Homeschool Discoveries

Collage Friday - January 20th, 2012

1 & 2:  We had a “math games week” this week.  When I looked at the upcoming lessons in Right Start C at the end of last, I noticed that we were scheduled for two lessons to learn new games, followed by a review lesson with suggested games.  We played games for math each day M-Th — Short Chain Subtraction Solitaire is the game in both pictures.  We intended to play a game today too, but the review sheet took longer than expected.

In #2, even Mr. E got in on the act of helping with the game.  He is what some people might call “mathy.”  I have never really taught him anything about subtraction, but somehow he figured out the answer to a bunch of problems, or could figure them out with a small hint.  He begged for a Right Start lesson of his own today, and we ended up breezing through about three lessons of level A, after not doing any since well before Christmas break.    I feel bad about rarely doing a lesson of Right Start with him…but he seems to be learning plenty of math whether I do the lessons with him or not.

3:  Miss M, hard at work in her spelling workbook (we are using “How to Spell” book two and “How to Teach Spelling”….sort of.  I am not sure I am quite using it as designed).  The desk is a new addition to the play/school room.  Miss M seems to like it as a new spot to work, especially if she is allowed to stand at the desk and work without a chair!

4:  Miss M loves horses and loves to draw pictures of them.  Aren’t they great for a 2nd grader? I think she can probably draw a horse better than I can!   Miss M found several horse books at the library this week.  She is reading them for fun, but some of this reading I’m sure will benefit her “Expert Day” project at co-op later this spring.  (Expert Day is sort of like a science fair, but the projects can be on any topic.)  She declared months ago that her topic would be horses!

5. The boys totally love Legos.  This was what they were doing several days this week while Miss M and I did school.  Daddy discovered a bunch of his childhood Legos during a recent basement clean-out project, and those Legos joined our recently-organized collection on Sunday afternoon.

6.  Baby J and Mr. K checking out the “bus” at the Children’s Museum.  The kids and I went to the museum for most of the day on Saturday while Tony cleaned the basement.  I could make a whole collage just of pictures of our visit — we had so much fun!  The kids all particularly enjoyed the “Storyland” exhibit that creates play spaces based on several favorite children’s books including “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom”, “Peter Rabbit”, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and “The Snowy Day.”

7. This nearly empty room means…Miss M is about to get her very own room.  As soon as we gave her the news this past summer that her new sibling would be a brother, we tried to soften the news by telling her she would eventually get her own room (she currently shares with the two bigger boys).  While we originally thought it would not happen until Baby J was old enough to move in with his brothers and out of Mommy and Daddy’s room, we decided it was time to move her sooner rather than later.  Our old office room is getting cleared out and items moved elsewhere in the house (hence the new desk in the school room), and “moving day” is scheduled for tomorrow!

8. Mr. E says HE wants a handwriting book with Bible verses in it like Miss M’s book (She is learning cursive with A Reason for Handwriting Book C).  I told him I would order Book A for him, but I had a challenge for him first: write out all the letters in the alphabet, upper and lower case.  I don’t think he actually knows how to write all the letters yet, but I wanted to see what letters he needs more work on.  He got about half way through the upper-case alphabet on Thursday, and wasn’t too interested in writing today.  The challenge will continue into next week.  Mr. K got right up at the table next to him and declared that he was writing letters too.   I bet his random lines will start looking like real letters pretty soon. 🙂

I’m linking up with…

Collage Friday @ HomeGrownLearners
and
The Weekly Wrap Up @ Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers