Geography/Literature/Science: This week we learned about the Ganges River and the legend of how it came to Earth. We spent the rest of the week reading the many Indian story books. Many of them have great moral lessons. Panchatantra and Jataka Tales are fun and entertaining, but also teach important lessons. We also reviewed the water cycle and how rivers and fresh water are so important to us.
Phonics: We did lessons 166-170. The focus was on the 'long a' sound spelled 'ay'. The story was Kay and The Ray Gun. This one is our favorite story now. It was so great to see him excited and laughing about the story, while self motivated to keep reading faster and more fluent. We love McRuffy readers! He took to reading 'ay' very quickly. We also reviewed punctuation, periods and question marks.
Math: This week we did lessons 131-135. We practiced finding out if a number is odd or even. We learned about reading addition problems vertically as the same as horizontally. We played with tangrams. We reviewed how to read and understand graphs. We reviewed moving up and down the 10's number line. We reviewed reading and writing time to the hour. We learned about reversing numbers in addition has the same sum, and writing equations like 3+4=4+3. We also played the Elephant Truck game, which is a fun game that reviews counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's.
Next week is our last week of McRuffy Reading! I'm thoroughly impressed with this curriculum and have ordered the 1st grade program to start soon. I plan on taking a few weeks in March to review all of the readers and phonics concepts and put a little extra time into mastering letter writing. Then, our 1st grade journey will begin! I'm so thankful that Govinda is loving learning to read. I'm especially thankful for my wonderful husband and family members who help and support our homeschool journey. Thanks!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
India Book List
We read so many great story books for India! Here's a list of them all so we can revisit them later:
About India:
Elephant dance : memories of India by Heine, Theresa.
A family in India by Jacobsen, Peter Otto.
The Ganges by Cumming, David
In the heart of the village : the world of the Indian Banyan tree by Bash, Barbara.
India by Fontes, Justine.
Monsoon by Krishnaswami, Uma
Sacred river by Lewin, Ted.
Take a trip to India by Lye, Keith.
Trading up by Williams, Brenda,
Indian Folktales:
The blue jackal by Brown, Marcia.
The drum : a folktale from India by Cleveland, Rob
Fat Gopal by Singh, Jacquelin.
Hindu stories by Ganeri, Anita
The little brown Jay : a tale from India by Claire, Elizabeth.
The monkey and the crocodile; a Jataka tale from India by Galdone, Paul.
No dinner! : the story of the old woman and the pumpkin by Souhami, Jessica.
Once a mouse ... A fable cut in wood by Hitopadesa. English. Selections.
One grain of rice : a mathematical folktale by Demi.
The peacock's pride by Kajpust, Melissa.
The Prince who ran away : the story of Gautama Buddha by Rockwell, Anne F.
The Ramayana by Seeger, Elizabeth
The ringdoves : from the Fables of Bidpai by Kamen, Gloria.
Seasons of splendour : tales, myths & legends of India by Jaffrey, Madhur.
The sheep of the Lal Bagh. by Mark, David,
The stonecutter : an Indian folktale by Newton, Patricia Montgomery.
The story of Divaali by Verma, Jatinder Nath,
The talkative beasts; myths, fables, and poems of India by Reed, Gwendolyn E.
THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN, AND THE JACKAL WITH PICTURES BY MAMORU FUNAI by Steel, Flora Annie Webster
Lakshui, the Water BUffalo Who Wouldn't, Gobhai
Cow For Jaya, Grant
Poombah of Badoombah, Lillegard
Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a, McDonald
Golden Serpent, Myers
Nine Animals and the Well, Rumford
Tigers:
Tiger by Hoffman, Mary,
Tiger's story by Blackford, Harriet.
Tigers at twilight by Osborne, Mary Pope.
Bengal tiger by Spilsbury, Richard,
Heart of a Tiger, Arnold
About India:
Elephant dance : memories of India by Heine, Theresa.
A family in India by Jacobsen, Peter Otto.
The Ganges by Cumming, David
In the heart of the village : the world of the Indian Banyan tree by Bash, Barbara.
India by Fontes, Justine.
Monsoon by Krishnaswami, Uma
Sacred river by Lewin, Ted.
Take a trip to India by Lye, Keith.
Trading up by Williams, Brenda,
Indian Folktales:
The blue jackal by Brown, Marcia.
The drum : a folktale from India by Cleveland, Rob
Fat Gopal by Singh, Jacquelin.
Hindu stories by Ganeri, Anita
The little brown Jay : a tale from India by Claire, Elizabeth.
The monkey and the crocodile; a Jataka tale from India by Galdone, Paul.
No dinner! : the story of the old woman and the pumpkin by Souhami, Jessica.
Once a mouse ... A fable cut in wood by Hitopadesa. English. Selections.
One grain of rice : a mathematical folktale by Demi.
The peacock's pride by Kajpust, Melissa.
The Prince who ran away : the story of Gautama Buddha by Rockwell, Anne F.
The Ramayana by Seeger, Elizabeth
The ringdoves : from the Fables of Bidpai by Kamen, Gloria.
Seasons of splendour : tales, myths & legends of India by Jaffrey, Madhur.
The sheep of the Lal Bagh. by Mark, David,
The stonecutter : an Indian folktale by Newton, Patricia Montgomery.
The story of Divaali by Verma, Jatinder Nath,
The talkative beasts; myths, fables, and poems of India by Reed, Gwendolyn E.
THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN, AND THE JACKAL WITH PICTURES BY MAMORU FUNAI by Steel, Flora Annie Webster
Lakshui, the Water BUffalo Who Wouldn't, Gobhai
Cow For Jaya, Grant
Poombah of Badoombah, Lillegard
Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a, McDonald
Golden Serpent, Myers
Nine Animals and the Well, Rumford
Tigers:
Tiger by Hoffman, Mary,
Tiger's story by Blackford, Harriet.
Tigers at twilight by Osborne, Mary Pope.
Bengal tiger by Spilsbury, Richard,
Heart of a Tiger, Arnold
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Weekly Update: India and Tigers!
We had a fun tiger-filled week! The stories from India are great. I think we'll spend an extra week on India because we like it so much.
Art: Here's our white tiger, Namaste, the tiger at our local zoo, cooling off in the pond:
Literature/Geography/Science: We read many great books about and from India and tigers. I was able to finally read our first chapter book, and both of the boys listened attentively, without pictures! I've been trying to do this for a while with no success until now. The chapter book was The Magic Tree House: Tigers At Twilight. It was a fun adventure about the animals in India. Other great stories that we read were Tiger's Story, Once A Mouse, The Brahman, The Tiger, and The Jackal, A Grain Of Rice, The Stonecutter, The Ringdoves, and Hindu Stories.
Phonics: This week's focus was on the 'long o' vowel sound spelled 'oa'. The story was 'Goat and Toad'. We had fun with it and reading progress is going very well. I can't believe we have 2 more weeks left with McRuffy Kindergarten phonics! His reading is getting more advanced every week.
Math: This week we did lessons 125-130. We practiced adding and subtracting, counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's, counting pennies, nickels, and dimes.
Art: Here's our white tiger, Namaste, the tiger at our local zoo, cooling off in the pond:
Literature/Geography/Science: We read many great books about and from India and tigers. I was able to finally read our first chapter book, and both of the boys listened attentively, without pictures! I've been trying to do this for a while with no success until now. The chapter book was The Magic Tree House: Tigers At Twilight. It was a fun adventure about the animals in India. Other great stories that we read were Tiger's Story, Once A Mouse, The Brahman, The Tiger, and The Jackal, A Grain Of Rice, The Stonecutter, The Ringdoves, and Hindu Stories.
Phonics: This week's focus was on the 'long o' vowel sound spelled 'oa'. The story was 'Goat and Toad'. We had fun with it and reading progress is going very well. I can't believe we have 2 more weeks left with McRuffy Kindergarten phonics! His reading is getting more advanced every week.
Math: This week we did lessons 125-130. We practiced adding and subtracting, counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's, counting pennies, nickels, and dimes.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Weekly Update: Buddha, Tibet, Nepal, and Yaks
Art: We drew a yak in the Himalayas with Draw Write Now. These books are fun and we like them!
Literature: We read a few books about Siddhartha Buddha and some Buddhist parables, Buddha by Demi, Buddhist Stories, and Seven Blind Mice. We also discussed how the Vishnu Avatar Buddha described in the Srimad Bhagavatam is different from the famous Siddharta Buddha, who came later, and the significant differences between them. We found Tibet and Nepal on the map.
Geography: We found Tibet and Nepal on the map. We discussed how Buddhism spread to China and Japan.
Phonics: We did lessons 156-160. The reader was called 'Ruff Camps' and the focus was on the ending consonant blend 'mp'. This was an easier week since all words that end with 'mp' have short vowels, and vowels are the most tricky letters to read because they make so many different sounds. I like how McRuffy breaks up the weeks on long vowels with easier weeks with consonant blends to review and reinforce previous concepts and not overwhelm the beginning reader.
Math: We did lessons 121-124. The main focus was counting by 2's and practicing adding and subtracting. We also introduced a graph and probability by picking different counters and counting how many of each color was picked on the color graph. Also, a short introduction to symmetry with the pattern blocks was fun and though provoking. The pattern blocks have been revived after months on the shelf with a new and fun appeal for both of the boys! Math is becoming a more independent subject now. He can use the animal counters to find the answer to math sentences on his own. Navin and I cheer him on while he does his workbook page.
Literature: We read a few books about Siddhartha Buddha and some Buddhist parables, Buddha by Demi, Buddhist Stories, and Seven Blind Mice. We also discussed how the Vishnu Avatar Buddha described in the Srimad Bhagavatam is different from the famous Siddharta Buddha, who came later, and the significant differences between them. We found Tibet and Nepal on the map.
Geography: We found Tibet and Nepal on the map. We discussed how Buddhism spread to China and Japan.
Phonics: We did lessons 156-160. The reader was called 'Ruff Camps' and the focus was on the ending consonant blend 'mp'. This was an easier week since all words that end with 'mp' have short vowels, and vowels are the most tricky letters to read because they make so many different sounds. I like how McRuffy breaks up the weeks on long vowels with easier weeks with consonant blends to review and reinforce previous concepts and not overwhelm the beginning reader.
Math: We did lessons 121-124. The main focus was counting by 2's and practicing adding and subtracting. We also introduced a graph and probability by picking different counters and counting how many of each color was picked on the color graph. Also, a short introduction to symmetry with the pattern blocks was fun and though provoking. The pattern blocks have been revived after months on the shelf with a new and fun appeal for both of the boys! Math is becoming a more independent subject now. He can use the animal counters to find the answer to math sentences on his own. Navin and I cheer him on while he does his workbook page.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Weekly Update: Himalayas and Snow Leopards
Geography/Literature: This week, we sailed away from Japan and landed in Korea and went back through China on our way to India. We read a nice story from Korea called The Firekeeper's Son. Then we came to the Himalayas and climbed Mount Everest with a story called To The Top about the first men to climb it. We read a few books about the Himalayas, snow leopards, and the Sherpas. I plan on spending at least a month on India, but this will include Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.
Art: We drew a snow leopard, adapted from the leopard from Draw Write Now. I helped him with some of it to keep it fun, and he really enjoyed making all the dots.
Phonics: We did lessons 151-155 this week. The focus was on 'long e', mostly words with 'ee'. The story was called Can A Deer Steer? We love these readers. They really reinforce the new concept while reviewing previously learned concepts and being really funny and entertaining.
Math: We did lessons 116-120. We practiced more addition and subtraction sentences, putting numbers in order from least to greatest, counting by 1's, 5's, and 10's, counting pennies, nickels, and dimes to find their cent value, introduced counting different kinds of coins together, and finished off with a new game called Addition and Subtraction Pool.
Art: We drew a snow leopard, adapted from the leopard from Draw Write Now. I helped him with some of it to keep it fun, and he really enjoyed making all the dots.
Phonics: We did lessons 151-155 this week. The focus was on 'long e', mostly words with 'ee'. The story was called Can A Deer Steer? We love these readers. They really reinforce the new concept while reviewing previously learned concepts and being really funny and entertaining.
Math: We did lessons 116-120. We practiced more addition and subtraction sentences, putting numbers in order from least to greatest, counting by 1's, 5's, and 10's, counting pennies, nickels, and dimes to find their cent value, introduced counting different kinds of coins together, and finished off with a new game called Addition and Subtraction Pool.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Weekly Update: Volcanoes and Snow Monkeys
Since Japan is made of many volcanoes and has snow monkeys, that was our theme for this week.
Art: This is a snow monkey drawn with help from Draw Write Now. This one was harder than the panda bear, I think because of the bent legs, so I helped him a bit with them. Govinda gave him bananas to eat because he felt bad that they were the only monkeys that don't have bananas! The house in the back is where their banana friend lives!
Science: We erupted the clay volcano we made last year. This time we used dish soap along with the baking soda and vinegar, which made the 'lava' flow more slowly like pahoehoe! We read many books about volcanoes and a few about snow monkeys (macaques). The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top and Inside The Earth were the favorite books this week. We also reviewed different kinds of rocks and minerals.
Phonics: We did lessons 146-150. The theme was the blend 'st' and the reader was Kate's Nest, which was another great hit. The 'st' blend was pretty easy and familiar, so it was a great way to review all the other phonics concepts we have recently learned, especially discriminating long and short vowels.
Math: We did lessons 109-115, catching up from our getting behind last week. Two of the lessons were games, so I was able to save those for other times instead of school time. This week was more practice with adding and subtracting and finding all the different ways to make a certain sum. We also reviewed greater than and less than and reading and writing time to the hour.
Art: This is a snow monkey drawn with help from Draw Write Now. This one was harder than the panda bear, I think because of the bent legs, so I helped him a bit with them. Govinda gave him bananas to eat because he felt bad that they were the only monkeys that don't have bananas! The house in the back is where their banana friend lives!
Science: We erupted the clay volcano we made last year. This time we used dish soap along with the baking soda and vinegar, which made the 'lava' flow more slowly like pahoehoe! We read many books about volcanoes and a few about snow monkeys (macaques). The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top and Inside The Earth were the favorite books this week. We also reviewed different kinds of rocks and minerals.
Phonics: We did lessons 146-150. The theme was the blend 'st' and the reader was Kate's Nest, which was another great hit. The 'st' blend was pretty easy and familiar, so it was a great way to review all the other phonics concepts we have recently learned, especially discriminating long and short vowels.
Math: We did lessons 109-115, catching up from our getting behind last week. Two of the lessons were games, so I was able to save those for other times instead of school time. This week was more practice with adding and subtracting and finding all the different ways to make a certain sum. We also reviewed greater than and less than and reading and writing time to the hour.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Weekly Update: Japan
Origami has become a new favorite activity! It's pretty amazing how a piece of paper can become an entertaining toy. The cranes were their favorites. We also made boxes, fish, frogs, airplanes, boats, and Samurai hats.
Geography: We rowed our origami boat to Japan, found and colored it on a world map, colored the flag, and read many books about Japanese culture.
Literature: Our favorite Japan stories are Turtle Bay, The Two Foolish Cats, and This Place Is Crowded! We also read Journey To Japan (nice pop-up book), The Paper Crane, The Bicycle Man, Taro and the Tofu, A Carp For Kimiko, How My Parents Learned To Eat, The Boy Of The Three Year Nap, The Butterfly's Dream, and Japanese Children's Favorite Stories.
Art: We made some Japanese-styled watercolor paintings of trees with cherry blossoms based on the art in The Two Foolish Cats.
Phonics: We did lessons 141-145. This week's focus was on the 'long u' sound, and words with 'u' and 'silent e'. The story was The Mule Ride, funny as always. Have I mentioned that we love the McRuffy readers? 'Long u' was a little harder than the previous long vowels because sometimes is sounds like 'u' as in 'mule', and sometimes is sounds like 'oo' as in 'tube'. By the end of the week, he became familiar with the two different 'long u' sounds. He's reading so well thanks to these readers!
Math: We did lessons 106-108. Beginning addition and subtraction were the focus, and we took it slow since it was a harder week for reading. Joining and breaking a certain number of counters and then making math sentences with number and sign cards to match was a fun way to learn and see how it all works. We also reviewed 'greater than/less than' and counting by 1's, 5's, and 10's.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Weekly Update: Pandas
Art: Govinda drew a beautiful panda bear with help from Draw Write Now. I look forward to doing more art in school from now on. He really has fun drawing.
Phonics: We did lessons 146-140. The focus was the 'qu' sound, with practice distinguishing 'qu' from 'pu'. The story was called 'Quack and Quill', a cute story about a duck and porcupine. Govinda is reading so much now, I'm always thankful and amazed.
Math: We did lessons 101-105. This was the first formal addition sentences, practicing counting, joining groups, and adding to find the sum. He did a great job with it. We took different numbers of counters and found all the different ways to add to that sum. Math is still a lot of fun for him.
Science/Geography/ Literature: We read more of the same books as last week and focused on Panda bears and how they are different than other bears. We also read some extra books about ducks to go along with Story About Ping. Ducks Don't Get Wet was a good one. We had fun making cone-shaped rice farmer hats, but they wouldn't let me take a picture of them, but they're really cute.
And now we're on our way to Japan! Yay!
Phonics: We did lessons 146-140. The focus was the 'qu' sound, with practice distinguishing 'qu' from 'pu'. The story was called 'Quack and Quill', a cute story about a duck and porcupine. Govinda is reading so much now, I'm always thankful and amazed.
Math: We did lessons 101-105. This was the first formal addition sentences, practicing counting, joining groups, and adding to find the sum. He did a great job with it. We took different numbers of counters and found all the different ways to add to that sum. Math is still a lot of fun for him.
Science/Geography/ Literature: We read more of the same books as last week and focused on Panda bears and how they are different than other bears. We also read some extra books about ducks to go along with Story About Ping. Ducks Don't Get Wet was a good one. We had fun making cone-shaped rice farmer hats, but they wouldn't let me take a picture of them, but they're really cute.
And now we're on our way to Japan! Yay!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Weekly Update: China
This week of 1/3-1//9, we started Galloping The Globe in China! I'm excited to be learning about other cultures. Being Chinese, it is special to learn more about our ancestors.
Geography: We found Asia, stamped the passport with the flag of China, located China on the world map, colored China and the flag of China and learned about what the flag symbolizes. We also made some fans:
Science: We learned about temperate zones and deciduous forests and how the tilt of the Earth causes the seasons and longer and shorter days for different places. We made a model of this, an idea I got from Science Around The World, and I think it really helped show how it works and why our days are getting longer now that we passed the winter solstice. The Earth is the blue circle, connected with a brad so that it can tilt. The sun's direct rays make the other side shadowed. The lines on the Earth show how some parts get a lot more or less sunshine because of the tilt. We will line it up on the axis when we get to the Spring Equinox to show how the days and nights are equal.
Literature: Our favorite stories about China were Miss Frizzle's Adventures in Imperial China, The Story About Ping (we discussed FIAR ideas about this one), Tikki Tikki Tembo (I remember this one from my childhood), Daisy Comes Home, and all of the Panda and Gander stories.
Phonics: This week we finished lessons 131-135. The focus was on the 'long o' sound, and words with 'o' and 'silent e'. The reader was Rose The Mole, a very funny stories once again. The week ended with the Unit 3 Test, making sure everything from the past few months is retained. Govinda got them all right! We are starting the last quarter of McRuffy Kindergarten, and I am very excited and pleased with how it is going. I'm amazed at how much he can read now!
Math: We did lessons 96-100. The focus was on counting by 5's and counting nickels, and distinguishing the difference between counting by 1's, 10's and 5's. We also reviewed reading time to the hour and simple word problems with toy counters for addition and subtraction preparation. Next week starts written addition practice, and I think he is ready for it now thank to all of the gentle introductions he has had with manipulatives.
Looking ahead, I plan on spending two weeks on every country we learn about. The first week will be focused on geography, maps, flags, culture, and history. The second week will be focused on the environment and animals of that country. So, next week will be all about Pandas, ducks (to go with Story About Ping), and other animals in China. I just got Draw Write Now, a drawing book for kids that looks great, so we will soon be adding art to our study of animals.
I'm so thankful to get to homeschool and I appreciate everyone who helps and supports us! God Bless!
Geography: We found Asia, stamped the passport with the flag of China, located China on the world map, colored China and the flag of China and learned about what the flag symbolizes. We also made some fans:
Science: We learned about temperate zones and deciduous forests and how the tilt of the Earth causes the seasons and longer and shorter days for different places. We made a model of this, an idea I got from Science Around The World, and I think it really helped show how it works and why our days are getting longer now that we passed the winter solstice. The Earth is the blue circle, connected with a brad so that it can tilt. The sun's direct rays make the other side shadowed. The lines on the Earth show how some parts get a lot more or less sunshine because of the tilt. We will line it up on the axis when we get to the Spring Equinox to show how the days and nights are equal.
Literature: Our favorite stories about China were Miss Frizzle's Adventures in Imperial China, The Story About Ping (we discussed FIAR ideas about this one), Tikki Tikki Tembo (I remember this one from my childhood), Daisy Comes Home, and all of the Panda and Gander stories.
Phonics: This week we finished lessons 131-135. The focus was on the 'long o' sound, and words with 'o' and 'silent e'. The reader was Rose The Mole, a very funny stories once again. The week ended with the Unit 3 Test, making sure everything from the past few months is retained. Govinda got them all right! We are starting the last quarter of McRuffy Kindergarten, and I am very excited and pleased with how it is going. I'm amazed at how much he can read now!
Math: We did lessons 96-100. The focus was on counting by 5's and counting nickels, and distinguishing the difference between counting by 1's, 10's and 5's. We also reviewed reading time to the hour and simple word problems with toy counters for addition and subtraction preparation. Next week starts written addition practice, and I think he is ready for it now thank to all of the gentle introductions he has had with manipulatives.
Looking ahead, I plan on spending two weeks on every country we learn about. The first week will be focused on geography, maps, flags, culture, and history. The second week will be focused on the environment and animals of that country. So, next week will be all about Pandas, ducks (to go with Story About Ping), and other animals in China. I just got Draw Write Now, a drawing book for kids that looks great, so we will soon be adding art to our study of animals.
I'm so thankful to get to homeschool and I appreciate everyone who helps and supports us! God Bless!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Weekly Update 12/20 - 1/2
We took it easy for Christmas and New Years and to allow time to explore and play with the new toys.
Phonics: We finished lessons 121-130. The focus was on the 'long i' sound and the 'sh' sound. The readers were 'Ruff's Cab' and 'Sam the Shark'. As always, these readers were fun and entertaining, which really keep the interest to read alive.
Math: We did lessons 86-95.
Literature: We finished up our winter, arctic animals, and Christmas theme. The Little Polar Bear stories have made a place in our hearts.
Phonics: We finished lessons 121-130. The focus was on the 'long i' sound and the 'sh' sound. The readers were 'Ruff's Cab' and 'Sam the Shark'. As always, these readers were fun and entertaining, which really keep the interest to read alive.
Math: We did lessons 86-95.
Literature: We finished up our winter, arctic animals, and Christmas theme. The Little Polar Bear stories have made a place in our hearts.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Weekly Update: 12/13 - 12/19
Phonics: We did lessons 116-120 this week. The reader was funny as always, Jane's Jet, which reviewed the 'long a' sound, 'silent e', and introduced the 'letter J'. I'm impressed with how well he's reading, and the pace and review are just right.
Math: We did lessons 81-85, which was more review of tens and ones, and dimes and pennies.
Literature: We're reading many library books about Jesus, Christmas traditions around the world, winter, snow, and arctic animals. We finished reading about all of the arctic animals in The Complete Book Of Animals. We made an igloo out of play-doh. I'm busy getting everything ready for Christmas. Govinda especially likes making paper snowflakes and is decorating the house with them. We also made paper chains and a paper tree to decorate. I will get some pictures up soon.
Math: We did lessons 81-85, which was more review of tens and ones, and dimes and pennies.
Literature: We're reading many library books about Jesus, Christmas traditions around the world, winter, snow, and arctic animals. We finished reading about all of the arctic animals in The Complete Book Of Animals. We made an igloo out of play-doh. I'm busy getting everything ready for Christmas. Govinda especially likes making paper snowflakes and is decorating the house with them. We also made paper chains and a paper tree to decorate. I will get some pictures up soon.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Weekly Update: 12/6 - 12/12
Phonics: This week we did lessons 111-115. The focus was on the 'long a' sound and silent e, as well as the 'soft c' and 'soft g' sounds. I thought it would be hard for Govinda, but he caught on very quickly, and the second time he read the reader, The Ape and Cake, he read the 'long a'/'silent e' words without any hesitation. I'm excited about how well he is reading now. McRuffy is working really well for us. We got to play a new game, Reading Baseball. Wiggle Worm is still his favorite, but it was fun to learn the rules of baseball with 'long a' words being pitched.
Math: We did lessons 76-80. It was mostly just review and practice of everything learned recently; counting tens and ones with rods and cubes and dimes and pennies, reading time to the hour, moving forward and back on the number line. The numbers 71-80 were added to our number line that keeps getting longer and longer.
Math: We did lessons 76-80. It was mostly just review and practice of everything learned recently; counting tens and ones with rods and cubes and dimes and pennies, reading time to the hour, moving forward and back on the number line. The numbers 71-80 were added to our number line that keeps getting longer and longer.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Weekly Update: 11/29 - 12/5
Phonics: We did 2 weeks of lessons in 1 week, lessons 101-110. The reader had hot dogs in it again, and despite my dovetailing to tofu dogs attempts, my very insistent vegetarian son refused to read it again. So, we moved on quickly. The focus was on the 'short e' sound, and the letters 'w' and 'z'. The two readers were entertaining as always, Red and Bess and then Fuzz the Yak. Besides the hot dog part, he loved these stories and laughs about them throughout the day. He did great on all the tests and handled the extra lessons very well. I like how the workbook has simple questions for him to read and answer about the story. We reviewed periods and question marks, and learned the new sight words, 'to'. I'm really excited about next week, we will be learning about long vowels and silent e. We are basically over the reading review parts of this K program and will be getting into new, harder stuff now.
Math: We did lessons 71-75. The numbers 50-60 were introduced and added to the ongoing number line. We reviewed ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and labeling patterns of shapes with letters, reading and writing times to the hour, and spatial awareness (above, below, left, right, etc.). We worked more with place value, writing numbers as tens and ones, and did hands on number line play which is preparing him for addition and subtraction. I say "put the bear on number 7, now if he jumps two spaces to the left, what number is he on now?" Govinda is doing well with this hands on approach to math. It's still more like play that work for him, which is nice because practicing handwriting and reading a lot is work for him.
Literature/Geography: We're starting off December with winter/snow stories and Arctic animal stories. We got several books about The Little Polar Bear and they are well loved. Other favorites are The Biggest Snowstorm Ever and Katy and The Big Snow. We have also read some books about walruses and seals. We'll be moving on to Caribou and then on to Christmas. I hope to get the motivation to make an igloo soon and make some more icebergs in the freezer. Homeschooling with a 2 year old in tow has made me less craft these days, but that will all change soon once he's done teething and is joining in with school more.
Once again I give thanks to the Lord and my wonderful husband and caring family members who love and support us to keep raising children in the truth and love for God.
Math: We did lessons 71-75. The numbers 50-60 were introduced and added to the ongoing number line. We reviewed ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and labeling patterns of shapes with letters, reading and writing times to the hour, and spatial awareness (above, below, left, right, etc.). We worked more with place value, writing numbers as tens and ones, and did hands on number line play which is preparing him for addition and subtraction. I say "put the bear on number 7, now if he jumps two spaces to the left, what number is he on now?" Govinda is doing well with this hands on approach to math. It's still more like play that work for him, which is nice because practicing handwriting and reading a lot is work for him.
Literature/Geography: We're starting off December with winter/snow stories and Arctic animal stories. We got several books about The Little Polar Bear and they are well loved. Other favorites are The Biggest Snowstorm Ever and Katy and The Big Snow. We have also read some books about walruses and seals. We'll be moving on to Caribou and then on to Christmas. I hope to get the motivation to make an igloo soon and make some more icebergs in the freezer. Homeschooling with a 2 year old in tow has made me less craft these days, but that will all change soon once he's done teething and is joining in with school more.
Once again I give thanks to the Lord and my wonderful husband and caring family members who love and support us to keep raising children in the truth and love for God.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Weekly Update: 11/22 - 11/28
This was a fun week. We did extra lessons on a few days so that 'school' on Thanksgiving was making a homemade pumpkin pie with Hawaiian grown pumpkins! We had a lot of fun together as a family and we kept reminding each other what we're thankful for. I sang Bob Marley's song, "Thank You, Lord" all day. I'm especially thankful for my wonderful husband who works so hard so that I can stay at home and homeschool our kids.
Phonics: We finished lessons 96-100. The reader was fun as always, Vic's Van. The writer of McRuffy is a genius. We're looking forward to what funny story comes next, as they just keep getting better and better. The focus this week was on the letters 'v' and 'w'. The spelling words were mostly easy except for 'won'. We say it more like 'wun', but I guess some people say it in a way that rhymes with gone. After a week of reviewing it, he got it write on the final spelling test. Color words were also reviewed, and he has got them down solid.
Math: We did lessons 66-70. The focus was on counting by tens, place value with the rods and cubes, and matching them up with dimes and pennies. There was a card game to connect pictures of dimes and pennies with the numbers of cents. The last day of the week introduced counting backwards from 10 to 1 and then finished the week with a really fun, new game called Number Countdown. We really like this one and will play it more for sure. The McRuffy games for review are working well for us, it's fun to review!
Literature: We read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and several other library books. I'm not finding the motivation to do FIAR activities other than just having discussions and observations about the stories, but that is nice for us right now.
Next week, we'll be moving onto stories about Jesus, winter, snow, Christmas around the world with Galloping The Globe, and Arctic animals like reindeer and polar bears. Katy and The Big Snow will hopefully motivate me to do some FIAR geography mapping activities.
Praise God for the blessings in life!
Phonics: We finished lessons 96-100. The reader was fun as always, Vic's Van. The writer of McRuffy is a genius. We're looking forward to what funny story comes next, as they just keep getting better and better. The focus this week was on the letters 'v' and 'w'. The spelling words were mostly easy except for 'won'. We say it more like 'wun', but I guess some people say it in a way that rhymes with gone. After a week of reviewing it, he got it write on the final spelling test. Color words were also reviewed, and he has got them down solid.
Math: We did lessons 66-70. The focus was on counting by tens, place value with the rods and cubes, and matching them up with dimes and pennies. There was a card game to connect pictures of dimes and pennies with the numbers of cents. The last day of the week introduced counting backwards from 10 to 1 and then finished the week with a really fun, new game called Number Countdown. We really like this one and will play it more for sure. The McRuffy games for review are working well for us, it's fun to review!
Literature: We read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and several other library books. I'm not finding the motivation to do FIAR activities other than just having discussions and observations about the stories, but that is nice for us right now.
Next week, we'll be moving onto stories about Jesus, winter, snow, Christmas around the world with Galloping The Globe, and Arctic animals like reindeer and polar bears. Katy and The Big Snow will hopefully motivate me to do some FIAR geography mapping activities.
Praise God for the blessings in life!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Weekly Update: 11/15 - 11/21
Phonics: We finished lessons 91-95. The focus was on reviewing color words and the letter 'x'. was surprised at how easily he read the color words in the reader, Mop, Mop, Mop. The spelling words were all easy 3 letter words ending in x. I had him do more handwriting practice, everyday tracing one sentence and one line of color words we're learning, then writing the sentence without tracing. The whiteboard helps motivate him to write independently...there's something more fun about being able to erase it all. We also do the spelling tests on the whiteboard. We really love McRuffy and plan on sticking with it for a while. It's just so much fun with funny readers and games for review, just one workbook page per lesson, some color, but not too distracting, lightly scripted and easy to teach instruction.
Math: We did lessons 61-65, focusing on counting by 10s. I put it to a nice melody and he's got it memorized now. Dimes were introduced, and reading time to the hour was reviewed. We also really like McRuffy math. One workbook page per lesson is good for Govinda, and more time spent with manipulatives. Math lessons still seem like fun toy play time than school. It's a nice balance with reading lessons.
Literature: We read many Thanksgiving stories. The favorites are Cranberry Thanksgiving and Mousekin's Thanksgiving, which we especially appreciated as vegetarians because it's about a living turkey. I really liked Squanto's Journey, but he wouldn't let me read it more than once. We got a library dvd, Plymouth Plantation, which he really liked. I can tell that my boy is not going to be a big history fan because of the sad stories involved. This is why we'll be keeping it gentle with FIAR and not any history program. We're going to row Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel next week for fun! I'm preparing for Christmas Around The World with Galloping The Globe.
Math: We did lessons 61-65, focusing on counting by 10s. I put it to a nice melody and he's got it memorized now. Dimes were introduced, and reading time to the hour was reviewed. We also really like McRuffy math. One workbook page per lesson is good for Govinda, and more time spent with manipulatives. Math lessons still seem like fun toy play time than school. It's a nice balance with reading lessons.
Literature: We read many Thanksgiving stories. The favorites are Cranberry Thanksgiving and Mousekin's Thanksgiving, which we especially appreciated as vegetarians because it's about a living turkey. I really liked Squanto's Journey, but he wouldn't let me read it more than once. We got a library dvd, Plymouth Plantation, which he really liked. I can tell that my boy is not going to be a big history fan because of the sad stories involved. This is why we'll be keeping it gentle with FIAR and not any history program. We're going to row Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel next week for fun! I'm preparing for Christmas Around The World with Galloping The Globe.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Weekly Update: 11/8 - 11/14
Phonics: We did lessons 86-90 this week, which means we are half way through! The reader, Pup In Mud, was another big hit. Govinda read all 12 pages in one sitting because he didn't want to stop! These readers are really helping improve his fluency in reading, and they gently and gradually get more and more challenging. The spelling test was easier this week than in the past two weeks because they all had the short u sound, so no tricky vowel sounds. We discussed how the word 'bus' only has one 's' and still makes the 's' sound and not the 'z' sound.
We took a test on this whole unit, the last 45 lessons, which covered short vowels, color sight words, periods and question marks, and filling in the missing letters of words. Govinda knew all of the correct answers, but wrote some letters backwards. The test was helpful to show me that avoiding all of the handwriting practice is taking it's toll. The handwriting workbook pages each have three lines of tracing and two blank lines for writing, and I was only having him do one line of tracing a sentence everyday, since he is not a big fan of practicing writing. I realized today that only tracing helps practice the hand, but not the mind. Starting next week, I plan on focusing more on writing letters properly.
Math: We did lessons 56- 60. This was a fun week because we got to play with the clock face, which was a big hit. We learned how to read a clock at the hour and how to read and write it digitally. Tens and ones were reviewed along with writing numbers too 50. Math is fun for us these days.
We took a test on this whole unit, the last 45 lessons, which covered short vowels, color sight words, periods and question marks, and filling in the missing letters of words. Govinda knew all of the correct answers, but wrote some letters backwards. The test was helpful to show me that avoiding all of the handwriting practice is taking it's toll. The handwriting workbook pages each have three lines of tracing and two blank lines for writing, and I was only having him do one line of tracing a sentence everyday, since he is not a big fan of practicing writing. I realized today that only tracing helps practice the hand, but not the mind. Starting next week, I plan on focusing more on writing letters properly.
Math: We did lessons 56- 60. This was a fun week because we got to play with the clock face, which was a big hit. We learned how to read a clock at the hour and how to read and write it digitally. Tens and ones were reviewed along with writing numbers too 50. Math is fun for us these days.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Weekly Update: 11/1 - 11/7 and Thanksgiving Book List
Phonics: We did lesson 81-85 this week. We are both really enjoying McRuffy. The focus was on the letter 'k' and workds ending in 'ck'. The new sight words were 'black', 'yellow', and 'orange'. The reader was once again funny and entertaining. The slider makes word drilling more fun as well. Govinda really likes the game Wiggle Worm, I think because there is no way to loose.
Math: We did lessons 51-55. The focus this week was on the numbers 40-50 and place value. Govinda's understanding of tens and ones is a lot better now compared to our attempt at MathUSee Primer a few months ago.
Literature/Science/Geography: We really liked Miss Rumphias. It gave us many great topics of discussion inspired by FIAR. It tied in perfectly with our introduction to geography and apple study of seeds and Johnny Appleseed. Miss Rumphias throws flower seeds everywhere to make the world a more beautiful place, so we did the same with pumpkin seeds in the empty lots in our neighborhood. Govinda was inspired to draw and paint lots of pictures to put all over the walls in our house to make it more beautiful. We also re-read the Magic School Bus Plants Seeds and Gets Planted. We found all the places Miss Rumphias went on the world map.
History: We read more Thanksgiving stories. I was happy to find a beautiful picture book about Squanto, from his perspective, called Squanto's journey: the story of the first Thanksgiving by Bruchac, Joseph.
Here's the rest of the many library books we got about Thanksgiving:
Mousekin's Thanksgiving by Miller, Edna
An Outlaw Thanksgiving by Emily Arnold McCully
An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott
Thanksgiving in the White House by Gary Hines
Pilgrims of Plymouth by Susan E. Goodman
1621: a new look at Thanksgiving by Grace, Catherine O'Neill
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Devlin, Wende
Cranberries by Jaspersohn, William
Squanto's journey: the story of the first Thanksgiving by Bruchac, Joseph
Thanksgiving with me by Willey, Margaret
The Thanksgiving door by Atwell, Debby.
The Thanksgiving story by Dalgliesh, Alice
Squanto and the first Thanksgiving by Kessel, Joyce K
The Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving by McGovern, Ann
Daily life in the Pilgrim colony, 1636 by Erickson, Paul
Harvest song by Hirschi, Ron
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Markes, Julie
Thanksgiving is for giving thanks by Sutherland, Margaret
This first Thanksgiving Day : a counting story by Melmed, Laura Krauss
Happy Thanksgiving! : things to make and do by Conaway, Judith
Molly's pilgrim by Cohen, Barbara
The night before Thanksgiving by Wing, Natasha
Thanksgiving by Fabian-Baber
Math: We did lessons 51-55. The focus this week was on the numbers 40-50 and place value. Govinda's understanding of tens and ones is a lot better now compared to our attempt at MathUSee Primer a few months ago.
Literature/Science/Geography: We really liked Miss Rumphias. It gave us many great topics of discussion inspired by FIAR. It tied in perfectly with our introduction to geography and apple study of seeds and Johnny Appleseed. Miss Rumphias throws flower seeds everywhere to make the world a more beautiful place, so we did the same with pumpkin seeds in the empty lots in our neighborhood. Govinda was inspired to draw and paint lots of pictures to put all over the walls in our house to make it more beautiful. We also re-read the Magic School Bus Plants Seeds and Gets Planted. We found all the places Miss Rumphias went on the world map.
History: We read more Thanksgiving stories. I was happy to find a beautiful picture book about Squanto, from his perspective, called Squanto's journey: the story of the first Thanksgiving by Bruchac, Joseph.
Here's the rest of the many library books we got about Thanksgiving:
Mousekin's Thanksgiving by Miller, Edna
An Outlaw Thanksgiving by Emily Arnold McCully
An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott
Thanksgiving in the White House by Gary Hines
Pilgrims of Plymouth by Susan E. Goodman
1621: a new look at Thanksgiving by Grace, Catherine O'Neill
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Devlin, Wende
Cranberries by Jaspersohn, William
Squanto's journey: the story of the first Thanksgiving by Bruchac, Joseph
Thanksgiving with me by Willey, Margaret
The Thanksgiving door by Atwell, Debby.
The Thanksgiving story by Dalgliesh, Alice
Squanto and the first Thanksgiving by Kessel, Joyce K
The Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving by McGovern, Ann
Daily life in the Pilgrim colony, 1636 by Erickson, Paul
Harvest song by Hirschi, Ron
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Markes, Julie
Thanksgiving is for giving thanks by Sutherland, Margaret
This first Thanksgiving Day : a counting story by Melmed, Laura Krauss
Happy Thanksgiving! : things to make and do by Conaway, Judith
Molly's pilgrim by Cohen, Barbara
The night before Thanksgiving by Wing, Natasha
Thanksgiving by Fabian-Baber
Friday, October 30, 2009
Weekly Update: 10/25 - 10/31
Phonics: We did lessons 76-80 this week. This was our first reader that's not as easy...it's 12 pages. Govinda read it and liked it a lot, more than the 4 page easy readers. He learned some more sight words, 'green' and 'blue'. The new white board and also turning 5 have both contributed to him actually enjoying handwriting now! The spelling words were a little tricky again, 'fall' and 'fog' made him have to remember if it's an 'a' or 'o' that makes the 'short o' sound. Sometimes I feel bad for how difficult of a language English is, especially when knowing Spanish and Hawaiian, languages where the vowels always make the same sound.
Math: We did lessons 46-50. It was good to get back to math after a week off. We practiced counting and writing 30-40, and introduced the cents sign and counting pennies. It was fun to play with pennies.
History: We read several stories about the first Thanksgiving.
Literature/Geography: We read some story books recommended in Galloping The Globe for an introduction to geography. Henry's World Tour was a big hit, and we all love it so much, I am considering buying it, which says a lot because I usually refuse to buy anything I can borrow for free from the library. Amelia's Fantastic Flight was short and sweet. These, along with How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World, have given a nice overview of the many different countries and cultures in the world.
Next week, we will be rowing Miss Rumphius, and she also travels around the world. I'm anxious to start galloping the globe now, but will wait until December. I'm thinking starting with the Arctic as well as Christmas around the world. Then off to Asia! :)
Math: We did lessons 46-50. It was good to get back to math after a week off. We practiced counting and writing 30-40, and introduced the cents sign and counting pennies. It was fun to play with pennies.
History: We read several stories about the first Thanksgiving.
Literature/Geography: We read some story books recommended in Galloping The Globe for an introduction to geography. Henry's World Tour was a big hit, and we all love it so much, I am considering buying it, which says a lot because I usually refuse to buy anything I can borrow for free from the library. Amelia's Fantastic Flight was short and sweet. These, along with How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World, have given a nice overview of the many different countries and cultures in the world.
Next week, we will be rowing Miss Rumphius, and she also travels around the world. I'm anxious to start galloping the globe now, but will wait until December. I'm thinking starting with the Arctic as well as Christmas around the world. Then off to Asia! :)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Weekly Update: 10/18 - 10/24
This week was special because we got a big 2' X 3' magnetic dry erase board! I also got the letter tiles from All About Spelling. My intention behind this was to help progress with reading and spelling without so much handwriting involved. The funniest part is that the white board has totally motivated him to write more! When we first put it on the wall, he took a pen and wrote "GOD". Then he added another 'o' in the middle and said "God is good!" What a great moment it was.
Phonics: We finished lessons 71-75 which was based on the letter 'L' and the easy reader, Lill. The spelling started to get tricky this week with the words 'doll' and 'ball'. We spent the week practicing words that end with 'all' that make the sound like 'oll'. We're excited to start the more advanced readers next week!
Math: We decided to skip math this week because the baby was going through some major teething and needing more from me. It's amazing how much he missed doing math, when doing the phonics workbook pages, he would write the numbers next to each one. He seems to like writing numbers more than letters.
Social Studies: We checked out a bunch of books from the library about Thanksgiving that we will be reading from now until the end of November. We're waiting for Cranberry Thanksgiving to arrive with the interlibrary loan so we can FIAR it!
Phonics: We finished lessons 71-75 which was based on the letter 'L' and the easy reader, Lill. The spelling started to get tricky this week with the words 'doll' and 'ball'. We spent the week practicing words that end with 'all' that make the sound like 'oll'. We're excited to start the more advanced readers next week!
Math: We decided to skip math this week because the baby was going through some major teething and needing more from me. It's amazing how much he missed doing math, when doing the phonics workbook pages, he would write the numbers next to each one. He seems to like writing numbers more than letters.
Social Studies: We checked out a bunch of books from the library about Thanksgiving that we will be reading from now until the end of November. We're waiting for Cranberry Thanksgiving to arrive with the interlibrary loan so we can FIAR it!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Weekly Update: 10/11 - 10/17
It's a good thing that birthdays only happen once a year, because taking a week off from school has taken a toll. Just by not practicing our reading and math concepts, he's forgotten stuff that was easy and has lost some attention span for school. Thankfully, we're back to normal by the end of the week, now.
Phonics: We did lessons 61-70. We completely skipped the 'short o' reader, Hot Dog. I know that he could have easily read it. He even refused to fill in the workbook activities about hot dogs, lol. We've got one more easy reader left and then we get into the more advanced readers, which I'm excited about. Thankfully, there's no more stories about meat eating.
Math: We did lessons 41-45. The equals sign was introduced and added to the greater than less than concept. Writing, counting, and recognizing numbers 1-30 were practiced, which was needed after a week off from math.
FIAR: We did more activities for How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World with apples and world geography. We colored in the flags of the places in the story, labeled the parts of an apple, colored in the seasons of an apple tree, and some apple mazes for fun.
Phonics: We did lessons 61-70. We completely skipped the 'short o' reader, Hot Dog. I know that he could have easily read it. He even refused to fill in the workbook activities about hot dogs, lol. We've got one more easy reader left and then we get into the more advanced readers, which I'm excited about. Thankfully, there's no more stories about meat eating.
Math: We did lessons 41-45. The equals sign was introduced and added to the greater than less than concept. Writing, counting, and recognizing numbers 1-30 were practiced, which was needed after a week off from math.
FIAR: We did more activities for How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World with apples and world geography. We colored in the flags of the places in the story, labeled the parts of an apple, colored in the seasons of an apple tree, and some apple mazes for fun.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Weekly Update: 10/4 - 10/10
We took most of this week off from academics to celebrate Govinda's birthday. We loved reading How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World. We located the places in the story on the world map, and made a birthday apple pie!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Weekly Update: 9/27 - 10/3
Busy is the word to describe this time for us now. Grampa is here and the big birthday is coming soon. The FIAR volumes I have been waiting for finally arrived after a month of waiting (my last time settling with media mail to Hawaii). How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World arrived and we're getting ready for the big apple pie birthday fest! I'm glad that the boys like the story, and I'm glad it was silly and educational...just the kind of books we like!
Phonics: We did lessons 51-60 and enjoyed the easy reader The Ram, and we quickly moved past Map & Ham. Being vegetarian made this one not so appealing, although we went into discussions about how ham comes from dead pigs and hamburger comes from dead cows. After seeing his reactions, we'll probably skip the upcoming reader Hot Dog.
Math: We finished lessons 36-40, which ended with playing Number Trail again. This one is hard because it has strategies involved.
No pictures this week due to a very busy week. Next week looks like a lot of fun, which also means that I will have less computer time. Happy Homeschooling!
Phonics: We did lessons 51-60 and enjoyed the easy reader The Ram, and we quickly moved past Map & Ham. Being vegetarian made this one not so appealing, although we went into discussions about how ham comes from dead pigs and hamburger comes from dead cows. After seeing his reactions, we'll probably skip the upcoming reader Hot Dog.
Math: We finished lessons 36-40, which ended with playing Number Trail again. This one is hard because it has strategies involved.
No pictures this week due to a very busy week. Next week looks like a lot of fun, which also means that I will have less computer time. Happy Homeschooling!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
2009 Plans
Just thinking out loud here. Here's my plans for the future besides McRuffy K phonics and math. The rest of 2009 will be focused on holidays and fall and winter seasons as well as an introduction to geography to get ready for our 'world trip' starting in January. I'm so excited to start Five In A Rowing around the world and Galloping The Globe, but I want to take time to plan it all out well so that it's the best it can be
October:
The theme is Autumn and apples along with an introduction to world geography while we row How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World and US geography with Johnny Appleseed stories. We will have Macintosh apples sent from Maine for Haridas's 5th birthday apple pie.
Booklist:
Apples:
How to make an apple pie and see the world by Priceman, Marjorie
Apples, apples, apples by Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth
How do apples grow by Maestro, Betsy
The seasons of Arnold's apple tree by Gibbons, Gail
An apple festival : orchards in autumn by Gabbert, Lisa
Amazing apples by Powell, Consie
Apple trees by Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw
Apple Valley year by Turner, Ann Warren
Apple picking time by Slawson by Michele Benoit
The apple pie tree by Hall, Zoe
The president and mom's apple pie by Garland, Michael
Grasshopper on the road by Lobel, Arnold
Ten apples up on top! by Seuss, Dr.
Pancakes, pancakes! by Carle, Eric
The Magic School Bus Gets Planted and Goes To Seed by Notkin, Lenore
Apples and pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
Apples, how they grow by Bruce McMillan
Apples, bubbles, and crystals : your science ABCs by Andrea T. Bennett, James H. Kessler
Johnny Appleseed:
Who was Johnny Appleseed? by Holub, Joan
The story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki
Johnny Appleseed : a poem by Lindbergh, Reeve
Johnny Appleseed by Holland, Gini
Johnny Appleseed by Reiner, Rob
Geography:
Henry's world tour by Quackenbush, Robert M
Apples from heaven : multicultural folk tales about stories and storytellers by Naomi Baltuck
Around the world in 80 tales by Saviour Pirotta
A drop around the world by Barbara Shaw McKinney
November:
The theme will be Thanksgiving, pumpkins and Autumn foods, and an introduction to the Pilgrims and Native Americans.
December:
The theme will be Christmas around the world and Winter. I plan on rowing Katy And The Big Snow because it's about snow for winter and also an introduction to maps.
For 2010, I plan to start Five In A Rowing and Galloping The Globe with our passports, spending 2-4 weeks on a country. I'll be planning all of that now while we focus on holidays and seasons for the rest of this year. I love homeschooling!
October:
The theme is Autumn and apples along with an introduction to world geography while we row How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World and US geography with Johnny Appleseed stories. We will have Macintosh apples sent from Maine for Haridas's 5th birthday apple pie.
Booklist:
Apples:
How to make an apple pie and see the world by Priceman, Marjorie
Apples, apples, apples by Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth
How do apples grow by Maestro, Betsy
The seasons of Arnold's apple tree by Gibbons, Gail
An apple festival : orchards in autumn by Gabbert, Lisa
Amazing apples by Powell, Consie
Apple trees by Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw
Apple Valley year by Turner, Ann Warren
Apple picking time by Slawson by Michele Benoit
The apple pie tree by Hall, Zoe
The president and mom's apple pie by Garland, Michael
Grasshopper on the road by Lobel, Arnold
Ten apples up on top! by Seuss, Dr.
Pancakes, pancakes! by Carle, Eric
The Magic School Bus Gets Planted and Goes To Seed by Notkin, Lenore
Apples and pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
Apples, how they grow by Bruce McMillan
Apples, bubbles, and crystals : your science ABCs by Andrea T. Bennett, James H. Kessler
Johnny Appleseed:
Who was Johnny Appleseed? by Holub, Joan
The story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki
Johnny Appleseed : a poem by Lindbergh, Reeve
Johnny Appleseed by Holland, Gini
Johnny Appleseed by Reiner, Rob
Geography:
Henry's world tour by Quackenbush, Robert M
Apples from heaven : multicultural folk tales about stories and storytellers by Naomi Baltuck
Around the world in 80 tales by Saviour Pirotta
A drop around the world by Barbara Shaw McKinney
November:
The theme will be Thanksgiving, pumpkins and Autumn foods, and an introduction to the Pilgrims and Native Americans.
December:
The theme will be Christmas around the world and Winter. I plan on rowing Katy And The Big Snow because it's about snow for winter and also an introduction to maps.
For 2010, I plan to start Five In A Rowing and Galloping The Globe with our passports, spending 2-4 weeks on a country. I'll be planning all of that now while we focus on holidays and seasons for the rest of this year. I love homeschooling!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Successful Homeschooling Review Contest
This wonderful site is offering great prizes for reviewing homeschool curriculums! Check it out and enter to win!
http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschool-reviews.html
http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschool-reviews.html
Weekly Update: 9/20 - 9/26
We took it easy again this week and am now starting to do only 1 phonics lesson per day because it is starting to introduce new things. The Hawaii unit study is ending earlier than planned because Grampa will be visiting for two weeks.
Phonics: We did lessons 46-50 this week, which was based on the easy reader Cat In A Bin. We learned a new game called "Wiggle Worm", which is our new favorite next to "Fish Pond". We had found a book at the library called "Wiggle And Waggle", which is a Frog And Toad like book about two worms, so it fit well with our new game as we sang the wiggle and waggle song. He asked to play it again the next day and I'm happy he is enjoying sounding out words.
Math: We did lessons 31-35 this week. We're really enjoying McRuffy K Math. Haridas asks to do math first every day now. To him, it's like getting a new toy to play with everyday, or a new way to play with a toy. He's really getting a good understand of addition and subtraction with the number line. Before with MUS primer, he didn't get it at all other than just lots of counting. Now he's really understanding 'one more than' and 'one less than', and doesn't have to think about it much anymore. Even though McRuffy is spiral and mixes in new things everyday, it still reviews the same concepts. This is working really well with us because it isn't boring at all, it's always new and exciting, yet still reinforcing the same thing again and again. This week, we started using the geoboards, and although it was challenging, it was a new fun thing to do and he like it.
Geology: We put together the five volcanoes that make up the Big Island and read lots of library books about volcanoes how the Hawaiian Islands were formed. Haridas is a big fan of The Magic School Bus, so we read The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top and Inside The Earth several times. On his own free time, he made the Big Island out of play-doh:
Overall, it was a good week and Haridas is totally used to our new curriculum choices. Soon, Galloping the Globe and Five In A Row will add some more extra fun stuff to keep us learning more besides the 3 R's. We've officially changed our school room to be in the living room instead of the porch. The bugs were distracting, and he can not sit still in a chair. Using floor tables and sitting on the ground is working so much better now. I love the flexibility of homeschool! Once again I give thanks to my husband who works so hard and supports us to have simple lives at home, and of course, our Good Lord who continues to bless us with His causeless mercy.
Phonics: We did lessons 46-50 this week, which was based on the easy reader Cat In A Bin. We learned a new game called "Wiggle Worm", which is our new favorite next to "Fish Pond". We had found a book at the library called "Wiggle And Waggle", which is a Frog And Toad like book about two worms, so it fit well with our new game as we sang the wiggle and waggle song. He asked to play it again the next day and I'm happy he is enjoying sounding out words.
Math: We did lessons 31-35 this week. We're really enjoying McRuffy K Math. Haridas asks to do math first every day now. To him, it's like getting a new toy to play with everyday, or a new way to play with a toy. He's really getting a good understand of addition and subtraction with the number line. Before with MUS primer, he didn't get it at all other than just lots of counting. Now he's really understanding 'one more than' and 'one less than', and doesn't have to think about it much anymore. Even though McRuffy is spiral and mixes in new things everyday, it still reviews the same concepts. This is working really well with us because it isn't boring at all, it's always new and exciting, yet still reinforcing the same thing again and again. This week, we started using the geoboards, and although it was challenging, it was a new fun thing to do and he like it.
Geology: We put together the five volcanoes that make up the Big Island and read lots of library books about volcanoes how the Hawaiian Islands were formed. Haridas is a big fan of The Magic School Bus, so we read The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top and Inside The Earth several times. On his own free time, he made the Big Island out of play-doh:
Overall, it was a good week and Haridas is totally used to our new curriculum choices. Soon, Galloping the Globe and Five In A Row will add some more extra fun stuff to keep us learning more besides the 3 R's. We've officially changed our school room to be in the living room instead of the porch. The bugs were distracting, and he can not sit still in a chair. Using floor tables and sitting on the ground is working so much better now. I love the flexibility of homeschool! Once again I give thanks to my husband who works so hard and supports us to have simple lives at home, and of course, our Good Lord who continues to bless us with His causeless mercy.
Looking Ahead
I'm excited that I just ordered Galloping The Globe, a passport with country and state stickers, and a picture atlas. I plan to use these along with Five In A Row, so we will be rowing around the world and galloping the globe. I plan on doing 1-2 years for K and 1st to cover world and US geography before beginning history.
Grampa is visiting from Maine next week and is bringing some Macintosh apples. So, I plan on starting this October with How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World, which is a FIAR and GTG book for an introduction to geography and apples science for an autumn theme. We may make Haridas's birthday cake an apple pie! I'm excited!
I'm thinking about going into pumpkins after apples, then focusing on Thanksgiving for November and Christmas around the world for December, and then continue our trip around the world.
Grampa is visiting from Maine next week and is bringing some Macintosh apples. So, I plan on starting this October with How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World, which is a FIAR and GTG book for an introduction to geography and apples science for an autumn theme. We may make Haridas's birthday cake an apple pie! I'm excited!
I'm thinking about going into pumpkins after apples, then focusing on Thanksgiving for November and Christmas around the world for December, and then continue our trip around the world.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Weekly Update: 9/13-9/19
This was a pretty mellow week because we had extra family together time. :)
Phonics: Haridas finished Unit 1, which was lessons 1-45! We flew threw this unit quickly because the reading part was all review. The handwriting, spelling, and careful listening skills were new for him, though. The unit ended with a three page test of eight questions to find the answer to on each page. I would say "fill in the circle with the ending sound in 'sat' and other sounds and words. He got them all right! I'm glad that he's getting easy testing practice because our state requires standardized testing in 3rd grade. I'm looking forward to the next unit, which will have new concepts like the sight words for the colors.
The Unit Test:
Coloring in 'is', 'in', and 'on' to make a flower picture:
When I was laying down and resting for some quiet time with the teething baby who has been waking up a lot at night lately, Haridas got some paper, folded it in half, and stapled together a little book. (We've been doing this together with McRuffy's creative writing suggestions.) I was surprised to see that he had drawn a picture and attempted to write the sentence "A ragged tooth shark is dangerous." What really surprised me is that I haven't taught him 'oo' or 'th', so he must have learned to write the word 'tooth' from me reading to him or starfall. I'm happy that he's trying to write sentences, that's exciting, even if misspelled. He also wrote "The End" in lower case letters, which he has been so resistant to in handwriting practice. Our first month of McRuffy is starting to show some results! Kids are full of wonderful surprises!
Math: We finished lessons 25-30, which ended in a new game, the Number Trail, which is like bingo with a game board. You roll the dice to land on a number in a shape, which you mark on your game card. This week focused a lot on left and right, greater than and less than, and some fun shapes to make with pattern blocks. Some beginning addition and subtraction was introduced with the greater than less than concept by placing the counter bear on the number line, and then making it jump to 3 more than and less than, etc.
He cut up different length strips of paper and then glued them in order from shortest to tallest, left to right:
Geography: We just did connect the dots Hawaii and read lots of Hawaiiana library books. Our favorites this week were Discover Hawaii's Birth By Fire Volcanoes and The Volcano Is A Girl. The Volcano Is A Girl brought about some interesting conversations about science and religion and mythology as well as personification. We came to the conclusion that Pele, the goddess of fire and the Hawaiian volcanoes, is the personification of what scientists call the 'hot spots' that cause our volcanoes.
Science: One of the wild hens that roams in our yard now has twelve baby chicks! We checked out a few library books about chickens and spend much of our outside time watching them. Many interesting conversations have come about while watching our cute little friends. We discussed how babies need help from their mom, babies need to eat often, and mothers are very protective of their babies. We also tied into our Hawaiian study by acknowledging that the Polynesians brought the chickens here on their long journeys across the Pacific ocean. We talked a lot about why we are vegetarians and why we don't eat animals, and how we are glad we don't support factory farming or the suffering of other living beings. We prayed for the safety of this sweet little family of fluffy chickens and hope they are blessed with a peaceful life. (Some of our neighbors have killed the wild chickens just for 'fun' or because they don't like the rooster's crowing.)
Mama Hen and her dozen baby chicks:
P.E.: Haridas is playing his second soccer game this week! Socialization with strangers is a whole new thing for him that I hope gets less and less strange as the season goes on.
Baby brother trying out a new hat I made for another homeschooling mom's 2 year old. Homeschooling with a 2 year old isn't easy, but babyhood is just so cute and precious, I am cherishing every second of it!
Phonics: Haridas finished Unit 1, which was lessons 1-45! We flew threw this unit quickly because the reading part was all review. The handwriting, spelling, and careful listening skills were new for him, though. The unit ended with a three page test of eight questions to find the answer to on each page. I would say "fill in the circle with the ending sound in 'sat' and other sounds and words. He got them all right! I'm glad that he's getting easy testing practice because our state requires standardized testing in 3rd grade. I'm looking forward to the next unit, which will have new concepts like the sight words for the colors.
The Unit Test:
Coloring in 'is', 'in', and 'on' to make a flower picture:
When I was laying down and resting for some quiet time with the teething baby who has been waking up a lot at night lately, Haridas got some paper, folded it in half, and stapled together a little book. (We've been doing this together with McRuffy's creative writing suggestions.) I was surprised to see that he had drawn a picture and attempted to write the sentence "A ragged tooth shark is dangerous." What really surprised me is that I haven't taught him 'oo' or 'th', so he must have learned to write the word 'tooth' from me reading to him or starfall. I'm happy that he's trying to write sentences, that's exciting, even if misspelled. He also wrote "The End" in lower case letters, which he has been so resistant to in handwriting practice. Our first month of McRuffy is starting to show some results! Kids are full of wonderful surprises!
Math: We finished lessons 25-30, which ended in a new game, the Number Trail, which is like bingo with a game board. You roll the dice to land on a number in a shape, which you mark on your game card. This week focused a lot on left and right, greater than and less than, and some fun shapes to make with pattern blocks. Some beginning addition and subtraction was introduced with the greater than less than concept by placing the counter bear on the number line, and then making it jump to 3 more than and less than, etc.
He cut up different length strips of paper and then glued them in order from shortest to tallest, left to right:
Geography: We just did connect the dots Hawaii and read lots of Hawaiiana library books. Our favorites this week were Discover Hawaii's Birth By Fire Volcanoes and The Volcano Is A Girl. The Volcano Is A Girl brought about some interesting conversations about science and religion and mythology as well as personification. We came to the conclusion that Pele, the goddess of fire and the Hawaiian volcanoes, is the personification of what scientists call the 'hot spots' that cause our volcanoes.
Science: One of the wild hens that roams in our yard now has twelve baby chicks! We checked out a few library books about chickens and spend much of our outside time watching them. Many interesting conversations have come about while watching our cute little friends. We discussed how babies need help from their mom, babies need to eat often, and mothers are very protective of their babies. We also tied into our Hawaiian study by acknowledging that the Polynesians brought the chickens here on their long journeys across the Pacific ocean. We talked a lot about why we are vegetarians and why we don't eat animals, and how we are glad we don't support factory farming or the suffering of other living beings. We prayed for the safety of this sweet little family of fluffy chickens and hope they are blessed with a peaceful life. (Some of our neighbors have killed the wild chickens just for 'fun' or because they don't like the rooster's crowing.)
Mama Hen and her dozen baby chicks:
P.E.: Haridas is playing his second soccer game this week! Socialization with strangers is a whole new thing for him that I hope gets less and less strange as the season goes on.
Baby brother trying out a new hat I made for another homeschooling mom's 2 year old. Homeschooling with a 2 year old isn't easy, but babyhood is just so cute and precious, I am cherishing every second of it!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Weekly Update: 9/6-9/12
We're back on track now after Grampa's visit and family together time on Labor Day. I'm surprised how much we still got done!
Geography/Art: We colored and cut out the Hawaiian Islands and glued them onto the Pacific Ocean, painted with watercolors. We read these library books about Hawaii: Hawaii The Aloha State, Hawaii Rookie-Read-About-Geography, All Around The Islands, and Island Below The Star.
Painting the ocean blue:
Cutting out the islands:
The islands glued onto the ocean:
Phonics/Reading/Writing: We completed lessons 26-35. The readers are still all review, so we are going quickly, doing 2-3 lessons per day. We read the readers Sat and A Can. They were really easy to read, but still fun because they are humorous, and Haridas loves silly, funny stories. Even though the reading is review, McRuffy includes so much critical thinking and really makes him listen carefully and comprehend instead of rushing into finding the answer. The handwriting is a lot for him because it is mostly lower case and he much prefers capital letters. I'm not pushing him because he is only 5 and I want to keep school fun and enjoyable. Simple spelling tests started with lesson 30, and although he wasn't thrilled about the idea, he ended up doing it perfectly as long as I let him write in all capitals. His spelling words were: the, is, cat, hat, and sat.
Math: We did lessons 20-25. Haridas now really likes math because the lessons are short and move onto playing with the manipulatives. He also likes how it changes everyday, but still reviews the same from before, so it doesn't get boring at all! We also started playing the Number Raceway game this week, which we will surely be playing more of because it was a lot of fun.
Pre-algebra practice by representing patterns with letters (like ABAB, ABC, ABCC, ABBA, etc.)
Putting the mixed-up number cards in numerical order:
Picking a number card (1-20) and counting that many counter bears (they started huddling into hearts):
Matching colored centimeter squares with the designs:
The Number Raceway game has been helpful for identifying numbers and their names. Although he can count beyond to 100 pretty well by himself, when shown a number card as asked what number it is, he would mix up 13 and 30, 14 and 40, etc. The Number Raceway game has fixed this mix up pretty well while having fun racing around the track. I'm happy about this because my attempts to explain that 13 is 10+3 and 30 is 3 10's or 3 X 10 were way over his head. But playing the game helped him get familiar with 13-20 and their symbols.
Geography/Art: We colored and cut out the Hawaiian Islands and glued them onto the Pacific Ocean, painted with watercolors. We read these library books about Hawaii: Hawaii The Aloha State, Hawaii Rookie-Read-About-Geography, All Around The Islands, and Island Below The Star.
Painting the ocean blue:
Cutting out the islands:
The islands glued onto the ocean:
Phonics/Reading/Writing: We completed lessons 26-35. The readers are still all review, so we are going quickly, doing 2-3 lessons per day. We read the readers Sat and A Can. They were really easy to read, but still fun because they are humorous, and Haridas loves silly, funny stories. Even though the reading is review, McRuffy includes so much critical thinking and really makes him listen carefully and comprehend instead of rushing into finding the answer. The handwriting is a lot for him because it is mostly lower case and he much prefers capital letters. I'm not pushing him because he is only 5 and I want to keep school fun and enjoyable. Simple spelling tests started with lesson 30, and although he wasn't thrilled about the idea, he ended up doing it perfectly as long as I let him write in all capitals. His spelling words were: the, is, cat, hat, and sat.
Math: We did lessons 20-25. Haridas now really likes math because the lessons are short and move onto playing with the manipulatives. He also likes how it changes everyday, but still reviews the same from before, so it doesn't get boring at all! We also started playing the Number Raceway game this week, which we will surely be playing more of because it was a lot of fun.
Pre-algebra practice by representing patterns with letters (like ABAB, ABC, ABCC, ABBA, etc.)
Putting the mixed-up number cards in numerical order:
Picking a number card (1-20) and counting that many counter bears (they started huddling into hearts):
Matching colored centimeter squares with the designs:
The Number Raceway game has been helpful for identifying numbers and their names. Although he can count beyond to 100 pretty well by himself, when shown a number card as asked what number it is, he would mix up 13 and 30, 14 and 40, etc. The Number Raceway game has fixed this mix up pretty well while having fun racing around the track. I'm happy about this because my attempts to explain that 13 is 10+3 and 30 is 3 10's or 3 X 10 were way over his head. But playing the game helped him get familiar with 13-20 and their symbols.
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