Weekly Review 5/28/12-6/1/12

This update is being written several hundred miles away from my children.  I am enjoying a weekend away with my mother.  We are celebrating the graduation of one of my cousins.  So my boys are with their paternal grandmother who is visiting from out of town and my husband.  While its nice to have time alone, I am really missing them.  They are apart of me so without them here I feel incomplete.

Math

Christopher completed his math curriculum all 130 lessons.  Way to go Christopher for a job well done.  He took his final exam yesterday.  He is so excited that first grade is coming to an end. 

Science

Learned about invertebrates.  Fortunately, we had several days of rain this week so the backyard was the location to hunt for invertebrates.  We found several snails and were able to examine their two sets of antennae, their shells and soft bodies. Growing up in San Francisco I frequently saw snails and slugs. I don’t see them as often here in Texas, perhaps the heat keeps them underground most of the day. 

LA

We were introduced to commas this week.  We use commas when the words yes or no are used at the beginning of a sentence.  Ex. Yes, you may have the ice cream cone., or  No, you may not have the ice cream cone. We practiced reading sentences with commas and pausing briefly before continuing.

History

Continued reading about Julius Caesar and his political rise.  In addition our LA curriculum mentioned children in Norway.  So I took this opportunity for us to learn a little more about Norway.  We knew from our studies earlier this year that Eric the Red and Leif Ericson came from Norway. But we learned about northern lights, and how the sun does not rise during December and January but never for summer.   For geography we found that Norway borders three countries on its east side Sweden, Finland and Russia. Norway is also located in the Artic Circle.

This brought up found memories of our studies of Matthew Henson the first African American to travel to the north pole. 

Preschool

Reading

Emmanuel read 12 words this week.  It was a tears of joy moment for me.  Each day we spent a few moments on his reading lesson and on Tuesday he read the following words an, am as, has, rat, at, cat, hat, pan, pat, fan, sat, man.  So we placed index cards on the floor and I would call out a word he would find the word and bring me the card.  Watching him pick up the cards and sound out each letter was amazing!  Later he said mommy you’re smart and I’m smart.  Joshua stood by screaming letters, letters, letters.  Of course, I called my husband babbling, emotional gibberish and he too was excited.  These light bulb moments are what make the ride of homeschool so enjoyable.  When you see the light bulb turn on or the wheels turning in their brains its an indescribable feeling. 

Math

Emmanuel is counting to 30 and next week we continue to 40. 

Joshua listened to many great books this week.  We continue working with him to increase his speech and help him add verbs to his language.  In the past I would read a book and say look Joshua green frog.  And he would repeat, now we say look Joshua the green frog is hopping. 

Unfortunately, there are no pictures this week for the update. I did not get to load the pictures before I left, and I forgot my camera. Can someone tell me why I always forget my camera?

That’s about it for us, how was your week?