Weekly Report 1/30/-2/03/2012

 

What’s New-  This week I did not feel well, so we did not accomplish as much as I had hoped. Either a head cold or sinus really slowed me down this week.   Plus our schedule was very jammed packed this week. Mental note to self, stop overscheduling your family. Sadly, I had to reschedule some of the appointments we had this week because we were  overbooked.  Next week will be a special back to basics week for us.  I am going to try a few different things with the boys.

Math

• Completed lessons 88-90.
• Learned about fractions.
• Took another exam of which Christopher aced.

Science

• Learned about volcanoes.
• Christopher has been eager to create a volcano for a while now so during our week off we will create a volcano.  My intention was to build the volcano this week but with me not feeling my best I just could not put my full effort into pulling this science experiment off.  So  you will have to stay tuned to see pictures of this next week. 

History

• We finished the The Story of Slavery.
• Read Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter. This book was about Peg Leg Joe a man who taught slaves a song  to help them find their way to freedom.  We read several books about Benjamin Banneker.
• Benjamin was a inventor, mathematician and scientist.
• It is believed that Benjamin Banneker built the first clock in the United States.  He was selected as one of the men to design our Nations capital. 
• He was also well known for his almanacs that he printed.
• Christopher believes he is a mathematician and a scientist. I smile when I hear him say this I just nod my head and reassure him he can be anything he wants to be and a mathematician/scientist is just fine with me.

Reading

• Learned about compound words, the different sounds of ed at the end of a word and three letter blends scr, spr, spl and str .

Language Arts

• Learned to identify the subject in a sentence.  The subject is one or more words that tells what the sentence is about.

 

Books We Read

Volcanoes by Franklyn M. Branley

Follow The Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter

Journey to Freedom Benjamin Banneker by Melissa Maupin

Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions by Jim Haskins

Independent Reads

Marvel Spiderman Secret Identity by Chris Kipiniak

Emma’s Magic Winter by Jean Little

The High-Rise Private Eyes The Case of the Baffled Bear by Cynthia Rylant

Preschool

Reading

• We accomplished a ton this week in our phonics workbook. 

Emmanuel cheering after he finished his workbook for the day.  Please try not to look at the green marker on his head. 

Math

Completed pages 86-96.  Emmanuel was really motivated this week with his math lessons.  He kept requesting another page and another page. 

Motor Skills

• We pulled out the activity bags this week and the boys had the best time.

Emmanuel was given cards with numbers on them and he put the corresponding number of clothes pins on each card.  We we work our way up to the number ten with this exercise.

 

During our read aloud time the boys played with their Legos while listening to mommy.

Books We Read

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin

A Kiss For Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

Spot Goes to thePark by Eric Hill

Goals for Next Week

Next year I am almost certain that we will choose a literature based curriculum so I am doing small things this year to incorporate some of the elements found within a literature based education.  While I like what I have seen so far I really want to dig a little deeper. So here is the plan.

• Continue my research into Before Five In a Row and Five In a Row.
• We will actually Row a book or two to see if this way of learning is a hit in our home.  I will explain what it means to Row a book when I complete my weekly review. 
• Oh, how could I forget I want to do some deep cleaning around the house too. 

Sites I visited often this week

IKEA- We will probably begin purchasing materials for the classroom renovation this week.  I am so excited about the new classroom.  I can’t wait. 

Delightful Learning Michelle incorporates FIAR into her school days for literature, science, math, geography, art and bible.

Raising Olives- Kimberly uses Sonlight and combines FIAR into the mix. 

These ladies have been more than an inspiration for me this week as I ponder my curriculum choices for next year. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Tiffany