Then he lost his first top tooth. (He has already lost all four of the front bottom teeth and the dentist yesterday said all four of the front top teeth are loose and will be coming out soon.)
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Peter's Big Night
First he passed all the requirements of his current swimming level. Next session he will move up to being a minnow!!
Then he lost his first top tooth. (He has already lost all four of the front bottom teeth and the dentist yesterday said all four of the front top teeth are loose and will be coming out soon.)
Then he lost his first top tooth. (He has already lost all four of the front bottom teeth and the dentist yesterday said all four of the front top teeth are loose and will be coming out soon.)
Friday, September 11, 2015
First Grade and Pre-K, Weeks 6&7
Weeks 6 and 7 kind of blended together. First there was Labor Day and then we had to finish up early this week because Nana and Papa picked Peter up for their camping trip.
Math:
The big news is that Peter finished his second grade math book. When he gets back from camping next week he will dive right into the third grade materials, starting with a unit on Roman numerals.
History:
During week 6 we learned about the Golden Age of Egypt including King Tut. Then in week 7 we read about the Phoenicians sailing and trading around the Mediterranean sea (and stinking the place up by boiling snails to make purple dye) and the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, forming the world's first library.
Art:
Our video art teacher "took" us to a nature preserve to visit an owl and see her big eyes, feather tufts (which aren't ears) and textured, overlapping feathers. Then she led us through an owl art project.
Some New Resources:
We finished learning about all the parts of speech in The Sentence Family so now we are moving onto KISS Grammar. It is interesting because it teaches grammar using real sentences found in real children's literature. No easy, homogenized sentences...we all had to put on our thinking caps to identify the subjects and verbs of these sentences.
I finally found a Spanish resource that I'm liking. I was tired of books that focused almost entirely on teaching kids numbers/letters/colors in isolation and never even attempted to teach them to really say anything at all in Spanish. Getting Started with Spanish is a bit abstract for Elliot (though he is slowly picking it up through repetition), but it is perfect for Peter. By lesson 4 it was having him translate simple phrases, and within a few weeks he will have enough utilitarian words in his vocabulary to express his own simple thoughts in Spanish.
What to Do When You Grumble Too Much. Yeah, one of our small people is having a grumbling problem. We are working through this book during character time hoping to curb some of that negativity.
It seems crazy, but in just a few weeks it will be time for the last minute preparations for Audrey and our biannual unit on being gentle with a new baby. The boys and I will go on a field trip to visit Baby Group (a support group run through the hospital that I have attended briefly after each of the boys was born). It will give Spencer a chance to see a real baby (right now "baby" is a very abstract concept for him) and it will reinforce for the big boys just how little, fragile and helpless newborns are. Right now Elliot's theories about new babies swing wildly - one day he tells me that Audrey will be about the size of an apple when she is born and the next day he wants to put his toys up high because he worries she might crawl into his room, open his closet door and try to play with his big boy toys.
Math:
The big news is that Peter finished his second grade math book. When he gets back from camping next week he will dive right into the third grade materials, starting with a unit on Roman numerals.
History:
During week 6 we learned about the Golden Age of Egypt including King Tut. Then in week 7 we read about the Phoenicians sailing and trading around the Mediterranean sea (and stinking the place up by boiling snails to make purple dye) and the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, forming the world's first library.
Art:
Our video art teacher "took" us to a nature preserve to visit an owl and see her big eyes, feather tufts (which aren't ears) and textured, overlapping feathers. Then she led us through an owl art project.
Some New Resources:
We finished learning about all the parts of speech in The Sentence Family so now we are moving onto KISS Grammar. It is interesting because it teaches grammar using real sentences found in real children's literature. No easy, homogenized sentences...we all had to put on our thinking caps to identify the subjects and verbs of these sentences.
I finally found a Spanish resource that I'm liking. I was tired of books that focused almost entirely on teaching kids numbers/letters/colors in isolation and never even attempted to teach them to really say anything at all in Spanish. Getting Started with Spanish is a bit abstract for Elliot (though he is slowly picking it up through repetition), but it is perfect for Peter. By lesson 4 it was having him translate simple phrases, and within a few weeks he will have enough utilitarian words in his vocabulary to express his own simple thoughts in Spanish.
What to Do When You Grumble Too Much. Yeah, one of our small people is having a grumbling problem. We are working through this book during character time hoping to curb some of that negativity.
It seems crazy, but in just a few weeks it will be time for the last minute preparations for Audrey and our biannual unit on being gentle with a new baby. The boys and I will go on a field trip to visit Baby Group (a support group run through the hospital that I have attended briefly after each of the boys was born). It will give Spencer a chance to see a real baby (right now "baby" is a very abstract concept for him) and it will reinforce for the big boys just how little, fragile and helpless newborns are. Right now Elliot's theories about new babies swing wildly - one day he tells me that Audrey will be about the size of an apple when she is born and the next day he wants to put his toys up high because he worries she might crawl into his room, open his closet door and try to play with his big boy toys.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Our Bus Outing
Today we took a bus ride with some friends. We met up with the boys' friend Ian and his mom and took the local bus downtown to walk along the river. Spencer was highly skeptical of the bus (and broke out in sobs when we initially boarded), but otherwise all the boys enjoyed the adventure.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
First Grade and Pre-K, Week 5
Life Skills:
The boys and I are working through the pedestrian safety lessons put out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We used painter's tape to lay out a neighborhood on the table to practice safely walking our Imaginext figures up and down the road...they only got run over by the dump truck a couple times.
Literature:
Peter has been reading up a STORM!! He is reading Nate the Great books as fast as we can get them out of the library. He is also reading a lot of superhero chapter books and non-fiction books about anything and everything.
Art:
Park Day:
We met up with a homeschool group at our local park and the boys played, played, played. There were more than a dozen moms there and 30+ kids ranging in age from 1-12ish.
The boys and I are working through the pedestrian safety lessons put out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We used painter's tape to lay out a neighborhood on the table to practice safely walking our Imaginext figures up and down the road...they only got run over by the dump truck a couple times.
Literature:
Peter has been reading up a STORM!! He is reading Nate the Great books as fast as we can get them out of the library. He is also reading a lot of superhero chapter books and non-fiction books about anything and everything.
Art:
Park Day:
We met up with a homeschool group at our local park and the boys played, played, played. There were more than a dozen moms there and 30+ kids ranging in age from 1-12ish.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
First Grade and Pre-K, Weeks 3&4
We finished week 3, took a week off for zoo camp and then did week 4.
Language Arts:
Peter did his first spelling dictation sentences.
History:
We have covered a lot of ground. We learned about the first Sumerian dictator, Sargon, and great king Hammurabi of Babylon. Then we headed east and read about the first cities of ancient India and China. The boys painted Chinese vases.
Art:
Language Arts:
Peter did his first spelling dictation sentences.
History:
We have covered a lot of ground. We learned about the first Sumerian dictator, Sargon, and great king Hammurabi of Babylon. Then we headed east and read about the first cities of ancient India and China. The boys painted Chinese vases.
Art:
Sunday, August 2, 2015
First Grade and Pre-K, Week 2
Spanish:
The boys are starting to learn about verb conjugation. We are planning on covering this topic very thoroughly and taking all the time we need to be comfortable with regular -ar verbs.
History:
We read about King Narmer uniting upper and lower Egypt and learned about some ancient forms of writing. The boys tried their hands at writing in cuneiform and hieroglyphics.
Art:
The boys are starting to learn about verb conjugation. We are planning on covering this topic very thoroughly and taking all the time we need to be comfortable with regular -ar verbs.
History:
We read about King Narmer uniting upper and lower Egypt and learned about some ancient forms of writing. The boys tried their hands at writing in cuneiform and hieroglyphics.
Art:
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
First Grade and Pre-K, Week 1
Language Arts:
I am reading Little House in the Big Woods to the boys. Peter is reading Two Times the Fun. Elliot is working on beginning phonics and handwriting. Peter is working on advanced phonics, solidifying his handwriting and starting spelling and writing. Together we are reading a story teaching about the parts of speech.
Math:
Peter is just about to finish his second grade math book. Elliot is finishing the first half of the kindergarten math program and will start on the second half.
The Rest:
In history we read about early man transitioning from a nomadic existence to farming in the fertile crescent. The boys made cave paintings:
The boys are doing art lessons with a video instructor and did relatively well following her instructions for the first project:
I am reading Little House in the Big Woods to the boys. Peter is reading Two Times the Fun. Elliot is working on beginning phonics and handwriting. Peter is working on advanced phonics, solidifying his handwriting and starting spelling and writing. Together we are reading a story teaching about the parts of speech.
Math:
Peter is just about to finish his second grade math book. Elliot is finishing the first half of the kindergarten math program and will start on the second half.
The Rest:
In history we read about early man transitioning from a nomadic existence to farming in the fertile crescent. The boys made cave paintings:
The boys are doing art lessons with a video instructor and did relatively well following her instructions for the first project:
Friday, July 10, 2015
Summer Fun
A fourth of July carnival...
A new rock play area in the front yard...
A hot air balloon festival...
Lots of playing outside...
Getting ready for Audrey; she'll be here in a few more months!! (All the boys have been dressing and diapering their babies and "trying out" the crib, swing, infant car seat, etc.)
A new rock play area in the front yard...
A hot air balloon festival...
Lots of playing outside...
Getting ready for Audrey; she'll be here in a few more months!! (All the boys have been dressing and diapering their babies and "trying out" the crib, swing, infant car seat, etc.)
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