Weekly Review -- April 24-29, 2011

This week we took it easy. All three of the kids seemed to come down with some sort of cold that resulted in lots of stuffy/runny noses and horrible hacking coughs.  Because of this we just did some math, science and art.   

Everett...

completed 19-21 and quiz 2 in Teaching Textbooks 7. 

Annika...

completed lessons 18-21 in Teaching Textbooks Math 4. 


Lucas...
completed lessons 16-18 in McRuffy Color Math K.  


Science and History

No history again this week.  For science the older kids worked on group 17 of the periodic table. Their elements of focus were Fluorine and Chlorine.  For our first experiment (which I prepped last week) we observed an egg that we'd soaked half of in toothpaste for a week to see what happened to the calcium of it.  The egg didn't look too different, a little brighter white on that half.  Then we soaked the whole egg in vinegar for 10 hours and observed it again.  Well the side that hadn't been stuck in toothpaste for a week got very soft and squishy. The kids thought it was great fun.


Art and Music

I've decided that art needs to be more consistent here and music needs to actually become part of our schooling.  Music will start next week with 9 note recorder and a lapbook study on composers.  This week I finally started the Meet the Masters program that I've had for over a year.  We worked on the Preview unit, which is an overview of what we'll learn.  The kids then made portfolios to keep their finished artwork in.  They really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next lesson.

Weekly Review -- April 18-22, 2011

A pretty good week overall.  We got a good amount of work done.  We were able to go for a field trip on Tuesday to see the movies Hop and Rio.  Unfortunately our art project didn't turn out.   

Everett...

completed lessons 10-12 in First Language Lessons 3 and has told me that he prefers this approach to grammar.  Lesson 12 was a narration exercise about Bats which he really enjoyed.  He watched another lesson in IEW's Student Writing Intensive A and learned about Adverbial Clauses.  He loved the lesson and in the end said "Those will be easy, I've been doing those already and just never knew that's what they were called. He also worked on a Story Sequence Outline for an original story he'd like to write. We decided to not use Writing with Ease for now and just stick with narrations through First Language Lessons and other areas we work in.  He completed pages14-17 in his Universal Handwriting Level D book.  He finished step 5 in All About Spelling Level 3 and completed Lessons 16-18 in Teaching Textbooks 7.

Annika...

completed step 24 in All About Spelling Level 1, and received her completion certificate for this level.  She's doing so well with this spelling program and can't wait to start Level 2.  She worked through lessons 62, 76, and 87 in The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, again covering some review topics.  She seems to like using this book as the lessons are short and to the point.  She also picked a new book to start reading, A to Z Mysteries Book 1: The Absent Author by Ron Roy.  She completed pages 25-26 in Explode the Code book 4 and now we're going to shelve it for a while because the beginning lessons of All About Spelling Level 2 cover some of the things she's struggling with in Explode the Code 4.  We'll pull it back out when she's a bit more confident about dividing syllables. She completed lessons 15-17 in First Language Lessons level 1 which included memorizing her 2nd poem Work.  She had it 98% mastered by the 2nd day.  I feel she really enjoys the memorization work.   She completed pages 30-37 in her Handwriting Without Tears Cursive book and is doing great with it.   Lastly, she finished lessons 15-17 in Teaching Textbooks Math 4. 






Lucas...
completed lessons 7 and 8 in All About Reading Level pre-1 and lessons 14 and 15 in McRuffy Color Math K.  He then seemed to start getting a cold with a runny nose and hacking cough, so spent the rest of the week resting and playing Cut the Rope, Angry Birds, Pocket Frogs and Drop the Chicken on the Ipad2.






Science and History

We didn't do any history work this week, but I'll bring it back in next week.  

Baking the Meringues

We did 2 science lessons this week.  The first covered Group 15 on the Periodic Table focusing on the elements Nitrogen and Phosphorus. It involved us making meringues showing how we incorporated air (nitrogen) into the egg whites.  Annika thought they tasted pretty good, Everett and Lucas thought they were gross.  
The second lesson covered Group 16 and focused on the elements Oxygen and Sulfur.  For a sulfur experiment we over cooked a hard boiled egg to show how sulfur starts to stink when it mixes with oxygen and how it turns the outside of the yolk green.  Then we put hydrogen peroxide on a cut potato to show how it reacts to form bubbles when it comes in contact with catalase, which is why it bubbles when you put it on a cut.  The kids were surprised that it wasn't the germs it reacts with. 

Will they be yummy?

Art
Like I mentioned above, the art project I had planned didn't turn out.  I spent a good chunk of time on Thursday shaving down crayons and we were supposed to use the shavings to make the shape of an earth and then melt them into a sun catcher with an iron.  I had the kids make them too large so they were to fragile to keep.  Oh well, at least we tried. 

I hope you all have a great Holiday Weekend.  

Weekly Review -- April 11-15, 2011

This week we got a lot done, not as much as I had hoped but all in all it was a good week.  

Everett...

completed a few grammar quizzes which helped me see where we need to review more.  We'll start up First Language Lessons 3 again next week.  He also completed the rough draft of his Story Sequence paragraphs about his Paul Bunyan story and will type up the final draft next week.  He also asked if he could add Writing With Ease back in because he likes the narrations and dictations from that.  A year ago I never thought I'd hear that from this boy, because he hated to pick up a pencil for any reasons.  He completed 4 pages in his Universal Handwriting Level D book.  He's enjoying this cursive style a bit more than Handwriting without Tears, so we'll go with it.  He finished steps 3 and 4 in All About Spelling Level 3 and was really excited about the Silent E book.  He also completed Lessons 12-15 in Teaching Textbooks 7.

Annika...

completed steps 21-23 in All About Spelling Level 1, one more to go and then we're on to level 2.  She worked through lessons 48, 54, 60, and 61 in The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.  We were reviewing some trouble spots she was having with the ending blends of "ng" and "nk" as well as introducing then ending blend "ength", and the beginning blends of "ph" and "wh".  She did really well with them, but we'll be taking her to a COVD.org Optometrist to check on any vision issues that may not show up on a normal vision test.  She completed pages 17-24 in Explode the Code book 4 and did a grammar test and two grammar worksheets.  I've decided to go back to using First Language Lessons for grammar since she is still struggling with reading, but does so well with the oral approach of FLL 1.  She tried the Universal Handwriting book like Everett is using, but said she prefers the method and style of Handwriting Without Tears cursive, so we'll stick with HWOT for her.  She also completed Lessons 12-14 and Quiz 2 in Teaching Textbooks 4 and is really loving the program.  She's doing really well and even earning quite a few extra points in the math fact bonus rounds that come up every few lessons. 

Making Pattern Block Animals

Lucas...
completed lessons 5 and 6 in All About Reading Level pre-1 and lessons 8-13 in McRuffy Color Math K, he also joined in on some history reading and observed Ev and Annika's science experiment.

Working on the turtle pattern

Science and History

Watching the marshmallows to see what happens to the
carbon in them when they are heated.

For History I finished Walk the World's Rim aloud, and Everett finished reading Pedro's Journal.  We'll be returning to Story of the World next week, but will add in many of the Sonlight historical fiction books when they fit in. 


For science the kids learned about Carbon and Silicon from Group 14 of the Periodic Table and did an experiment called S'more Carbon.  It involved observing a marshmallow as it baked in the oven for 10 minutes.  They completed their Group 14 page in their element books. 

Recording their observations on their lab sheets
as the marshmallows bake to total annihilation.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, I know it's not a lot, but at least I took some this week.  We're hoping next week will be productive. We will be taking a field trip to the movies one day next week to see Hop and Rio.

Weekly Review- April 4-8, 2011

I went into this week knowing it would be a week of odds and ends, and not much would be done.  I had to have some tests done on Monday and Tuesday for my stomach so those days were pretty much days off.  In the end I decided to just learn by having fun the rest of the week.  The kids all did math Mon-Thurs, and we had math game day on Friday. 

Everett...

completed Quiz 1 and lessons 9-11 in Teaching Textbooks 7

Annika...

completed lessons 8-11 in Teaching Textbooks and finally finished Magic Tree House #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark!  We're very proud of her.  She'll be going to see a developmental optometrist in early May to check for issues that may require Vision Therapy.  I've also decided that although we love McRuffy, she needs to move at a faster pace so it's back to OPGTR (Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading) to touch on the phonogram sounds she needs work on and we'll use real books for practice.  


Lucas...
completed lessons 5-7 in McRuffy Color Math K, and played lots of math games with me and his older siblings.

Science and History
we caught up on a couple chapters in Walk the World's Rim and Pedro's Journal that we'd fallen behind on last week. 

We're now ready for a big week back to everything full force next week.  The kids will enjoy a Parent Survival Night at their gym on Saturday, not sure what Matt and I will be doing, but most likely dinner and then browsing the bookstore. 

Weekly Review -- March 28 - April 1, 2011

This week was supposed to be our great week to get back into the groove, and then Everett woke up with a head cold on Tuesday and I ended up spending a lot of time at the gastroenterologist on Wednesday.  I also had to go for at test on Friday and have more tests next Monday and Tuesday.  So needless to say it was a week of not much getting done and next week won't be much better. 

Everett...

completed lesson 2.4 in Growing with Grammar 6.  He wrote his first paragraph rough draft on his Paul Bunyan story.  He completed Step 2 in AAS level 3, and completed lessons 6-8 in Teaching Textbooks 7.

Annika...

completed lessons 76-79 in McRuffy phonics and reading 1.  She read the reader If a Skunk Gets Scared.  She completed lesson 20 and part of 21 in All About Spelling Level 1. She also completed lessons 6-7 and quiz 1 in Teaching Textbooks 4.  She really loves TT and I'm happy that she's doing really well with it.


Lucas...
completed lesson 4 in All About Reading Pre-1 level, and continues to love it.  He also completed lessons 1-4 in McRuffy color math K.  He's doing really well with his work and I'm amazed at how much he's started to enjoy sitting in on our history lessons.

Science and History
There was no science this week but we got week 2 of Sonlight Core 3 done.  The kids are having fun with this new approach to history and the stories are pretty good.  We have about a week's worth of reading left in Walk the World's Rim and finished up The Corn Grows Ripe. Everett also finished reading A Lion to Guard Us to his sister and brother, and I began reading Pedro's Journal.   I went to a Sonlight meeting at a local homeschool book store on Thursday night and it made me even more confident in my choice to switch.  I was also able to take a good long look at Science E and think that may be fun for next year if Real Science Odyssey doesn't get Physics 1 out by the time I need it. 

Now we just have to get through a rough week next week and then we should be able to get back on the right track.