Posted in home schooling
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This was a full week, but funnily enough, as I was uploading the pictures that I snapped, it looks like we weren't too academic. Actually, we were, but I think I just forgot to photograph any of our more scholarly moments. So the photos and write-ups that I'm including this week are much more action-packed and exciting (so much so that we all used stunt doubles....can you tell?), so buckle up your seat belts, and let's go.... Monumentally, this week, Harrison finished his Charlotte's Web lapbook, and in celebration we formed a mosh pit and body-surfed until dawn, but the pictures were waaaayyy too blurry, so you'll have to settle for these: Harrison, with the cover:
You may notice an unfortunate splatter of glitter on the web. And you may remember that I have an aversion for glitter. The splatter is supposed to say "Some Pig," but in reality it looks like shiny vomit. And now every time I, or anyone else for that matter, have come within 3 feet of this lapbook, they wind up looking like they've been doused in the samples from Claire's boutique at the mall. We are all walking around with our sunglasses on because of the cover of this lapbook. I really, really hate glitter, and this is....I promise....the one and only time you will see glitter on any of our school projects. Here's a look at the inside:
Here we included a crossword, a "Wilbur" acrostic, a pig activity book, and the results of our favorite character survey. Charlotte, albeit posthumously, won with Wilbur as a close second. This is the second panel, with more of a spider emphasis:
Included are a color-by-number, a sentence writing activity, vocabulary, a "MY favorite spider" booklet (he chose banana spider), and a spider anatomy fill-in-the blank, which I kept closed so as not to disturb young viewers. Here are the two side panels. One has a pocket for his book report, and the other has a write-up on EB White.
And, finally, the back, where we placed several coloring sheets and little descriptions written by Harrison:
One thing I try to do as a homeschooler is work in a healthy dose of life-skills on a daily basis. This is basically so that they don't grow up to be a complete dolt, like me, when it comes to domesticity. So, fairly regularly lately, I've been having Annaleigh come in to assist with dinner. I'll add Harrison to this activity when he can stop pretending to be Jack Sparrow or a Power Ranger for intervals of five minutes or more. One day this week, we made pork chops, and here she is dipping them and breading them:
I have a reward system set up in our school, where I made and printed "school dollars" that I give out for A's on tests, hard work during the week, and reading books. I fill a little box with some goodies and assign dollar amounts. On Fridays, they can use their dollars to shop at the store. When they were younger, it was mostly dollar items, but Annaleigh was quickly not caring whether she earned and spent her dollars or not on cheap plastic items that broke about 2.3 minutes after they were opened, so last year I started picking up clearance items at unbelievable prices. Harrison has been saving since the beginning of the year to buy a Lego set that normally sells for around $50 at Target, that I got for $9 (but shhhh!...don't tell him, since I was charging $40 in the school store!). Here he is posing with his prize that he waited and saved for 7 weeks:
We took a fun field trip to Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Yes, you read that right. We read a chapter in Homer Price about the doughnut machine that goes awry, so we thought we needed a hands-on. Our Krispy Kreme has a big window where you can see the machine making the doughnuts, so it was a totally legit trip....and for good measure, we went on Saturday, so we didn't cut into anything academic. Here are the kids enjoying their "breakfast":
Annaleigh was mortified that I made her wear the paper hat. Does she think she's 11, or something?! If you look past me in this one (I'm the one holding the all-important beverage and trying to get the child's hat to stay on my big head with my big hair), you can see Harrison watching the machine:
And, yes, I'm still doing my "life style change," but everyone needs a break sometimes. Plus I've lost 4 lbs!!! Our on-going PE is taekwondo for both kids, and this week they were both awarded their new belts. Annaleigh is now a blue belt, and Harrison is now a 1st degree, level 3 black belt. So, in other words, don't mess with us. We don't play.
Oh, wait...here is one honest-to-goodness real learning picture! The kids doing a science experiment:
Or is Harrison just drinking a very large Bloody Mary? No, it is definitely science. My kids just have the unique ability to take something totally factual, academic and pure and turn it into pure goofiness. He is learning, by the way, how water will travel. In a few days the veins of the celery will be red like the Bloody Mary. Er...I mean dyed water. And then to end out our week we had a real, live open house. We do this every 4 to 5 to 6 to 20 weeks or so....basically whenever we've accumulated enough interesting work to show Big D and Indiana Mimi. Here they are perusing the kids' work:
One of the kidlets even made a sign! Harrison recited his memory passage, Psalm 1, and Annaleigh gave an oral book report on Mara, Daughter of the Nile.
Note to self: work on eye contact with Annaleigh....oh, and take down the old, crusty Starlite mint Christmas wreath. It is September for pete's sake, and that's been hanging on that doorknob since 2005. And with this last photo, I will leave you in peace...literally. Bridget and Ripley attended a species reconciliation seminar where they learned to appreciate the other's differences, share, be kind, etc. and this is the result:
Awwww....I see some pets who are getting a little more kibble in their bowls. Till next time... |
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