2 Week Update

Sorry I have not blogged an update for 2 weeks. We have a few new additions to our curriculum. The Tank is now working through AAR Pre-1. Ziggy the Zebra puppet is a huge hit and even Monster begs to join in on her lessons (giving her all the answers ). I don’t mind, though. Next year the Tank will be home alone and we will probably run through AAR Pre-1 again at an accelerated pace before moving on to AAR 1.

Last week we rowed Mirette on the High Wire to continue our study of France. However, Monster was done with France about halfway through the week so we didn’t focus too much on it. He also started Karate at a nearby gym last week and the excitement pretty much took over the week.

This past week we rowed Harold and the Purple Crayon. This is a book the kids already love. We mainly focused on the purple factor and spent the week talking about colors. We watched two videos on the production of crayons that Monster loved (Tank not so much) and we colored the crayons we had previously made from old ones melted down. I decided to make this a science heavy week as we spent the past two weeks focused on History/Social Studies.

We worked with vinegar and baking soda and food coloring (can you tell how much Monster loved this!):

 

Another day we worked with magnets to mix red and blue paint:

         

This is the most focused I have seen either of them during paint time!

Math: Monster has made the permanent switch to Horizons K. He loves the colorful worksheets and that he isn’t focusing on one concept for several sheets or even from one problem to the next. This would drive me crazy, but he loves it. He has now completed 16 lessons in just 2 weeks! We also worked through 3 chapters in Life of Fred: Apples. We played a few addition games and he is starting to memorize his addition facts. Math is Monster’s easy subject just like his Mom .

Reading: Reading however is not. This is a tough one for Monster, but AAR makes it easier and is taking him step by step. Monster is now on Lesson 16 in AAR 1 and Tank had completed the first 6 lessons in Pre-1. Tank is starting to understand rhyming and Monster is perfecting his rhyming skills with Ziggy. We started reading My Father’s Dragon this week as our read-aloud. Monster is loving in, but Tank usually wanders off half-way through the chapter which is ok as she is only 3.

Handwriting: I am so impressed with the progress Monster is making in handwriting. A few months ago he was beginning every letter at the bottom and reversing almost every letter. He is not starting most of his letters from the top and writing them to scale. I love Explode the Code for this purpose. I knew Monster would balk at direct handwriting instruction, but doesn’t mind (at least not as much) the daily writing in ETC. He is still using it with dry erase markers. I think we will stick with that through the first book and then move to a pencil when we reach book 2.

Other: Monster is still working through Developing the Early Learner Book 2. He  still enjoys it, but we are skipping over some parts that I think he has mastered until it gets a little harder. I bought him a cutting book and a maze book from Kumon and he is finally working on his cutting skills. Anything that requires fine motor skills is very difficult for him so even a page of cutting for him is progress . He enjoys mazes and I think I will need to get a more difficult book soon.

Tank: The Tank is constantly asking for more school work. This week she worked on her sorting skills, pouring skills, and one-to-one correspondence skills. Unfortunately for Mommy, she has mastered all of these . She has 1-10 down cold, so we are now working on 10-20 which is a little more difficult for her. We are working mastering all the basic sounds of the alphabet (she still struggles with a few letters – which is perfectly normal, but unacceptable to her ). She spent a lot of time this week on learning how to form letters. She actually has wonderful fine motor skills, but is still learning how to form each letter. She mostly works in her salt box or with a dry erase marker in her Tot Book.

All in all this was a very busy two weeks. I hope to keep up with the weekly updates. It not only updates every one else, but keeps me accountable for keeping records.

Reading = Love :)

We are officially an All About Reading family! AAR 1 has been working great for Monster. I love that every other lesson is reading from a book included in the package. The stories are simple and don't have much to them, but Monster feels accomplished each time he reads one. The fluency sheets are a little difficult only because the amount of words on each page overwhelms him. This is the reason we tend to stay away from cluttered pages in every subject. If there is too much on the page, Monster just shuts down and it is like pulling teeth even if he knows all the answers.

And now, AAR Pre-1 has arrived!! The Tank has been begging for her own school and I found a deal that I simply could not pass up. It arrived in the mail yesterday and she hasn't stopped talking about it since. She loves Ziggy and was so excited to do her very own school work this morning. I let her sit in on all of Monsters lessons, but she wasn't satisfied and I wanted to catch the love of learning while its strong. Now Monster is begging to sit in on her lessons! He loves Ziggy too! Ziggy is now part of his reading lessons as well.

I can't wait to see what joy All About Spelling brings when we start it after Monster finishes AAR 1. Monster is really building up his fine motor skills and finally starting majority of his letters at the top. We are still working on correcting a few reversals, but his confidence is building which means he actually wants to write at times (stress the at times!! lol) Hopefully he will be ready to tackle spelling work after Christmas.

Overall, I feel like I made good choices on curriculum this year (besides math.....) and am happy to see my kids enjoying learning with mom :)

9/10 - 9/14 Rowing Madeline and visiting the Zoo

This week our focus was Madeline, but we strayed a bit as the weather was great (for Texas) and I was dying to get out and have some fun.

France was a big topic of the week. I picked up a Madeline movie from the library and Monster loved it. We located France on the globe and talked about ways we could get there. Monster thought a boat would be the best idea until I explained a plane would be much faster. He then stated that a jet was the only way to go :). We also built the Eiffel Tower with cookies (I am not at all good at these crafts so please don't judge):



Monster loved it and wanted to devour the entire thing, but Tank decided it was too sweet and only had a few bites before she moved on to apple slices :)

We read a few books about the human body and listened to Madeline on tape as well, but I didn't stress the book too much this week. Next up is We're Going on a Bear Hunt and the kids already love the book so I will center the week around it more.

Our Montessori-style letters and numbers finally arrived so we spent some time playing with them and writing in a salt box:



Monster finished some pages in Miquon Orange, Singapore 1A, MEP Reception, and two chapters in Life of Fred. Although I like each program, I am still searching for something that catches his interest for numbers and doesn't seem like such a drag for him. I picked up a Horizons K book to throw into the mix next week. Tank sits with us through all of this, but keeps asking for her own "school" work. Asking her to sort bears by colors or numbers, or making trains and stairs with c-rods is not working anymore. It isn't school work if it isn't a workbook. I am now on the hunt for a math book for her.

Monster completed another three lessons in AAR, read some BOB Books, and worked through ETC 1. CVC words are getting easier and easier for him to decode. He is also picking up spelling them very easily even though we haven't started lessons in AAS.

Monster finished up Developing the Early Learner 1 and is very excited to start the next book. This is the one activity he loves and it gives him so much confidence when he completes several pages at a time.

But the highlight of the week was definitely this



Our trip to the Zoo! The weather was great and it was half-price day!!! After over two hours we still hadn't covered the entire Zoo. I promised to take them again in a few weeks.

I love the perks of homeschooling :)

Week in Review 9/3 - 9/7

For those unfamiliar with Five in a Row, "rowing" a book means that we spent a week focused on one story. Majority of our studies were centered around The Story About Ping for the week. I love this way of learning and Monster remembered so many details from the story at the end of the week. Here are some of the highlights from the week.

We learned how to count by coloring Ping's family (sorry for the bright picture, you can't see the actual coloring page):

         

We learned about ducks and made one (I am not usually crafty, but I was so happy that these ducks turned out to be adorable!!) :

    

We learned about China (where the story takes place):

      

At the end of the week we visited the park close to us that has ducks, however I did not realize how aggressive the ducks were. They chased us on to the playground because we did not have any food to feed them. It was a great observation opportunity though!:

     

We also did a sink or float activity and learned how Ducks are waterproof.

What Monster also completed this week:

Math: My plan was to focus on Singapore this year and use Miquon when needed as a supplement, but Monster and I like Miquon much more so Singapore has been shelved and Miquon will be our main math. Monster finished 6 pages in Miquon Orange and Exercises 1-4 in Singapore 1A.

Reading: Monster completed Lessons 1-4 in All About Reading and continues to master Step 1 in All About Spelling. I am not pushing spelling too much right now as the focus is on getting Monster reading well this year.

Handwriting: Monster is finally starting his letters from the top!!!! This is such a big jump for him and I am sooo excited. This is still the biggest battle of the day. I decided to use his Explode the Code work as handwriting practice and use it with a dry erase marker for now. He doesn't mind handwriting with a purpose as much as he did handwriting worksheets.

Geography: I added in Beginning Geography this week and he finished two pages.

Developing the Early Learner: This is the one thing Monster flies through and doesn't complain about. He completed 20 pages! I am expecting him to slow down in Book 2 or 3.

The tank hasn't started any individual work, but participates in everything Monster does. She played with c-rods and practiced letter sounds, but very casually. Next week she will begin working in Explode the Code Primer A as she continues to beg for her very own school work. I'm considering purchasing Singapore Earlybird to give her some math work of her own too. I love the look of AAR pre-1, but it includes a lot more than letter sounds and I don't think she is quite ready for it. It is on my short list for January, though!

Overall, I'm really happy with the direction our homeschool is on. We have dropped Sonlight P4/5 daily work, but will include it into Five in a Row as much as possible. Thankfully I have my little girl to save it for and hope it works then!