ivey league academy: week in review

Here's what we did last week!

Reading:  We continued working in "Explode the Code" and also began reading out of a very old-fashioned reader called "Six Ducks in a Pond" that I found at Goodwill!  Each lesson introduces a group of words and has stories containing those words; it seemed to be right on Caleb's level, and he thought the stories were funny.  On Friday I selected a reader ffrom our homeschool library for Caleb to read out of since we were already done with the first lesson in "Six Ducks."  He's enjoying the "Six Ducks" reader so much I managed to find the next one in the series, "King on a Swing" on Amazon.  I think the series is out of print since most copies are very expensive, but the one I found is in great condition and was only about $5 plus shipping.

Spelling:  We did our words for the week activities as usual, and I also had Caleb practice copying them on the dry erase board a few times throughout the week.  And wouldn't you know, he aced his spelling test on Friday!  It was the first time he had gotten all eight correct so he was so excited!

Handwriting:  This week we started a journal for handwriting practice.  We began "Draw Write Now" Book 1, which gives easy step-by-step directions for drawing something (in this case, farm animals), and then has a few sentences for the student to copy.  Caleb really enjoyed this!  I think our public library has a few more of these books so we might check them out when we're done with Book 1.

Vocabulary:  This week's words were "breeze," "discuss," "famous," and "glance."

Math:  We continued in Caleb's math workbook.  He got to use his ruler for measuring and count nickels!

Bible:  This week's devotionals focused on not lying, the Spirit giving gentleness, being humble, being considerate, and the Spirit giving joy.

Read-Aloud:  We continued reading Pinky Pye.

Science:  This week we learned about energy and electricity.  We watched two different "Magic School Bus" episodes on these topics and read a few library books.  We constructed a pinwheel using directions out of one of our library books; Caleb loved it but it didn't stay fastened for long, so we'll have to find a better way to make it last!

We kept the topic of electricity pretty simple for now...maybe in a year or two we'll build circuits or something, but for now Caleb knows the basic idea of how electricity works (plus I pointed out to him that every time he builds something with his Snap Circuits Jr. set, he's working with electricity!).  He completed an electricity sort on Friday and we discussed what uses electricity and what doesn't.

  
Social Studies:  This week we learned about Delaware.  He colored his Delaware map and we also read a couple of books about Delaware using the Epic app on my tablet.  We looked at pictures of horseshoe crabs, the Enchanted Forest, and the Punkin Chunkin events!  We didn't get to cook any Delaware foods this week, but next week we'll study Maryland and Virginia so I'm sure we'll get a recipe or two from there!

Micah played very well during school time, but when he saw Caleb coloring he wanted to sit at the table too!

Links:
Electricity Sort (Teachers Pay Teachers) [$1]
State Coloring Pages (USA Printables)

ivey league academy: week in review!

And just like that, we're done with our first six weeks of first grade!

I forgot to update our chalkboard with a fun design this week.  Oops.  :)

Reading:  We continued in our Explode the Code book.

Spelling:  We did Week 3 in our spelling curriculum, reserving the last day for a "test."  Caleb did very well considering spelling is an area where he struggles a bit.

Handwriting:  Caleb finished his Handwriting Without Tears workbook!  They have another book after this one, but I decided to do more of a journal approach with him next.  We're also going to start a Draw Write Now workbook I got awhile back.

Vocabulary:  This week's words were "gloomy," "prefer," "clever," and "screech."

Math:  Caleb had another math test at the end of the week and got 100%!

Bible:  This week's lessons were about giving our worries to God, thinking good thoughts, respecting others, the armor of God, and the Spirit giving love.

Read-Aloud:  We continued reading Pinky Pye and are now halfway through!

Science:  This week's lesson was rainbows and color. 

We watched the Magic School Bus episode about rainbows and learned that white light has all of the colors in it.  We attempted to make a rainbow with a flashlight and glass of water, but it didn't work.  In the end, we found holding a CD up to a patch of sunlight worked better!

On Friday, we did a fun color mixing experiment called a "walking rainbow."  We got six clear cups and arranged them in a circle.  I put red food coloring in the first cup, yellow in the third cup, and blue in the fifth cup.  I folded pieces of paper towels into thirds and trimmed them to fit without too much overhang.  I filled the cups that had food coloring in them, then we watched the primary colors start to travel up the paper towels.  We left the experiment to do more school work, but kept checking back, and after an hour or so we had orange, green, and purple in the previously-empty cups!

Social Studies:  This week we studied Pennsylvania.

Caleb colored his Pennsylvania page, and also learned several things about the state, including how they make chocolate in Hershey!  A lot of American history occurred in Philadelphia, so we ended up talking about the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklin a lot.  Caleb cut and glued his own Bell (complete with custom crack!):

We also learned about all the things Benjamin Franklin invented, including fun puzzles called magic squares.  Apparently he was so bored during assemblies that he would doodle to keep from falling asleep, and ended up with a fun pasttime!  I drew out a magic square for Caleb; all the rows and columns add up to 15, even diagonally.

We made Philly cheesesteaks one night for dinner too!  Not sure if they're really authentic, but I sure enjoyed them!  It was slow cooker recipe, and the bell peppers and onions actually cooked down very soft so they were hardly noticeable (but I still tried to pick through and only put them on my sandwich since my guys don't like that kind of stuff!).

Right now we're experimenting with a "sabbath schedule," meaning we do school for six weeks and then take one week off (with longer breaks during the summer and the holidays as needed).  So we'll take a week off and then get back into it!

Links:
Walking Rainbow Experiment (The Stem Laboratory)
Philly Cheesesteak Recipe (Coupon Cravings)

ivey league academy: week in review!

Here's what we did last week!

Reading:  We put Hooked on Phonics on hold for the time being and started Explode the Code, Book 2.  This week we did Lesson 1, which I broke down into two pages per day for Monday through Thursday, and one last page on Friday.  This book deals with consonant blends, which Caleb learned during the first grade level of HOP, but it's good review and the activities force him to break down the words into individual sounds so he can sound them out better.  Caleb enjoyed the change of curriculum!

Spelling:  We did Week 2 of our new curriculum with a small change.  Caleb struggles with the sentence dictation activity reserved for the middle of the week; I still want to challenge him but I don't want him to get hung up on perfection either.  Since this curriculum doesn't have a spelling test built in, I decided to move the "dictation" activity to Friday and just call out that week's spelling words instead.  That way he can concentrate on the words for the week and not whether he can correctly spell out sentences.  Pretty soon we might start a journal activity as part of our day, so that will be a good activity for Caleb to create short sentences on his own and (hopefully) incorporate spelling words he's learned.

Handwriting:  We continued in his Handwriting Without Tears workbook; we're almost done so I'm aiming for him to finish by the end of next week!

Vocabulary:  This week's words were "hero," "dull," "create," and "firm."

Math:  We continued working in his Horizons Math workbook. 

Bible:  This week's devotionals had to do with doing good deeds in secret, being quick to listen, standing strong, telling God He's awesome, and keeping good secrets versus telling bad ones.

Read-Aloud:  We started Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes.

Science:  This week we learned about the weather!  I've actually been looking forward to this unit since Caleb seems to have a strong interest in weather (though some of that is motivated by fear...lightning frightens him and we usually have to convince him that the chances of a tornado hitting our house are slim!).  We watched a "Magic School Bus" episode about weather, and then concentrated on a different kind of weather a day for the rest of the week.  We did four experiments (or really, demonstrations) of weather systems and read accompanying library books.  I liked how all of the experiments used common household items (we used a lot of water and food coloring!).

Rain in a jar!

Thunderstorm system (cold air sinks and warm air rises)

Hurricane in a bowl

Tornado in a jar!

 I also printed out a weather chart template and glued the pieces to a file folder for stability.  We hung it on the freezer by the back door and Caleb loves to go outside to check the temperature and weather several times a day!

 Social Studies:  This week we studied the state of New York.  Caleb colored a New York page for his notebook and we read several books on New York over the course of the week, both from the library and from the Epic app on my tablet (access to kids' ebooks for $4.99 a month).  We learned about the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and other important landmarks in New York City, as well as Niagara Falls and other places in the rest of the state.  On Friday I tried making black and white cookies, but the white glaze never did set for me so we ended up having the shortbread cookies with chocolate frosting!

Links:
Rain in a Jar Experiment (The Happy Housewife)
Thunderstorm Experiment (Weather Wiz Kids)
Hurricane Experiment (Inspiration Laboratories)
Tornado in a Jar Experiment (Weather Wiz Kids)
Printable Weather Chart (First Grade Fundamentals)
Statue of Liberty Crown and Torch Activity (Buggy and Buddy)