This was a tough week.  S is not thrilled with school.  I think mostly it's because it's a new place, new people, and a long day (8 am - 3:30 pm) even if it's only two days a week.  He says all they do is "work".  Imagine that.  He never realized he was working at home with me, plus if he didn't like something, I always assumed he wasn't ready and put it away for a few months.  He doesn't get that luxury there.  One of the things they "work" on is printing.  If you've read my blog before, you know that S does not like to print.  Again, I assumed he wasn't ready and just didn't push it.  I guess at school, he will just have to go along with it.  Fortunately, it's only two days a week, plus minimal practice at home. 

On the AS (after-school) front, here is what we did besides lots of cuddles, reassurances, and encouragement -

History - We are doing Native American stories this month, this week's being "Iktomi and the Berries".  We talked about the similarities between this story and "The Indian Paintbrush" we read last week.

Art - He made a torn paper collage, one of the activities in "Scribble Art" by MaryAnn Kohl.  He also did most of this demo from GeeGuides, which was a very fun interactive lesson on the history of paints, colors, and painting tools. S liked both of these activities.

Literature/Poetry - I've been reading from "Child's Garden of Verses".  This is not going over very well, so I'm going to look for another poetry anthology and try this one again at a later date.  We finished "Surprise Island" and Samuel wanted to start "The Yellow House Mystery" right away.  I'm not sure reading this whole series of books counts as literature, but since they offer some insights into a simpler time and do spark conversations, I'm using a little leeway here.

Reading - S did a great job reading a book about the first day of school.  I accidentily took it back to the library without writing down the details, so that's all I can say about that book!

Math - We practiced adding and subtracting using dots, instead of numbers.  Somehow writing the saem expression using numbers causes a lot of stress, so even though he isn't actually counting out the dots (because one number of the equation is always 1 or 2, which he doesn't have to count), having the counting option available relieves his stress.

Science - Our caterpillars formed their chrysalids and we are watching them daily.  Also, a great new TV show started on PBS called Sid the Science Kid.  This week they have talked about using "science tools" like charts, magnifying glasses, rulers, and estimation jars.  Also, my mom bought S a set of books from one of those shopping networks.  Each book is about an ocean creature and it is told in the form of a story about the day in the life of...It also came with a CD so it's something we can listen to in the car.  We listened to the one about a bottlenose dolphin.  Thanks, Mom!  I have to admit, when you first told me you bought these, I thought it sounded kind of cheesy.