Homeschooling Week 22

Tornado
Originally uploaded by sandiesry

We studied weather this week. I'm finding that we do better to do one week heavy with science or social studies. Tornados in a bottle, measuring wind, etc. We made a cloud poster out of cotton balls and will use it now in our daily weather to predict the weather. I could not get Ben to watch the weather stations. No interest. We kept a weather journal and he predicted the next day's weather by what today was and what he hoped for the next day, such as snow. We are ready for new math materials. Ben needs more practice with flash cards and memorizing skip counting and facts. He does very well once he understands a concept and we've covered all of the first grade concepts. I ordered the new Saxon Homeschooling Kit for second grade. It is suppose to be parent friendly now. More photos.

Homeschooling Week 21

Making fossils
Originally uploaded by sandiesry

This week was my turn to have the flu. We studied dinosaurs this week. We made dinosaur fossils and learned what it takes for a fossil to form. We made a paper mache dinosaur egg. Ben made a nest for it and sat on it until it "hatched." Ben really enjoyed reading books about dinosaurs himself. Even my birthday cake ended up a test on how well he has retained an understanding of fractions up to eighths. More photos.

Homeschooling Week 20

100 Chart
Originally uploaded by sandiesry

We reached the one hundredth day of school this week. Ben was so sick with the flu, but we did a little paper work each day, I read to him, and he watched some educational TV programs. Our morning math rituals will have to change now. More photos.

Homeschooling Week 19

Chinese Calligraphy
Originally uploaded by sandiesry

We studied Ancient China, watched a DVD showing the statues of an ancient Chinese army buried with their leader, visited a Chinese Garden in one of our A to Z books, and practiced Chinese calligraphy using free hand for the name Ben at the top and used a stencil for the sign for Luck on the lower part of the page. We studied greater than and less than. It was a good week. More photos.

Homeschooling Week 18

A or An
Originally uploaded by sandiesry

We finished with MO VIP and began our new studies this week. The core of our new curriculum is Reading A to Z leveled readers. The readers cover the social studies and science areas that we need to cover. I just add a bit here and there. I'm using The Story of the World for history and map work. Explode the Code for phonics and spelling. Writing Made Easy plus the worksheets from A to Z cover grammer and writing. Math U See Beta plus Kumon Workbooks on Time and on Money. I've added a book on Rhythm Instraments and some art projects. Here we go. More pictures and scans