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.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
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.
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.
Friday, June 6, 2014
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.
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.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
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.
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.
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