Week 28

MATH
Caleb continues to do a great job with math, this week practicing the subtraction facts that make up 10, along with reviewing other facts.  (He does get a little sloppy when he thinks he knows the answers so well he can breeze through quite quickly.)

LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb learned consonant blends SC and SCR this week.  In addition to writing and reading words and sentences, Caleb also read aloud and wrote about things we read.  We finished Little House in the Big Woods and started the book that comes next, Little House on the Prairie.  It goes along well with our American history studies.  "They crossed a frozen river in a wagon, just in time.  It started to crack!"

S.S. & SCIENCE
We continued to read about Lewis and Clark's exploration west and what life was like for Indians over 200 years ago.  Caleb made table-top sized Indian teepees for an art project.  Today we went on our own exploration in some woods near our house.  We observed the forest around us, looked for wildlife, made guesses about where we were going to end up, and Caleb stopped to make some journal entries just like Lewis and Clark did.  Clark charted and mapped the whole journey west, so we talked about what important things were recorded.  Caleb drew where the trees were placed along the creek we stopped at. 

"We had our very own expedition today.  The first thing we did was follow a river and went down to see where it went.  At the edge of our property our dog Sammy, that we like to call Seaman, went under a fence.  The hole was large enough that I went right under too.  We followed a path through the forest, up and up, that we had never been on.  We saw some huge prints in the mud that were probably bear tracks!  We were a little scared.  We found another path that led us home!"

 

ART

This week the kids at Caleb's art class worked with Chinese tangram puzzles, learning how to make shapes and pictures.  They also made up their own creations and had fun working with the shapes.

P.E.

Caleb exercised at his Art & Movement class.  The kids get to do fun things like hula-hooping, trampolines, dancing and active games.

Real Dinosaurs

I don't think I'd want to get too close to a big dinosaur that looked real. It might be kind of scary!

You sure are doing well on your math. Keep it up! Math is really important.

You mentioned Seaman. I think it is amazing that he made the entire trip safely. Did you know that they got so hungry a couple times that they had to cook and eat their own horses? I wonder if that made Seaman kind of nervous?!

Week 27

MATH
Caleb continued to work on subtraction this week.  He is getting good practice deciding when to add and subtract, and how to undo and check his answers.  I think the word problems, on the math page pictured below, are good examples of Caleb applying his math skills while using reasoning and problem solving .

LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb learned consonant blends PL and PR this week.  We did a lot of reading this week too.  Caleb practiced reading aloud from phonics readers.  We had many different stories to read about our Science and Social Studies topics this week, as well as reading from the literature books we are working on.

SCIENCE & S.S.
We began reading books about Lewis and Clark's exploration with Sacajawea.  We also watched the Lewis and Clark movie by National Geographic.  "I liked learning about Lewis' dog, Seaman.  He was black and really cute, and he saved them from wild animals."

We went over the things we learned and saw at the Science Center on our field trip last week.

ART
Caleb did drawing with the kids at his art class.  On the lovely, warm Wednesday afternoon we had this week, the kids also got to work outside with wood and tools, and decorating with sand and glue.

P.E.
Caleb did exercising at his Art & Movement class and we are welcoming the Spring weather which gives us a chance to walk and hike outside each week.

Fun Trip!

It looks like you had a great time learning on your trip! How did you roll a 4000 pound rock? You must really be getting strong! Were the life sized dinosaurs a little bit scary? Could you imagine one of those walking by outside your house?! I bet that seal you saw is really happy that folks at Ft. Nisqually aren't still trapping furs!

Nice going on your math, and I liked the witch joke!

Week 26

MATH
Caleb practiced subtraction with 8's this week.  He is getting very good practice learning when to add and subtract and using addition and subtraction to undo each other.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb worked with consonant blends GL and GR this week. After identifying words with these sounds he practices writing words and making up sentences.  Caleb enjoyed reading books from the library and listening to Peter Pan and Little House in the Big Woods.

SCIENCE & S.S.

We went on a field trip to Seattle & Tacoma, and it was by far the highlight of our week!  "I loved the Seattle Science Center.  I liked everything, but probably the dinosaurs the best."  The dinosaur exhibit had many realistic-looking dinosaur robots moving around.  We also saw real animals in the reptile, insect, and tide pool exhibits.  We have been reading books about how the human body works so we enjoyed the exhibit that tested different body parts, like muscle strength and flexibility, and senses like sight, smell, and hearing.  The picture of Caleb is at an outdoor exhibit that shows how water can maneuver and operate things, including rolling this 4000 lb. ball.

The next day we went to Pt. Defiance Park in Tacoma.  In addition to a long hike through the woods and observing giant redwood trees, walking on the beach ("We saw a seal!"), we also went to Fort Nisqually.  This is a living history museum located in the park.  It was a Fur Trading Fort in the 1840's and it has many of the original buildings preserved, filled with authentic artifacts from the era.  It was a wonderful glimpse of how people lived then.  "I liked the tower best, and the general store that had real animal furs in it."

ART

Since we were out of town on our field trip this week, Caleb did not attend his art class.

P.E.

Our hike through Pt. Defiance was our outdoor exercise this week.  We had good weather and followed trails all throughout the woods, observing how different the forest near the west coast is, compared to our drier mountain woods to the east.

Week 25

"I'm so glad I'm feeling better this week!"

MATH
Caleb is continuing to work on learning subtraction facts. This week he practiced subtracting 9's.  He is good at adding 9's, and subtracting 9's came just as easily for him.  Caleb continues to do story problems each day also, and tries to read them himself.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Caleb learned new words with consonant blends FL and FR, along with practicing other words while writing and reading.  We did lots of reading from library books; Arthur Adventures about a boy named Arthur and his sister D.W. were Caleb's favorite.  We are still reading Little House in the Big Woods.  We read about 2 chapters a week from it.  Caleb received a joke book as a present and he had a lot of fun trying to read from it himself.  "How many witches does it take to change a light bulb?  Just one, but it changes it into a toad!"  

SCIENCE & S.S.
One (rare) sunny afternoon we got to take a forest walk where we looked for signs of Spring.  We read a story about mushrooms growing in a forest and we read a Magic School Bus book about decomposition.  In observing the seasonal changes outside, we have also been discussing all the things going on that we might not see: animals coming out of hibernation, seeds stirring under the soil, plant and animal matter breaking down.  We are going to start our own decomposition experiment this week too.  Caleb watched a movie on human bodies and skeleton systems in preparation for our trip to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle next week.  One of the exhibits we plan to visit is called Body Works.

Caleb practiced the Spanish words he knows, and learned the days of the week.  He is also learning the letters of the alphabet.  He did a craft that is made to look like an authentic Mexican tree bark painting and he listened to a Mexican story.  Our Spanish and Mexican studies this week comprised most of our S.S., though we continue to discuss life in America hundreds of years ago as we read other stories.  

ART
Caleb learned how to make pictures out of thumbprints and he spent several afternoons this week creating pictures like this one he is going to give to his Auntie. 

P.E.
Feeling well this week gave Caleb the opportunity to exercise with his friends at his Art & Movement class, go on a walk in town, and go on the forest hike described for his science lesson this week.

Get Better!

Hope you start feeling better real soon Caleb!

Your math and language arts look good.

Week 24

Caleb was still sick this week and couldn't go to any classes away from home.  We spent the week focusing on Math and Language Arts, doing lots of reading and giving Caleb a chance to recover.  He worked on his Math lesson, practicing subtraction problems with 2.  In Language Arts, Caleb learned consonant blends CR and DR.  Since he has been practicing words with consonant blends, his reading has really improved.  He enjoys seeing how many words he can think of that have the new sounds he is learning to spell.  We did lots of reading this week, from Little House in the Big Woods, short stories and books about electricity.  We will jump back into full swing learning mode soon!  I was very proud of the work Caleb did get done this week, despite being sick.