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)