Three Desert Princesses

• Sep. 21, 2007
moving my blog

I tried to find a template that listed all the categories on the sidebar. This was the only one I found, and I don't like it at all. It's just too....pink. And some days the login option on homeschoolblogger completely disappears, so all in all, I found it much less stressful to just blog at blogger.

http://3desertprincesses.blogspot.com/

I love the way blogspot lets me rearrange elements on my page without playing with html.

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• Sep. 17, 2007
thoughts on Explode the Code

Posted in comments on resources

For the most part, dd has enjoyed the Explode the Code series. We're on book 6 now. One frustrating thing for her is that the vocabulary is larger than her own. Words like "harbor" and "battleship" are words she's never heard before (not words you use often when you live in the desert). So although she's able to read them, she needs a lot of one on one time with Mama to complete these pages because she just doesn't know what the words mean. Other new words recently have been "hornet", "bandit", "varnish", "dart", and "stork". It's great to learn new words, but it does make Phonics more difficult than it has to be.

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• Sep. 17, 2007
favorite blogs that aren't hosted by Homeschool Blogger

http://inashoe.blogspot.com/ This lady often has free shipping codes for Christianbook.com

http://www.mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/ This woman is hilarious! As funny as Erma Bombeck!

http://www.sophysfavoritestuff.blogspot.com/ Ok, it's mine. It's a useful (to me) list of my favorite stuff.

http://paisleyteacup.blogspot.com/ Yes, this one is mine too. I started it to share the details of our trip to Ireland in June 07. I like to think I'll start posting at least once a week. When I have energy at night to do more than stare at the television screen. I think that might happen in the year 2020...

http://braintrainjoys.blogspot.com/ another Winter Promise Children Around the World mom

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• Sep. 17, 2007
Supplementing the English week

Posted in supplementing Children Around the World

Winter Promise's Children around the World program is excellent. But it's for third grade and up (it seems to me) and dd is only first grade. So this year I am treating it like the Pirate Code -- not rules, just a sort of guideline.

Dd has just discovered audio books.

This week she is going to listen to Alice in Wonderland. I ordered Paddington Bear (read by Stephen Fry!!!!!) but I don't know if it will arrive this week.

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• Sep. 17, 2007
Monday September 17, 2007

Posted in what we did today

Schooltime today:

Explode the Code book 6 p. 14 and 15

Math: Princess flash cards with addition problems. I wrote all the answers on post it notes and she matched the answers to the problems. This was her first time doing math that way and it worked well once we got past the new-activity drama.

Reading: Ice is...Whee, by Carol Greene (this author has quite a few books in the early reader section at our library, and dd loves them. I think I only helped her with one word.

Handwriting: practicing the letter b.

Listening, Looking at: two books about England. England by Michael Dahl, and Look What Came from England, by Kevin Davis. We're looking at these together, getting ideas for a lapbook.

This afternoon DD will spend an hour or two listening to audio books, either Boxcar Children or Alice in Wonderland.

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• Sep. 17, 2007
English dinner/tea

Posted in what we did today

This week we are studying England. We began with an English dinner/tea last night.

We had cotswold cheese with tomato slices (cotswold cheese is available at Trader Joe's. It's a double gloucester cheese with herbs. Fabulous on a sourdough bread sandwich with tomato slices), sausages, scones, crumpets, and biscuits (that's "cookies" to the Americans in the audience).

Of course we had tea to drink. We listened to the soundtrack from Pride and Prejudice (the REAL one with Colin Firth).

The kids all enjoyed the menu very much, but this is a not at all an unusual menu for us.

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• Sep. 17, 2007
What is a Lapbook?

Posted in comments on resources

http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking

and how to make really simple mini-books: http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking/#module2314219

and a note about a lapbook resource:

I downloaded Cindy Rushton's Let's Make a Lapbook e-book. I paid $9. There are quite a few rather obvious suggestions ("you'll need to choose a topic", "You'll need scissors") as well as nineteen pages of advertising her other resources. I was anxious to see and use the instructions for making small books to attach to the lapbook. There aren't any. There is a list of links to other people's websites that tell you how to make mini books.

I do not feel this book is a worthwhile investment.

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• Sep. 16, 2007
First and Second Week

Posted in what we did today

Phonics (Explode the Code book 6), pages 1-11.

Reading: Nutcracker book from WP LA, Library books, Ten Apples Up on Top, Go Dog Go, Young Reader's Bible, Snow Joe, I Am Sick, When I am Scared.

Science: Blast Off, Bones, Our Planet, Watch It Grow (dd read these to me, with a little help)

Writing: letters to Grammy, Grandpa, two to Sunday School teacher, 2 memory verses, extra practice on letters s, a, n, d.

Math: three lessons in Math U See, online worksheets from Math U See (doubles, +2)

Listening to: Wrong Way Wendy, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, Me on the Map, and Boxcar Children audio books.

Children Around the World: Made a Lapbook with Name, Address, Phone Number, City, State, Country, Continent, Planet, country's leader. On the cover we added details about our culture: pets, house, music, church, games, language, clothes, food. Talked about culture, introduced and drilled continents.

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• Sep. 5, 2007
What We're Doing This Year

School began on September 5! We're using

FIRST GRADE DD:

my own intrepretation of Winter Promise's Children Around the World with lapbooking (CATW is really geared for third or fourth grade), (winterpromise.com)

Math-U-See Alpha (as well as workbooks from Walgreens),

Disney Princess stationery for Handwriting (letters to Grandma, this week's memory verse, letters I notice she needs help with),

Simply Science by Nora Gaydos, (other books to be added later),

Explode the Code Phonics,

and lots of library books to read aloud, and audio books for listening.

3 YEAR OLD DD:

Letter of the Week (very simply. Introduce the letter, drill an A Beka Flashcard, and read the suggested library books) http://www.letteroftheweek.com/preschool_age_3.html

Lauri puzzles,

and some A Beka and Kumon workbooks.

1 YEAR OLD DD:

Her main accomplishment is looking absolutely adorable. And napping during schooltime. Theoretically.

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