; counting; directions; clocks; grammar; wildlife
Didn't do as well as yesterday but still did really well. I'm surprised at the amount of Disney questions there are on here. Am I supposed to be teaching my kid to be a TV zombie?
FIAR: J & P
Read Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Grouping and dividing - got out 12 blocks and lined them up in 2 groups of six just like the girls in the book. Asked, "What if Miss Clavell divided the girls by twos, how many groups would you have?" Did the same with groups of 3, 4 and 6. J thought that was so fun!
Size - Madeline was the smallest of the 12 girls. Had J group his blocks into largest, medium and smallest.
Symmetry - Also used 12 blocks (2 of each shape) and lined them up in different ways and had J tell me which patterns were symmetrical and which were not. Went back through the book and picked out all the symmetrical drawings and discussed how that was another way the author showed order and routine in his story.
Coloring: J
J colored his October page today, nearly the entire thing!!! His coloring skills improved (what seemed like) infinitely and he was very proud at the huge fuss I made, it had him in a good mood for hours. Don't know if that's good or bad!
Writing: J
Wrote spelling words 4 times each. Went much faster today than yesterday because of his improved mood.
Reading: P
Completed lesson 10 of 100EL
Math? Architecture?: J, P & C
Did lots of awesome building with blocks today. Great stuff!
Didn't do as well as yesterday but still did really well. I'm surprised at the amount of Disney questions there are on here. Am I supposed to be teaching my kid to be a TV zombie?
FIAR: J & P
Read Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Grouping and dividing - got out 12 blocks and lined them up in 2 groups of six just like the girls in the book. Asked, "What if Miss Clavell divided the girls by twos, how many groups would you have?" Did the same with groups of 3, 4 and 6. J thought that was so fun!
Size - Madeline was the smallest of the 12 girls. Had J group his blocks into largest, medium and smallest.
Symmetry - Also used 12 blocks (2 of each shape) and lined them up in different ways and had J tell me which patterns were symmetrical and which were not. Went back through the book and picked out all the symmetrical drawings and discussed how that was another way the author showed order and routine in his story.
Coloring: J
J colored his October page today, nearly the entire thing!!! His coloring skills improved (what seemed like) infinitely and he was very proud at the huge fuss I made, it had him in a good mood for hours. Don't know if that's good or bad!
Writing: J
Wrote spelling words 4 times each. Went much faster today than yesterday because of his improved mood.
Reading: P
Completed lesson 10 of 100EL
Math? Architecture?: J, P & C
Did lots of awesome building with blocks today. Great stuff!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
October 21, 2008
Happy 13th Anniversary Mom and John =)
BrainQuest: J
pgs. 18-20 - money; proper nouns; wildlife; subtraction; weather; Spanish; number sequences; proper sentence structure; elementary biology. Did awesome, got everything right today!
Also asked what was the nation's capital. J didn't know, but I don't remember ever discussing it with him before, so we talked about it for a little and the things you can find in that city.
Also asked about what princess fell asleep by eating an apple, but I have three sons, so sorry, no princess movies in this house. I couldn't even remember myself if it was Snow White or Sleeping Beauty!
FIAR: J & P
Read Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Literary devices - Poetry & Repetition
Talked about poetry and how Madeline is written with rhyme and rhythm through the whole story. Talked about how it makes it a fun book to read and unifies the story.
Talked about the 2 parts of the book that use repetition and how it ties the beginning and end of the book together. Talked about how it can create excitement, as the first time one of them was used (something is not right!) something exciting happened afterwards. Also explained how the other repetition (broke bread, brushed teeth, went to bed) describe patterns and rituals that people use in their daily routine and how that can make life easier. Talked about what routines we have in our home life.
Vocabulary - learned 3 new words - appendix; solemn; disaster
Math: J
pgs 50-52 - fractions, coloring halves, thirds and quarters of shapes; adding; subtracting; measuring; clocks; symmetry; greater than less than; patterns.
Writing: J
Wrote out spelling words for the week 4x each.
Reading: P
Completed lesson 9 of 100EL. Boy is he ever excited about learning to read! His face is like sunshine. =)
Phys Ed: J, P & C
Outside to play with IAPW!
BrainQuest: J
pgs. 18-20 - money; proper nouns; wildlife; subtraction; weather; Spanish; number sequences; proper sentence structure; elementary biology. Did awesome, got everything right today!
Also asked what was the nation's capital. J didn't know, but I don't remember ever discussing it with him before, so we talked about it for a little and the things you can find in that city.
Also asked about what princess fell asleep by eating an apple, but I have three sons, so sorry, no princess movies in this house. I couldn't even remember myself if it was Snow White or Sleeping Beauty!
FIAR: J & P
Read Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Literary devices - Poetry & Repetition
Talked about poetry and how Madeline is written with rhyme and rhythm through the whole story. Talked about how it makes it a fun book to read and unifies the story.
Talked about the 2 parts of the book that use repetition and how it ties the beginning and end of the book together. Talked about how it can create excitement, as the first time one of them was used (something is not right!) something exciting happened afterwards. Also explained how the other repetition (broke bread, brushed teeth, went to bed) describe patterns and rituals that people use in their daily routine and how that can make life easier. Talked about what routines we have in our home life.
Vocabulary - learned 3 new words - appendix; solemn; disaster
Math: J
pgs 50-52 - fractions, coloring halves, thirds and quarters of shapes; adding; subtracting; measuring; clocks; symmetry; greater than less than; patterns.
Writing: J
Wrote out spelling words for the week 4x each.
Reading: P
Completed lesson 9 of 100EL. Boy is he ever excited about learning to read! His face is like sunshine. =)
Phys Ed: J, P & C
Outside to play with IAPW!
Monday, October 20, 2008
October 20, 2008
Happy Birthday Jonathan!
Short but good, productive day. =)
FIAR: J & P
Read Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. What a cute book!
Social Studies - Geography - Went downstairs and found Paris, France on world map and marked it.
Human relationships and feelings - Using discernment to figure out what's good and bad and being compassionate when situation calls for it. Made a list of things to do for people who are sick, sad or suffering. Talked about always taking action to show people that you care about them and their well being.
History - Madeline was written in 1933. Told J that Grammie and Grampa from ME were just Paul's age when this book was written! Looked through the book to find things that were different or similar to how they are today and what life was like for people (in some ways) back then.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - 48-49 pgs - adding; subtracting; coloring; reading and solving word problems, writing line problems.
Writing: J
Reviewed words from last week. Wrote 5 new words out this week: three, wave, gift, tool, tray
Reading: P
Lesson 8 of 100EL
Short but good, productive day. =)
FIAR: J & P
Read Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. What a cute book!
Social Studies - Geography - Went downstairs and found Paris, France on world map and marked it.
Human relationships and feelings - Using discernment to figure out what's good and bad and being compassionate when situation calls for it. Made a list of things to do for people who are sick, sad or suffering. Talked about always taking action to show people that you care about them and their well being.
History - Madeline was written in 1933. Told J that Grammie and Grampa from ME were just Paul's age when this book was written! Looked through the book to find things that were different or similar to how they are today and what life was like for people (in some ways) back then.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - 48-49 pgs - adding; subtracting; coloring; reading and solving word problems, writing line problems.
Writing: J
Reviewed words from last week. Wrote 5 new words out this week: three, wave, gift, tool, tray
Reading: P
Lesson 8 of 100EL
Saturday, October 18, 2008
October 17, 2008
Another day off - Apt at 11am for J to get his cast!
Next week FIAR: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Next week FIAR: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
October 16, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Math - counting certain things in the book and grouping them in pairs, etc
Science - Talked about the five senses and how the author made all the sights, sounds, smells and feelings so vivid in this book. Also discussed the seasons, which months are in which seasons and made a list of the characteristics of each season.
Brain Quest Reading: J
Roy G. Biv story - discussed colors of the rainbow and answered questions about them. Did pretty well, not great.
Brain Quest General: J
pgs 15-17 - rhyming; days of the week; sentence structure; geography; adding; putting things in ABC order; directions; relationships; animal kingdom
Math: J
Money - grouped coins together and figured out totals. Also made totals with large number of coins and had J figure out how to make the same amount with less coins (ex: 1 quarter, 1 nickel, 2 pennies instead of 3 dimes, 7 pennies)
Calendar: J
Reviewed months of the year - remembered them all in order!
Reading: P
Lesson 7 of 100EL
Math - counting certain things in the book and grouping them in pairs, etc
Science - Talked about the five senses and how the author made all the sights, sounds, smells and feelings so vivid in this book. Also discussed the seasons, which months are in which seasons and made a list of the characteristics of each season.
Brain Quest Reading: J
Roy G. Biv story - discussed colors of the rainbow and answered questions about them. Did pretty well, not great.
Brain Quest General: J
pgs 15-17 - rhyming; days of the week; sentence structure; geography; adding; putting things in ABC order; directions; relationships; animal kingdom
Math: J
Money - grouped coins together and figured out totals. Also made totals with large number of coins and had J figure out how to make the same amount with less coins (ex: 1 quarter, 1 nickel, 2 pennies instead of 3 dimes, 7 pennies)
Calendar: J
Reviewed months of the year - remembered them all in order!
Reading: P
Lesson 7 of 100EL
October 15, 2008
Well, we took today off because J broke his arm last night! Just made it a relaxing restful movie day =)
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
October 14, 2008
Good day =)
Brain Quest 1st Grade: J
pgs 11-14 - adding; finding verbs; rhyming; contractions; seasons; money; question marks; clocks; nursery rhymes
Calendar:
Went over months of the year - he only missed 2! Not bad considering we've only gone over it about 4 times =)
FIAR: J & P
Read WOTS?
Language Arts - List Making - FIAR workbook suggested making lists of all Big Jim's qualities and making a list of things that are too wonderful to own that are not mentioned in the book. Jesse thought this was WAY fun! He even asked if we could also make a list of the little boy's qualities as well as Big Jim's. After listing 6 things on each list, I put them in the book and said we could add on as the week goes along.
LA - Vocabulary discussed definitions of the words: squint; windmill; wander and continue. The only one J didn't already know was wander. Will start a vocabulary list (maybe on index cards, like flashcards?) to review.
Elements of story - climax and denouement - talked about the end of the story and how it would leave you feeling differently if the story had ended a page earlier.
LA - Flashback - talked about how this story and 'A Pair of Red Clogs' were both told in flashback and the advantages of telling the story this way. A sad story can turn out happy; you can see how a person has changed over time; etc.
Brain Quest 1st Grade: J
pgs 11-14 - adding; finding verbs; rhyming; contractions; seasons; money; question marks; clocks; nursery rhymes
Calendar:
Went over months of the year - he only missed 2! Not bad considering we've only gone over it about 4 times =)
FIAR: J & P
Read WOTS?
Language Arts - List Making - FIAR workbook suggested making lists of all Big Jim's qualities and making a list of things that are too wonderful to own that are not mentioned in the book. Jesse thought this was WAY fun! He even asked if we could also make a list of the little boy's qualities as well as Big Jim's. After listing 6 things on each list, I put them in the book and said we could add on as the week goes along.
LA - Vocabulary discussed definitions of the words: squint; windmill; wander and continue. The only one J didn't already know was wander. Will start a vocabulary list (maybe on index cards, like flashcards?) to review.
Elements of story - climax and denouement - talked about the end of the story and how it would leave you feeling differently if the story had ended a page earlier.
LA - Flashback - talked about how this story and 'A Pair of Red Clogs' were both told in flashback and the advantages of telling the story this way. A sad story can turn out happy; you can see how a person has changed over time; etc.
Music: J & P
Read last chapter of Beatles book - Ch 11 - The Saddest Day. Will do some further discussion of the music and people without the aid of any weird slanted books. Skipped a lot of stupid political stuff in this one.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 47 - fractions, identifying shapes split into equal parts. Breezed through it!
Writing: J
Wrote each spelling word for the week four times.
Reading: P
Completed Lesson 6 of 100EL
Monday, October 13, 2008
October 13, 2008
Good day - late start but we got a lot done.
FIAR: J & P
Read 'Who Owns the Sun?' written and illustrated by (14 yr old!) Stacy Chbosky
Social Studies - History - WOTS? is a story taking place in the south in the mid 1800's about a boy and his Dad (Big Jim) who, the boy finds out at the end of the story, are owned by a white farmer. This led to a lengthy discussion on slavery and how it came about, and racism, discrimination, etc. J had lots of questions and said often, "Well, that's just not fair!". He seemed to have a genuine concern for wrongness of slavery. He also mentioned how it was sort of like the story of Moses, how there were slaves in that time, too. How smart! I told him yes, but it was a different race of people then, but it was just as wrong.
Geography - Looked on the map downstairs and showed J & P where most of the slaves lived and J put a mark on GA for location since the book doesn't list a specific location.
Family Relationships - Talked a while about the relationship between Big Jim and his son and the love and respect and trust the son felt for his Dad. Talked about making sure you never develop a root of bitterness when your family comes upon hard times that you can't control, to always trust on God that He will take care of you and He always knows what's best for you.
Music: J & P
Ch 10 of Beatles book - Everyone is going solo - 1 ch to go!
Brain Quest: J
Reading - Grade 1 - Read a short story and then asked comprehension questions - J did really well, 9 out of 10 right!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 45-46 - Creating graphs and reading graphs; Adding and subtracting (filling in blanks in the middle or end of number sentences)
Writing: J
5 new words - pool, little, now, deep, bigger
Reading: P
Lesson 6 of 100EL - breezing through!
FIAR: J & P
Read 'Who Owns the Sun?' written and illustrated by (14 yr old!) Stacy Chbosky
Social Studies - History - WOTS? is a story taking place in the south in the mid 1800's about a boy and his Dad (Big Jim) who, the boy finds out at the end of the story, are owned by a white farmer. This led to a lengthy discussion on slavery and how it came about, and racism, discrimination, etc. J had lots of questions and said often, "Well, that's just not fair!". He seemed to have a genuine concern for wrongness of slavery. He also mentioned how it was sort of like the story of Moses, how there were slaves in that time, too. How smart! I told him yes, but it was a different race of people then, but it was just as wrong.
Geography - Looked on the map downstairs and showed J & P where most of the slaves lived and J put a mark on GA for location since the book doesn't list a specific location.
Family Relationships - Talked a while about the relationship between Big Jim and his son and the love and respect and trust the son felt for his Dad. Talked about making sure you never develop a root of bitterness when your family comes upon hard times that you can't control, to always trust on God that He will take care of you and He always knows what's best for you.
Music: J & P
Ch 10 of Beatles book - Everyone is going solo - 1 ch to go!
Brain Quest: J
Reading - Grade 1 - Read a short story and then asked comprehension questions - J did really well, 9 out of 10 right!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 45-46 - Creating graphs and reading graphs; Adding and subtracting (filling in blanks in the middle or end of number sentences)
Writing: J
5 new words - pool, little, now, deep, bigger
Reading: P
Lesson 6 of 100EL - breezing through!
Friday, October 10, 2008
October 10, 2008
Writing/Spelling: J
Started out with spelling test - said the words sun, top, cat and pray and J wrote them down. He spelled them all right but got confused on the p for some reason in 'top' and put the line on the wrong side. Gave him a 75% and he begged me to let him do it over again. We repeated the test after the rest of the schoolwork was over and he got a 100%. =)
Music: J & P
Ch 9 of Beatles book - The Beginning of the End - reviewed some Beatle facts after reading was done. Two chapters to go.
Calendar: J
Reviewed months of the year. Put some birthdays down on each month as I thought it might help to remember the order of the months - whose birthday comes before whose, etc.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 44 - addition and subtraction with number families. Given a set of three numbers (ex. 1, 4, 3) and have to make 2 addition problems and 2 subtraction problems out of it. J did really well!
FIAR: J & P
Art - Unity of theme through color - talked about illustrators use of colors, especially yellow, throughout the book to tie the story together and give it a good flow.
Bible - Talked about deception and lying (Genesis 3) an the importance of always telling the truth, and confessing when you don't tell the truth (John 8:32; 1 John 1:9). Also talked about good stewardship of your responsibilities (Luke 15)
Reading: P
Lesson 4 of 100EL - saying words slow and fast, letter sounds: s, m & short a
Phys Ed: J, P & C
Outside to play while I make lunch! =)
Started out with spelling test - said the words sun, top, cat and pray and J wrote them down. He spelled them all right but got confused on the p for some reason in 'top' and put the line on the wrong side. Gave him a 75% and he begged me to let him do it over again. We repeated the test after the rest of the schoolwork was over and he got a 100%. =)
Music: J & P
Ch 9 of Beatles book - The Beginning of the End - reviewed some Beatle facts after reading was done. Two chapters to go.
Calendar: J
Reviewed months of the year. Put some birthdays down on each month as I thought it might help to remember the order of the months - whose birthday comes before whose, etc.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 44 - addition and subtraction with number families. Given a set of three numbers (ex. 1, 4, 3) and have to make 2 addition problems and 2 subtraction problems out of it. J did really well!
FIAR: J & P
Art - Unity of theme through color - talked about illustrators use of colors, especially yellow, throughout the book to tie the story together and give it a good flow.
Bible - Talked about deception and lying (Genesis 3) an the importance of always telling the truth, and confessing when you don't tell the truth (John 8:32; 1 John 1:9). Also talked about good stewardship of your responsibilities (Luke 15)
Reading: P
Lesson 4 of 100EL - saying words slow and fast, letter sounds: s, m & short a
Phys Ed: J, P & C
Outside to play while I make lunch! =)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
October 8, 2008
Short day today.
FIAR: J & P
Read A Pair of Red Clogs
Literature - talked about the use of flashbacks to tell stories
Defined some words used in the story - lacquer; suspecting; ashamed; thong (on clogs or flip-flops); perfectly; festival
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 43 - working with clocks and time
Writing: J
Same 4 words - test on Friday!
Reading: P
Lesson 3 of 100EL - he did GREAT! I really think he's ready this time =)
Phys Ed/Activities: J, P & C
Played with Legos a lot in the morning and are currently playing outside with the neighbor.
FIAR: J & P
Read A Pair of Red Clogs
Literature - talked about the use of flashbacks to tell stories
Defined some words used in the story - lacquer; suspecting; ashamed; thong (on clogs or flip-flops); perfectly; festival
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pg 43 - working with clocks and time
Writing: J
Same 4 words - test on Friday!
Reading: P
Lesson 3 of 100EL - he did GREAT! I really think he's ready this time =)
Phys Ed/Activities: J, P & C
Played with Legos a lot in the morning and are currently playing outside with the neighbor.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
October 7, 2008
Good day again! But a loooooong one.
FIAR: J & P
Science - Weather and weather forecasting
Discussed "what is weather?". Gave definition then just did some general talking about how weather works, etc. Talked about favorite kinds of weather and about the 4 seasons and how weather changes from one to the other. This gave me a good segway into discussing the months of the year again.
Also discussed "how do people predict weather?" - Talked about meteorologists and some of the tools they use, but stated they are not infallible, God has the final say on what the weather is today!
Music: J & P
Beatles book - ch 8 - Road-Weary. This book is definitely written from a leftist perspective. I'm leaving lots of things out!
Brain Quest: J
pgs 8-10 - rhyming; number sequence; proper grammar; wildlife identification; nursery rhymes; calendar. Did good with most questions, but had trouble with one grammar question and with one math question. Also was asked: "The moon gives off it's own light - T/F?" - again, How is this 1st grade level!?!? He answered true, but I corrected him and gave a demonstration to show why we only see certain phases of the moon at certain times. He thought that was pretty fun.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 40-42 - advanced patterns; labeling patterns; addition, subtraction; writing out number sentences when given word problems
Writing: J
Gave him 4 words to practice writing every day for the week (sun, top, cat, pray) and told him he's getting tested on Friday, he has to be able to write them all on his own! His writing is really improving.
Reading: P
Lesson 2 of 100 EL - Did great! He really struggled at first with sounding out words slowly, but he improved tremendously as the lesson went on and was able to do it perfectly by the end, which is what we had such trouble with in August. Hooray!
Recreation: J, P & C
Played with Legos and Play-Doh for most of the spare morning time - FUN! - Planned an outdoor play date with the neighbors soon =)
FIAR: J & P
Science - Weather and weather forecasting
Discussed "what is weather?". Gave definition then just did some general talking about how weather works, etc. Talked about favorite kinds of weather and about the 4 seasons and how weather changes from one to the other. This gave me a good segway into discussing the months of the year again.
Also discussed "how do people predict weather?" - Talked about meteorologists and some of the tools they use, but stated they are not infallible, God has the final say on what the weather is today!
Music: J & P
Beatles book - ch 8 - Road-Weary. This book is definitely written from a leftist perspective. I'm leaving lots of things out!
Brain Quest: J
pgs 8-10 - rhyming; number sequence; proper grammar; wildlife identification; nursery rhymes; calendar. Did good with most questions, but had trouble with one grammar question and with one math question. Also was asked: "The moon gives off it's own light - T/F?" - again, How is this 1st grade level!?!? He answered true, but I corrected him and gave a demonstration to show why we only see certain phases of the moon at certain times. He thought that was pretty fun.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 40-42 - advanced patterns; labeling patterns; addition, subtraction; writing out number sentences when given word problems
Writing: J
Gave him 4 words to practice writing every day for the week (sun, top, cat, pray) and told him he's getting tested on Friday, he has to be able to write them all on his own! His writing is really improving.
Reading: P
Lesson 2 of 100 EL - Did great! He really struggled at first with sounding out words slowly, but he improved tremendously as the lesson went on and was able to do it perfectly by the end, which is what we had such trouble with in August. Hooray!
Recreation: J, P & C
Played with Legos and Play-Doh for most of the spare morning time - FUN! - Planned an outdoor play date with the neighbors soon =)
Monday, October 6, 2008
October 6, 2008
Great school day!
FIAR: J & P
Read A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno; 1960
Geography - Went and found Japan on world map - talked about what an island is. Also talked about how far away Japan is from NJ and how that probably makes our cultures pretty different.
Culture - Went through book and pointed out all the things they do differently in Japan - architecture, clothing, hairstyles, food, the way they eat (chopsticks, very short tables), writing
Relationships - talked about lying and how doing so can make people not trust you. We should always tell the truth! etc.
Music: J & P
Beatles book - ch 7 - Beatlemania!
Math: J
Money - asked J to make certain amounts of money with coins on hand. Has trouble remembering that 3 quarters = .75 Does well with everything else.
SSM Workbook - pgs 38-39 - geometric shapes; tally marks; subtraction
Months - Introduced the names of all the months and what seasons they fall in. Just starting, didn't go far into it. Just said the names and seasons.
Reading: J & P
J read chs. 42 & 43 of LPP
P did extremely well! on Lesson 1 of "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book. We'll see if he catches on better than in August, looking good so far! =)
FIAR: J & P
Read A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno; 1960
Geography - Went and found Japan on world map - talked about what an island is. Also talked about how far away Japan is from NJ and how that probably makes our cultures pretty different.
Culture - Went through book and pointed out all the things they do differently in Japan - architecture, clothing, hairstyles, food, the way they eat (chopsticks, very short tables), writing
Relationships - talked about lying and how doing so can make people not trust you. We should always tell the truth! etc.
Music: J & P
Beatles book - ch 7 - Beatlemania!
Math: J
Money - asked J to make certain amounts of money with coins on hand. Has trouble remembering that 3 quarters = .75 Does well with everything else.
SSM Workbook - pgs 38-39 - geometric shapes; tally marks; subtraction
Months - Introduced the names of all the months and what seasons they fall in. Just starting, didn't go far into it. Just said the names and seasons.
Reading: J & P
J read chs. 42 & 43 of LPP
P did extremely well! on Lesson 1 of "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book. We'll see if he catches on better than in August, looking good so far! =)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
October 4, 2008
Took Friday (10/3) off for some shopping and leisure. Happy Birthday Nancy! =)
BQ: J
pgs 4-7 - spelling; addition; phrase recognition; author recognition; geometry; action words; turning sentences into questions; solar system; sports; punctuation; senses; nursery rhymes; very basic multiplication (or compound addition)
Trouble with - spelling; author recognition; solar system; turning sentence into question; action words.
Not sure how I like BQ. The questions are extremely random and I have trouble believing that any first grader would know all of the questions. Is this really the stuff they cover in school at this age?!?
Note: Take Cathy's advice: "Have you sought curriculum guidelines and materials from your local district? Although you are planning on a most involved classical curriculum, it might provide evaluation tools or benchmarks to compare their learning at various stages with traditional schooling. Also, you are paying taxes to the local district.....get the materials, which are available...even for ideas on activities, etc. They don't have to be used on a regular basis, but as reference."
Music: J
ch 5 & 6 of Beatles book
Coloring: P
Kitten coloring book
We've decided to put aside BPW for now and use later as most of the rest of the workbook is writing letters which he just can't do right now. Plan on re-starting reading lessons for P again starting next week to see if he picks up on it any better than he did in August.
FIAR: J
Read The Rag Coat
Art - reviewed warm and cool colors and the feelings they give to illustrations. Drew some pictures using only warm colors.
Bible - discussed the importance of forgiveness (Eph 4:32; Matt 18:23-35; story of Joseph); importance of being around others and not growing bitter (Heb 12:5; 10:25); God watching over those he loves in times of grief (Ps 34:17,18)
Math - Use of geometric shapes - purchased game yesterday (Shape by Shape). Uses geometric shapes to create patterns they give you - sort of like Tangoes but slightly different. Very hard, but fun!
Next Week FIAR: A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno
BQ: J
pgs 4-7 - spelling; addition; phrase recognition; author recognition; geometry; action words; turning sentences into questions; solar system; sports; punctuation; senses; nursery rhymes; very basic multiplication (or compound addition)
Trouble with - spelling; author recognition; solar system; turning sentence into question; action words.
Not sure how I like BQ. The questions are extremely random and I have trouble believing that any first grader would know all of the questions. Is this really the stuff they cover in school at this age?!?
Note: Take Cathy's advice: "Have you sought curriculum guidelines and materials from your local district? Although you are planning on a most involved classical curriculum, it might provide evaluation tools or benchmarks to compare their learning at various stages with traditional schooling. Also, you are paying taxes to the local district.....get the materials, which are available...even for ideas on activities, etc. They don't have to be used on a regular basis, but as reference."
Music: J
ch 5 & 6 of Beatles book
Coloring: P
Kitten coloring book
We've decided to put aside BPW for now and use later as most of the rest of the workbook is writing letters which he just can't do right now. Plan on re-starting reading lessons for P again starting next week to see if he picks up on it any better than he did in August.
FIAR: J
Read The Rag Coat
Art - reviewed warm and cool colors and the feelings they give to illustrations. Drew some pictures using only warm colors.
Bible - discussed the importance of forgiveness (Eph 4:32; Matt 18:23-35; story of Joseph); importance of being around others and not growing bitter (Heb 12:5; 10:25); God watching over those he loves in times of grief (Ps 34:17,18)
Math - Use of geometric shapes - purchased game yesterday (Shape by Shape). Uses geometric shapes to create patterns they give you - sort of like Tangoes but slightly different. Very hard, but fun!
Next Week FIAR: A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno
Thursday, October 2, 2008
October 2, 2008
Happy Birthday Lexi!
P has an appt with allergist today - J & C going to Girl Pa's. May try to get some school in after appt although the Dr said it would be a looooooooooong appt. We'll see!
P has an appt with allergist today - J & C going to Girl Pa's. May try to get some school in after appt although the Dr said it would be a looooooooooong appt. We'll see!
October 1, 2008
Just with J today - other kids sleeping
FIAR:
Read The Rag Coat - didn't have supplies to do any of the subjects, but J wanted to read the book anyway =)
Coloring:
Started coloring October page in calendar; suggesed trying to stay in the lines a little better and showed him some tecniques - he did really well!
Music:
Read Ch. 3 & 4 in Beatle book - Ringo and George
Math:
SSM Workbook - pgs 36 & 37 - Tally marks and subtraction. Was having a lot of trouble with tally marks at first but I helped him to stay calm and explained it to him a few different times and it clicked with him finally. =)
Reading:
Chs. 40 & 41 of LPP
FIAR:
Read The Rag Coat - didn't have supplies to do any of the subjects, but J wanted to read the book anyway =)
Coloring:
Started coloring October page in calendar; suggesed trying to stay in the lines a little better and showed him some tecniques - he did really well!
Music:
Read Ch. 3 & 4 in Beatle book - Ringo and George
Math:
SSM Workbook - pgs 36 & 37 - Tally marks and subtraction. Was having a lot of trouble with tally marks at first but I helped him to stay calm and explained it to him a few different times and it clicked with him finally. =)
Reading:
Chs. 40 & 41 of LPP
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
September 30, 2008
Much better day today! Got some advice from a friend to pray before the day begins and God will give you the grace to get through it, and boy was she right! It started off a little rough, but I could feel Him working on me all morning and it was awesome. Anyway..........
FIAR: J & P
Read The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
FIAR Literature - discussed telling a story in a way other than written form, like in a quilt. FIAR workbook suggested discussing the stories of the quilt/rag coat from the story and then showing student something from your own home that had a story behind it. I was a bit nervous because I didn't think I had something like that but then I remembered the quilt my Mother made me about 10 years ago! It was made of all my old flannels and each piece she used was from some of my favorite shirts and I was able to tell J & P the stories behind them and the memories I got from looking at each piece. Also special because it reminded me of what a kind mother I had for her to make me such a special thing. J was way into it!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 34 & 35 - horizontal subtraction problems; writing number words; graphs and subtraction through graphs. J had lots of fun doing this, he loves graphs.
He saw that tomorrow is working on tally marks and is nervous about it, but I know he will have fun =)
Music: J & P
Read intro and chapters 1(John) & 2(Paul) of "Who Were The Beatles?" - went over birthdays, musical influences, hometown, WWII, and more. Tomorrow: Ringo and George!
Spelling/Writing: J
Had J sound out: sun, top, cat & pray. Had trouble with sun and pray, but did well with top and cat. Had him write out each word 3 or 4 times.
Coloring: P
Colored in kitten coloring book
Phys Ed: J, P & C
Took a walk after breakfast and before school. This tried my patience a bit because J & P kept fighting over who got to push Charlie in the stroller (among other things), but it was ok. I just made a mental note to plan ahead with timed turns, etc. for next time.
FIAR: J & P
Read The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
FIAR Literature - discussed telling a story in a way other than written form, like in a quilt. FIAR workbook suggested discussing the stories of the quilt/rag coat from the story and then showing student something from your own home that had a story behind it. I was a bit nervous because I didn't think I had something like that but then I remembered the quilt my Mother made me about 10 years ago! It was made of all my old flannels and each piece she used was from some of my favorite shirts and I was able to tell J & P the stories behind them and the memories I got from looking at each piece. Also special because it reminded me of what a kind mother I had for her to make me such a special thing. J was way into it!
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 34 & 35 - horizontal subtraction problems; writing number words; graphs and subtraction through graphs. J had lots of fun doing this, he loves graphs.
He saw that tomorrow is working on tally marks and is nervous about it, but I know he will have fun =)
Music: J & P
Read intro and chapters 1(John) & 2(Paul) of "Who Were The Beatles?" - went over birthdays, musical influences, hometown, WWII, and more. Tomorrow: Ringo and George!
Spelling/Writing: J
Had J sound out: sun, top, cat & pray. Had trouble with sun and pray, but did well with top and cat. Had him write out each word 3 or 4 times.
Coloring: P
Colored in kitten coloring book
Phys Ed: J, P & C
Took a walk after breakfast and before school. This tried my patience a bit because J & P kept fighting over who got to push Charlie in the stroller (among other things), but it was ok. I just made a mental note to plan ahead with timed turns, etc. for next time.
Monday, September 29, 2008
September 29, 2008
Happy Anniversary to me and Adam!
School only went OK today. J Seemed detached. And C drove me CRAZY.
FIAR: J & P - read The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
I almost broke out in tears about 8 times during this 20+ page book. I'm not sure how I will get through reading it every day this week!
FIAR - Social Studies: J
Geography - Found the Appalachian mountains on US map. Story doesn't specifically state it takes place in PA, but we put tag on PA since it has coal mines and gets cold around the same time the book stated.
Talked a lot about coal mining. It scared J a bit, he said he is glad Daddy is not a coal miner because he doesn't want him to die. That led us to a whole other conversation which tied in with the story, death of a parent. Talked briefly about it but didn't get too heavy.
Relationships - discussed relationship between Minna and her father, Minna and the Quilting Mothers and Minna and her classmates. Talked about aspects of each relationship and discussed how these things show up in J's life.
Funerals - talked further about death and dying. Asked J if he had any questions but he really didn't have any.
This all took a LONG time. Mostly when I asked J a question he would say "I don't know" and not really try until I coaxed him into remembering aspects of the story. Not sure why the detachment today. He said he thought the story was very good.
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 31-33 - measuring w/ rulers; horizontal and vertical subtraction problems; word problems, writing out subtraction problems.
Clocks - matching clocks with time sentence
Coloring: J
Finished coloring his September picture.
General: P
BPW - writing letters J & K
School only went OK today. J Seemed detached. And C drove me CRAZY.
FIAR: J & P - read The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
I almost broke out in tears about 8 times during this 20+ page book. I'm not sure how I will get through reading it every day this week!
FIAR - Social Studies: J
Geography - Found the Appalachian mountains on US map. Story doesn't specifically state it takes place in PA, but we put tag on PA since it has coal mines and gets cold around the same time the book stated.
Talked a lot about coal mining. It scared J a bit, he said he is glad Daddy is not a coal miner because he doesn't want him to die. That led us to a whole other conversation which tied in with the story, death of a parent. Talked briefly about it but didn't get too heavy.
Relationships - discussed relationship between Minna and her father, Minna and the Quilting Mothers and Minna and her classmates. Talked about aspects of each relationship and discussed how these things show up in J's life.
Funerals - talked further about death and dying. Asked J if he had any questions but he really didn't have any.
This all took a LONG time. Mostly when I asked J a question he would say "I don't know" and not really try until I coaxed him into remembering aspects of the story. Not sure why the detachment today. He said he thought the story was very good.
Math: J
SSM Workbook pgs 31-33 - measuring w/ rulers; horizontal and vertical subtraction problems; word problems, writing out subtraction problems.
Clocks - matching clocks with time sentence
Coloring: J
Finished coloring his September picture.
General: P
BPW - writing letters J & K
Sunday, September 28, 2008
September 26, 2008
Needed to get some shopping done today so skipped school. Didn't have materials for science project for FIAR anyway so we will catch up on that another time. Went for new sneakers for J, P & C and it was a great trip! The women in the store were so helpful and doted on the boys and even let J & P scan in their own sneakers. =)
Next week FIAR: The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Next week FIAR: The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Thursday, September 25, 2008
September 25, 2008
Happy Birthday Ron and Tierney!
FIAR: J & P
Read Lentil
Math - Counting the beats of musical notes (fractions). Showed J a whole note, third(?) note, half note and quarter note. Put them in a measure of music and taught him how to hum it out. Cut up a paper circle into quarters to help him understand. Confused at first, but then he exclaimed, "Oh! This is just like math!" and then it really clicked for him.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 28-30 - subtraction; writing math sentences; greater than less than symbols; color by number
Money - played Store. Put some prices on some knick-knacks and gave J some coins to buy them. Told him to pick his favorites as he didn't have enough money for all of them. This turned out to be a little torturous for me because J just COULD NOT decide what to buy. Should he not buy the cooler expensive things so that he could have MORE? or should he buy favorites and not have so much?? This honestly took him about 45 minutes to decide and I think took away from the actual money lesson. He did ok with counting the money out, definitely needs more work, but he was SO distracted over what he could and couldn't afford that adding the coins took a backseat. Need to think of a better game.
Reading: J
Chapters 34 & 35 of LPP
Writing: P
BPW pgs 104-105 - writing letters H & I - actually did pretty well with H, but it turned into mostly scribbles. He's having fun =)
FIAR: J & P
Read Lentil
Math - Counting the beats of musical notes (fractions). Showed J a whole note, third(?) note, half note and quarter note. Put them in a measure of music and taught him how to hum it out. Cut up a paper circle into quarters to help him understand. Confused at first, but then he exclaimed, "Oh! This is just like math!" and then it really clicked for him.
Math: J
SSM Workbook - pgs 28-30 - subtraction; writing math sentences; greater than less than symbols; color by number
Money - played Store. Put some prices on some knick-knacks and gave J some coins to buy them. Told him to pick his favorites as he didn't have enough money for all of them. This turned out to be a little torturous for me because J just COULD NOT decide what to buy. Should he not buy the cooler expensive things so that he could have MORE? or should he buy favorites and not have so much?? This honestly took him about 45 minutes to decide and I think took away from the actual money lesson. He did ok with counting the money out, definitely needs more work, but he was SO distracted over what he could and couldn't afford that adding the coins took a backseat. Need to think of a better game.
Reading: J
Chapters 34 & 35 of LPP
Writing: P
BPW pgs 104-105 - writing letters H & I - actually did pretty well with H, but it turned into mostly scribbles. He's having fun =)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
September 24, 2008
FIAR: J & P
Read story - Lentil
FIAR Art: J
Medium - Lentil is illustrated in charcoal, but not having any, we talked about how to use pencil for drawing, shading, 2D, 3D, etc. Talked about shadows and light sources and drew some things.
Picture Detail - The artwork in Lentil is excellent, and you can almost get the entire story just out of the pictures without even reading the story. J thought this was really cool!
Architecture - Talked about the Colonel's house and how it was different from house you see today. Talked about houses from different times look different and talked about styles of houses. Would be nice to take a drive around and look at different style houses, but I don't think we can do that when gas is a million dollars a gallon.
Musical Skill - Discussed the harmonica and how Lentil wasn't good at it straight-away but had to practice all the time to get really good at it. Talked about patience, commitment, dedication and practice.
Math:
WAK flashcards - 68-75 - finished! - covered: deductive reasoning; months of the year; days of the week.
We have rarely gone over months of the year.
Now that cards are done, things that need to be focused on: fractions; large number placement; money; months of the year (name and order); counting by twos (odd or even), tally charts
SSM Workbook - pgs 25-27 - ordinal numbers; symmetry; adding, bar graphs; word problems
Coloring: J
Colored more of September in calendar
General: P
BPW pgs 102-103 - writing F and G - not good at all!! But he's having a lot of fun trying and he's only 4 so I'm ok with that =)
Phys Ed: J & P
Rode bikes for a while, J approx 30 minutes, P about 15. J is getting so good! Said he'd be interested in taking off the training wheels soon. Both also played some Wii Fit at night.
Read story - Lentil
FIAR Art: J
Medium - Lentil is illustrated in charcoal, but not having any, we talked about how to use pencil for drawing, shading, 2D, 3D, etc. Talked about shadows and light sources and drew some things.
Picture Detail - The artwork in Lentil is excellent, and you can almost get the entire story just out of the pictures without even reading the story. J thought this was really cool!
Architecture - Talked about the Colonel's house and how it was different from house you see today. Talked about houses from different times look different and talked about styles of houses. Would be nice to take a drive around and look at different style houses, but I don't think we can do that when gas is a million dollars a gallon.
Musical Skill - Discussed the harmonica and how Lentil wasn't good at it straight-away but had to practice all the time to get really good at it. Talked about patience, commitment, dedication and practice.
Math:
WAK flashcards - 68-75 - finished! - covered: deductive reasoning; months of the year; days of the week.
We have rarely gone over months of the year.
Now that cards are done, things that need to be focused on: fractions; large number placement; money; months of the year (name and order); counting by twos (odd or even), tally charts
SSM Workbook - pgs 25-27 - ordinal numbers; symmetry; adding, bar graphs; word problems
Coloring: J
Colored more of September in calendar
General: P
BPW pgs 102-103 - writing F and G - not good at all!! But he's having a lot of fun trying and he's only 4 so I'm ok with that =)
Phys Ed: J & P
Rode bikes for a while, J approx 30 minutes, P about 15. J is getting so good! Said he'd be interested in taking off the training wheels soon. Both also played some Wii Fit at night.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
September 23, 2008
Short day today, but a good one!
FIAR: J & P - Read Lentil
Literature: Went over 5 key elements of a story - Setting the stage; conflict; rising action; climax; denouement - discussed all these things in regards to Lentil. FIAR book suggested writing a story with all these elements, but instead I asked J to think about The Story About Ping and see if he could tell me all 5 stages of that story. He did amazingly!!! Things I was sure he would miss he got exactly right and even caught a couple of things that I hadn't thought of. It was so amazing to me because TSAP is a MUCH different story than Lentil, so for J to have figured out everything so well means he really was understanding the concept of all the elements. It was great, we were both very excited.
Math:
WAK flashcards - 62-67 - counting; greater than less than (between coins and paper money); tally charts; matching; addition; division - this concept was definitely beyond his current skill level. Is a 1st grader supposed to know how to divide?!?
SSM Workbook - pgs 23-24 - ordinal numbers - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.; commutative property of addition. Was a little confusing for him at first, he had to write out his own math problems with a given set of three numbers. After I sat with him and explained it a bit he understood and did really well.
General: P
BPW pg 101 - writing the letter E and identifying pictures that start with the E sound.
Phys Ed:
J & P rode bikes around Greenbriar I and then went home and had drinks, then took an equally long walk after that. C in stroller. Beautiful day!
FIAR: J & P - Read Lentil
Literature: Went over 5 key elements of a story - Setting the stage; conflict; rising action; climax; denouement - discussed all these things in regards to Lentil. FIAR book suggested writing a story with all these elements, but instead I asked J to think about The Story About Ping and see if he could tell me all 5 stages of that story. He did amazingly!!! Things I was sure he would miss he got exactly right and even caught a couple of things that I hadn't thought of. It was so amazing to me because TSAP is a MUCH different story than Lentil, so for J to have figured out everything so well means he really was understanding the concept of all the elements. It was great, we were both very excited.
Math:
WAK flashcards - 62-67 - counting; greater than less than (between coins and paper money); tally charts; matching; addition; division - this concept was definitely beyond his current skill level. Is a 1st grader supposed to know how to divide?!?
SSM Workbook - pgs 23-24 - ordinal numbers - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.; commutative property of addition. Was a little confusing for him at first, he had to write out his own math problems with a given set of three numbers. After I sat with him and explained it a bit he understood and did really well.
General: P
BPW pg 101 - writing the letter E and identifying pictures that start with the E sound.
Phys Ed:
J & P rode bikes around Greenbriar I and then went home and had drinks, then took an equally long walk after that. C in stroller. Beautiful day!
Monday, September 22, 2008
September 22, 2008
Happy first day of Fall!
Discussed first day of Fall very briefly. We're all excited!
FIAR: Read Lentil by Robert McCloskey; written in 1940
FIAR Social Studies: J&P
Geography - Found Ohio on map in basement and marked it. Found NJ and figured out which direction you would follow to get to Ohio. Talked about fun ways to remember how to spell Ohio.
Human Relationships - Talked about how Lentil may have felt about being different from all his friends when he couldn't do what they could do. Then talked about Lentil's special gift. Talked about what can make people unique and how it's good to have a variety of things in every aspect of your life. Variety of friends, foods, etc. Wouldn't it be boring if you were just like everyone else!? Talked about focusing on people's strengths rather than their weaknesses.
Human Relationships - Disagreeable People - Discussed jealousy - this went on for a LONG time. Jesse got upset at times when I pointed out times when he was jealous of others, but understood what I was getting at in the end. Still struggled with this when Paul came up with an answer faster than he did at one point, but we talked through it and Jesse told Paul he was proud of him for coming up with the answer so fast, albeit, begrudgingly. But practice of breaking old bad habits is a start.
Small town life/History - Compared and contrasted life in a small town and a big city. Also compared and contrasted how things have changed in the last 70 years. Clothes, cars, traffic, etc.
Patriotism - Looked at and discussed the American flag and what it reprsents and also talked about reasons to be proud of living in your country. Jesse said he was most excited about being able to worship God because He is so great!
Math: J
WAK flashcards - 54-61, covered: identifying large numbers; deductive reasoning; separating groups in half (this took us a LONG while to work on, but he was SO EXCITED when the concept finally clicked!!! and then it was easy for him); coin identification; matching number sentences with picture problems; matching; patterns.
SSM Workbook - pgs 20-22 - covered: horizontal math problems; writing number words; word problems; Venn Diagram (needed guidance with this, but again, very excited when it clicked)
Coloring: J
Coloring September picture in his calendar
Reading: J
Wanted to read Lentil again on his own.
General: P
BPW - pgs 87-96 - circling things that do NOT belong in the group
Discussed first day of Fall very briefly. We're all excited!
FIAR: Read Lentil by Robert McCloskey; written in 1940
FIAR Social Studies: J&P
Geography - Found Ohio on map in basement and marked it. Found NJ and figured out which direction you would follow to get to Ohio. Talked about fun ways to remember how to spell Ohio.
Human Relationships - Talked about how Lentil may have felt about being different from all his friends when he couldn't do what they could do. Then talked about Lentil's special gift. Talked about what can make people unique and how it's good to have a variety of things in every aspect of your life. Variety of friends, foods, etc. Wouldn't it be boring if you were just like everyone else!? Talked about focusing on people's strengths rather than their weaknesses.
Human Relationships - Disagreeable People - Discussed jealousy - this went on for a LONG time. Jesse got upset at times when I pointed out times when he was jealous of others, but understood what I was getting at in the end. Still struggled with this when Paul came up with an answer faster than he did at one point, but we talked through it and Jesse told Paul he was proud of him for coming up with the answer so fast, albeit, begrudgingly. But practice of breaking old bad habits is a start.
Small town life/History - Compared and contrasted life in a small town and a big city. Also compared and contrasted how things have changed in the last 70 years. Clothes, cars, traffic, etc.
Patriotism - Looked at and discussed the American flag and what it reprsents and also talked about reasons to be proud of living in your country. Jesse said he was most excited about being able to worship God because He is so great!
Math: J
WAK flashcards - 54-61, covered: identifying large numbers; deductive reasoning; separating groups in half (this took us a LONG while to work on, but he was SO EXCITED when the concept finally clicked!!! and then it was easy for him); coin identification; matching number sentences with picture problems; matching; patterns.
SSM Workbook - pgs 20-22 - covered: horizontal math problems; writing number words; word problems; Venn Diagram (needed guidance with this, but again, very excited when it clicked)
Coloring: J
Coloring September picture in his calendar
Reading: J
Wanted to read Lentil again on his own.
General: P
BPW - pgs 87-96 - circling things that do NOT belong in the group
Friday, September 19, 2008
September 19, 2008
No curriculum work today
Attended first Homeschoolers meeting at TFC - not well attended! Discussed future possible fieldtrips and holiday parties for kids.
Next week FIAR: Lentil by Robert McCloskey
Attended first Homeschoolers meeting at TFC - not well attended! Discussed future possible fieldtrips and holiday parties for kids.
Next week FIAR: Lentil by Robert McCloskey
Thursday, September 18, 2008
September 18, 2008
FIAR: Read TSAP
Science: J & P
Animal Kingdom - Discussed the animal kingdom and everything we learned about ducks through this story. Environmental necessities, eating habits, etc.
Buoyancy - Discussed why boy with barrel on his back (from story) would float. Then did experiment on things that float - filled clear Tupperware with water and tested: cork, styrofoam ball, wooden spoon, hard rubber ball, tennis ball, pencil, rock, shell, quarter. Asked before test what they thought would float and what would sink. They got about half right. As each object was tested we would discuss why it floated or sank. The thought this was pretty much the most fun thing ever.
Safety - Discussed life-jackets (modern day barrel) and why they are important to use.
Reflection of light - Discussed what a reflection is and asked what things aside from water reflect light and why.
Math: J
WAK cards 44-53 - instrument identification; calendar; days of week; identifying flags from clues given; greater than less than; word problems; smallest largest; shape identification; money; counting by twos
Needs extra attention and work on calendars and counting by twos.
SSMW - pgs 17-10 - addition word problems; writing numbers; horizontal and vertical addition problems, counting money
Money - gave him groups of coins to add, then gave him the coins and an amount of cents and he had to put the group of coins together himself. Still needs work. Told him we could play 'shop' tomorrow.
Reading: Ch 33 of LPP
Will start on writing next week
General: P & C
BPW - P - pgs 75-84 -circling things that belong in a certain situation
Coloring noses in the Sesame Street coloring book.
Science: J & P
Animal Kingdom - Discussed the animal kingdom and everything we learned about ducks through this story. Environmental necessities, eating habits, etc.
Buoyancy - Discussed why boy with barrel on his back (from story) would float. Then did experiment on things that float - filled clear Tupperware with water and tested: cork, styrofoam ball, wooden spoon, hard rubber ball, tennis ball, pencil, rock, shell, quarter. Asked before test what they thought would float and what would sink. They got about half right. As each object was tested we would discuss why it floated or sank. The thought this was pretty much the most fun thing ever.
Safety - Discussed life-jackets (modern day barrel) and why they are important to use.
Reflection of light - Discussed what a reflection is and asked what things aside from water reflect light and why.
Math: J
WAK cards 44-53 - instrument identification; calendar; days of week; identifying flags from clues given; greater than less than; word problems; smallest largest; shape identification; money; counting by twos
Needs extra attention and work on calendars and counting by twos.
SSMW - pgs 17-10 - addition word problems; writing numbers; horizontal and vertical addition problems, counting money
Money - gave him groups of coins to add, then gave him the coins and an amount of cents and he had to put the group of coins together himself. Still needs work. Told him we could play 'shop' tomorrow.
Reading: Ch 33 of LPP
Will start on writing next week
General: P & C
BPW - P - pgs 75-84 -circling things that belong in a certain situation
Coloring noses in the Sesame Street coloring book.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
September 17, 2008
Happy Birthday Dana!
General: P
BPW - pgs 70-74 - circling things that make a pair
Math: J
WAK - cards 32-43 - adding; subtraction; odds and evens; identifying shapes; greater than less than; matching; patterns; money; time
Money - adding amounts with different groups of coins
SSMW - pgs 14-16 - counting; measuring; color by number; adding
Reading: Ch 32 of LPP
FIAR: Read TSAP
Art - working with colored pencils; drawing water (reflection, ripples, etc), viewpoints
General: P
BPW - pgs 70-74 - circling things that make a pair
Math: J
WAK - cards 32-43 - adding; subtraction; odds and evens; identifying shapes; greater than less than; matching; patterns; money; time
Money - adding amounts with different groups of coins
SSMW - pgs 14-16 - counting; measuring; color by number; adding
Reading: Ch 32 of LPP
FIAR: Read TSAP
Art - working with colored pencils; drawing water (reflection, ripples, etc), viewpoints
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
September 16, 2008
Shopped in the morning, so had J skip nap and did school with just him in the afternoon.
FIAR - Read The Story about Ping
Literature: Explained what a classic story is, and what the word generation means (in terms of family). Explained what fiction means. Discussed the use of repetition in the book and how that helps remember things.
Math: Ping - We counted all the members of Ping's family
Math workbook - pages 12 and 13 - writing number words (a little trouble but did well); lesser than and greater than (without symbols)
WAK Flashcards - 24-31 - larger & smaller; adding money; identifying shapes; fractions (with pizza); identifying highest numbers; figuring answers from clues given
Money - Had J figure out how to make certain figures. Did well with $2.67, not so good with $1.98 - trying to go a little too fast, I think. Backed up and learned about quartes and how many make a dollar and what groups of quarters equal how much (1 = 25, 2 = 50, etc). Then asked to figure out 0.89 and he did really well.
Reading: Read lots of Aesop's Fables today on his own, also read Chapter 30 of LPP.
FIAR - Read The Story about Ping
Literature: Explained what a classic story is, and what the word generation means (in terms of family). Explained what fiction means. Discussed the use of repetition in the book and how that helps remember things.
Math: Ping - We counted all the members of Ping's family
Math workbook - pages 12 and 13 - writing number words (a little trouble but did well); lesser than and greater than (without symbols)
WAK Flashcards - 24-31 - larger & smaller; adding money; identifying shapes; fractions (with pizza); identifying highest numbers; figuring answers from clues given
Money - Had J figure out how to make certain figures. Did well with $2.67, not so good with $1.98 - trying to go a little too fast, I think. Backed up and learned about quartes and how many make a dollar and what groups of quarters equal how much (1 = 25, 2 = 50, etc). Then asked to figure out 0.89 and he did really well.
Reading: Read lots of Aesop's Fables today on his own, also read Chapter 30 of LPP.
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