Two Week Review: January 11 - 24

Our final two weeks of this super easy schedule!!! Thank goodness... Of course, we also spent these two weeks sick, making it hared to get things done, and it looks like our week off is going to be spent sick as well... Hopefully we'll be better in February...

So, I have nothing to talk about. I'm just so happy this quarter is OVER with that I'm going to breeze through everything.

Scooby-Doo finished his magazines. He loves them a lot, but I think he'll be happy to see a return of worksheets.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee learned about Ancient China & Chinese Mythology (both are in the same post like our Native American units). They also had their easy math pages, number review, spelling, made some color books, did some dot-to-dots and mazes, had story time, practiced their reading, etc.

A very nice, easy final two weeks. Which was probably good since we were so sick.

Next quarter, here we come!!!

Concept Weeks #27 & 28: Ancient China and Chinese Mythology

My kids love the Disney movie Mulan so I figured it was time for some units focusing on that era of China. We actually could have turned this into a three week unit while also focusing on Modern China or even a four week unit with another week on Chinese Holidays, but I think for now two weeks was good.

For our Ancient China half we had three books:

• Our Cultural Heritage: Chinese Americans by Lucia Raatma 
• Country File: China by Michael March
• DK Eyewitness: Ancient China

The first one really wasn't relevant to our unit, I just picked it up because our library had pretty much ZERO books on China for kids. The second book focused more on modern China, but it did talk a bit about history with things like the Great Wall. So, it was slightly relevant. I did find some worksheets covering traditional clothing, important landmarks, famous women (Wu Zetian), the flag, etc. So, the unit didn't focus entirely on me reading to them. Some parts really bored them, some really interested them. When it came to the third book they were really fascinated about some of the things we learned. They loved the Chinese invention that detected earthquakes, and they loved looking at the pictures.

They REALLY liked the Mythology half. Our book was Chinese Mythology by Irene Collier and they LOVED the stories in it. Most of our mythology units have covered European mythology. When we did Egyptian mythology in our Ancient Egypt unit they really liked that, and when we did Native American Mythology it was pretty much 50/50 on what they liked and didn't like. But for Chinese mythology, they really loved most of the stories we read. This unit was a MUCH bigger hit than the Native American one. So much of that they just couldn't relate to or get. Clearly I need to go buy a Pocahontas movie or something...

Overall I would say that both units were a huge success.

Two Week Review: December 28 - January 10

These two weeks were pretty much the same as the last two weeks. I can't wait for our workload to increase in a month here, I'm going crazy with this super easy schedule!!!

So, Scooby-Doo adjusted to his autism medication. We went back to the doctor's and he thinks we've found the right dosage. He's still been working on his magazines. Some days he is really into it, other days not so much. I think he was happy to have a lighter workload for a bit, but I think he's ready to move on to more pages. Now, I'm not sure he actually wants to DO those pages, but he likes to sit on my lap while I talk to him about them.

As for Optimus Prime and Bumblebee for our Concept Weeks we covered Horses and Volcanoes & Earthquakes. We also did easy math pages, number review, worked on their letter book, did some fun dot-to-dots and mazes, and read some Scooby-Doo and Thomas the Tank Engine stories. And, of course, they practiced their reading. I think Optimus Prime might be ready for chapter books soon!!!

Another nice, easy two weeks. They might like this easy schedule, but I am BEYOND ready to move on!

Concept Week #26: Volcanoes & Earthquakes

Okay, I'd be lying if I said I had a ton of stuff to talk about, here. I'm not even sure I can fake it.

My kids find volcanoes exciting (who doesn't?!? - from a safe distance) so I went to the library to look for book on them. Most of their kids books were not on the same level as Optimus Prime & Bumblebee so I took out DK: Volcano & Earthquake. We read that book, they learned quite a bit about earthquakes that they didn't know before, but they really didn't learn anything new about volcanoes. They already knew the difference between magma and lava (one is under ground, the other above ground), they already knew that ash comes out of the volcano too, they already knew about the moving plates under the earth, etc. They did not know that ash is good for the soil (so long as the soil isn't incredibly buried by it) or that volcanoes don't have to be mountains, so there was that, but most of what we learned about was review for them. Even the earthquake section of the book didn't have much information in it that they didn't already know. Don't get me wrong - it was a great book filled with incredible information & pictures - it was just all stuff they had already learned on their own. I also had a hard time finding ANY age appropriate worksheets for them. In the end we did a volcano dot-to-dot and a maze to help lava reach the ocean. I know, not exactly second grade material.

With that said, I AM glad we did a unit on it, I just wish we had learned more.

Concept Week #25: Horses

We had a LOT of books for this unit! Not so many worksheets, though.

For our main books we had DK Eyewitness Books: Horse, I Wonder Why: Horses Wear Shoes and Other Questions About Horses by Jackie Gaff, and DK See How They Grow: Pony.

Then, we had these other books in the Horse Breed Roundup series:

• The American Paint Horse 
• The American Quarter Horse
• The American Saddlebred Horse
• The Appaloosa Horse 
• The Arabian Horse
• The Clydesdale Horse 
• The Shetland Pony
• The Spanish Mustang
• The Tennessee Walking Horse
• The Thoroughbred Horse

Those books we did not read cover to cover, we just enjoyed the pictures and read the parts we wanted to.

Then, they read to me Farm Animals: Horses by Emily K. Green.

Like I said, a LOT of books!

So, we learned about horse babies, horse shoes, the different horse breeds and why they were created (horses for war, horses for speed, horses for endurance, horses for trails, etc). We learned that horses prefer to live in groups instead of alone, we learned that horses develop strong bonds with their humans, and we even learned about some of the prehistoric horses out that used to be out there (and, how they had more than one toe/hoof on each foot!!!). It was a GREAT unit packed with so much information I don't even know what to mention in this post! There was just too much!

2nd Grade Reading List Part 3

YAY! Reading List! I got nothing to say, except:

• Next quarter Optimus Prime is going to try reading chapter books on his own!!! This quarter he's doing mostly review for his reading.
• Bumblebee STILL isn't reading good. I'm beginning to suspect dyslexia, but we're taking him to the eye doctors to rule that out first.

Also, somehow we missed these two books from last quarter (though, we still surpassed our goal of 16 books):

• Magic Tree House: Revolutionary War on Wednesday
• Magic Tree House: Twister on Tuesday

And, here is our reading goal (still 16 books):

• The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet
• The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando
• Clue Jr.: The Case of the Mystery Ghost
• Clue Jr.: The Case of the Karate Chop
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Ghosts
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Dinosaurs
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Ninjas and Samurai
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Space
• Batman: Killer Croc Hunter
• Batman: Scarecrow, Doctor of Fear
• Superman: The Deadly Double
• Superman: The Shrinking City
• The Magic School Bus: Voyage to the Volcano
• The Magic School Bus: Rocky Road Trip
• Ballpark Mysteries: The Pinstripe Ghost
• Ballpark Mysteries: The L. A. Dodger

We also have a new book report layout. I'm going to do a post on our changing book reports once I get a chance.