What do you get when you add a rainy day and a busy mom and toss in three bored boys with lots of energy? Downstairs Mattress Surfing. The boys have had a ball sliding down the stairs together on an old twin mattress today. It actually goes down pretty slow, but fast enough to seem like big fun for the boys.
The boys love poetry! Casey at the Bat is one of their all time favorites, but they enjoy all types of poetry. So, we are using a book called "A Child's Introduction to Poetry" to introduce the different types of poetry and famous poems. So far we have studied Nursery Rhymes, Nonsense Poetry, Limericks, and Haiku. Ryan says Haiku is his favorite.
Nursery Rhyme by Ryan
The Elephant’s Sneeze
There once was an elephant named Bill.
He lived on the top of the hill.
He sniffed a flower and he sneezed “KER-CHOO”
He rolled down the hill and got stuck green goo.
Limerick by Ryan
There once was a boy named Jake
Who lived down by the lake.
He lived in a cabin
And then something happened
He was gobbled up by a snake.
Haiku by Ryan
Autumn leaves fall down
Float like feathers in the air
I step on one-crunch!
Nonsense Poem by Ryan
Finding the Tribilous Pearl
Twas ramshackle in the dawn’s early night
Upon the CrabidSea, the jaggerfish screamed with fright.
The crangshangle fish were there to eat their lunch
The jaggerfish was unaware that he would be munched.
A diver jalloped into the sea and found a crangless clam.
But still the diver noticed that the clam had a jam.
He used his knife and with one slice, he salloped the clam in two
And there was the most beautiful tribilous pearl that shined across Shangraloo.
To review our five week unit on the five senses, we completed a lapbook covering each of the five senses.
On this page we learned about the parts of the eye. We also learned about optical illusions and the rods and cones. The boys also created their names in braille and included those, as well.
For sense of smell, we labeled the parts of the nose and talked about how our sense of smell triggers memories. Ryan says that the smell of pizza reminds him of Italy. We also did a smell teste to see how long it would take to remember different smells.
What we have learned is that it is always dangerous to take children to a furniture to pick out new things for their room. Well, we started out looking for a new dresser and we ended up with a really cool new bed. Never have two children been so convincing.
"But mom, this is a bed and a dresser."
"Mom, this bed is so cool"
"Mom, this bed is like a castle"
So, we ended up getting the bed with the dresser built in and, truthfully it is really cool. And according to the boys, it is not a bed, it is "Castle World" They absolutely love it! Now we just need to get them to stay in the really cool bed when it is time to go to sleep.
History: Ancient Sumerians
Geography/World Culture: We will be working on our World Passports.
Science: The Solar System and the Sun
Art: Van Gogh and Resist Drawing
Music: Moonlight Sonata
Together we are reading; The Wheel on the School, A Child's Book of Poetry, Who Can Save Vincent's Hidden Treasures?
History: Ancient writings: Hieroglyphics and Cuneiform
Geography/World Culture: Olympics Unit Study, We will be tracking the medal count this week and learning about each sport
Science: Senses of Taste and Smell
Art: Egyptian Drawing Styles
Music: Ancient Egyptian Instruments
Together we are reading; The Wheel on the School, Favorite Poems of Childhood
9:00 Today everyone is finished with chores and ready to start school on time.After pledges, we listen to our memory work on CD and then read our Bible lesson.
9:15 Ryan works on his math worksheet, while I teach Evan his math lesson.Ryan is learning to work more independently this year, but asks questions when he needs to.Aidan joins us at the table and colors a picture.
9:30 Both Ryan and Evan work independently on their handwriting.This gives me a chance to do some preschool skills with Aidan.Today we are working on cutting skills and counting.
9:37 Tap, tap, tap.Evan signals that he has completed his work by tapping lightly on the table.The tap signals me that he is ready for his next assignment without interrupting the work that is going on around him.
9:40 I set up box full of blocks in the corner for Aidan, so that I can work with Evan on his phonics lesson.Ryan finishes his handwriting and moves onto his Latin root words.
9:43 “No noise in the schoolroom,” I remind Aidan as he gets a little over zealous in stacking and knocking down his blocks.
9:45 “No noise in the schoolroom,” I remind Aidan again.He decides to take his blocks into the living room, so he can knock them down more freely.
9:50 Time to teach language lessons to Ryan.Today we are working on slant rhymes, a concept that he thinks is very funny for some reason.He writes a great sentence using his slant rhyme words.Evan is finished with his phonics lesson and spends a few minutes playing with Aidan in the living room while he waits for me to finish with Ryan.
9:52 “I go potty.I get a sucker,” Aidan yells from the bathroom.We are working on potty training and suckers are a huge motivator for Aidan.I get his sucker quickly and go back into the school room to finish Ryan’s language lesson.
10:00 Ryan reads Henry and the Clubhouse silently, while Evan reads aloud to me.Aidan listens in on Evan’s reading while he plays in the living room.
10:00 Ryan reads Henry and the Clubhouse silently, while Evan reads aloud to me.Aidan listens in on Evan’s reading while he plays in the living room.
10:10 Ryan practices his piano, playing each song three times.I read a The Carrot Seed with Aidan and we talk about the colors in the book.Orange and brown are the only colors used in the book, so we color things that are orange and brown.Then we check on the bean seeds that we are sprouting in the window.Two of the seeds have sprouted roots, and one looks like it will sprout today.Aidan is very excited.By this time the boys have finished their work and they are playing upstairs.
10:25 Since everyone is playing quietly; I quickly put some dishes in the dishwasher and wipe off the counters.
10:30 I set up a Preschool computer game to keep Aidan busy while I am reading with the boys.We use a literature based curriculum, which means all of our history and science studies come from real books, not textbooks.Our favorite time of day is when we curl up on the couch together to read great books.Over the next two weeks, we are doing a Unit Study about the Olympics, so we start out reading a book about the Olympics.After reading, the boys use some colored rings to build a huge Olympic flag.
10:45 We continue reading a book of children’s poetry.This week we are studying the five senses in Science, so we read a biography of Louis Braille.We finish our reading time by studying a painting by Degas.
11:00 Ryan and I watch a movie about Degas, while Evan and Aidan watch a Leapfrog Reading video.While the boys are watching their movies, I answer a few work emails and straighten up the living room and school room.
11:30 Ryan and Evan use birdseed and glue to write their names in Braille.While they are working, I help Aidan with some cutting and gluing.
11:40 “I go potty.I get a sucker,” Aidan says again.
11:50 I have an order to pick up at Staples, so we decide we will get some lunch while we are out.While we are riding, the boys listen to our history assignment on CD.This week we are learning about the ancient Egyptians.We grab lunch at Sonic and three starving boys eat on the way home.
12:30 We are working on an Olympic lap book. To make a lapbook, the boys create mini books that cover details of what they have learned.We put all these mini books into a large folder and use it for review about each subject. Today the boys color the Olympic flag and copy the Olympic motto. School is officially over for the day.
Evan poses with his White and Red Crown of Egypt, while Ryan works on his crown in the background. Ryan and Evan work with their classmates to identify leaves using their five senses.
This week in Co-op, we learned about the ancient Egyptians. In history, the kids created the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. For art, we weaved papyrus and painted an Egyptian throwing stick. In Science, we learned more about our sense of sight and used our senses to identify leaves.
Evan showing his tough face as he runs around the lazy river. "I'm gonna get you Dad!" Mom and Aidan in the bubbles.
Saturday night we got together with all of our Homeschool Association friends to kick off the school year at the water park in Denton. The boys had a ball floating down the lazy river and playing on the water playground. Ryan enjoyed the waterpark, alhough, we didn't get any pictures because he was always under the water.
Tonight, Evan came into the school room wearing his reading glasses and said, "Let me see that Monet book again. I want to see if the pictures are still blurry when I wear my glasses." A-Ha! Apparently, he was paying attention when we were reading about Monet this morning. Who says you can't learn while standing on your head?
History: Ancient Egyptians
Geography/World Cultures: The Olympics! We will be doing a two week unit study in honor of the XXIX Olympics.
Science: Senses of Seeing and Touching, Braille
Art: Impressionism
Music: Ancient Egyptian Singing
Aidan will be reading The Carrot Seed this week, so he will be learning about seeds and we will be experimenting with growing bean sprouts and carrot tops.
Top Left: During the storms this week, Ryan created a picture of our house being attacked by a tornado. While he was drawing, Aidan walked around saying "a tor MAY do is coming" over and over again.
Top Right: Evan's cave painting showing a cave man hunting a bull.
Bottom Right: Ryan's Button World. Notice the basketball player and the bottom of the hill and the golfer at the top of the hill.
Today we started our first day of co-op and the boys were sooooo excited. Our co-op is a group of moms and kids that meet together to do hands on history, science experiments, art and music. During the week we all study the same lessons and then we join together on Fridays to do projects for each subject. The boys were so excited to see their friends and loved the projects. But it seemed like the best part was the new backpacks and lunch boxes.
This week we studied prehistoric man, so we created cave paintings for our history project. We also created petroglyphs and pictographs for our art projects. In Science, we learned about our five senses and experimented with using our senses to guess the mystery items. For music, we all learned about the woodwind instrument family.
Don't worry! Aidan is not left out of the fun. While Ryan and Evan are doing their projects, Aidan and the other younger kids get together for circle time, story time, and music time. And he got a new lunch box and back pack, too!
After learning about Monet and his style of painting outdoors, he decided to to try his hand at painting "en plein aire." With canvas and easel under his arm, he marched out to the end of the driveway and started painting. He was so serious as he dabbed the paint onto the canvas and he was very proud of the way that he mixed his very own colors. Unfortunately, the late afternoon heat got the better of him before he could finish his painting, but A-Ha, he learned about Monet anyway.
Top Left: After learning about Van Gogh, Ryan was inspired to paint a portrait of his brother. Evan was happy to sit for the portrait. Ryan was especially proud that he mixed the 'exact' color to match Evan's hair.
Top Right: Ryan was also created a still life after studying Van Gogh.
Bottom Right: Aidan loves to color with markers. His style is to use lots of colors and cover as much of the paper as possible.
For the last half of the school year, Aidan regularly sat down at the school table while his brothers were working and demanded "Where's my books?" So this year, I decided to get a few preschool workbooks for him so he could feel like he was a part of the fun. He is very happy to inform his brothers every day "It's my turn to do school."
One of the things that I am doing with him this year is called Five in a Row. This is a curriculum that uses wonderful picture books and build preschool skills around them. We read the book together everyday, but each day we learn something new about that book and build on the skills of the day before.
To supplement each book, we have been building lapbooks. Lapbooks are made by refolding a file folder into a shutter type book. Then we add mini books and activities to the inside of the folder. When the lapbook is finished, we have a memory of the things that we have learned and an activity book that can be used again and again.
Aidan finished his first lapbook this week after reading "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?"
Inside the lapbook we learned about the letter B, played hide and seek with paper bears, and dressed a paper doll bear.
We also practiced shapes and primary colors by stamping with potato stamps. Aidan practiced coloring Jesse Bear's clothes.
Aidan learned about clothing to wear in summer, winter, and at night. We attached these with velcro, so he can practice again and again.
History: Prehistoric Man
Geography/World Cultures: France
Science: The Five Senses
Art: Monet and the Impressionists
Music: Peter and the Wolf and Woodwind Instruments
Together we are reading: The Wheel on the School, The Giraffe that Walked to Paris, The Glorious Flight
Should be plenty of opportunities for A-Ha Moments!
Evan poses with his White and Red Crown of Egypt, while Ryan works on his crown in the background.
Ryan and Evan work with their classmates to identify leaves using their five senses.
Evan showing his tough face as he runs around the lazy river.
"I'm gonna get you Dad!"
Mom and Aidan in the bubbles.
Tonight, Evan came into the school room wearing his reading glasses and said, "Let me see that Monet book again. I want to see if the pictures are still blurry when I wear my glasses." A-Ha! Apparently, he was paying attention when we were reading about Monet this morning. Who says you can't learn while standing on your head?
Today we started our first day of co-op and the boys were sooooo excited. Our co-op is a group of moms and kids that meet together to do hands on history, science experiments, art and music. During the week we all study the same lessons and then we join together on Fridays to do projects for each subject. The boys were so excited to see their friends and loved the projects. But it seemed like the best part was the new backpacks and lunch boxes. 
On the agenda for the boys this week: 