Concept Week #23: Prehistoric Life

For this unit we had no worksheets and a TON of library books!

What I really wanted to cover was the Ice Age and the early mammals that lived then (woolly mammoths, saber-toothed cats, etc), but I couldn't find books specifically covering that at our tiny local library so I had to work with what I had.

First up we had two DK books that partly covered the era we were interested in.  They were Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries: The Visual Dictionary of Prehistoric Life and DK Eyewitness Books: Prehistoric Life. These books actually covered EVERYTHING including the era before dinosaurs, the era during dinosaurs, and the rise of large mammals and neanderthals. We just covered the pages that were relevant to our unit.

Then, we had some storybooks that followed around some of the common animals for that time period.

• Ice Age Monsters: Glyptodon by Rupert Oliver
• Ice Age Monsters: Cave Bear by Rupert Oliver
• Ice Age Monsters: Megaceros by Rupert Oliver
• Ice Age Monsters: Saber Tooth Tiger by Rupert Oliver
• Woolly Mammoth by Ron Wilson

Lastly I couldn't seem to find any relevant worksheets (that weren't coloring pages) to go along with this unit. This unit was fun, and we enjoyed it, but I wish we had had more material to go through.

Quarterly Curriculum: November 2014 - January 2015

I'm posting this earlier than I normally do because I'm already working on next quarter's schedule. This quarter was VERY slimmed down both because of all of the holidays and because I was adjusting to a new medicine which was making me very sleepy. So, next quarter I want to bring back our full work load. This break was nice, but I'm already ready to do more and am full of ideas! So, here is our (current) super easy holiday schedule!

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

Schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Subjects:

Magazine - We have some character magazines that cover handwriting, basic math, art, logic, and reading comprehension. We'll do one magazine a week.
Days - Everyday.
Textbooks - Character magazines.
Number of Pages - N/A

Spelling - Spelling words & units.
Days - Everyday.
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 2

Other "Subjects":

Reading - Reading simple storybooks on their own.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language to help Scooby-Doo communicate better, and to help us communicate better with him.

Some final notes:

• I got none :)

Scooby-Doo:

Schoolwork 2-3 days a week on any day

Magazines - Scooby-Doo is subscribed to a pre-k character magazine that covers letters, numbers, mazes, picture finds, reading comprehension, etc. We'll do one section a day, every other schoolwork day.
Days - Five days over two weeks
Textbooks - Character Magazines
Number of Pages - N/A

Other "Subjects":

Story Time - Reading a book every afternoon, even on days off.

Words Review - Going over simple words with him to help his speech.  This will be everyday, even on days off.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language everyday, even days off.

Final Notes:

• Scooby-Doo's is still doing speech therapy, however he is only doing it two days a week now.
• We're still working on sign language to help his communication.

Two Week Review: November 30 - December 13

A Two Week Review post on time! Go me! ;)

So, Scooby-Doo. He still has his therapy twice a week. I sat down and talked to one of his therapists about the possibility of him having autism... and she said she suspects that he does. She also said his speech therapist suspects the same thing. I have a doctor's appointment set up to begin getting him tested. Meanwhile, for schoolwork he's still been working on his magazines. We had quite a few stories these past two weeks, along with some look-and-find and numbers. Actually, the layout of his current magazine means we are pretty much just did stories for these past two weeks. The next two weeks will be different.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee finished up the stack of magazines we had on hand. The next six weeks we'll be doing schoolwork based on the same formula as the magazines. We also practiced reading and did our two spelling units (which were the final long o unit and a unit on family words). Lastly, I had to rework our Concept Weeks so we could do our Native American one and our Native American Mythology one back-to-back since they overlapped so much. So, there is just one post up for those two units. The unit was a bit above them, but that's okay. You never know until you try!

Concept Weeks #21 & 22: Native Americans and Native American Mythology

These two Concept Weeks went hand-in-hand. Ideally, we were supposed to do Native Americans the first week followed by Native American Mythology the second week however the two units actually overlapped so we did them together spread out over the two weeks.

We learned about some of the many tribes out there, and how they all lived differently as well as had (and still have) different customs. We read about the "three sisters" of their diet - corn, beans, and squash. We learned how different tribes hunted different animals, and about the introduction of horses into their culture.

We also talked about some of the more negative things, such as the constant warfare with the Europeans, the superior weapons of the Europeans, and introduction of European diseases to the tribes. We also covered some sad historical events - specifically the Trail of Tears and the Wounded Knee Massacre.

We also took a closer look at both Pocahontas and Sacajawea - their early lives, their interaction with the white settlers, etc.

Throughout all of this we read a bunch of myths of many of the different tribes. Some of the myths we greatly enjoyed, some we did not.

We had a few books. DK Eyewitness North American Indian gave an overview of the many tribes and regions of North America before and during the white settlers coming. This book was VERY over my kids heads! I loved it, but they didn't really care for it. Deciding that since they didn't get much out of the DK book I figured we should take a closer look at one tribe in particular. We read a book in the American Indians series called The Cherokee: A Proud People by Suzanne Cloud Trapper. This book was much better. It talked about the different aspects of Cherokee life before, during, and after the coming of the white settlers, as well as talking about how they live today versus then. Lastly, we had the book American Indian Mythology by Evelyn Wolfson. It had nine different myths from nine different tribes within it. Like I said, some we liked, some we didn't.

Overall, I think the information was a bit above Optimus Prime and Bumblebee's heads, however they did enjoy some parts of the unit. I think we'll do it again in a year or two - hopefully by then they will be ready to learn more.

Two Week Review: November 16 - November 29

Well... I really don't have much to say...

Scooby-Doo is still working on his magazines and going to speech therapy. For magazines, these two weeks we had some matching, some coloring, some number review, a maze, and letter sounds. All of this stuff is very easy pre-k stuff, but some of it is a bit above him. My husband thinks Scooby-Doo might have autism, and working on these magazines with him I'm seeing it...

As for Optimus Prime & Bumblebee we did magazines as well, plus some reading and spelling (these two units were more long o words). We also had two Concept Weeks, covering Thanksgiving and Mythological Creatures.

I'm starting to get a new idea for Science next quarter... I'm going to have to think on this...

2nd Grade Spelling Units #13-24

Here's the spelling list! Some of these words are repeats from 1st grade. Also, fox is a repeat from last quarter. We're continuing with the theme of rhyming words to help them with their reading.

Unit #13 - Animal Words
bear
deer
fox
mouse
rabbit
squirrel
dog
fish
cat
owl

Unit #14 - Long o Words
cope
hope
lope
mope
nope
rope
slope
coal
foal
goal

Unit #15 - Long o Words Part 2
bloat
boat
coat
float
gloat
goat
moat
dome
home
tome

Unit #16 - Long o Words Part 3
dote
mote
note
quote
tote
vote
wrote
dole
mole
stole

Unit #17 - Long o Words Part 4
bone
cone
drone
hone
lone
phone
tone
hole
pole
vole

Unit #18 - Family Words
aunt
brother
father
grandfather
grandmother
mother
sister
uncle
daughter
son

Unit #19 - Short e Words
bet
get
jet
let
met
net
pet
vet
we
yet

Unit #20 - Short e Words Part 2
best
guest
jest
nest
pest
rest
test
vest
west
zest

Unit #21 - Short e Words Part 3
bent
dent
lent
pent
rent
sent
spent
tent
vent
went

Unit #22 - Short e Words Part 4
bed
fed
red
wed
help
yelp
dead
head
lead
read

Unit #23 - Long e Words
beep
deep
jeep
keep
peep
sleep
weep
beet
feet
street

Unit #24 - Long e Words Part 2
bean
clean
glean
lean
mean
wean
beast
east
feast
yeast

Concept Week #20: Mythological Creatures

On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this unit a 5. My kids, on the other hand, would give it an 11.

The unit was built around a jigsaw puzzle book called Fantasy Beasts Jigsaw Book. Inside was a bunch of pictures - with short descriptions - of different fantasy creatures and on the next page was a puzzle of them. It covered basic fantasy creatures like Eastern and Western dragons, as well as less known ones like bunyips. So, I set out to find worksheets to go along with this book. This is where I started hitting a stone wall... I found a TON of worksheets - if you consider coloring pages worksheets. I don't. Also, my kids aren't that big on coloring... So, I printed up the pages (both on animals in the book and animals not in the book) since they had little blurbs about the creatures on them. I hoped my kids would color them. They would not.

Of course.

Then, I tried to find a book to go along with our unit. I hit ANOTHER brick wall. With Yule shopping going on right now cash is a bit short, so I went to the library. I found a really neat book called The Monsters and Creatures of Greek Mythology by Don Nardo which we read. It was an awesome book. The only problem? It only covered Greek Mythology. They didn't have anything else even remotely similar, except for a book on unicorns called Fantasy and Folklore: Unicorns and Other Magical Creatures by John Hamilton.

Yeah.

It was also a very good book, just not exactly what I was looking for. So, overall I consider the unit to be a bit of a bust, however Optimus Prime & Bumblebee LOVED it, especially the puzzle book, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Concept Week #19: Thanksgiving

This unit was pretty book and craft heavy! We did our usual assorted worksheet pages of math, mazes, dot-to-dots, etc. However, there were some reading comprehension pages (yes, yes, yes - from education.com) about the first Thanksgiving as well as the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, including Squanto. So they learned a bit about that. Then we had another book debate, which Berenstain Bears book to read? In the end, I read both: The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings by Stan & Jan Berenstain (a thunderstorm comes to Bear Country and the power goes out, so the Bear family sits in the dark and thinks about what they are thankful for) and The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks by Jan & Mike Berenstain (the Bear family celebrates Thanksgiving, but Sister Bear wants to keep the turkey Squanto as a pet, not make him the main course on the big day).

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee also helped make food for Thanksgiving. They helped with the pumpkin pies, and this recipe for Succotash (which, I had never heard of before but I found in a kids Thanksgiving cookbook) they made all by themselves (except for the cutting).

Succotash Recipe:
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
1 bell pepper (any color)
2 cups frozen lima beans
2 cups frozen corn
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop up the bell pepper
2. Melt butter in saucepan
3. Add bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes
4. Add broth, lima beans, and corn
5. Bring to a boil
6. Lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until broth is absorbed
7. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy

I also found a Thanksgiving activity book online for them that they could print up, staple together, and do, so they had fun with that. Then, I considered the unit closed, but when I went to the library to take out books for our upcoming Native American unit I found a book on Squanto, so we read that too. It was Squanto: The Pilgrim Adventure by Kate Jassem. It was pretty good for a kids book. While it was watered down, it wasn't overly watered down. It talked about how he was abducted and sold into slavery, how he came back to North America to find all of his tribe dead, etc. It was a sad story, but a good one.

The unit wound up being a bit more work than I thought it would be, however it was definitely one of our more successful units!

Two Week Review: November 2 - November 15

We had a fun two weeks, however, this post is going to be VERY short!

Scooby-Doo is getting a break this quarter, just like his big brothers. We worked on a magazine of his and covered a story, a maze, a picture find, counting, and letters so far. Next two weeks there will be more. He also had his speech therapy.

For Optimus Prime & Bumblebee we covered Yule in our first Concept Week of the new quarter, then we covered Texas in the second Concept Week. And for our regular schoolwork we worked on Scooby-Doo and Thomas magazines. Yes, it was easy work, but that's kind of the point for this quarter. The magazines cover basic Math, basic English, and Reading Comprehension, as well as some fun logic stuff and some arts and crafts. Are they getting too old for these magazines? Yes. But they enjoy the light load of schoolwork when we do it, and soon the subscriptions will expire and they won't get to do it any more. So, for this quarter we're going to have fun with them and with our Concept Weeks. They've been practicing their reading as well, but no new breakthroughs there. Lastly, we had Spelling. The first week we covered animal words, the second week we moved back to rhyming words with long o words.

Concept Week #18: Texas

Yup, we did a whole unit on Texas. We had to, we live here! We had some worksheets to go along with it, but mostly we used the book DK Eyewitness: Texas for our unit.

(I love, love, LOVE the DK Eyewitness books!!!)

I actually learned a lot of things about Texas that I was not aware of. I knew that it had been owned by Mexico and fought for it's independence, but I had no idea why. I knew about the Battle at the Alamo and how everyone died, but I had never heard of the Battle of San Jacinto, or knew that before that final battle in the war Mexico was winning. We also learned the history behind some of Texas's major cities, some of which were named after generals that fought in the war for Texas's independence! It was all very interesting!

We covered other things too, like state bird, state flower, etc but as a history major I was more fascinated by the historical aspect so I focused on that. Now, will these obscure facts sink into my young kids heads...? Probably not. But that's okay, because we'll just do Texas again in a year or two!

Concept Week #17: Yule

Yup, we did a whole unit on Yule again! Last year we covered some fun stuff plus the different ways different countries celebrate, as well as reading a TON of Christmas themed stories and signing a TON of Christmas carols. That was too much stuff last year to fit within one week, so this year we just covered fun stuff. We had dot-to-dots, mazes, and picture finds as well as a lot of Christmas themed math pages. So, this year it was slightly less educational but we still had lots of fun. I think we're going to do a Yule unit every year so I think I'll cycle through the educational pages each year. One year cover different traditions, another year cover the stories, etc... Anyway, I'm getting off topic here.

We were torn over what our book should be, so we read two: Merry Christmas Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer and The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas by Jan & Mike Berenstain. And, of course, we wrote our letters to Santa and Odin!

Yes, we did this unit the first week of November, instead of the week before Yule, but that's because I needed time to get most of my shopping done! I hate the Christmas crowds.

So, this year's Yule unit was less educational than last year's, but sometimes that's a good thing - leaves time for more fun stuff!

Two Week Review: October 12 - October 25

The final two weeks of the first quarter!!! I can't wait for our one week break (and Halloween) before we move onto a lighter, easier second quarter...

Scooby-Doo is kinda, maybe warming up to his new therapists, but he's still very quiet. I don't like that, but hopefully it'll change soon. At home we're still working on the same old, same old.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee are also same old, same old. English covered y as a vowel (Why is it only sometimes a vowel? That really bugs me...), days of the week, compound words, contractions, syllables, haiku, prefixes, and suffixes. In Math we did another addition and subtraction dollar book. Optimus Prime struggled but he had an easier time with it this time around. I guess doing that addition book did boost his confidence! Spelling was short o words and in Art we finished our books (pictures soon). In Religion we covered the goddess of winter the White Woman (also known as Holda) as well as going over the origins of Halloween and why we have some of the traditions we have.

In Geography we learned about ecosystems and food chains in one unit and why and how people live in certain environments in the other unit. In Handwriting we did handwriting, in Logic we FINALLY finished our picture find book, and in Science we finally finished our science book. We covered animal adaptions, defenses, and locomotion. We covered food chains and how the males, females, and babies have different names (like how with chickens the male is a rooster, the female is a hen, and the babies are chicks). We also read lots of books too to practice their reading. Optimus Prime is still working with Levels 1 & 2, Bumblebee is still working on Level 1.

I'm looking forward to a week off, a new schedule, and Halloween!

Two Week Review: September 28 - October 11

Scooby-Doo STILL hates his new therapists. And, to make matters worse, he's shutting down verbally. I'm pretty annoyed here. I'm seriously thinking that I might withdraw him from the program. Hopefully he warms up to them in the next couple of weeks... For schoolwork it's the same as always. Numbers, letters, logic... I think next quarter we're going to do something different.

As for Optimus Prime & Bumblebee, there is not much to report but they are doing good. We did Sharks for our concept week. In English we covered consonant blends, silent letters, hard and soft letters, short vowels, long vowels, and double vowels. For Math they had different workbooks. Optimus Prime had a first grade/kindergarten super easy addition book, Bumblebee had a first grade/second grade addition and subtraction book. They both did very well. Optimus Prime was so happy to have such an easy book to do! I'm hoping it'll give him a confidence boost for his next book. In Spelling we finished off long a words. In Art they still worked on their book and in Religion they learned about an Eskimo sea goddess named Sedna. That myth they really liked.

In Geography we started a new unit where we covered man-made vs nature-made changes to the Earth. For example, things like man building a damn, or erosion occurring naturally. Handwriting is still handwriting, Logic is still picture finds. (I think they are starting to get bored with them.) In Science we covered body parts of bees and clams, as well as the life cycle of the butterfly. And in Reading they practiced their reading. Like I said, nothing much to report! A nice two weeks, all in all.

Concept Week #16: Sharks

We had our own Shark Week!!!

My kids love sharks, and they are ALWAYS watching shark week on the tv (we have the dvd's) so it made sense to do a unit all about sharks.

We covered the different types of sharks on our worksheets, and for our book I took DK Eyewitness: Shark out of the library. I read them parts of the book to give them a rough idea how sharks lived, where they lived, how they had babies, what they ate, etc. The book gave a close-up to some sharks, like the Great White, as well as mentioning some shark relatives, like the Manta Ray.

And, of course, we covered the prehistoric Megalodon! The book even had a picture comparing the Megalodon's mouth to a Great White's mouth - the Great White's was tiny in comparison!!! It also showed how a kid could stand up inside the Megalodon's mouth and not reach the top teeth!!! Crazy!!!

We learned about sharks, but, most importantly, my kids had a BLAST! :)

Two Week Review: September 14 - September 27

Well, Scooby-Doo is in speech therapy. I'm a bit pissed, sorry, ANNOYED at the school, but that's neither here nor there. Long story short, they were mad at me for not dropping him off. Apparently having all new therapists in all new offices with all new phone numbers meant I was supposed to wander around the school looking for them, not they call me (since, they have my number) to set up appointments to get it started. Moving on. Scooby-Doo HATES his new therapists. Hopefully he'll warm up to them. Otherwise I might have to consider pulling him out... He's only going twice a week this school year. I wish he could go five days a week, but that was a three hour round trip and I can't do that everyday again this school year. We're still working on his schoolwork here at home, however he's completely clammed-up speech-wise. I'm hoping it's just temporary...

For Optimus Prime and Bumblebee English was a bunch of 1st grade standardized-style practice tests. I hated them, they hated them, thankfully they are done now. Then we moved onto a new workbook and started beginning and ending consonants. Nice and easy. In Math did one of those character addition and subtraction workbooks from the dollar store. It was a little hard for Optimus Prime, but he managed to get through it. Next two weeks he'll have an easier one. Spelling is still long a words, Art and Sign Language are the same as always. In Religion we learned about the Greek goddess Nemesis and the Indian goddess Daena. Geography was more land forms and regions (such as swamps). Handwriting was practicing handwriting (like always!). In Logic we FINALLY finished off our picture find book from last year! The next few weeks will be some easy review books. In Science we are still doing science - learning about the parts of animals, what a mammal is, invertebrates, spiders vs. insects, etc. I'll be both happy and sad when we finish this book... Reading is the same as always, nothing new to report there. Optimus Prime is still in physical therapy. It doesn't seem to be doing much to help him...

Two Week Review: August 31 - September 13

* I know, all of my Two Week Review posts are SO LATE! I'm working on getting caught up here. Most of them are already written, they just need to be edited first. I'm five behind, I'm hoping to have them all up within the next week. *

Scooby-Doo is not in speech therapy yet, the school still hasn't contacted me. I might have to go there and ask... Meanwhile, he's doing fine working on his numbers, letters, coloring, and logic. And, he's still a little chatter-box!

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee are doing good. In English we finished up reading comprehension and moved on to practice tests. One of their first grade textbooks has a bunch of practice standardized tests. None of us are too crazy about them, but we'll get through them. In Math we covered time, calendars, graphs, greater than/less than, and measurements. In Spelling we've moved on to long a words. Art and Sign Language were the same as always... In Religion we learned about Chang-O, a Chinese moon goddess. In Geography we've moved beyond "The World" into "Places and Regions" - basically land forms such as mountains, valleys, etc. Handwriting was Handwriting, Logic was picture finds. In Science we finished up Favorite Pets and moved on to some actual science stuff, like classification systems and learning what vertebrates are. Reading is the same as always. Optimus Prime switching between level 1 and level 2 books, Bumblebee working on level 1. We also covered our Concept Week on Prehistoric/Early Humans. Lastly, Optimus Prime is still in physical therapy.

Not much to say I guess!

Quarterly Curriculum: August-October 2014

This past quarter was very crazy. My doctor put me on a new medication which made me incredibly sleepy. Think sleeping 12+ hours a day sleepy. It also killed my appetite leading me to lose over 12 lbs. So this past quarter was very hectic. Because of this, next quarter is going to be VERY basic. VERY, VERY, VERY basic. Trying to do a full schedule was too much for me while adapting to this medicine, so I need a nice break.

Anyway, here's last quarter's schedule.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

Schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday. Wednesday & Saturday off.

Subjects:

Handwriting - Practicing letters and some letter sounds.
Days - Three days a week.
Textbooks - Brain Quest Workbook: Kindergarten (Workman Publishing Company).
Number of Pages - 5-6

Science - Our final unit on animals, covering farm animals, pets, science and animals, and animal fun facts.
Days - Three days a week.
Textbooks - The Complete Book of Animals Grades 1-3 (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 2-3

History/Geography - A geography unit that covers the world, laces and regions, physical characteristics, and an introduction to humans.
Days - Three days a week.
Textbooks - Down to Earth Geography (Teacher Created Resources).
Number of Pages - 2-3

Logic - Same/different, patterns, opposites, mazes, dot-to-dots, word searches, crosswords, etc.
Days - Three days a week.
Textbooks - Big Puzzle Play (School Zone), Fisher Price: First Grade Workbook 1, Fisher Price: First Grade Workbook 2.
Number of Pages - 5-6

Math - A serious review of basic addition and subtraction, with a small introduction to second grade math. 
Days - Five days a week.
Textbooks - Summer Link Math Plus Reading Summer Before Grade 2 (Brighter Child Publishing), Bendon: Disney Addition and Subtraction, Let's Grow Smart: Addition Grade 1/Bendon: Disney Princess Addition and Subtraction*, Bendon: Disney Addition and Subtraction.
Number of Pages - 2-3

English - A unit based on reading, reading comprehension, and language arts.
Days - Five days a week.
Textbooks - Scholastic Success With 1st Grade Workbook (Scholastic Teaching Resources), Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills Grade 2 (American Education Publishing).
Number of Pages - 4-5

Spelling - Spelling words & units
Days - Five days a week.
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 2-3

Other "Subjects":

Reading - Reading simple storybooks on their own. Levels 1 & 2 for Optimus Prime, Level 1 for Bumblebee.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language to help Scooby-Doo communicate better, and to help us communicate better with him.

Religion - A weekly class where we take a closer look at current religions, mythologies, and holidays.

Art - This quarter we are making a book!

Final Notes:

• Since Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are at different levels for Math & Reading, their schedules were slightly different.

Scooby-Doo:

This schedule is a hold over from last quarter. Scooby-Doo only did half of his schoolwork in the end (which is fine) so this quarter we did the other half.

Schoolwork 2-3 days a week, on any day.

Subjects:

Numbers - Reviewing the numbers 1-10, reviewing counting, each day will have it's own number that we focus on.
Days - Everyday.
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 2

Letters - Reviewing the alphabet, each day will have it's own letter that we focus on.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 2

Logic - Reviewing Colors & Shapes, learning Same or Different and other similar concepts.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Various.
Number of Pages - 2

Art - Coloring and painting.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Coloring books.
Number of Pages - 2

Other "Subjects":

Story Time - Reading a book every afternoon, even on days off.

Words Review - Going over simple words with him to help his speech.  This will be everyday, even on days off.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language everyday, even days off.

Final Notes:

• Scooby-Doo's speech therapy will resume sometime in August/September.  We will work on his speech at home. Obviously.
• We are all working on sign language to help Scooby-Doo's communication.

* Let's Grow Smart: Addition Grade 1 was completed by Optimus Prime, Bendon: Disney Princess Addition and Subtraction was completed by Bumblebee.

2nd Grade Reading List Part 2 & Book Reports

Okay, we still have our reading goals:

• Optimus Prime is alternating between Level 1 and Level 2 books. I mostly let him guide me here. If the Level 2 book is so hard he isn't reading it but just stumbling and guessing then I tell him to pick something else out.
• Bumblebee is reading some Level 2 books, but only the really easy ones and just because he is jealous of his brother! He is still struggling at Level 1.

And, we have our book goals for this quarter:

• The Hardy Boys Secret Files: A Rockin' Mystery 
• The Hardy Boys Secret Files : Sports Sabotage 
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Sleepover Sleuths 
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Pony Problems 
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: The Pumpkin Patch Puzzle 
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Cupcake Chaos 
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Cooking Camp Disaster 
• Magic Tree House: Revolutionary War on Wednesday
• Magic Tree House: Twister on Tuesday
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Horse Heroes 
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Magic Tricks from the Tree House 
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Soccer 
• The Magic School Bus: The Great Shark Escape 
• The Magic School Bus: Penguin Puzzle 
• The Magic School Bus: The Insect Invader 
• The Magic School Bus: Amazing Magnetism  

Still a goal of 16! And, since we did 30 books last quarter I don't imagine we'll have a hard time meeting this goal!!!

Lastly, we are still doing book reports. I was going to have them give me their favorite character and their favorite scene on top of the sentence and picture they already had to do, but in the end we just went with their favorite character. I'll save the favorite scene for another quarter.

Wonder Woman

Synopsis - Princess Diana of the Amazons becomes Wonder Woman and fights against evil, and the gods who try to destroy humans.

Wandering Falcon - "I've never been a big Wonder Woman fan (I'm not a big fan of Superheroes with special powers, I like the regular human superheroes) so I didn't know much about her until we started reading these books. They were pretty interesting. I'm still not a big Wonder Woman fan, but I'm glad we read them."

Optimus Prime - "They're fine."

Bumblebee - "I liked them all!!! The special one is the one where Princess Diana becomes Wonder Woman (he means "The Trial of the Amazons"). The Queen calls her Princess Diana."

Wonder Woman*

1. Monster Magic
2. Dr. Psycho's Circus of Crime
3. Rumble in the Rainforest
4. Attack of the Cheetah
5. Sword of the Dragon
6. The Fruit of All Evil
7. Creature of Chaos
8. Trial of the Amazons

* These books are not numbered, so they are listed in the order that we read them.  Also, for these books I have not listed an author since they are too much like comic books with multiple authors, illustrators, and creators.

Troll Hunters

We finished off Troll Hunters a few weeks ago.

Synopsis - Four kids - Pablo, Zak, Thora, and Louise - find themselves fighting against an army of underground trolls coming to the surface to take over the world. Along the way they meet Dr. Hoo, who guides them and tells them about their special powers based on the constellations in the sky.

Wandering Falcon - "This series started out really strong, and I really liked it, but then book three happened. I'm not sure what happened, I mean, yes there was magic and stuff from the beginning, but all of the sudden the magic just got crazy. However, come book four things got better again."

Optimus Prime - "They were scary."

Bumblebee - "I liked them. I liked the kid Thora."

Troll Hunters by Michael Dahl

1. Skyfall
2. Dark Tower Rising
3. The Lava Crown
4. Fallen Star

Lack of Posts

I'm sorry about the lack of posts, it's not intentional. My doctor put me on a new medication that is currently, MAJORLY, kicking my butt. I'm sleeping 12 hours a day and I spend the other 12 hours a day wishing I could sleep some more. I'm exhausted all the time & I've dropped over 13 lbs from it - 10 of those pounds were in the first week! I'm very tired and it's bleeding over into other aspects of my life. Like blogging. I'm just too tired to blog or to do more than the basics as far as homeschooling goes. I'm hoping my body will adjust to the medication soon here, it's been almost a month now. My appetite is back so I'm not dropping weight like crazy anymore (though the scale is still moving downwards) so I'm hoping that the exhaustion will go away soon as well. So, for the rest of the month I'll try to catch up on posting but I'm not making any promises!

Two Week Review: August 17 - August 30

I just realized I'm behind in these. Again. I don't know how this keeps happening...

School just started here which means Scooby-Doo will soon start speech therapy. I have no clue when he will, he has a new speech therapist and a new developmental/pre-k therapist in new offices so I'm waiting for the school to contact me. Hopefully they will no later than the second week of September. That gives them three weeks to get settled in... Meanwhile, for schoolwork he's doing the same as always. Numbers, letters, coloring, and some logic (these two weeks it was just shapes). He's doing good and he's still a chatter box.

Optimus Prime is still doing physical therapy. Like I said last post, his right leg is longer than his left, causing stress on his hips which he tries to adjust to by turning his feet in. His feet will probably always turn in, but through physical therapy he should learn to turn them out more.

English was still just reading comprehension. Math was reviewing subtraction, place value, fractions (which they love), counting money (they also love that), and telling time. The book they are working on is a book to supposedly bridge 1st and 2nd grade math. Mostly it's just 1st grade math. We'll be done with it soon. Spelling these two weeks were "short a" words, just like last time. (Well, last time had number words too.)

We started a new project for Art that I'm going to post about soon. More on that when I finally get my post up.* Sign Language was all review. I'm not sure that we're going to be doing any new words anytime soon. In Religion we covered Ilmatar and Hestia/Vesta. I forgot to tell you about Geography last time. Not sure how that happened, however all three weeks of Geography covered the theme of "The World" so I guess it doesn't matter that I didn't mention it until today. We did Handwriting, of course, and they had fun with hidden pictures for Logic. In Science we finished learning about Farm Animals and moved on to Favorite Pets.

As for Reading, unless he's having a bad day Optimus Prime is doing AMAZING. He's still working on level 1 and level 2 books. Bumblebee has moments where he has a major breakthrough then he immediately reverts again. It's very frustrating. But I'm sure he'll get it down sometime in the next 6 months. Meanwhile, I'm thinking Optimus Prime might be ready for chapter books in the next six months...

That's all I got for these two weeks!

* The post has already been put up.

Book Project Part 1

This quarter for our Art projects we are doing something different. We're making a "book".

The idea came about because we have a TON of scrapbooking paper, and I don't scrapbook any more. So, what to do with all that sturdy paper? Make a book, of course!

It was pretty easy. All we did was pick out prints that we liked and glued them together to make a page. Then we did the same to make (matching) covers.

Then we whole punched the book and ran some yarn through to make the spine. Like I said, SUPER easy. (Actually, I said "pretty easy" but you get my point.)

We then picked a theme for our books, and either drew pictures (Bumblebee) for it or searched the internet (me & Optimus Prime) for pictures to print up and color. 

My theme was Freya, however I also printed up Frigga and Aphrodite pictures as well sticking with the whole "love goddess" theme.

Now, these are all shots of my book. Why not my kids? Their books aren't finished yet! Once they are I'll do a part two post at the end of this quarter and show off their awesome books!

Concept Week #15: Prehistoric/Early Humans

This unit was sort of a part two to our last dinosaurs unit. After learning about dinosaurs for three straight months, it led to the question, "What about early people?"

Unfortunately, I could not find any worksheets to do along with this unit. Everyone had websites up filled with information but no one had any worksheets or activities related to this topic. Their reading level isn't quite good enough for me to write up fill-in-the-blank worksheets or anything similar so we just went without. It was very frustrating. In the end I couldn't think of a project to do either, so all we did was read our book about it and discuss the things in the book. We read Eyewitness Books: Early Humans which covered topics like Homo Erectus and Homo Neanderthalensis moving into modern human tribes spreading out across the world. We learned about early tribes (and even current tribes) on the continents as well as hunting and gathering and early forms of money. We covered the Bronze Age and the Iron Age as well as writing an burial practices. It was a very good book for a topic that not much information exists on.

It wasn't the type of unit they were used to, but future units (in later on grades) will look more like this with just a textbook and discussions. In the end we learned new things, and that's all that matters.

Concept Week #14: Life Cycles

This Concept Week was super easy, however the boys loved it so I have no complaints. Actually, Optimus Prime picked out this unit. I was at www.education.com trying to figure out what we wanted to do when he saw a sheet where you glue pictures of frog eggs, tadpoles, and adults into the correct order. He wanted to do it so I spent the day printing up a TON of sheets. They had coloring sheets as well as gluing sheets. They covered plants (corn, pumpkin, etc.), animals (reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, and mammals - including humans), and bugs (lots and lots and LOTS of bugs!).

Like I said, some sheets were for coloring, some were for gluing, and there was some overlap in them (grasshoppers and butterflies, for example, had a coloring and a gluing page). It covered how life starts as an egg (either inside a mammal or laid somewhere) then turns to a hatched (or birthed) baby, which ultimately grows into an adult who has more babies.

Was it a very basic concept for second graders? Yes. I think even for first graders (though that was the heading I found the sheets under). But they enjoyed it, even if it was easy, and they were excited to learn some of the interesting facts that went along with some of the pages. We had never really covered the idea of death before in our schoolwork - beyond talking about mummies - so we got to go over that a bit too. Eventually the mommies & daddies stop having babies, and as the babies grow the mommies & daddies age and begin to die. This happens sooner in the world of bugs than animals, but it still happens. We also talked about how some animals (and pretty much all bugs to the best of my knowledge) lay their eggs and leave. They don't stick around to raise the babies like mammals (especially people) do.

So, we got to cover a few different themes with this unit.

We did not have a project. I really couldn't think of an appropriate one to do, and they had so many cutting and gluing pages to do that I felt like we really didn't need one.

On the flip side we did have two books to go with this unit. I was fairly certain we had a Magic School Bus book that covered life cycles, but I couldn't find it. I did, however, find two other Magic School Bus books that covered the topic. The Magic School Bus Goes Upstream: A Book About the Salmon Migration and The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow. The first one obviously covers the salmon migration. But, in case you don't know, the salmon go upstream to lay their eggs then they leave them. The eggs hatch and the babies find their way home. The second one covers plants going from seed to plant to seed again. We had already read the second one for our kindergarten Concept Week on gardening, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to read it again.

So there we go, our first 2nd grade Concept Week!

Concept Unit #13: Dinosaurs

This Concept Unit (renamed from Concept Week for the simple fact that it wasn't a week long...) lasted three whole months and covered nothing but dinosaurs! My kids were in heaven.

There was quite a few differences. Instead of worksheets they had an entire workbook, there was no set project to do because the workbook was filled with projects and games, and there was no book or storybook to go along with the unit because we had an entire 300 or so page workbook to do. No need for overkill here!

The book we used was called Science Essentials: Dinosaurs Grades 1-3. I have to admit, even though it was a 1st grade book a lot of the stuff in there was over their heads and kinda boring. Most of it consisted of page after page after page of dinosaur, Pangaea, climate, landscape, paleontology, etc. facts that you would read about and then answer questions for. There was some fun stuff (dot-to-dots, mazes, picture finds, etc) and a LOT of math pages. And, like I said, some games (dominoes, rummy, and other easy games) and projects to do (homemade dinosaur digs, making a dinosaur playset, making a macaroni dinosaur, etc.).

All in all they had a blast doing a dinosaur unit that lasted the whole summer. I just wish it had been more their level. It was really largely a level where kids can read those big words and answer those questions completely on their own. So I guess 3rd grade more than 1st... Then there were some really easy pages that were honestly more kindergarten than 1st grade. However, I suppose that's the problem with a text book that tries to cover so many grade levels in one book. Some stuff will be too easy, some stuff too hard.

Still, they had fun for their final 1st grade Concept Unit and that's really all that matters.

2nd Grade Spelling Units #1-12

Here it is! The Spelling Units! It's almost halfway through the quarter, but hey, you know...

SOME OF THESE WORDS ARE REPEATS FROM FIRST GRADE!

These units are based on some spelling pages inside one of the workbooks I bought for them. They are all fairly easy words, quite a few of them were done in 1st grade, but that's okay. Repetition doesn't hurt anyone, unless it gets boring. Right now, it's not boring, so it's okay. Plus, this will help reinforce sounding out unknown words (for Optimus Prime) and learning how to read (for Bumblebee).

Unfortunately I don't think there will be any holiday units this year after all of these are done. :(

Unit #1 - Numbers
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten

Unit #2 - Short a Words
bat
cat
fat
gnat
hat
mat
pat
rat
sat
vat

Unit #3 - Short a Words Part 2
camp
clamp
damp
lamp
ramp
stamp
bath
math
path
wrath

Unit #4 - Short a Words Part 3
an
ban
can
clan
fan
man
pan
ran
tan
van

Unit #5 - Long a Words
bail
fail
hail
mail
nail
pail
quail
rail
sail
tail

Unit #6 - Long a Words Part 2
came
fame
game
lame
name
same
tame
fade
made
wade

Unit #7 - Long a Words Part 3
faint
paint
quaint
saint
taint
bain
main
pain
rain
train

Unit #8 - Long a Words Part 4
bake
cake
fake
lake
make
quake
rake
snake
take
wake

Unit #9 - Long a Words Part 5
clay
day
gray
hay
pay
play
say
stay
tray
way

Unit #10 - Long a Words Part 6
bale
dale
female
gale
kale
male
pale
sale
tale
whale

Unit #11 - Short o Words
blot
cot
dot
got
hot
lot
not
pot
rot
slot

Unit #12 - Short o Words Part 2
flop
hop
mop
plop
pop
slop
stop
top
box
fox

Ghost Detectors

For the record, we have NOT finished the Ghost Detectors series. I have no idea how many books are in it, what I do know is our library only has the first six and book seven is currently going on amazon for $25 new/$42 used. Ummmm, yeah, no, I don't think so. If our local library ever gets more, we'll read them. If not, we'll call it good at six.

Synopsis - Malcolm loves science, ghosts, and ordering new gadgets from the back of magazines. Most of the gadgets are fake, but one day he orders a specter detector that can really detect ghosts. This leads him and his best friend Dandy to investigate local hauntings.

Wandering Falcon - "Okay, I really wanted to like these books and I really didn't. As we read on they started to grow on me but they were definitely aimed towards young kids. The passages on Cocoa's make-up misadventures were funny."

Optimus Prime - "They were okay. The two kids were good at doing it."

Bumblebee - "They were good. The ghost dog was named Spooky and he was silly and he just yip, yip, yiped whenever he appeared."

Ghost Detectors by Dotti Enderle

1. It Creeps!
2. I'm Gonna Get You!
3. Tell No One!
4. I Dare You!
5. Draw!
6. Don't Read This!

Two Week Review: August 3 - August 16

If you've been following my other blog then you know why I haven't been posting lately. If you haven't, well, it's not a topic for this blog. However, I'm determined to start catching up, so here is a post that should of gone up weeks ago.

Our first two weeks saw some new things and some old things. New things? Religion lessons. We learned about Isis and Osiris. Sort of newish things? Some Sign Language. Okay, that's it, I'm out of new and newish things. I guess it was just one new thing.

For our Concept Week we covered Life Cycles. Hopefully there will be a post up about it tomorrow. Don't hold your breath. English was a bunch of reading comprehension. Math was reviewing numbers, shapes, counting by 5's and 10's, as well as basic addition and second grade addition. Optimus Prime insisted on doing second grade addition even though he wasn't ready for it, then was miserable and complained the whole time we did it. Fun. Not. Spelling has a bunch of new (easy) words. This whole year it'll be based on words that end the same or have similar sounds. They had some pages in one of their workbooks that I'm basing the entire years units on. It'll be easy units, but I think it'll be good for them. Art was a project, of course. Painting it was, though we are doing something neat soon that I look forward to posting about.

Then, of course, we practiced Handwriting, did some fun Logic (there was picture finds, mazes, and even hangman). We learned about farm animals in Science, prompting Bumblebee to beg me to buy a beef roast and some mutton. The mutton is in the freezer for now, and against my better judgement I bought and cooked a beef roast. They didn't touch it. Of course. I knew that was the way it would go down...

As for Reading, Optimus Prime has been switching back an forth between Level 1 and Level 2 books and he's doing great. Bumblebee is jealous and is working on Level 1 books while insisting he should be reading Level 2 books. However, he struggles so much with Level 1 I don't see that happening anytime soon.

What is Scooby-Doo up to? Numbers, Letters, Coloring, Logic (this week it was shapes). He's doing good. He's also turning into a little chatterbox. Soon speech therapy will start up for him again and I'm not sure he really needs it anymore... Which reminds me, Optimus Prime started physical therapy for his feet and right leg, which is longer than his left. It's for 4-6 weeks.

That's it for tonight.

2nd Grade Reading List Part 1 & Book Reports

Okay, this quarter we have some reading goals:

• Optimus Prime just learned how to read and is ready to move beyond Level 1 books, so he'll be working on Level 1 &2. I don't want to completely cut off Level 1 yet, I want to make sure he has it down a bit better, he still stumbles on a word here and there. I'm thinking a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio (Level 1:Level 2). He'll also work on reading completely on his own. Right now I hold the book, help him out, etc., but I'm going to hand the book off to him and see how he does all on his own.
• Bumblebee needs to work on getting Level 1 down on his own, but to be honest I don't see that happening this quarter.

Then, we also have our chapter book goal list. And, SOMEHOW, we missed a book AGAIN from our February-April goal list:

• Ballpark Mysteries: The Fenway Foul-Up

I would say we are doing that one first, but the problem is I just took the last two Ghost Detector books from the library, so clearly we will be doing THOSE two first. However, the Ballpark Mystery one will be next, I mean third, I mean... I promise... ?

Anyway, here are our book goals for this quarter:

• Ghost Detectors: Draw!
• Ghost Detectors: Don't Read This!
• Clue Jr: The Case of the Missing Movie
• Magic Tree House: Hour of the Olympics
• Magic Tree House: Tonight on the Titanic
• Magic Tree House: Buffalo Before Breakfast
• Magic Tree House: Tigers at Twilight
• Magic Tree House: Dingoes at Dinnertime
• Magic Tree House: Civil War on Sunday
• Batman: Arctic Attack
• Batman: Harley Quinn's Shocking Surprise
• Batman: The Man Behind the Mask
• Batman: Catwoman's Classroom of Claws
• Batman: The Maker of Monsters
• Wonder Woman: Creature of Chaos
• Wonder Woman: The Fruit of all Evil

Two things:

(1) We're still doing book reports. Right now it's really easy, just a sentence about the book and a picture from the book. I've written up 14 of those forms (each), then after those 14 are used up I'm going to change things a little. They'll have to name their favorite character from the book and their favorite scene in addition to what they already have to do.

(2) I've upped our reading goal. From Day 1 it's been 1 book a week for a total of 13 books, though we've always read AT LEAST double (and usually triple or more) that. I've added 3 books to our goal (raising it about a quarter). Maybe I'll raise it again next quarter, maybe not. Once they are reading chapter books on their own I'll be reading longer, harder books to them so I won't be reading as many titles a quarter. So it's not like 13 is a forever number or anything.

Two Week Review: July 20 - August 2

Final Two Week Review for this quarter AND for 1st grade!!! YES!!!

I'm just excited because I have big, big, BIG news! Optimus Prime just mastered reading!!! (It was a few days ago now...) He's got level 1 books down and is doing really good on level 2 books! Not so much for his VERY jealous brother Bumblebee, but, like I told Bumblebee, he's good at math, his brother is good at reading.

So, on another note, they had a week of fitness class, followed by a 1k race on the 2nd. Their first race! I didn't realize it would be so easy or I would of signed Scooby-Doo up too. However, they are having one again in September, so I'm signing up all three kids!

Final notes! No schoolwork for Scooby-Doo. I decided we'll restart Week 2 of next quarter.

In Math all we did was review money. In Spelling all we did was our review words. Optimus Prime did so good he didn't have Spelling for the last week! Bumblebee was jealous... again. In English we did a "Three Billy Goats Gruff" unit followed by riddles and periods. Finally in Dinosaurs we did the Cretaceous Period. I already covered reading up above, so I think that's it...

Second grade, here we come!

Quarterly Curriculum: May - July 2014

Out with the old, in with the new on their curriculum pages...

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee:

Schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday. Wednesday & Saturday off.

Subjects:

Math - Time & money for the whole quarter. 
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - The Complete Book of Time & Money Grades K-3 (American Education Publishing)
Number of Pages - 2

English - Large focus on reading comprehension.  I'm still waiting on our books, once I get them I'll let you know.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - 
Number of Pages - 2

Spelling Review - A review of the spelling words & units from the entire school year.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - None, just loose worksheets.
Number of Pages - 1 1/2

Concept - A three month long Concept Unit that focuses completely on dinosaurs.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Science Essentials Dinosaurs Grades 1-3 (School Specialty Publishing), DK Eyewitness Books Dinosaurs (DK Publishing)
Number of Pages - Varies day-to-day

Other "Subjects":

Reading - Reading simple storybooks on their own.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language to help Scooby-Doo communicate better, and to help us communicate better with him.

Some final notes:

• Summer here is June & July, however since we do quarters May gets lumped into summer for us.  So they will have a nice easy schedule for May, which, I won't lie, is a huge relief for me.
• Subjects dropped for the summer?  Handwriting, Science, Spanish, History/Geography, and Logic.  Yes, even the beloved Logic has been dropped.
• Spelling has been turned into Spelling Review.  What does this mean, exactly?  We will review their old spelling words.  I was going to do a whole new set of units, however I realized the other day that I would serve them better by reviewing the words they never got down.  If they get them down, then we'll have some new units.  We'll see.
• Scooby-Doo will not be doing speech therapy during the summer, but he will for May (this really applies to the other schedule).
• We're trying out a new thing for Concept Weeks this quarter.  Instead it will be a "Concept Quarter" with the theme going on for the whole quarter.  I'm going to play around with the Concept Weeks next school year, so this is a prelude to that.
• I've added Sign Language on for the summer.  We're retiring Spanish until third grade rolls around, but we're doing sign language for Scooby-Doo, to help with his speech therapy.
• Baseball will still be going on for May, followed by the pool in the park for June & July.
• Reading Comprehension will still be lumped in with English.  It might stay like this for good, not sure.
• Learning to read will still be our main focus.  
• This (learning to read) is part of the reason for the half days.  The other reason?  It's summer!  My kids should be more worried about having fun.  We are doing schoolwork because my kids like to brain dump, because their schedule is pretty easy in general through the school year, and because (no lie) they get antsy if we take too much time off from schoolwork.  They like taking an extra day off here and there, but when it goes on for more than four days or so they start whining.  

Final, final note?  This is the last quarter that Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are on the exact same schedule.  Next quarter they will have different ones.

Scooby-Doo:

Curriculum May-July 2014

Scooby-Doo STILL isn't preschool age yet (he won't be for more than a year), but he loves doing his schoolwork and it's starting to help his speech so we're going to keep at it.  This quarter we're going to have an actual schedule with actual curriculum which we will try to stick to.

The goal was schoolwork on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday with Wednesday & Saturday off. The reality averaged out to every other day that his brothers did schoolwork.

Subjects:

Numbers - Reviewing the numbers 1-10, reviewing counting, each day will have it's own number that we focus on.
Days - Everyday.
Textbooks -
Number of Pages - 2

Letters - Reviewing the alphabet, each day will have it's own letter that we focus on.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks -
Number of Pages - 2

Logic - Reviewing Colors & Shapes, learning Same or Different and other similar concepts.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks -
Number of Pages - 2

Art - Coloring and painting.
Days - Everyday
Textbooks - Coloring books.
Number of Pages - 2

Other "Subjects":

Story Time - Reading a book every afternoon, even on days off.

Words Review - Going over simple words with him to help his speech.  This will be everyday, even on days off.

Sign Language - Learning basic sign language everyday, even days off.

Final Notes:

• Scooby-Doo will not have speech therapy this summer.  He will resume in August/September.  To make up for this we will work on his speech therapy at home the best we can.
• We will try our hand at sign language this summer to help his communication.

Two Week Review: July 6 - July 19

So, these two weeks saw us (Week #1) still on vacation with my uncle, followed by a trip to Carlsbad, New Mexico to see the bats. This was followed by (Week #2) another week of fitness class for the older two (with another week of fitness class next week). So, we were pretty busy.

For all of the above mentioned reasons, Scooby-Doo did NOT do any schoolwork. I wanted to, but we were WAY too busy, and it was a mad rush to keep his older two brothers on schedule. I'm not even sure if he'll do any for the next two weeks. We'll have to see how it all works out. I'm going to be pretty busy with Optimus Prime & Bumblebee as it is, and Scooby-Doo is probably going to be more interested in me chasing him around the house threatening to tickle him than in doing schoolwork with me. Priorities, you know.

So what did his older two brothers do? Math was spent reviewing everything up until this point, as well as introducing the half-dollar and the dollar. Bumblebee mastered the quarter, Optimus Prime mastered the nickel up to the number 50. Hey, almost there. In English we had a "Three Little Pigs" unit, followed by vocabulary and compound words. For some reason Bumblebee LOVES compound words. Don't ask, I have no clue. Spelling was, of course, more review. Lastly, in Dinosaurs we covered the Triassic and Jurassic periods - what dinosaurs lived then, what was plant life like, etc.

Next week will be the final week of fitness class for the summer, followed by a week doing a mad rush to get everything finished by next quarter. So, yeah, you know, busy.

Two Week Review: June 22 - July 5

First of all, the first week here Optimus Prime & Bumblebee had a fitness class at the local gym. Yay! Burn up some of that energy :) Also, my uncle came to visit us the first week of July, so there was a mad scramble to get everything done ahead of schedule.

Secondly, Scooby-Doo did NOTHING for schoolwork these two weeks. It was both really depressing and really nice. Depressing, because I wanted to do stuff with him, and there were moments when he wanted to do stuff with me, but nice because it was just nice for me to take a break from homeschooling him and he was happy to not be constantly pushed towards the table by me. I think he would of liked to do some schoolwork, but that's okay. I really needed the time to focus on his older brothers, and Scooby-Doo won't actually start pre-k until next next school year. He'll still be three when this upcoming school year starts. So, you know, no pressure.

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee have been doing real well. Optimus Prime especially. In Math we covered dimes and quarters, counting by 10's and 25's. Bumblebee did great, of course, however Optimus Prime FINALLY got counting by 10's down. It was a big moment, with lots of praise (my part) and pride (his part). He was doing great until we added quarters into the mix, then he started getting confused again. I told him it was no biggie, he'll get it eventually after all. Meanwhile, for all the math problems where you had to say what coins you would use if you were spending 75 (or whatever) cents on something, I just got him to do the problem sans quarters. He did fine once the option for quarters was eliminated.

In English we covered short and long vowels and consonant blends. We also had a story unit on "Little Red Riding Hood." Spelling was, of course, more review. Optimus Prime had another major victory here. He got about half of his missed spelling words down, almost 20 total. Bumblebee isn't doing so hot reviewing his spelling words. Spelling, and reading, are DEFINITELY his weaker subjects. Meanwhile Optimus Prime is kicking butt in that field... And, as always, any day now they are going to get their reading down... (Also, book reports are going fine.)

In Dinosaurs we got to learn about other animals that lived during the same time, as well as the extinction of dinosaurs, dinosaur descendants, and we learned just what the Mesozoic Era means. I forgot to say last post that we've taken a break from learning more Sign Language. We've done quite a few weeks of it, and they've learned a ton of new words, but the rest of the summer will just be a focus on retaining those words and not adding any new ones.

Well, that sums up these two weeks. Next week we'll still be on vacation with my uncle, then we go to Carlsbad to see the bats. Can't wait!

Two Week Review: June 8 - June 21

* Okay, been really busy but that will all be explained as the posts come up *

First Scooby-Doo. He's doing great with his numbers. Of course. He's also doing good with his alphabet. We finished it this week and started from the beginning again. He did his coloring and seemed to really like it. As for Logic, we did colors. He really didn't understand the concept of only coloring something a specific color, but he did it to humor me. I also decided this week that Scooby-Doo's a bit burnt out. So, I'll let him take the next two weeks off. Also, I wrote up 13 weeks of schoolwork for him, just like I did for his brothers, but I'm going to spread the remainder of his schoolwork out over this quarter and next quarter. He's still 3, and I honesty don't think he's ready for an everyday pace like his brothers do. When they were 3 they did schoolwork everyday and (mostly) loved it. They were in a rush to grow up. Scooby-Doo isn't, so I'll let him be a toddler for a while longer.

Now, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee. Reading and book reports are both going great. Soon, for reading. Soon... Soon they will have it down. I can't wait! I'm really hoping by the end of the summer... Optimus Prime, maybe, which is kinda surprising. I thought it would be Bumblebee first...

For Math we are FINALLY done with time (think I mentioned that last post...), and started money. Yay, pennies! The easiest money schoolwork ever! Optimus Prime was BEYOND thrilled! We also did nickels, he wasn't so thrilled with that... He still doesn't have the whole counting by 5's and 10's thing down. But we're getting there. Meanwhile, Bumblebee has counting by 10's down (has for a while) but needs help counting by 5's. We'll get there! In English we got to read "The Gingerbread Man" and do a unit along with it. Then we started a new English book, which started with some REALLY easy stuff. They were bored. Seriously, it started with the alphabet, reviewing colors, and counting. Kinda kindergarten level... Now, the stories we are doing is also a kindergarten book, but while that is below them it doesn't bore them because there are fun activities (like making gingerbread cookies, only I didn't have all the ingredients so we made a cake instead) and a story they like (that they don't have to read, if you know what I mean...). However, the new English book FINALLY picked up and we got to do some opposites, abc order, story order (which they LOVE), and rhyming words. All's well that ends well, I guess.

Spelling was review, of course. I swear, their refusal to get these words down is driving me crazy... Dinosaurs was, of course, fun. We learned about paleontologists, fossils, and dinosaur theories (including skin types, warm- or cold-blooded, eyesight, vocal capabilities, and intelligence). We also did a craft and played some dinosaur games in the book.

Lastly, this last week Optimus Prime and Bumblebee had a fitness class at the local gym! It will also be for next week too. Wear 'em out ;) Too bad Scooby-Doo is too young...

Two Week Review: May 25 - June 7

After this post I'll be pretty much current! Yay! Now if I can just not fall behind again... Ah, to dream.

Scooby-Doo first. We started abc dot-to-dots, since he was doing so good with his number ones. Yeah, he doesn't quite understand abc ones. However, he's getting better at his mazes, especially if he has to follow a number trail (like he does on some). So, as far as numbers and letters go he's doing great. Coloring is coming along okay. Some days he is interested, some days not so much. In Logic we did the concept "What if?" What if a bee got married? What if an octopus was in a shopping cart? What if a worm family had their portrait taken? I'm sure you get the idea. I didn't make these up, they were in one of his workbooks. Yeah, that concept went RIGHT over his head. His answer to the questions? To scribble. That's all right.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee are having a breakthrough in their reading. They've found their confidence and are starting to figure this whole thing out on their own. They still need my help sounding out words sometimes, but I feel like we are FINALLY getting there. In Math we finally hit a wall. We started the quarter/three quarter hour. Yeah, they (Optimus Prime especially) didn't really get that. I told them it was okay if they didn't understand it, they just needed to try. That was followed by counting the minutes by fives and then reviewing everything we had already done. We are now DONE with time and are starting money next.

For English we did a "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" unit in "Listen an Learn" followed by nouns, verbs, adjectives, true/false, fiction/nonfiction, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and punctuation. It was a lot. We finished up their English book and start a new one next week. Spelling was still review (soon they will have different review words). In Dinosaurs we learned about dinosaur packs versus solo dinosaurs, reproduction and raising their young, how dinosaurs are named, and how dinosaurs are grouped and classified. That last bit was over their head, they understand herbivore, omnivore, carnivore - but that's really it. They didn't really understand "bird hip bone" and "lizard hip boned" and "duck billed" etc. Lastly, I made them step it up in their book reports. Real sentences about the book. Optimus Prime freaked for the first two, but then he got it down. Soon, I'm going to up it even more. Soon, it'll be two sentences about the book.

Two Week Review: May 11 - May 24

Okay, still late (meant to put this up over a week ago, or, you know, back in May, but whatever). Tomorrow I should have the other back post up.

Scooby-Doo is having fun with his easy pre-k schoolwork. He's figured out doing dot-to-dots on paper, we're working on him doing mazes (he just draws a straight line from point a to point b). He's writing his numbers and letters. He's actually coloring. He was never really big on it, so I would just let him decorate paper with stickers. Yeah, I got bored with that (plus, all those stickers = expensive over time) and wanted him to figure out the whole coloring thing, so we're working on that. He worked on Same or Different, which he understood the concept of same, but not different. Then we worked on shapes, and he actually tried doing some shapes on his own. All in all a good two weeks.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are struggling with reading on their own. I'm confidant they'll start getting it down soon. In Math we worked on comparing digital and analog clocks and learning about the half hour. In English they got to do their new "Listen and Learn" book. They were thrilled. It's level kindergarten, and obviously above them, but they had fun with it even if it was easy. We read some Mother Goose nursery rhymes, did some activities with them, then read another book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes and talked about how the rhymes were both the same and different - how different words are sometimes used in the exact same rhyme, or how some rhymes (like One, Two, Buckle My Shoe) are actually different in different versions. We also worked on consonant blends, synonyms, antonyms, and compound words.

Spelling was still review, and Dinosaurs was still fun. We learned about dinosaur size, classifications, diets, teeth, attacks, and defenses. Lastly, book reports have been going good. I think I said before they just have to write one sentence (one their own - I'll help them sound out words, but they have to figure it out on their own) and draw one picture. I've been letting them get away with sentences like "The book was good" or "The book was nice." Yeah, next week I'm going to start requiring sentences that had some thought put into them.

Like I said, all in all, a good two weeks.

Two Week Review: April 27 - May 10

Yay! The ending of our spring quarter and the beginning of our summer quarter! I'm so glad we are switching to half days for Scooby-Doo's last month of speech therapy. It was just... too... MUCH! Thankfully he only has a few days of therapy left, thankfully he doesn't have it during the summer, but that's all besides the point.

So, onto what we did.

My grandmother was here for another week (as a matter of fact, the last week of our spring quarter), so again we were really busy and didn't do much reading. Plus, EVERYONE (but my grandmother) got sick with some 24 hour thing (which I came down with TWICE).

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee missed their t-ball all week, Scooby-Doo missed his speech therapy all week (except Monday). Thankfully we were ahead in schoolwork, because we only did it on Monday and Wednesday. And we only had to do half days on those days. Scooby-Doo only went to speech therapy on Monday, where he was a big chatter box (for him) and said about a half dozen new words for his therapists! Maybe we are FINALLY getting somewhere. I hope.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee finished up all their schoolwork for the quarter, but between my grandmother being here and everyone getting sick they only read one book a day:

Optimus Prime:
I Can Read Phonics! The Berenstain Bears: Moo!
I Can Read Phonics! The Berenstain Bears: The Cute Pony
I Can Read Phonics! Batman: Toxic Terror
I Can Read Phonics! Superman: Superpowers
I Can Read Phonics! Superman:Super Hero Friends
I Can Read Phonics! Superman: Lex Luthor
I Can Read Phonics! The Berenstain Bears: Family Fun

Bumblebee:
I Can Read Phonics! Batman: Batman's Gadgets
I Can Read Phonics! Superman: Bizarro
I Can Read Phonics! Superman: Metallo
I Can Read Phonics! Superman: Parasite
I Can Read Phonics! Superman: Lex Luthor
I Can Read Phonics! The Berenstain Bears: It's Not a Frog
I Can Read Phonics! Batman: The Mayhem of Metallo

Then, the summer schedule started.

Scooby-Doo now has real goals for his schoolwork, and it's no longer a "if we do it cool, if not whatever" situation. He's officially being homeschooled in pre-k as far as I'm concerned. And he's loving it. He has 4 official "subjects" - Numbers, Logic, Letters, Art. Right now I'm trying to get him to do dot-to-dots on his own, as well as matching. He's not quite sure what to make of it. We'll see come next week.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee have a nice, EASY schedule for the last month of speech therapy. They are working on their reading with a new goal. Before, when we read, if they didn't know a word I supplied it for them. Now, I'm making them sound it out (so long as it's under 6 letters). They're upset, but they'll adapt soon enough and get better at reading because of it. I'm also making them do book reports again on the chapter books we read. So far they are easy, I'm only looking for one sentence out of them about the book - a sentence that they have to sound out completely on their own. We should of been doing this all along, I just never thought of it for some reason.

We're also working on Sign Language. We only did five words this week. They picked them up pretty quick. We'll see how it goes. (Scooby-Doo has shown zero interest in learning Sign Language.)

Our new subjects? In Math they are learning how to tell the hour on a clock. We'll be doing clocks for the entire month. Nice and easy. No meltdowns from Optimus Prime because Math is too hard. English is English. We did beginning and ending sounds. Review, which is good. Spelling was also review of words they didn't get down this year. Then, we had Dinosaurs! An entire class for the whole summer dedicated to dinosaurs! They're excited. So, they learned about what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, and about the continent Pangaea. So far (big shock) Dinosaurs is their favorite subject.

That's it. More soon.

A Note on May

You know, back in March when I wrote one of these for February I swore I'd always have my shit together so I didn't have a mess like this again, a mess where I wind up taking a whole month off of blogging and am desperately scrambling around, trying to read my incoherent notes, so I can type up a post over a month late.  Yeah, then May happened.

T-ball, t-ball parties, speech therapy every day, homeschooling every day, my grandmother's visit, pre-house hunting, the loan company that won't stop calling our house because they desperately want us to get a loan through them (someone should tell them that there IS a point in your sales pitch where you can become TOO pushy), my husband being told that he now needs to work six nine-hour (someday's ten-hour) work days a week instead of five...  take your pick.  My plate went form "slightly overwhelmed" to "where the hell did it go under all of this crap?!?"

The good news is... all of that's OVER with (well, except my husband's new schedule - unfortunately that's going no where).  So, I'm back.  The other good news is May made me seriously reassess my priorities, my families priorities, and Scooby-Doo's speech therapy.  Summer is going to be a nice break from the hectic (sort of, we do have house hunting to do), and when August rolls around and speech therapy starts back up we ARE NOT doing it everyday.  EVER.  AGAIN.

So, I'm going to go update some stuff on this blog, and start posting again tomorrow.

1st Grade Reading List Part 4 & Book Reports

Yay!  New chapter book reading list goals!

Somehow, we skipped these two books from our goals last quarter:

• Magic School Bus: Twister Trouble
• Ballpark Mysteries: The Fenway Foul-Up

Not sure how that happened, but we'll get to work fixing that right away.  However, since we easily read four times the number of books we had listed I think I can be forgiven for forgetting about those two. 

New list to knock out:

• Wonder Woman: Sword of the Dragon
• Wonder Woman: Dr. Psycho's Circus of Crime
• Batman: Catwoman's Halloween Heist
• Batman: Big-Mite's Big Blunder
• Batman: The Puppet Master's Revenge
• Magic Tree House: Vacation Under the Volcano
• Magic School Bus: The Giant Germ
• Ghost Detectors: Tell No One!
• Ghost Detectors: I Dare You!
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Chick-napped!
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: The Zoo Crew
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Mall Madness
• Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Thanksgiving Thief

Also, I'm bringing back the book reports.  I wanted to last quarter, but stuff was just WAY TOO CRAZY.  Scooby-Doo starting speech, two visits from relatives, Ostara/Easter, three birthday's in the family, news from my husbands job that we are moving... it was just too much.  Book reports are back in now, and they are simpler than they were before.  I think that was part of our problem.

Last time we did a weekly book report, this time we'll do one every time we finish a chapter book, so there could (and will) be more than one a week.  Last time I wanted them to write the author's name, favorite character, whether it was fiction or non-fiction, etc.  It was just too much for them.  This time they only have to write a sentence or two about the book and draw a picture.  That's it.  Nice and easy.

FYI, their reading is going good.  I'm hoping they will be completely reading level one books on their own (Optimus Prime especially) by the end of this quarter, and hopefully they will be ready to tackle chapter books on their own in second grade.  I'm stressing a bit about them being "late readers" but truthfully that's (a) common for late talkers (which they were), (b) common for kids who needed speech therapy (which they did), and (c) some kids don't master level 1 books until the end of second grade.  So, with two things stacked against my kids already it's quite possible they won't get this down until third grade.  I'm determined for that to NOT happen, but every kid is different.  We'll just take it one day at a time and see how it goes. 

Science Experiment #3: What Happens to Pine Cones in Water?

We did this experiment the first week of April.  Why so long putting this up?  My camera, with the pictures I took, is missing.  I'm beginning to suspect Scooby-Doo might of thrown it out...

If I find my camera I'll update this post, if not, well... we're not doing this experiment again.

So, in case you did not know pine cones have a natural defense built in to protect their seeds from falling out too soon.  Wind, animals, etc. knock pine cones off of trees, but the seeds are not always ready to fall out.  Maybe it's the wrong time of year, maybe the seeds aren't ready yet, whatever.  So, pine cones close themselves up until they are ready to drop their seeds.

The library has a huge tree in front that regularly drops pine cones, and Optimus Prime and Bumblebee like giving them to me as presents.  So, when faced with over two dozen pine cones in our home I was happy to find a use for them.

Supplies:

• A bowl
• Open pine cones
• Towels

Place the pine cones into the bowl and cover with water.  Walk away for an hour, come back.  What you will find is the pine cones have completely closed up.  Why?  They don't want their seeds drowning and becoming completely useless.  So, they close up to save them.

Then, take the pine cones out of the water and put them on the towel to dry.  As they dry out over the next couple of days they will completely open up again, because they now know it is safe for the seeds.

Pretty neat, huh?  This experiment was by far our simplest, but my boys loved it and that's honestly all that matters.

Two Week Review: April 13 - 26

These two weeks were crazy busy.  Most of our weeks are.  The first week I started rearranging furniture in our house, and the second week my grandmother came for a visit.  We also had an Easter egg hunt in our local park (where Scooby-Doo walked around saying "egg" the whole time).

Scooby-Doo had his speech therapy everyday, as well as his schoolwork most days.  Last night we had a major breakthrough in his speech.  We went to Dollar General, and I let him push the cart.  He was so excited because I let him walk - I always make him ride, I don't need three kids grabbing at stuff, thank you!  Well, he walked around the store picking things up and naming them.  I was so shocked!  Then, he kept repeating what I was saying.  Things like "Go this way," and "Over here," etc.  I was very shocked!  Last night he said more words than he usually does in two weeks.  Maybe we are FINALLY getting somewhere.  (He also had a big speech day today, but I'll tell you about that in the next Two Week Review post.)

Onto his big brothers.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee had a bunch of t-ball games.  They also did their schoolwork with a bit of complaining.  Thank god this quarter is almost over...  We did not do much reading.  We still read everyday, but only 1 book.  Usually we read 2-3 a day, but with my grandmother here things are a bit crazy.  They are more interested in spending quality time with great-grandma than they are in doing schoolwork with mommy.  She's here for another week, so I have more of this fighting to look forward to...

Optimus Prime:
Olivia Goes to the Library by Jared Osterhold
Dragon's Fall Fair by Mara Conlon
Dragon Happy Valentine's Day! by Gabrielle Reyes
The Magic Footprints by Melissa Balfour
Shout, Show and Tell by Kate Agnew
Flora the Fairy by Tony Bradman
Fancy Nancy Pajama Day by Jane O'Connor
I Can Read Phonics! The Berenstain Bears: Let's Sell It
I Can Read Phonics! The Berenstain Bears: The Funny Pup

Bumblebee:
Olivia Goes to the Library by Jared Osterhold
Dragon's Fall Fair by Mara Conlon
Dragon Happy Valentine's Day! by Gabrielle Reyes
Shout, Show and Tell by Kate Agnew
The Magic Footprints by Melissa Balfour

Flora the Fairy by Tony Bradman

Fancy Nancy The Show Must Go On by Jane O'Connor
I Can Read Phonics! Batman: Meet Batman
I Can Read Phonics! Batman: Gotham's Villains Unleashed

On a side note, we've finished ALL of the library's Level 1 & Level Pre-1 books.

Pokemon Junior

So, last night we finished up the Pokemon Junior series.  Well, that's one more thing marked off my life goal list...

It's mostly full of book series I want to read on my own, with my husband, or to my kids...

Synopsis: Ash and his Pokemon Pikachu travel around the world finding adventures on a quest to make Ash the best Pokemon trainer ever.  They are accompanied by friends Brock (or sometimes Tracey) and Misty with their Pokemon, and are constantly running into Team Rocket (Jessie, James, and their Pokemon Meowth) who are on their own quest to steal rare Pokemon.

Ash Falcon: "I loved the Pokemon t.v. show when I was a teenager so when I found these books I was thrilled.  I'm even more thrilled now that I have my kids hooked on Pokemon too.  These books are super easy, and I look forward to them reading them on their own in about a year.  My only complaint is there are only 15 books.  5/5!"

Optimus Prime:  "Good.  Awesome about Raichu and Bulbasaur and the mankeys.  The books were fun.  I liked the Pokemon books."

Bumblebee:  "The books were good and great.  I liked Raichu because he shot Team Rocket off the boat and into the water.  He was a good Pokemon.  I wonder why Team Rocket kept doing bad things like trying to steal Pikachu.  I wonder why Victor wanted to surf on Humungadunga?  I liked the Pokemon books."

Pokemon Junior by Bill Michaels, Sarah E. Heller, Gregg Sacon, & Tracey West (author's initials in parentheses)

1. Surf's Up, Pikachu! (BM)
2. Meowth, The Big Mouth (BM)
3. Save Our Squirtle (BM)
4. Bulbasaur's Bad Day (BM)
5. Two of a Kind (SEH)
6. Raichu Shows Off (SEH)
7. Nidoran's New Friend (GS)
8. A Pokemon Snow-Down (SEH)
9. Snorlax Takes a Stand (SEH)
10. Good-bye, Lapras (GS)
11. Bellossom's Big Battle (SEH)
12. The Snubbull Blues (SEH)
13. Hoothoot's Haunted Forest (TW)
14. Pichu's Apple Company (SEH)
15. The Wobbuffet Village (SEH)

1st Grade Spelling Units #27-39

This post is ridiculously late.  If you want to know why, it's because I didn't even know what the units were going to be each week until the week started.  Finally the first week of April here rolled around and I decided that it was time to get my shit together and decide what the rest of the units were going to be so I could (1) stop writing up an entire week's work of sheets on Sunday night and (2) get this post up already, since it was supposed to go up the last week of January.

Our theme for these units was sight words, since our main focus for this quarter was learning to read.  I made three of our units a combination of holidays and sight words.  The units were all 10 words long instead of our usual 5.  This is for 2 reasons: (1) it's common to increase the spelling units to 10 words half way through 1st grade and (2) they were all easy words (except for the two holiday units, which is why they ended up a blend).

Unit #27 - Sight Words 
said
it
that
this
up
in
was
for
his
but

Unit #28 - Valentine's Day
candy
heart
rose
cupid
love
not
like
then
thing
did

Unit #29 - Sight Words Part 2
when
who
all
at
of
me
with
her
what
we

Unit #30 - Sight Words Part 3
come
down
fun
had
him
out
will
look
some
had

Unit #31 - Sight Words Part 4
every
time
walk
came
were
now
cry
oh
bed
here

Unit #32 - Sight Words Part 5
day
don't
just
there
back
friend
very
let
from
them

Unit #33 - St Patrick's Day
clover
lucky
gold
shamrock
rainbow
could
good
if
home
got

Unit #34 - Ostara/Easter
basket
rabbits
bees
flowers
butterfly
long
how
make
put
as

Unit #35 - Sight Words Part 7
right
nice
well
night
may
help
take
body
never
has

Unit #36 - Sight Words Part 8
try
saw
kid
off
us
took
does
hard
mama
papa

Unit #37 - Sight Words Part 9
morning
pet
sure
says
ran
soon
am
why
by
tell

Unit #38 - Sight Words Part 10
yes
over
thank
fast
house
our
door
room
head
ball

Unit #39 - Sight Words Part 11
do
your
about
think
grand
school
self
always
side
give