The Pretty Life: ivey league academy: week in review

Here's what we did this week!
One highlight...the boys' activity crates from KiwiCo came this week! They come on a monthly basis; Micah's was pirate-themed and Caleb's was "another way of seeing things" (optical illusions and things like that). There's something different every time so they're usually excited when we get another one!

Reading: Caleb is almost done with Hooked on Phonics! The 2nd grade level is shorter than the other levels. This week we reviewed sounds such as "spl," "squ," "kn," "wr," and soft "c" and "g." We have a few more pages, a story, plus a book left, then we'll try something else. I also encourage Caleb to read on his own; this morning before I got up he got into bed with me and started reading one of his books out loud. He finished it later on during lunchtime and has asked me about five times if I want to read it too, so I'm going to read it and then I joked with Caleb that we could discuss it like we have a book club!

Language Arts: This week he had a test and he did better. We started the fourth chapter in his workbook, which right now focuses on writing instructions using time-order words ("first," "then," "finally," etc.). He wrote out the steps of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and we also discussed the importance of putting all the steps in the right order.

Spelling: Caleb did Week 7 of his spelling words and got 9 out of 10 correct on his test! He only missed "gave," and as usual, he had the correct letters but in the wrong order. Later on at the library I overheard him ask Micah how to spell "tiger" (so thankful that Caleb wasn't embarrassed that his younger brother knew how to spell a word and he didn't!), and told me later that he didn't know there was a "g" in "tiger." I asked him if he could hear the "guh" sound in the word, and he said no. Not sure if this is something that just comes with practice or what. I can tell he knows how to read and/or spell words by memory, which is fine, but he's going to have to know how to sound out words too!

Word of the Week/Journal: Our word of the week was "gaze."

Math: We continued in his workbook. He had his third math test on Wednesday and only missed one problem!

Bible: We started Lesson 4, which is the second part of "What is God Like?" We discussed more attributes of God, such as omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence (the book also provided easier versions of these words, such as "all-knowing," "always present," and "all-powerful"). On one day, we made a Mobius strip (a loop with a curve in it) so show that God has one "side" (He's always good) and no end, just like the strip. I also helped Caleb with a crossword puzzle.

Zoology: This week we continued our study of the farm habitat and learned about chickens and spiders! For the demonstration, I wasn't a fan of the suggested activity in the book (leave half an apple in a jar without a lid outside and see if insects help break it down...a great experiment, but it didn't really have a lot to do with spiders!), so I searched online and found something a little more fun. I had Caleb drop a sugar cube into a clear disposable cup I had drawn a web on; I told him the cup was his web and the sugar cube was a bug that just got stuck. We then poured a little leftover grapefruit juice on top of the cube (just enough to cover it), and I explained to Caleb that once a bug is trapped, the spider uses its fangs to inject digestive juices into the bug to make it easier to ingest. We used a drinking straw to "stab" the cube, and once it was mostly dissolved I told Caleb to be the spider and suck up the bug! Once he drank it up, there were a few undissolved sugar deposits on the bottom, and I told Caleb that was like the bug's wings and other body parts the spider doesn't eat. Overall it was a fun way to demonstrate how a spider eats! We also watched the original "Charlotte's Web" for fun.

World Cultures: This week's country was Venezuela. Caleb filled out his country fact sheet and we read some library books, including one about Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall which is located in Venezuela. We also listened to traditional Venezuelan music called "joropo," which features a guitar, harp, and maracas. I've been using Pandora on my tablet to access music from a lot of the countries we've studied so far (reggae from Jamaica, salsa from Cuba, samba from Brazil, etc.). For a craft, we worked on torn paper collages of Angel Falls, and for the food, I made a shredded Venezuelan beef recipe I found in Cook Your Way Around the World, only I used my slow cooker to cook the beef ahead of time. Caleb also helped me make the Brazilian cheese rolls that we were supposed to make last week; I found the tapioca flour at Publix and it's a very easy recipe to follow. Neither kid liked the cheese rolls (go figure) but they seemed to like the beef, which I served on white rice.