This school year has been so busy that I have not taken the time to write blog posts as often as I have wanted. We have been busily working through spelling lists, learning multiple digit addition and multiplication, memorizing parts of speech, practicing the piano, learning to swim, dancing, tumbling, and so on. Most Fridays, however, we take a break from our day-to-day assignments and work on a project together.
In January, after we finished reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, I gave Hannah and Ben each a box, set out the craft supplies, and told them to make a shadowbox based on the book. Both kids ended up making a model of Sam Gribley's woods and his home in the tree trunk, so I took advantage of that to teach them a little about habitats. On each side of the box, they glued a piece of card stock and labeled them with the title of the book, "Sam Gribley's Habitat," and the different aspects of his habitat: food, water, and shelter. Then, under those headings, they listed ways that Sam was able to obtain those things in the woods. For example, he drank water from a fresh spring, he hunted for animals with his falcon and ate edible plants, and he created a home in a hollow tree. The finished projects are lovely!
On the Friday before the Super Bowl, we dedicated the entire day to football-related activities. I found an amazing free resource on the website for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and combined with with another packet I got as a freebie from Currclick. I printed out a ton of pages, punched holes in them, and put them in folders for each kid. We began the day by bundling up and heading out to a nearby sports field, where we had a punt, pass, and kick contest, raced through various football drills, and performed an experiment to figure out why a football has its shape, instead of being perfectly round. Back at home, they learned about Roman Numerals (since that is how they label Super Bowls), did some football-themed math, read and wrote poems about football, learned about the first African American inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, discovered how to read nutrition labels to eat a healthy diet (like a good athlete should!), and even designed their own football team mascots, pennants, and jerseys!
Also, in February, we had the opportunity for an amazing project on the planets. Now, as a family, we enjoy listening to classical music, and one of our favorites is The Planets by Holst. Josh discovered that the Springfield Symphony would be putting on a show called "Out of This World," featuring a live performance of The Planets, lovely NASA images from space, and dramatic presentations by an astronomy professor and an acting troupe. In preparation, we listened to the music several times and talked about the names of each planet and how the origins of those names inspired the songs. I also found a free space lapbook at www.homeschoolshare.com, and I used portions of that and our Children's Atlas of the Universe to put together a wonderful project on the planets. Additionally, I used the student guide provided by the symphony and resources from our Galloping the Globe study of Italy (which includes a section on space because Galileo was from Italy). I was out of town with the youth group on the evening of the show, but despite the two-hour drive each way, Josh and his mom took the kids to the performance, and they loved it! In fact, Becca announced on the way home that it was "better than Chuck E. Cheese's!"
We have had so much fun with our "Project Fridays" so far this school year. I believe that the kids have learned more from them than anything they have learned out of a text book. Even though I have to work a little harder to fit all of their other school work into only four days each week, I am certain that we will continue with Project Fridays for a long time!
Showing posts with label unit studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unit studies. Show all posts
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Wheel on the School
Last week, Hannah and I finished the first chapter book we worked on together - The Wheel on the School by Miendert DeJong. What a lovely book! We both fell in love with it from the very first page. Lina, the main character, is so sweet and thoughtful and full of dreams. She reminds me very much of my Hannah!
At first, the book focuses only on the school children and their teacher, as they are the only "important" characters in the story. But gradually, more and more characters become "important" until the list includes the whole town and even some people in adjacent towns: the oldest man and woman, the young tots, the fathers, the women, the poor tin man, and even the once-outcast legless man with a cherry tree in his back yard. By the end of the book, everyone has come together to make Lina's "impossibly impossible" dream a reality.
Last Friday, Josh surprised Ben by taking him away for the weekend to a Virginia Tech football game with all of the guys on that side of the family. Since I didn't have to plan any school work for Ben that day, I decided to spend the whole day with Hannah working on a project to wrap up our reading of the book. I planned to do three lapbooks - one on the book, one on the Netherlands, and one on storks. In advance, I found a few printables from homeschoolshare.com, and I designed a few booklets myself. Using some non-fiction books from the library about the Netherlands and storks, Hannah and I planned out the rest of the ideas. She did most of the writing, though I wrote the titles on each item and the tiny labels on the timeline. I also filled in the main character list, when her hand became tired. Of course, she helped me by listing characters and describing the main events. Once we finished assembling the lapbooks, Hannah decorated the cover of each one. I am absolutely amazed at how they turned out!
The cover for the book lapbook:
The inside of the book lapbook:
The cover of the Netherlands lapbook:
The inside of the Netherlands lapbook:
The cover of the stork lapbook:
The inside of the stork lapbook:
In addition, during play time yesterday, I noticed that Hannah had used her Legos to build a replica of the village of Shora. The little girl even has on a pair of wooden shoes!
Amazingly, Hannah has nearly finished reading the entire book for a second time on her own! The reading level is fairly challenging, but she loves the story so much that she does not mind. This is one reason why we opted to homeschool this year. Last year, school exhausted her so much that she never wanted to read on her own anymore. She seemed to have lost her love of reading. Obviously, that love returned once we provided a more restful and academically stimulating school environment. I am very excited by how this project turned out, and I am already considering our next one when we finish our new chapter book. I love how much fun learning can be - for my kids and for me!
At first, the book focuses only on the school children and their teacher, as they are the only "important" characters in the story. But gradually, more and more characters become "important" until the list includes the whole town and even some people in adjacent towns: the oldest man and woman, the young tots, the fathers, the women, the poor tin man, and even the once-outcast legless man with a cherry tree in his back yard. By the end of the book, everyone has come together to make Lina's "impossibly impossible" dream a reality.
Last Friday, Josh surprised Ben by taking him away for the weekend to a Virginia Tech football game with all of the guys on that side of the family. Since I didn't have to plan any school work for Ben that day, I decided to spend the whole day with Hannah working on a project to wrap up our reading of the book. I planned to do three lapbooks - one on the book, one on the Netherlands, and one on storks. In advance, I found a few printables from homeschoolshare.com, and I designed a few booklets myself. Using some non-fiction books from the library about the Netherlands and storks, Hannah and I planned out the rest of the ideas. She did most of the writing, though I wrote the titles on each item and the tiny labels on the timeline. I also filled in the main character list, when her hand became tired. Of course, she helped me by listing characters and describing the main events. Once we finished assembling the lapbooks, Hannah decorated the cover of each one. I am absolutely amazed at how they turned out!
The cover for the book lapbook:
The inside of the book lapbook:
The cover of the Netherlands lapbook:
The inside of the Netherlands lapbook:
The cover of the stork lapbook:
The inside of the stork lapbook:
In addition, during play time yesterday, I noticed that Hannah had used her Legos to build a replica of the village of Shora. The little girl even has on a pair of wooden shoes!
Amazingly, Hannah has nearly finished reading the entire book for a second time on her own! The reading level is fairly challenging, but she loves the story so much that she does not mind. This is one reason why we opted to homeschool this year. Last year, school exhausted her so much that she never wanted to read on her own anymore. She seemed to have lost her love of reading. Obviously, that love returned once we provided a more restful and academically stimulating school environment. I am very excited by how this project turned out, and I am already considering our next one when we finish our new chapter book. I love how much fun learning can be - for my kids and for me!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Ladybugs and Litterbugs
Though I am a global warming skeptic, I believe very strongly in keeping the environment clean, reducing pollution, and leaving the earth beautiful for the next generation. Whether or not global warming exists, I do not like the idea of pumping the planet full of energy bi-products and waste. I like to do whatever I can to reduce the amount of waste our family produces. However, adding recycling to our garbage service costs significantly extra per month, so I felt thrilled this year when I discovered something called "SCRAP" in our community.
Each elementary school has a day assigned to it - for example, the second Tuesday of each month. On that day, a recycling trailer visits the school in the afternoon for a couple of hours to collect recycling, and the school gets any proceeds from the materials collected that day. So, once a month, I load plastic bins full of cans, newspapers, and plastics into the back of my van when I go to pick up Hannah. Before I get her, I go through the recycling lane, and the workers unload all of my recycling for me. It only takes a few minutes, and I do not even have to get out of my car. Could recycling be any more convenient?
In order to organize the recyclables, Josh purchased a set of large plastic drawers/removable bins to keep on our back porch. I can separate out the various items and save them for the monthly drop-off without having them take over my house or garage. Often, as I cook, I rinse out empty cans, remove the labels, and then ask one of the kids to put them in the bin on the porch. Though I viewed this as a "chore" initially, the kids actually fight over the job.
Ben especially enjoys recycling and often comes into the kitchen to ask if I have anything for him to put outside. Because of this interest, I decided to do a small unit on waste and recycling with him.
One day, as I was looking up the SCRAP schedule, I stumbled across this educational page on Richland County's Solid Waste Management Authority website. The elementary unit, "Windows on Waste," seems like an exceptional educational tool. The pdf file consists of 335 pages of lesson plans, worksheets, information, and resources to teach a very involved unit on waste, trash disposal, recycling, and the environment. I think the unit is slightly above Ben's level right now, but I plan to teach it sometime in the future.
This time, however, I chose the preschool/kindergarten level activity book called "Lucky the Ladybug." This book contains fun activities and games and tells the story of Lucky the Ladybug as she tried to save Bugville from becoming Litterville. With a small amount of extra teaching and guidance, Ben learned quite a bit of basic information about recycling and keeping the community clean. I printed the pdf, punched holes in it, and put it in a folder to make a little book.
I intend to add more activities as we explore recycling in more depth. Perhaps we will weigh our trash and our recycling and figure out what fraction of our trash we recycle. Or, maybe we will just count the bags we put out and see how many more bags we would use if we didn't recycle. We can also visit the worm bin again and see how we recycle our food waste as well.
Regardless of how we study this, I am glad that my kids are actively involved in helping me recycle. Hopefully, as they grow older, this will help them develop the habits and attitudes necessary for them to care for the earth as well. I do not want to raise "litterbugs," who think nothing of their waste and view it as someone else's problem. Instead, just like Lucky the Ladybug, I want them to care about their community and about the planet God gave them, and to focus on using its resources carefully and wisely, so they can leave a healthy, thriving planet to their own children. Maybe the small steps today will start them down the path to living carefully and sustainably for the rest of their lives.
Each elementary school has a day assigned to it - for example, the second Tuesday of each month. On that day, a recycling trailer visits the school in the afternoon for a couple of hours to collect recycling, and the school gets any proceeds from the materials collected that day. So, once a month, I load plastic bins full of cans, newspapers, and plastics into the back of my van when I go to pick up Hannah. Before I get her, I go through the recycling lane, and the workers unload all of my recycling for me. It only takes a few minutes, and I do not even have to get out of my car. Could recycling be any more convenient?
In order to organize the recyclables, Josh purchased a set of large plastic drawers/removable bins to keep on our back porch. I can separate out the various items and save them for the monthly drop-off without having them take over my house or garage. Often, as I cook, I rinse out empty cans, remove the labels, and then ask one of the kids to put them in the bin on the porch. Though I viewed this as a "chore" initially, the kids actually fight over the job.
Ben especially enjoys recycling and often comes into the kitchen to ask if I have anything for him to put outside. Because of this interest, I decided to do a small unit on waste and recycling with him.One day, as I was looking up the SCRAP schedule, I stumbled across this educational page on Richland County's Solid Waste Management Authority website. The elementary unit, "Windows on Waste," seems like an exceptional educational tool. The pdf file consists of 335 pages of lesson plans, worksheets, information, and resources to teach a very involved unit on waste, trash disposal, recycling, and the environment. I think the unit is slightly above Ben's level right now, but I plan to teach it sometime in the future.
This time, however, I chose the preschool/kindergarten level activity book called "Lucky the Ladybug." This book contains fun activities and games and tells the story of Lucky the Ladybug as she tried to save Bugville from becoming Litterville. With a small amount of extra teaching and guidance, Ben learned quite a bit of basic information about recycling and keeping the community clean. I printed the pdf, punched holes in it, and put it in a folder to make a little book.
I intend to add more activities as we explore recycling in more depth. Perhaps we will weigh our trash and our recycling and figure out what fraction of our trash we recycle. Or, maybe we will just count the bags we put out and see how many more bags we would use if we didn't recycle. We can also visit the worm bin again and see how we recycle our food waste as well.
Regardless of how we study this, I am glad that my kids are actively involved in helping me recycle. Hopefully, as they grow older, this will help them develop the habits and attitudes necessary for them to care for the earth as well. I do not want to raise "litterbugs," who think nothing of their waste and view it as someone else's problem. Instead, just like Lucky the Ladybug, I want them to care about their community and about the planet God gave them, and to focus on using its resources carefully and wisely, so they can leave a healthy, thriving planet to their own children. Maybe the small steps today will start them down the path to living carefully and sustainably for the rest of their lives.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Bones and Stones
For Thanksgiving this year, we traveled to visit my dad's family in Pittsburgh, PA. In contrast to our very rustic Thanksgiving last year, we stayed in a hotel with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend, and we ate our meal in the comfort of my aunt and uncle's home, driving to my grandparent's house for dessert. We had a wonderful time visiting family, many of whom the kids have not seen in a couple of years.
On Saturday, we decided to enjoy Pittsburgh a bit, so we headed across the city to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. What a wonderful museum! I knew they had a great dinosaur exhibit, but I never expected the kids to get so excited about the gems and minerals exhibit. All three kids were completely enthralled with the beautiful rocks and crystals.
Hannah thought they were beautiful and suggested that maybe she would rather be a geologist than an entomologist when she grows up. When we asked Becca about her favorite part of the museum later, she told us, "The rocks. They were pretty and shiny and sparkly and glowy in the dark..." She was adorable!
As I expected, the kids loved the dinosaur exhibit as well. The display had full skeletons of all of the dinosaurs most kids would readily recognize - apatosaurus, diplodocus, triceratops, stegosaurus, and of course, tyrannosaurus rex.
The museum also had many lesser known dinosaurs and another gallery dedicated to Ice Age animals, like mammoths and mastodons.
After viewing all of the wonderful skeletons, we arrived at a section geared entirely towards kids - "Bonehunter's Quarry." Many skeleton replicas lay buried in a waxy clay-like substance. Children first donned a pair of safety goggles and then used a chisel and a paintbrush to carefully excavate the bones. All three kids loved this part - especially Hannah! They definitely learned that uncovering dinosaur bones is a delicate and difficult job, requiring a lot of patience.
We spent the majority of our time in these two sections, but the museum had many more wonderful displays - North American and African animals, birds, Native Americans, Egypt, life in the Polar regions. We did walk through most of the exhibits, but by the end, the kids were tired and ready for lunch. We all had a great time and learned quite a bit, and I think if we go back, we will start on the top floor and work our way down so we can spend more time in some of the displays we missed or rushed through this time.
After a nice lunch, we returned to the hotel for a lazy afternoon. Becca took a nap while Hannah and Ben played with Grandma and PopPop in their hotel room. Well, they played for a little while until they both succumbed to their sleepiness and took a nice long nap on my parents' bed.
Aren't they sweet?
I love museums, and I think I will use this one as a starting point for a long unit on dinosaurs. I have a great book full of dinosaur-themed activities for Ben, and I just finished reading him Dinosaurs Before Dark last month. Now I just need find a way to work some geology into the unit, as well!
On Saturday, we decided to enjoy Pittsburgh a bit, so we headed across the city to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. What a wonderful museum! I knew they had a great dinosaur exhibit, but I never expected the kids to get so excited about the gems and minerals exhibit. All three kids were completely enthralled with the beautiful rocks and crystals.
Hannah thought they were beautiful and suggested that maybe she would rather be a geologist than an entomologist when she grows up. When we asked Becca about her favorite part of the museum later, she told us, "The rocks. They were pretty and shiny and sparkly and glowy in the dark..." She was adorable!As I expected, the kids loved the dinosaur exhibit as well. The display had full skeletons of all of the dinosaurs most kids would readily recognize - apatosaurus, diplodocus, triceratops, stegosaurus, and of course, tyrannosaurus rex.
The museum also had many lesser known dinosaurs and another gallery dedicated to Ice Age animals, like mammoths and mastodons.
After viewing all of the wonderful skeletons, we arrived at a section geared entirely towards kids - "Bonehunter's Quarry." Many skeleton replicas lay buried in a waxy clay-like substance. Children first donned a pair of safety goggles and then used a chisel and a paintbrush to carefully excavate the bones. All three kids loved this part - especially Hannah! They definitely learned that uncovering dinosaur bones is a delicate and difficult job, requiring a lot of patience.
We spent the majority of our time in these two sections, but the museum had many more wonderful displays - North American and African animals, birds, Native Americans, Egypt, life in the Polar regions. We did walk through most of the exhibits, but by the end, the kids were tired and ready for lunch. We all had a great time and learned quite a bit, and I think if we go back, we will start on the top floor and work our way down so we can spend more time in some of the displays we missed or rushed through this time.After a nice lunch, we returned to the hotel for a lazy afternoon. Becca took a nap while Hannah and Ben played with Grandma and PopPop in their hotel room. Well, they played for a little while until they both succumbed to their sleepiness and took a nice long nap on my parents' bed.
Aren't they sweet?
I love museums, and I think I will use this one as a starting point for a long unit on dinosaurs. I have a great book full of dinosaur-themed activities for Ben, and I just finished reading him Dinosaurs Before Dark last month. Now I just need find a way to work some geology into the unit, as well!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Summer in the Garden
Apparently, I am too busy in the summer to update my blog much. We have traveled and played and camped and explored, and through it all, we have learned. The overarching theme of this summer, however, has been gardening.
At the beginning of last school year, I wrote out a wonderful plan of all of the units and activities I would do with the kids that year. In reality, we did more informal units, based around their interests and activities, while focusing on reading, writing, and math. One of the last units I had planned for the year was "plants and seeds," and I felt disappointed that we never studied it. Then, a few weeks ago, I realized that we have completed nearly the entire unit in the course of our summer gardening adventures. And, the kids likely learned more from their hands-on experience than they would have learned from formal instruction.
Our project began with the construction of a 4'x8' raised bed garden in our backyard.
Josh used a rented sod-cutter to remove the grass, while bug-loving Hannah rescued earthworms and white grubs from the dirt below.
Then, we measured, cut, and assembled the boards, and Josh gave each child, including Becca, a turn to help him drill holes for the screws.
Finally, we filled the box with topsoil, compost, and peat moss, and planted vegetable transplants and seeds.
Because the sod-cutter was so easy to use, we decided to create a second 4'x12' garden next to the garage.
We planted a lot of veggies throughout the summer: slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green/red bell peppers, sweet orange peppers, cucumbers, pole beans, purple and yellow onions, red and orange carrots, turnips, broccoli, romaine, zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash, and pumpkins. The kids have helped me plant and harvest and weed and have seen tiny seedlings develop into large and bushy plants, covered in ripening vegetables.
Romaine:
Tomatoes:
Pepper:
Onions:
Cucumber:
Broccoli:
Pole Beans:
In addition to this experiential education, the kids and I have read several books to complement what they are learning. One of their favorite books, Muncha Muncha Muncha, has taken on new meaning to them, in light of them having their own garden. They have become much more sympathetic to poor Mr. McGreely, who keeps losing his vegetables, and they dislike the "bad bunnies" who keep stealing them. They also love the book The Carrot Seed, in which a little boy plants a carrot seed and cares for it, even though everyone tells him that the seed won't come up. In the end, of course, a huge carrot comes up and proves everyone else wrong.
Finally, our Bible times have reflected our gardening theme as well. The kids' new knowledge of gardening helped them understand two parables on a deeper level then they have in the past - the parable of the sower and the parable of the weeds. Isn't it amazing how Jesus uses common experiences and objects to explain his Kingdom, so ordinary people, even children, can begin to comprehend the mysteries of faith and eternity?
I do not think I could have planned a better unit on seeds and plants! I may pull out a few of the worksheets I have from a science book I purchased, but overall, I am amazed at what my children have learned this summer simply by being included in my gardening project. I think this is further proof that "Learning is Life."
At the beginning of last school year, I wrote out a wonderful plan of all of the units and activities I would do with the kids that year. In reality, we did more informal units, based around their interests and activities, while focusing on reading, writing, and math. One of the last units I had planned for the year was "plants and seeds," and I felt disappointed that we never studied it. Then, a few weeks ago, I realized that we have completed nearly the entire unit in the course of our summer gardening adventures. And, the kids likely learned more from their hands-on experience than they would have learned from formal instruction.
Our project began with the construction of a 4'x8' raised bed garden in our backyard.
Josh used a rented sod-cutter to remove the grass, while bug-loving Hannah rescued earthworms and white grubs from the dirt below.
Then, we measured, cut, and assembled the boards, and Josh gave each child, including Becca, a turn to help him drill holes for the screws.
Finally, we filled the box with topsoil, compost, and peat moss, and planted vegetable transplants and seeds.
Because the sod-cutter was so easy to use, we decided to create a second 4'x12' garden next to the garage.
We planted a lot of veggies throughout the summer: slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green/red bell peppers, sweet orange peppers, cucumbers, pole beans, purple and yellow onions, red and orange carrots, turnips, broccoli, romaine, zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash, and pumpkins. The kids have helped me plant and harvest and weed and have seen tiny seedlings develop into large and bushy plants, covered in ripening vegetables.
Romaine:
Tomatoes:
Pepper:
Onions:
Cucumber:
Broccoli:
Pole Beans:
In addition to this experiential education, the kids and I have read several books to complement what they are learning. One of their favorite books, Muncha Muncha Muncha, has taken on new meaning to them, in light of them having their own garden. They have become much more sympathetic to poor Mr. McGreely, who keeps losing his vegetables, and they dislike the "bad bunnies" who keep stealing them. They also love the book The Carrot Seed, in which a little boy plants a carrot seed and cares for it, even though everyone tells him that the seed won't come up. In the end, of course, a huge carrot comes up and proves everyone else wrong.Finally, our Bible times have reflected our gardening theme as well. The kids' new knowledge of gardening helped them understand two parables on a deeper level then they have in the past - the parable of the sower and the parable of the weeds. Isn't it amazing how Jesus uses common experiences and objects to explain his Kingdom, so ordinary people, even children, can begin to comprehend the mysteries of faith and eternity?
I do not think I could have planned a better unit on seeds and plants! I may pull out a few of the worksheets I have from a science book I purchased, but overall, I am amazed at what my children have learned this summer simply by being included in my gardening project. I think this is further proof that "Learning is Life."
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A "Toad-ally" Tiring Day
We had to attend a six-hour class at church today, and the kids had a very long day in the child care program. They had a lot of fun, but were very tired by the time we went home. In light of this, we tried to make the evening fun for them as a reward for behaving so well all day.
Right after a short nap, we proclaimed "backwards night," which means that we have dinner for dessert and dessert for dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of cookies-and-cream ice cream/chocolate animal cracker sundaes, with macaroni and cheese for dessert, and then we took the kids outside to blow bubbles in the yard. After running and yelling and chasing bubbles for an hour, we finally dragged our exhausted family back inside.
Well, everyone came in except for Hannah and Josh, so I went back out to see what was taking them so long. Hannah immediately greeted me, squealing and jumping all around me. "Look what we found! Look what we found!" Josh held out his hands and handed me a lovely reddish-brown toad, all covered with grass. I put it in a large tupperware bowl and let the kids examine it for a little while before releasing him back into the yard.
Hannah drew a picture of him on Ben's magna-doodle. It actually was pretty good for a hastily drawn sketch! It's a side view, and I labeled the parts to make it more recognizable. It doesn't show up as well in a small photo.
We trudged upstairs for baths and bed, but the kids amazingly were not quite worn out yet. After Bible time, we started singing the song "Undignified," because we had been talking about David. Hannah and Ben yelled, "Again!" so Josh pulled out my guitar and we sang the song while the kids had their own version of a mosh pit in the middle of the room. After mandating a safer form of dancing, we proceeded to sing "Holy is the Lord," which is one of the kids' favorite songs. Hannah kept running over to me and saying things like, "I just thanked God for everything He made!" and "The earth really is full of His glory!" She was just so excited, it made my heart glad. We sang two more songs and then tucked three exhausted kids into their beds.
It was a "toad-ally" tiring day! Pardon the pun...
Right after a short nap, we proclaimed "backwards night," which means that we have dinner for dessert and dessert for dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of cookies-and-cream ice cream/chocolate animal cracker sundaes, with macaroni and cheese for dessert, and then we took the kids outside to blow bubbles in the yard. After running and yelling and chasing bubbles for an hour, we finally dragged our exhausted family back inside.
Well, everyone came in except for Hannah and Josh, so I went back out to see what was taking them so long. Hannah immediately greeted me, squealing and jumping all around me. "Look what we found! Look what we found!" Josh held out his hands and handed me a lovely reddish-brown toad, all covered with grass. I put it in a large tupperware bowl and let the kids examine it for a little while before releasing him back into the yard.
Hannah drew a picture of him on Ben's magna-doodle. It actually was pretty good for a hastily drawn sketch! It's a side view, and I labeled the parts to make it more recognizable. It doesn't show up as well in a small photo.
We trudged upstairs for baths and bed, but the kids amazingly were not quite worn out yet. After Bible time, we started singing the song "Undignified," because we had been talking about David. Hannah and Ben yelled, "Again!" so Josh pulled out my guitar and we sang the song while the kids had their own version of a mosh pit in the middle of the room. After mandating a safer form of dancing, we proceeded to sing "Holy is the Lord," which is one of the kids' favorite songs. Hannah kept running over to me and saying things like, "I just thanked God for everything He made!" and "The earth really is full of His glory!" She was just so excited, it made my heart glad. We sang two more songs and then tucked three exhausted kids into their beds.It was a "toad-ally" tiring day! Pardon the pun...
Friday, August 22, 2008
First Tests!
We reached a good point today to assess progress and see how much Hannah has learned from what we have been studying together. Her reading program had its first test today, so I decided to put together a short math test (25 questions) and a longer unit test (30 questions plus a bonus) to give at the same time. Because she has never taken a test before, I sat with her, talked her through the directions and encouraged her to think carefully about her responses and stay on task. I also administered the unit test orally, because it would have been too much writing for her to handle.
Even though I knew Hannah understood the material, I still felt astonished at how well she did today! She only missed one question on the unit test, but she got the bonus question, which required her to put together two concepts in a way we had not discussed previously. She got every single question correct on her math and reading tests, as well!
The following concepts were covered on the math and reading assessments: reading and writing three digit numbers, adding numbers up to 9, vocabulary word recognition and comprehension, matching words to pictures, reading comprehension, and filling in missing letters (for example, a picture of a flag with "fla___" written underneath, and she writes in the missing "g").
Our unit study so far has involved basic global geography (oceans and continents) and where we live. This unit focuses on North America, and we have specifically talked about the Grand Canyon and about some North American animals. We read and discussed five excellent children's books: I See Something Grand by Mitzi Chandler, Condor's Egg by Jonathan London, All about Rattlesnakes, All About Owls, and All About Turkeys, all by Jim Arnosky.
I have to share her unit test with you, because even I was impressed. I will write the question and her answers to each question, as dictated to me.
1) What continent do we live on? North America
2) What country do we live in? United States of America
3) What state do we live in? Ohio
4) What city do we live in? Mansfield
5) What is erosion? When the water goes down and washes rocks and dirt away.
6) Name 3 animals that live in the Grand Canyon: Collared lizards, big horned sheep, and pink rattlesnakes
7) Do condors always have to flap their wings when they fly? No
8) What do condors ride on when they fly? Warm air
9) What do condors eat? Dead animals
10) What do condors use to make a nest for their egg? Pebbles
11) What do rattlesnakes have on their tails? Rattles
12) Why do rattlesnakes shake their rattles? To tell you to get away or they will bite.
13) What covers a rattlesnake's skin? Scales
14) What are rattlesnakes' long front teeth called, that they use to inject poison into food and enemies? Fangs
15) Name one thing that a rattlesnake eats: Mice
16) What is an animal that eats rattlesnakes? Roadrunners
17) Are owls awake at night or day? Night
18) Name one type of owl: Snowy owls
19) How many toes do owls have on each foot? 4
20) Can owls move their eyes? No
21) What do owls move in order to look around? Their heads
22) What does "nocturnal" mean? Awake at night
23) Are owls' feathers noisy or quiet when they fly? Quiet
24) Name one thing an owl eats? Frogs
25) What bird hates and chases away owls? Crows
26) What is a "boy" turkey called? Tom
27) What is a "girl" turkey called? Hen
28) Name one thing a turkey eats: Seeds and nuts
29) What colors does a turkey's head turn when it is excited? Red, white and blue
30) Name one animal that eats turkeys: Rattlesnakes (this one is incorrect)
31) Where do turkeys sleep at night? In a tree
BONUS: Are turkeys nocturnal? No - they sleep at night.
Isn't she amazing?! Sorry for the bragging... but she did really well today and I just had to share!
Even though I knew Hannah understood the material, I still felt astonished at how well she did today! She only missed one question on the unit test, but she got the bonus question, which required her to put together two concepts in a way we had not discussed previously. She got every single question correct on her math and reading tests, as well!
The following concepts were covered on the math and reading assessments: reading and writing three digit numbers, adding numbers up to 9, vocabulary word recognition and comprehension, matching words to pictures, reading comprehension, and filling in missing letters (for example, a picture of a flag with "fla___" written underneath, and she writes in the missing "g").
Our unit study so far has involved basic global geography (oceans and continents) and where we live. This unit focuses on North America, and we have specifically talked about the Grand Canyon and about some North American animals. We read and discussed five excellent children's books: I See Something Grand by Mitzi Chandler, Condor's Egg by Jonathan London, All about Rattlesnakes, All About Owls, and All About Turkeys, all by Jim Arnosky.
I have to share her unit test with you, because even I was impressed. I will write the question and her answers to each question, as dictated to me.
1) What continent do we live on? North America
2) What country do we live in? United States of America
3) What state do we live in? Ohio
4) What city do we live in? Mansfield
5) What is erosion? When the water goes down and washes rocks and dirt away.
6) Name 3 animals that live in the Grand Canyon: Collared lizards, big horned sheep, and pink rattlesnakes
7) Do condors always have to flap their wings when they fly? No
8) What do condors ride on when they fly? Warm air
9) What do condors eat? Dead animals
10) What do condors use to make a nest for their egg? Pebbles
11) What do rattlesnakes have on their tails? Rattles
12) Why do rattlesnakes shake their rattles? To tell you to get away or they will bite.
13) What covers a rattlesnake's skin? Scales
14) What are rattlesnakes' long front teeth called, that they use to inject poison into food and enemies? Fangs
15) Name one thing that a rattlesnake eats: Mice
16) What is an animal that eats rattlesnakes? Roadrunners
17) Are owls awake at night or day? Night
18) Name one type of owl: Snowy owls
19) How many toes do owls have on each foot? 4
20) Can owls move their eyes? No
21) What do owls move in order to look around? Their heads
22) What does "nocturnal" mean? Awake at night
23) Are owls' feathers noisy or quiet when they fly? Quiet
24) Name one thing an owl eats? Frogs
25) What bird hates and chases away owls? Crows
26) What is a "boy" turkey called? Tom
27) What is a "girl" turkey called? Hen
28) Name one thing a turkey eats: Seeds and nuts
29) What colors does a turkey's head turn when it is excited? Red, white and blue
30) Name one animal that eats turkeys: Rattlesnakes (this one is incorrect)
31) Where do turkeys sleep at night? In a tree
BONUS: Are turkeys nocturnal? No - they sleep at night.
Isn't she amazing?! Sorry for the bragging... but she did really well today and I just had to share!
Monday, August 18, 2008
And it begins...
We officially began our school year this year on August 3rd. I cannot believe how well Hannah is doing so far! I'll give just a brief overview today and then share more details later.
We started right in on the first grade reading curriculum this year. Hannah can read most of her books on her own now, with limited help from me. I think her preschool teacher will be shocked when she realizes how well she can read this year.
Her teacher will also be surprised when she sees Hannah's handwriting. This is another area in which Hannah has grown tremendously over the summer. Her letters are all recognizable now, with no help from me. She is still working on keeping the letters on the lines and making them face the right direction, but she is doing so much better!
In math, we just started basic addition. She completely gets the concept, but she is still counting to get her answers. Memorization is something that will have to come with time, though.
Finally, we are having a blast with the unit studies. I really don't think Hannah even realizes she is "working" when we do these. We began this year by looking at a globe and talking about water and continents and how the earth rotates on its axis. Then, we identified North America, the United States, and Ohio. Our first major unit is North America, and we are going to be reading books and learning geography and science based on those books.
Because Nana and Bubba traveled to the Grand Canyon this summer, we started by focusing on that. We read a beautifully illustrated kids book called "I See Something Grand," found the Grand Canyon on a map, talked about the animals in the canyon, discussed erosion and how it works, and looked at the pictures from Nana and Bubba's trip. Both kids loved it!
Today, we began one of our major ongoing projects for the year, as well. With lots of help, Hannah covered a large Styrofoam ball with paper mache. Once it dries, she's going to paint it blue, and then we will glue each continent onto the globe she has made as we discuss that continent. Because the core is Styrofoam, we can use straight pins to label the specific locations we focus on. Hannah had a blast getting so messy today! I'll have to take some pictures once the painting begins to demonstrate the work in progress...
Poor Ben... he wants so badly to be involved in whatever Hannah is doing, but he doesn't have the patience for any worksheets quite yet. I am hoping that preschool helps with that a little. He always reads with us, and then, he'll sometimes draw on blank paper or use his safety scissors to cut the paper into a hundred tiny pieces. I know that's good practice for him, since Hannah couldn't use scissors until she was at least 4. He's also become obsessed with his letters. He loves taking a set of laminated cards with letters on them and tracing the letters again and again with a dry erase marker. He actually does a very good job staying on the lines, too!
The poor little guy is such a perfectionist, though! He cries and wants to give up if he's tracing a rectangle and the line is a little wobbly instead of perfectly straight. And he gets mad if his letters don't look exactly right! I keep telling him that he's doing exceptionally well for a 3 year old, and that it takes lots of practice to draw straight lines and perfect letters, but he still gets very distraught. I don't know where he could have gotten that trait... ha, ha.
I'll finish with Hannah's first unassisted journal entry (well... except for adding one apostrophe and having her turn a few of her a's and p's around):
Translation: "I didn't like the roller coaster, but I did like all the other rides at the fair."
We started right in on the first grade reading curriculum this year. Hannah can read most of her books on her own now, with limited help from me. I think her preschool teacher will be shocked when she realizes how well she can read this year.
Her teacher will also be surprised when she sees Hannah's handwriting. This is another area in which Hannah has grown tremendously over the summer. Her letters are all recognizable now, with no help from me. She is still working on keeping the letters on the lines and making them face the right direction, but she is doing so much better!
In math, we just started basic addition. She completely gets the concept, but she is still counting to get her answers. Memorization is something that will have to come with time, though.
Finally, we are having a blast with the unit studies. I really don't think Hannah even realizes she is "working" when we do these. We began this year by looking at a globe and talking about water and continents and how the earth rotates on its axis. Then, we identified North America, the United States, and Ohio. Our first major unit is North America, and we are going to be reading books and learning geography and science based on those books.
Because Nana and Bubba traveled to the Grand Canyon this summer, we started by focusing on that. We read a beautifully illustrated kids book called "I See Something Grand," found the Grand Canyon on a map, talked about the animals in the canyon, discussed erosion and how it works, and looked at the pictures from Nana and Bubba's trip. Both kids loved it!
Today, we began one of our major ongoing projects for the year, as well. With lots of help, Hannah covered a large Styrofoam ball with paper mache. Once it dries, she's going to paint it blue, and then we will glue each continent onto the globe she has made as we discuss that continent. Because the core is Styrofoam, we can use straight pins to label the specific locations we focus on. Hannah had a blast getting so messy today! I'll have to take some pictures once the painting begins to demonstrate the work in progress...
Poor Ben... he wants so badly to be involved in whatever Hannah is doing, but he doesn't have the patience for any worksheets quite yet. I am hoping that preschool helps with that a little. He always reads with us, and then, he'll sometimes draw on blank paper or use his safety scissors to cut the paper into a hundred tiny pieces. I know that's good practice for him, since Hannah couldn't use scissors until she was at least 4. He's also become obsessed with his letters. He loves taking a set of laminated cards with letters on them and tracing the letters again and again with a dry erase marker. He actually does a very good job staying on the lines, too!
The poor little guy is such a perfectionist, though! He cries and wants to give up if he's tracing a rectangle and the line is a little wobbly instead of perfectly straight. And he gets mad if his letters don't look exactly right! I keep telling him that he's doing exceptionally well for a 3 year old, and that it takes lots of practice to draw straight lines and perfect letters, but he still gets very distraught. I don't know where he could have gotten that trait... ha, ha.
I'll finish with Hannah's first unassisted journal entry (well... except for adding one apostrophe and having her turn a few of her a's and p's around):
Translation: "I didn't like the roller coaster, but I did like all the other rides at the fair."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)