The pie sure looks good!
I'm glad to hear you are getting your 9's down. Soon all addition will seem easy to you!
DAD is my favorite AD word!
The map you shared is really good! It is very important to make good maps or everyone will go to the wrong spot! One time when I was in ROTC we had to follow a map in the dark. The people who made the map gave bad directions. All of us ended up in the wrong spot!
My favorite aliens were the Spikes!
The water slide at the Camas Center looks like a blast!
I bet you're having fun with this snow!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Week 12
SUMMARY
This is a summary of our week, which was a little shorter than normal due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. It wasn't required that we blog this week, but I thought it would be better to not have a gap in the weekly updates.Caleb started Lesson 9 in math, where he is learning to add 9's using mental math. Adding 9 is the same as adding 10 and taking away 1; this is a short-cut of sorts once one understands the concept. Caleb struggled a bit at first, but after seeing this done with blocks over and over, he began doing the problems on his own. He continued to work on writing rhyming words and reading aloud. We read about Thanksgiving and Caleb made Thanksgiving crafts, including seasonal table decorations.
"Happy Thanksgiving!"
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Week 11
MATH
Caleb did Lesson 8 and took his test. The lesson taught Caleb how to solve for the unknown. He often used his math blocks to help him solve these problems. The lesson reinforced the basic addition facts he knows, while also providing a foundation for subtraction.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb finished his review of the letters of the alphabet, where he drew a picture and wrote words for each letter while also exploring the sounds it makes. He started working with his Word Families book. For each lesson he learns a letter combination, like AD, and we read a story that is filled with AD words. He draws a picture and the AD words in his Main Lesson Book. We play different games to make it fun, like seeing how quickly he can pick out the AD words while listening to the story. The picture he drew was of the dog in the story that took a pad of paper and the sheets of paper ripped off. He wrote the AD words on each piece of paper. For AG, he drew bags that were mentioned in the AG story, and wrote AG words on each bag.
Caleb discovered Elephant & Piggie books, by Mo Willems. He thinks they are hilarious, and practiced reading them aloud often. He loved embellishing the funny parts and making his little brother laugh. "Language Arts is my favorite subject this week!"
SCIENCE
We had some snow fall at our house last weekend. It was a good time to observe how weather changes, how it effects nature, and what makes snowflakes. It was also an intro into learning about the three states of matter: liquid, solid, and gas. We spent time talking about examples of water freezing into solid. We learned a fun song about matter. We spent an afternoon outside burning brush, watching the fire, and talking about invisible gases.
S.S.
We've been exploring maps of the inside of our house, and this week took them outside, mapping a large area around our house. Caleb made up directions to our mailbox, pretending they were for someone who had never been there or couldn't see where it was. He left out exact details, so when we followed his directions we ended up nowhere near the mailbox. We did it again, this time saying things like, "take 3 steps East, turn North and take 10 steps" . . . etc. When we made it exactly to our destination, we found a pretty piece of wasps nest, which Caleb considered to be the prize at the end of a treasure hunt! Caleb mapped the area where we walked, drawing in all the trees and cars used as landmarks. He wrote our address at the top.
All of this work with maps is eventually going to lead us to looking at larger and larger areas: first our house and bedrooms, then our property, then the town and county, then the state, country, etc. The thoroughness is helping give Caleb a good foundation of why and how to use maps.
ART
As I mentioned earlier, the art center changes it's art on exhibit regularly. This week, there is an artist reception where the whole community is invited to view the art and meet the artists. The homeschool kids will be involved with the reception. They will all help to make the food being served, and then they will be dressed in handmade costumes while they serve it. They started costumes last week, and continued working on them this week. The different costumes include crowns, capes, and masks. They are ready and excited for this Friday, the day of the big event!
P.E.
P.E. this week included exercising outside when the weather was good. A blizzard on the Flowery Trail stopped us from attending swimming classes this week. In between rain and snow bursts there were, fortunately, a few dry afternoons to hike outside!
Caleb did Lesson 8 and took his test. The lesson taught Caleb how to solve for the unknown. He often used his math blocks to help him solve these problems. The lesson reinforced the basic addition facts he knows, while also providing a foundation for subtraction.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb finished his review of the letters of the alphabet, where he drew a picture and wrote words for each letter while also exploring the sounds it makes. He started working with his Word Families book. For each lesson he learns a letter combination, like AD, and we read a story that is filled with AD words. He draws a picture and the AD words in his Main Lesson Book. We play different games to make it fun, like seeing how quickly he can pick out the AD words while listening to the story. The picture he drew was of the dog in the story that took a pad of paper and the sheets of paper ripped off. He wrote the AD words on each piece of paper. For AG, he drew bags that were mentioned in the AG story, and wrote AG words on each bag.
Caleb discovered Elephant & Piggie books, by Mo Willems. He thinks they are hilarious, and practiced reading them aloud often. He loved embellishing the funny parts and making his little brother laugh. "Language Arts is my favorite subject this week!"
SCIENCE
We had some snow fall at our house last weekend. It was a good time to observe how weather changes, how it effects nature, and what makes snowflakes. It was also an intro into learning about the three states of matter: liquid, solid, and gas. We spent time talking about examples of water freezing into solid. We learned a fun song about matter. We spent an afternoon outside burning brush, watching the fire, and talking about invisible gases.
S.S.
We've been exploring maps of the inside of our house, and this week took them outside, mapping a large area around our house. Caleb made up directions to our mailbox, pretending they were for someone who had never been there or couldn't see where it was. He left out exact details, so when we followed his directions we ended up nowhere near the mailbox. We did it again, this time saying things like, "take 3 steps East, turn North and take 10 steps" . . . etc. When we made it exactly to our destination, we found a pretty piece of wasps nest, which Caleb considered to be the prize at the end of a treasure hunt! Caleb mapped the area where we walked, drawing in all the trees and cars used as landmarks. He wrote our address at the top.
All of this work with maps is eventually going to lead us to looking at larger and larger areas: first our house and bedrooms, then our property, then the town and county, then the state, country, etc. The thoroughness is helping give Caleb a good foundation of why and how to use maps.
ART
As I mentioned earlier, the art center changes it's art on exhibit regularly. This week, there is an artist reception where the whole community is invited to view the art and meet the artists. The homeschool kids will be involved with the reception. They will all help to make the food being served, and then they will be dressed in handmade costumes while they serve it. They started costumes last week, and continued working on them this week. The different costumes include crowns, capes, and masks. They are ready and excited for this Friday, the day of the big event!
P.E.
P.E. this week included exercising outside when the weather was good. A blizzard on the Flowery Trail stopped us from attending swimming classes this week. In between rain and snow bursts there were, fortunately, a few dry afternoons to hike outside!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Week 10
MATH
Caleb did Lesson 7 and took his test. He can do addition with the number 2 and he is doing more work with word problems. His math workbook also has "for fun" pages with activities like connect-the-dots and drawing pictures from math word problems, which he enjoyed.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb is almost done with his review of each of the letters of alphabet. For the letter X he made a picture of two roads crossing and forming the letter X. He also thought up some sentences to write. Fox is boxing and Box is on the Red Sox were his own silly ideas to write.
Caleb is getting more comfortable writing in everyday situations, like to illustrate a picture or make a list or note. An example is his picture of aliens. "These are my alien creations!" Caleb said and made up names that match the alien characteristics. ("Teams" is the name of two aliens that have to work together since they were joined together as one; "Cleans" likes to clean things that are dirty, etc.!) This was just for fun; it wasn't part of a specific assignment, but I think it shows that he is getting used to writing as a valuable tool and not just as "school work."
We checked out more A-Z Mysteries from the library and Caleb continues to enjoying listening to the stories read aloud. He also practiced reading from some phonics early-reader books.
SCIENCE
We read more books and reviewed material Caleb learned about the Solar System, moon, and constellations. There was more of an emphasis this week on the fun map projects we were busy with in S.S.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Caleb is getting more comfortable reading maps. He made a diorama of his room and made miniature versions of the furniture in it. He had fun creating and decorating the furniture, but the project was really helpful in showing Caleb how a map's view is from the top. "This looks just like my room, but it is a LOT cleaner!" Through these activities and other games, Caleb is getting a lot of practice finding directions and discovering the meaning of symbols on maps.
ART
In art class, Caleb and the other students started creating costumes for an event they are preparing for at the art center next week. They were busy making and decorating fun masks and crowns, using lots of glue, glitter, ribbons, and other decorations. Caleb also did some painting.
P.E.
Caleb is doing well at swimming. His instructor spoke with us this week and said Caleb is really making excellent progress; he listens well to directions during class and tries his hardest. This week, when the lesson was over, Caleb was rewarded with an extended use of time on the big water slide!
Caleb did Lesson 7 and took his test. He can do addition with the number 2 and he is doing more work with word problems. His math workbook also has "for fun" pages with activities like connect-the-dots and drawing pictures from math word problems, which he enjoyed.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb is almost done with his review of each of the letters of alphabet. For the letter X he made a picture of two roads crossing and forming the letter X. He also thought up some sentences to write. Fox is boxing and Box is on the Red Sox were his own silly ideas to write.
Caleb is getting more comfortable writing in everyday situations, like to illustrate a picture or make a list or note. An example is his picture of aliens. "These are my alien creations!" Caleb said and made up names that match the alien characteristics. ("Teams" is the name of two aliens that have to work together since they were joined together as one; "Cleans" likes to clean things that are dirty, etc.!) This was just for fun; it wasn't part of a specific assignment, but I think it shows that he is getting used to writing as a valuable tool and not just as "school work."
We checked out more A-Z Mysteries from the library and Caleb continues to enjoying listening to the stories read aloud. He also practiced reading from some phonics early-reader books.
SCIENCE
We read more books and reviewed material Caleb learned about the Solar System, moon, and constellations. There was more of an emphasis this week on the fun map projects we were busy with in S.S.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Caleb is getting more comfortable reading maps. He made a diorama of his room and made miniature versions of the furniture in it. He had fun creating and decorating the furniture, but the project was really helpful in showing Caleb how a map's view is from the top. "This looks just like my room, but it is a LOT cleaner!" Through these activities and other games, Caleb is getting a lot of practice finding directions and discovering the meaning of symbols on maps.
ART
In art class, Caleb and the other students started creating costumes for an event they are preparing for at the art center next week. They were busy making and decorating fun masks and crowns, using lots of glue, glitter, ribbons, and other decorations. Caleb also did some painting.
P.E.
Caleb is doing well at swimming. His instructor spoke with us this week and said Caleb is really making excellent progress; he listens well to directions during class and tries his hardest. This week, when the lesson was over, Caleb was rewarded with an extended use of time on the big water slide!
Friday, November 5, 2010
What about Christmas?
You like the Halloween books Caleb? What about Christmas stories? Maybe you could stick with the Halloween stories for a couple more weeks and then switch over!
The constellations are a lot of fun to look at. It is especially fun in the summer when it's nice and warm!
You got some candy for Halloween? Hopefully you didn't get a tummy ache!
The constellations are a lot of fun to look at. It is especially fun in the summer when it's nice and warm!
You got some candy for Halloween? Hopefully you didn't get a tummy ache!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Week 9
MATH
Caleb finished Lesson 6 and took his test. He did well and knows how to write numbers 0 - 100, but each page took him quite awhile. He did not like the time it took as he much prefers being able to quickly cruise through his math pages. Lesson 6 also covered counting by 10's and reviewed the addition facts he already learned.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb continued practicing writing letters, words, and sentences. He made two tall tress and a turtle in this T picture. He also drew a picture of trick-or-treating on Halloween. The sentence is hard to read in pencil; it says "Dressing up on Halloween is fun. Getting candy is best." I usually write the sentence that he dictates, pointing out proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters, punctuation and spacing. He then copies, but often leaving out some of these details. He IS getting in the habit of writing though, and he sees the accomplishment of writing something that is readable to others.
Caleb practiced reading aloud from phonics readers and enjoyed hearing many books read to him. "Lets keep reading Halloween books, even if Halloween is over!"
SCIENCE
We have started reading about stars and constellations, to go along with our study of the moon and solar system, and our observations of the sky. Caleb enjoyed seeing how stars make up pictures ("like connect-the-dots") but discovered that identifying these pictures amongst other stars is difficult. He used a fun website, and the real night sky, to try to find constellations. He also enjoyed learning about the constellations of the Zodiak and learning all his family members' sun signs.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Caleb continued to work on learning the four directions and how these are used in maps. We did a fun exercise that included drawing maps of the inside of our house and then using it to answer questions like: How many windows are on the North side of the house? If you go South from the kitchen, which room are you in?
He also did some worksheets like this one:
ART
The art studio where Caleb attends classes each week changed their artwork on display. The kids get a tour of the new artwork which includes an explanation of the medium used. They learn about the differences in watercolors, pastels, and techniques like batik. It is great to see the kids enjoying exposure to professional artwork. Of course, they like creating art best. This week Caleb did some drawing and gluing on collages.
P.E.
Some sunny days this week gave us the opportunity to play outside and go for walks. Caleb also attended his swimming lesson.
Caleb finished Lesson 6 and took his test. He did well and knows how to write numbers 0 - 100, but each page took him quite awhile. He did not like the time it took as he much prefers being able to quickly cruise through his math pages. Lesson 6 also covered counting by 10's and reviewed the addition facts he already learned.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb continued practicing writing letters, words, and sentences. He made two tall tress and a turtle in this T picture. He also drew a picture of trick-or-treating on Halloween. The sentence is hard to read in pencil; it says "Dressing up on Halloween is fun. Getting candy is best." I usually write the sentence that he dictates, pointing out proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters, punctuation and spacing. He then copies, but often leaving out some of these details. He IS getting in the habit of writing though, and he sees the accomplishment of writing something that is readable to others.
Caleb practiced reading aloud from phonics readers and enjoyed hearing many books read to him. "Lets keep reading Halloween books, even if Halloween is over!"
SCIENCE
We have started reading about stars and constellations, to go along with our study of the moon and solar system, and our observations of the sky. Caleb enjoyed seeing how stars make up pictures ("like connect-the-dots") but discovered that identifying these pictures amongst other stars is difficult. He used a fun website, and the real night sky, to try to find constellations. He also enjoyed learning about the constellations of the Zodiak and learning all his family members' sun signs.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Caleb continued to work on learning the four directions and how these are used in maps. We did a fun exercise that included drawing maps of the inside of our house and then using it to answer questions like: How many windows are on the North side of the house? If you go South from the kitchen, which room are you in?
He also did some worksheets like this one:
ART
The art studio where Caleb attends classes each week changed their artwork on display. The kids get a tour of the new artwork which includes an explanation of the medium used. They learn about the differences in watercolors, pastels, and techniques like batik. It is great to see the kids enjoying exposure to professional artwork. Of course, they like creating art best. This week Caleb did some drawing and gluing on collages.
P.E.
Some sunny days this week gave us the opportunity to play outside and go for walks. Caleb also attended his swimming lesson.
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