ivey league academy: week in review!

We took almost a week off for Thanksgiving (used the Monday before for catch-up), so here's what we did before then....

Reading:  We continued with a Word Ladder a day and reading out of his Kittens and Children reader.

English:  We started Chapter 7, which so far has focused on listening skills, finding the main idea of a paragraph, and how to use a title page and table of contents.  We also worked on listening to directions.

Spelling:  We did the second week of his Spelling You See workbook, which focused on letters with the short "i" sound.  It's too early to tell if this curriculum will be a good fit but so far it hasn't frustrated him so that's good!

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

Bible:  We finished Lesson 6 and started Lesson 7, which answers the question of why God created people.

Math:  We continued in his workbook.  This week he learned the multiplication rules for zero and one.  I printed out little anchor charts I found online and laminated them as a reminder.  We also watched a fun compilation of "Schoolhouse Rock" number videos I had found at Goodwill a couple of years back.  Many of the songs include tricks on how to multiply by different numbers so it might help Caleb as we go further.

Zoology:  We began our study of the arctic habitat, focusing on the musk ox and snow goose.  We still need to fill out the animal fact sheet for the goose though.  We read books from the library and watched a Wild Kratts episode about the arctic tundra and the animals that live there (including the musk ox!).  For our activity, we made a snowstorm in a jar; I poured baby oil into a jar until it was about two-thirds full, then put in watered-down white paint.  Caleb added some blue food coloring as well.  Once everything settled to the bottom of the jar, Caleb put in an Alka-seltzer tablet and we watched our very own "blizzard."  I also got out mini-marshmallows and toothpicks and let the boys try to construct igloos.

Countries:  We studied England.  Caleb was very excited about the prospect of having tea!  I put on my electric kettle and a couple of teacups and saucers, along with some sugar cubes and tea bags.  He tried both raspberry and lemon tea and didn't care for either...we decided that for now he's more of a hot chocolate person!  We also made apple cinnamon scones from a mix, and had a little tea party while watching "Mary Poppins."  For our activity, I put together a fun word search of British vocabulary words ("torch" instead of "flashlight," "flat" instead of "apartment," etc.).

Extras:  We learned about the woodwinds in the orchestra using our SQUILT curriculum.  We also watched a Spanish children's DVD from the library.  Our library system recently acquired PBS' Salsa series, kind of like Sesame Street but in Spanish.  It's repetitive but not in a bad way; the first few short episodes focused on the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and covered numbers (uno, dos, tres), family members (mama, papa, bebe), and some adjectives (grande, pequeno).  Since they're free and easily accessible, we'll keep watching them and maybe by third grade start something more concrete for a foreign language.  And lastly, the boys got their Kiwi crates! Caleb's was space-themed and Micah's was bug-themed.  So far we've only had time to do one activity out of each.  I helped Caleb make a pom-pom ("meteorite") launcher, and Micah made a ladybug pouch for the provided insect memory game and "bug viewer" (it looks like a toadstool, and when you hold it up to your eye you seen everything like a fly would!).

Links:
Snowstorm in a Jar (Growing a Jeweled Rose)
Word Search Generator (Super Teacher Worksheets)

ivey league academy: week in review!

We started out our week with an Ant-Man chalkboard quote!

Reading:  It looks like we're carrying on our tradition of not sticking too long with any given reading/literature curriculum!  Caleb told me he was bored with the literature-based reading activities, mainly because they involve "a lot of writing" (his words, not mine).  I think he just doesn't like to write, but since he gets opportunities to write in other subjects I decided it was okay to just READ.  So we got out the next reader in an out-of-print series (we did Six Ducks in a Pond and King on a Swing in first grade), which is called Kittens and Children.  We read a poem or story out of it every morning after we do a word ladder.

English:  This week we learned about shape poems and how they're different than the couplets we learned about last week.  Caleb drafted, revised, and "published" a shape poem about a six-plumed bird of paradise!  He took his Chapter 6 Test at the end of the week and did pretty well.

Spelling:  This was our first week using Spelling You See.  I went with Level B to start with, figuring if it was easy for Caleb we could just move through it faster and then get to the real meaty stuff.  Right now, each week has a different poem or rhyme (the first week is "Jack and Jill"), and every day the student copies down a line from the poem and fills in letter sounds for three-letter words (the first week's vowel sound was short "a," as in "sat").  Caleb was kind of surprised at the simplicity, but I let him skim through the rest of his workbook and see that it will get harder.  I told him we were going back to basics to make sure he gets it this time.  I'm hoping the visual aspect will help it stick better; if we're still having spelling and writing problems by the end of the school year, we'll switch to something else.

Word of the Week/Journal:  The word of the week was "zany."  Caleb decided to act out his zaniness by crossing his arms inside his shirt and then putting them through the wrong sleeves, and attempting to do the same with his legs and pants!

Math:  This week in math, his workbook introduced the idea of multiplication!  It started out as arrays of items, and talked about multiplication problems like sets (4 sets of 2 = 8, 2+2+2+2=8, etc.).  Caleb was nervous at first but got the hang of it!

Bible:  We started Lesson 6 in our Who is God? curriculum, which asks the question, "If God created the world, why isn't it perfect?"  We spent the week reviewing Creation and the Fall.  One activity involved Caleb drawing things that we wouldn't need if it hadn't been for the Fall (such as locks on our doors, hospitals, etc.).  Caleb drew a box of Zyrtec (his allergy medicine!).

Zoology:  We ended our stay in China's bamboo forest this week, and learned about golden hair monkeys and mice. 

Countries:  This week we studied Germany.  Caleb filled out a country fact sheet and we also listened to some German polka music and some Beethoven on Pandora.  He helped me pound out pork chops for schnitzel one night for dinner, and I also prepared some dry spaetzle noodles I had found at Aldi (I boiled and drained them, and then added butter and salt and pepper).  Then another day we made soft pretzels!

Extras:  Caleb had requested to listen to Beethoven, so that reminded me that I had my SQUILT (Super Quiet Un-Interrupted Listening Time) "Meet the Orchestra" bundle.  I had printed out and laminated flash cards that featured the parts of an orchestra and individual instruments, plus with the bundle you also get access to a website with YouTube links to videos and other activities.  We watched the videos about the entire orchestra, and later on in the week listened to a few selections with the strings.

We also did a fun art activity inspired by Henri Matisse.  He was a French painter who became bedridden when he was older and couldn't paint anymore.  So he switched to paper cut-out collages and had a "second life" at art.  We read a storybook about Matisse and then tried to make collages of our own.  Caleb kind of did his own thing and made a constellation (he pointed out that he was an artist and that means being creative, so it was hard to argue with him).  Mommy did a better job at following the directions.  :)

Links:
Country Fact Sheet (Teachers Pay Teachers)
Pork Schnitzel Recipe (The Daring Gourmet)
Soft Pretzel Recipe (Sprinkle Some Sugar)
SQUILT Website
Henri Matisse Collage Instructions (Art Projects for Kids)

ivey league academy: week in review!

Here's what we did last week!

Reading:  This week we continued starting with a Word Ladder every day.  For literature-based reading, we read Arthur's Tooth by Marc Brown.  For one of the activities, Caleb had to brainstorm about an invention he would want The Brain (the smartest kid in Arthur's class) to invent for him to solve a problem.

English:  We started off the week with another cumulative review, then began Chapter 6, where the main focus is poetry.  We learned about rhyming words and how to write a couplet.

Spelling:  We took a break from spelling this week.  The workbook approach was frustrating Caleb and he wasn't retaining what he had learned.  I ordered a more visual curriculum called Spelling You See so we will start that once it arrives.

Word of the Week/Journal:  The word of the week was "convince."

Math:  We continued in his math workbook.  He learned how to subtract with borrowing!

Bible:  We finished Lesson 5 this week.

Zoology:  This week, we switched back to the Australian eucalyptus forest and learning about owls and deer.  Caleb completed his animal fact sheets as well as his habitat sheet.  For our scientific demonstration, Caleb looked through two toilet paper tubes to get an idea of how owls see; their eyes aren't spherical shaped so they can't move them around like other animals can.  Instead, they have to move their head to look around (good thing they can turn it about 270 degrees!).

Countries:  This week we learned about Italy.  We read some library books and Caleb colored a paper towel tube that I had cut at a diagonal to represent the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner one night as well!