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)