May. 29, 2009 - Schoolyear Wrap Up
Woo Hoo! Those 180 days are finally finished for another year. I still have papers to file away, but our official year is done. Whew! It's been quite a year. Little Monkey was so happy, it made another tooth fall out 
Reading:
Big Man (9) is on Level 4, lesson 8 in the Barton Reading program. For sure the hardest lesson for him so far was the Picnic Chicken Basket rule back in lesson 4! I never thought we'd move past that one! I'm beginning to get high hopes that we can complete Level 4 with ease before the end of summer, and maybe have a week off before the beginning of next school year and Level 5. For a 9 or 10 year old, we would only go thru Level 8 before stopping until he's a little older for the last two levels in Barton. I'm crossing my fingers we'll get done with Level 8 before the end of next summer....but I'm not holding my breath on that one!
Little Monkey (6) is on Level 4, lesson 6. He, too, took his sweet time getting thru that fourth lesson in this level, but now is on the move again. I'm so impressed that his little six-year-old mind is soaking up all of the complexities of Barton. I've noticed him reading much more, and much more quickly, scanning pretty much every sign he sees. "Do you know what that sign says Mom?" is a common question coming from him. It warms me to my toes. 
Math:
Big Man is done with Math U See Gamma! He was very proud of himself for learning all of his multiplication tables up to the 10's, and for fun we did a "Challenge Level" of the 11's and 12's. We are very, very proud of how far he has come this year after switching him to Math U See. It's made all of the difference for him. He says he actually likes math now! We went from panicking fits of crying at the beginning of the year....to actually liking it!! Wow.
Little Monkey also learned all of his multiplication tables up to 10. The Abeka book started throwing in learning skip counting by a number, multiplying by that number, and dividing by that number all in the same week. It was getting confusing for him, so we pulled him off of the last few weeks of the 2nd grade book and concentrated on multiplication. We got as far as multiplying a two digit number by a one digit number with carrying (like 14 x 3). He's doing that with ease. Simply amazing. In the fall, I'll have him finish the 2nd grade Abeka book (where now only division will be new), skip the review lessons in the 3rd grade book, and he should still finish the 3rd grade book by the end of next year. He's definitely my math kid.
For both boys, we have the Right Start Games set (bought at the Homeschool Convention) from which we'll do games all summer. The big favorite right now (and it's fantastic for practicing those multiplication tables) is Multiplication War. We have the Right Start number cards, 0 - 10. Instead of laying down one card during each round, you put down two. Each player has to call out what his set totals when multiplied (like if you put down a five and an eight, you would call out 40), the highest product wins the round. We LOVE this game! It's going to be hard to convince them to try out a different game.
Grammar:
Big Man finished his 3rd grade First Language Lessons book, and we'll continue on to the 4th grade book next year. At one of Susan Bauers talks, she said she doesn't recommend beginning diagramming until about middle school. And yet, both of the 3rd and 4th grade books are waaaay heavy on diagramming. If anyone can tell me why this is, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Little Monkey also finished his 1st grade First Language Lessons book, and we'll continue on next year in the 2nd grade section of the book. I didn't make him learn any of the poems this year.....because the ones I wanted him to learn he did last year as he listened to Big Man learn them.
Handwriting:
Big Man finished learning each of the lower case letters in cursive. He has a little trouble remembering how to form the letters when he's writing out a sentence, but that will come with more practice. Next year we'll cement those lower case letters further and learn the upper case letters as well.
Little Monkey and his handwriting, ugh. This summer, we'll do some "creative writing" together. (Writing on the sidewalk or deck with paint/chalk, the windows with fingerpaint, or wherever I can get him to do gigantic letters) I'll also get some sandpaper letter cards ready for next school year. It will make handwriting more multisensory for him, which he really thrives on. This year, the best thing we did was throw a piece of screen (yes, like what's in your windows) under the sheet of paper he's writing on. That extra bumpiness helps him. I've also heard of using the plastic knitting screen, but I didn't have any of that lying around. I just put masking tape around the edges of the window screen to prevent poking.
History:
Our first year using Tapestry of Grace was a big success. We went from Year 2, Unit 1 through Year 3, Unit 3. We'll finish out Year 3 and fit in all of Year 4 next schoolyear. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the Civil War and Wild West era, as any little boy should!
A few of the things we did during the last couple of weeks:
Built a wooden version of a covered wagon so the boys can use it with their Lincoln Logs (bought this at the Homeschool Convention--knew they would love it!) Built a telegraph while learning about a few of the different inventions of the time. We went to the local Bass Pro Shop to try a little target practice while learning about Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Our favorite thing was going to a Civil War Days recreation. It was a day trip, but very fun.....except for the on-again/off-again rain and wind during a cool day!
Our wooden covered wagon, now at home with our Licoln Logs:
Our telegraph machine:
Meeting Abraham Lincoln....while sporting Confederate Flag stickers. Behind Little Monkeys back, my darling hubby was holding mini Confederate Flags:
Coming up to the Union camp:
The Union Camp, where we talked for quite a while with the regiments doctor. He was eager to show the boys all of the gruesome medical equipment. This was actually neat. Who else but homeschoolers get to hold a bone saw after reading about them in a book?
Only my kids would find bowling during the Civil War. My favorite memory from this picture? The lovely women behind my kids bartering with my dear hubby. They were trying to find out how many of those "strapping young boys" he would be willing to sell:
The battle begins:
The Calvary ready to charge:
A couple of funny quotes from the day:
"Go home, Johnny Reb!!!" yelled from a distance by a Union soldier to Big Man because his rebel Daddy slapped a Confederate Flag sticker on his shirt.
"Someone died.......FINALLY!!" said by Little Monkey during the battle. We stood through a long skirmish before the actual battle, and fake deaths, began.
Science:
Oh, science was so fun this year. Due to time constraints, I was very glad our science curriculum had as few lessons in it as it did. We did almost all of the experiments I had laid out during planning, with a couple on tap for this summer, like experimenting with bubbles, and ways to change the color of your campfire 
The boys put on their Polymer Magic Show for their cousin when she came down to visit....still need to work on those Vegas moves! I'm very happy with what the kids learned this year, and we'll use this same company next year when we explore Physics. If you had told me before we homeschooled that my 3rd and 1st graders would learn about Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Liquids, Gases, Acids & Bases, Mixtures, unmixing, Chemical reactions, enzymes, & molecular chains, and that they would have fun doing it.....I would have thought you had a screw loose!
Peanut Update: One nice thing about summer being here is the opportunity to spend more time working with Peanut on basic skills. I've been printing various file folder games (FolderFun , FileFolderHeaven) working on basic skills I never thought I would need to concentrate on with a four year old! An incredible site I recently found is Tot School, which I am also getting together for Peanut. The woman who put together the Tot Tray idea is a genius! The great thing about a lot of these trays is that they will double as O.T. time with mommy. I'll need to do a post later this summer when I have everything (or most things) ready to go.
Of course, over the summer we can't stop doing our Barton Reading lessons and some math review. One new thing we're adding this summer: both Big Man and Little Monkey will have a day of the week they will read a book to Peanut. We'll incorporate books from the library for their summer book club so the boys get credit toward their weekly reading goals.
It's been a long, frustrating, exhausting, encouraging, enjoyable, fun-filled year. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. But now I want summer break!!
Comments
May. 30, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by crazybusy
Congrats on finishing up your school year! Yay! We're done too and I am LOVING the little bit of extra free time!
What an awesome field trip! Neat!
Love, Alyssa
May. 31, 2009 - Blog Award
Posted by lexi
I'm giving you a blog award! Head over to my blog to pick it up. www.homeschoolblogger.com/lexi
Jun. 8, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I THINK YOU ARE DOING UTTERLY FANTASTIC. I TOOK A BRIEF LOOK AT THE SCIENCE YOU ARE USING..AND WELL.IM NOT SURE I COULD DO THE FIRST PAGE OF THE WORKBOOK. VERY IMPORESSIVE.ANYHOW. IM NOT GOING TO PRETEND TO KNOW A THING ABOIUT ANY OF YOUR CHILDS LEARNING ABILITIES. HOWEVER YOU MENTIONED ONE MAY BE DYSLEXIC AND HAVING PROBLEMS WITH LETERS..MY FRIEND SWEARS BY THE LEAP FROG VIDEO..AND ITS REALLY CUTE TOO,,CHEAP ALSO AT UNDER $10 AT walmart or target.she says that you put things in a song her son can learn about anything...hope this helps.i know jammim aLSO HASA GREAT SITE FOR ED SONGS ON HER BLOG
|
|
This site owned by Enter name here |
|
|
|
