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Friday, February 4, 2011

Weekly Review-- January 31 - February 4, 2011

This week had a few hiccups due to some appointments and the crazy weather.  We were fortunate to not be in one of the states hit with huge amounts of snow, but Wednesday was like a perfect late spring day with temps in the mid 70s, so the kids spent most of it outside, we'll call it PE day.  Then on Thursday we had to meet Matt at the Naval base so Everett and I could get new ID cards.  After our appointment we headed to the base bowling alley for lunch.  I know it sounds weird but they have really good food and it's ridiculously cheap.  We were able to feed a family of 5 for $20 there, after lunch Matt headed back to the ship for meetings he needed to attend and the kids and I stayed at the alley and bowled a few games.  I think I'll count that as another PE day. We still managed to get some other work done as well.  Here's the rundown of what else we did.

Everett...
started typing up his final drafts of the story he wrote for his Story Sequence unit.  So far so good, he should finish it up soon.  He completed step 15 in All About Spelling level 2 we've started stretching out the lesson to make sure we do most of the dictation phrases and sentences.  Saxon math is still going well.  He took Test 1 and passed with a 90%.  He also completed Investigation 1 and lesson 11.  On Monday he asked if it would be ok for him to work on his typing using our Typing Instructor For Kids.  He really enjoys the program and is excited to be up to 11 words a minute, not bad for a kid who's only been working on typing for about a week.

Annika...
Completed pages 80-91 in her Explode the Code 3 workbook, she should finish this book next week and we'll probably take a break from Explode the Code for a while.  I know that book 4 has some heavy duty work with syllables, and she's not quite ready for that.  I'll most likely have her take the placement test for Funnix 2 and use that for a while to help build her reading confidence and fluency. She finished step 10 in All About Spelling level 1 and did lessons 7-8 in Growing with Grammar. I have decided to shelve Growing with Grammar for now, as it's just to much of a struggle with her reading issues.  We'll still go over some simple grammar, but not with a workbook format.  Saxon math is still a hit with her.  She completed lessons 21-23 in Saxon math 3.
Lucas...
had a rather simple week because he got ahead of schedule last week.  This week we did a few things in our books, but spent a lot of time playing and having fun.  He finished pages 24-31 in his Get Ready for the Code book.  He really enjoys the series and is doing great with it.  He completed lessons 8-9 in Saxon Math K, he truly loves this curriculum and I'm so happy to have found something fun that he looks forward to. 

Science and History
It was history week and we completed Lesson 2 in our Time Travelers Explorers unit study. The kids had fun reading about the lives of explorers.  For our hands on project we bought a wide variety of dried fruits and the kids tried them.  They were not a big hit, my kids love fruit, but prefer it fresh to dried. 
I took a short video of them after we'd tried about 12 different kinds of dried fruit.





They've also requested that we not do the animal lapbook, because what they'd been trying to tell me is that they want more field trips, not a break from our chemistry program.  Field trips I can do, so look for more pictures from those in the future.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Weekly Review-- January 24-28, 2011

It was a fairly good week.  Matt is out of town again, so the kids and I did as much school as we could to help the time go by quickly.

Everett...
put a lot of effort into his story sequence outline last week and started writing his rough draft paragraphs this week.  I think he did an amazing job and can't wait to post his story next week once it's finished.  He's really started to enjoy writing and the story sequence unit has been right up his alley.  He completed step 14 in All About Spelling level 2 and it was great to see how much he had retained over our long break.  Saxon math is going really well.  I love watching the Art Reed DVDs, which I use to make notes, then I use those notes to teach the lesson.  He loves the interactive time with me and is doing a great job on his assignments. He completed lessons 7-10,and his first test of the year in math is next Monday, so we'll see how he does.

Annika...
Completed pages 68-79 in her Explode the Code 3 workbook.  She's doing a wonderful job and her reading is coming along really well.  She finished step 9 in All About Spelling level 1 and did lessons 5 and 6 in Growing with Grammar. Saxon math is also going really well for her.  She completed lessons 17-20 in Saxon math 3, which included a test.  


Lucas...
finished pages 16-23 in his Get Ready for the Code book.  His fine motor skills are really coming along and his printing is getting better everyday.  Sure his work still looks like it was written by a serial killer, but then again he's only 5.5 years old.  He also completed lessons 4-7 in Saxon Math K, which he's really enjoying.  His calendar skills are growing in leaps and bounds.

Science and History
It was a Science week. The kids asked to take a break from Chemistry and because we were at a good stopping point in our curriculum I thought it was a great idea.  They asked to do some Life science stuff on animals so we're currently working on reading some things from the Kingfisher Science encyclopedia, as well as many of the other animal reference books we have.  I also found a bunch of great lapbooks on www.homeschoolshare.com and we're working on the animal classification one right now.  I don't have any pictures to share this week, because the kids wanted to wait until the lapbooks are completed to post them.


Not the most lively, artsy, fun week, but we did get a lot accomplished. 
3 weeks down, 33 more to go for this school year.  

Friday, January 21, 2011

Weekly Review-- January 17-21, 2011

We had a fun week here at Fawkes Academy.  We are still easing into our work, but had some great projects and a lot of good work was done.  I spent some time on Thursday rearranging furniture and organizing the school room.  Our Spelling corner is all set up now, so we'll be adding that back in next week.

Everett...
worked on his outline for the Story Sequence. It was some pretty intense sessions, he has so many great ideas, so I needed to step in and help him pare it down. He's very excited about his changes and will start writing the rough draft next week..  He completed lessons 5 and 6 in Saxon Math7/6. I received my DVDs from Art Reed's website and they are excellent.  They really help me see what to cover in each lessons, and Ev is loving the new interaction during math.

Annika...
Completed about 12 pages in her Explode the Code 3 workbook.   She completed lessons 3 and 4 in Growing with Grammar, and completed lessons 15 and 16 of Saxon Math 3.


Lucas...
worked on his Get Ready for the Code book a little and we worked on Lesson 3 in Saxon math K.  We spent the rest of the week playing games for math and working on our calendar. 

Science and History
It was a History week.  I'm using the Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers, New World Explorers CDrom program.  We worked on Lesson 1 this week.  The kids colored and labeled a map of the continents, we started our lapbook and made a project for it on 5 reasons for exploration.  They loved it because it included taping in spices and dirt, as well as using glitter glue and sticky "gems".  After our maps and lapbook project was completed I made the Spice ornament dough recipe and the kids used our new cookie cutter set to cut out a bunch of shapes.  After they dry they can use more glitter glue, or other items to decorate them. 





Art
This week I didn't plan any specific art projects.  I let the kids have fun with what ever art supplies they could find.  The boys drew some pictures, but mostly did active art by reenacting history.  Annika decided to make me some of her yarn pompom animals. Everett got a dragon and an owl, and  I got an owl.








Another good week down.  The kids are looking forward to wrapping it up with a bit of fun at the Parent Survival Night at their gym.