--it's not what I would have chosen for them, but they like it. Today I set them the job of preparing a play of the poem, which they also enjoyed, and which served the purpose of having them repeat the poem to each other many, many, many times. Mwa-ha-ha!
Will mostly breezed through her task of finding the area of irregular polygons using graph paper and multiplication--I thought it would stump her, at least for a bit, and that she'd need to use the Base 10 blocks to help her, but she looked at the first problem and knew immediately what to do. She's sitting next to me now, getting a little frustrated with the multiplication computation (of course...), but otherwise zipping right along.
Syd, however, is in the other room probably getting more frustrated with her assignment, which is to use yarn, washi tape, and Sharpies to make a very long mileage ruler that we can use with our large US wall map. I'm curious if her engineering brain will allow her to ultimately solve the problem without fuss, or if her perfectionism will ultimately cause her to kick up a GIANT fuss. Stay tuned!
I'm hoping that we'll be able to do some work in the fossil prep lab in the Children's Museum next week (I should probably actually, you know, contact the paleontologists, but I'm sitting on my butt right now and can't be bothered to go find the right business card), so our lesson today was designed to get the kids thinking more about what paleontologists do for a living; the interview questions that they came up with are really cute, and perhaps they can actually conduct their interview when we're finally in the lab.
I'm still not sure how much time I want to devote to spelling as a discrete subject. We're regularly using Spelling City until our subscription expires, and then I'll rethink. Reading is going well, though--more Oregon Trail fictional diaries this week, but I must make a mental note to find some new ground for next week, at least for Will, who's grown weary of all these trekking children and their woes.
WEDNESDAY: This is normally our free day, but with Monday's holiday and Thursday's field trip, I needed this extra school day!
We're beginning a unit on Ancient China, to accompany our visit next week to the Children's Museum to see their exhibit of some of the real Terra Cotta Warriors, and to attend a homeschool class on the Terra Cotta Warriors. Chapter 10 of Story of the World
covers early Ancient Chinese history, and next week, before our trip, we'll cover Chapter 11, on Emporer Qin and the Terra Cotta Warriors.
covers early Ancient Chinese history, and next week, before our trip, we'll cover Chapter 11, on Emporer Qin and the Terra Cotta Warriors.
Will's Math Mammoth this week is a review of division; Syd's is a random unit on reading mileage (hence the previous day's mileage activity) and then the order of operations.
Depending on my energy level and the kids' level of rottenness, I may introduce a game to help them memorize their states and capitals, or I may just give them a list and make them sit there and look at it while I sit next to them and glare.
The kids aren't making a ton of independent progress on earning Girl Scout badges (some other moms and I have a Girl Scout co-op in the works), but it certainly does keep them busy and happy doing such interesting things!
THURSDAY: My bestest friend in the world will be in Louisville, Kentucky, for a few hours on this day, so the kids and I are trekking down to eat at a hipster Appalachian tea cafe with him! I think we'll use our ASTC Passport to spend the rest of the day at the Kentucky Science Center.
FRIDAY: Over the past few weeks, the kids and I have been listening to Masterpiece
in the car, so I wanted them to have a good idea of what Albrecht Durer's works look like. I'm not 100% sure where this "gallery" that I so blithely speak of will be, but we do have wall space that hasn't been crapped up yet--SHAMEFUL!!!
Ever more never-ending cursive torture for all. Sigh.
Now that the kids are accustomed to having a weekly reading assignment, I'm going to see if I can also get them accustomed to writing a weekly book report! At this point, I'll just be requiring a rough draft, some Momma-led editing, and a final draft, and we'll see where we go from there.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Ballet begins! Matt and the kids will be attending a kayaking class at the Girl Scout camp. A dude will be coming to repair my treadmill. I'd like to get out and do some geocaching. I'd like this rain and humidity to cease so that I can varnish some more shelves.
And what will this weekend's drive-in movie be?!? Last weekend was Maleficent, which I was reluctant to see, but I ended up LOVING it. Maybe that's how the kids will feel about book reports!
Depending on my energy level and the kids' level of rottenness, I may introduce a game to help them memorize their states and capitals, or I may just give them a list and make them sit there and look at it while I sit next to them and glare.
The kids aren't making a ton of independent progress on earning Girl Scout badges (some other moms and I have a Girl Scout co-op in the works), but it certainly does keep them busy and happy doing such interesting things!
THURSDAY: My bestest friend in the world will be in Louisville, Kentucky, for a few hours on this day, so the kids and I are trekking down to eat at a hipster Appalachian tea cafe with him! I think we'll use our ASTC Passport to spend the rest of the day at the Kentucky Science Center.
FRIDAY: Over the past few weeks, the kids and I have been listening to Masterpiece
in the car, so I wanted them to have a good idea of what Albrecht Durer's works look like. I'm not 100% sure where this "gallery" that I so blithely speak of will be, but we do have wall space that hasn't been crapped up yet--SHAMEFUL!!!Ever more never-ending cursive torture for all. Sigh.
Now that the kids are accustomed to having a weekly reading assignment, I'm going to see if I can also get them accustomed to writing a weekly book report! At this point, I'll just be requiring a rough draft, some Momma-led editing, and a final draft, and we'll see where we go from there.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Ballet begins! Matt and the kids will be attending a kayaking class at the Girl Scout camp. A dude will be coming to repair my treadmill. I'd like to get out and do some geocaching. I'd like this rain and humidity to cease so that I can varnish some more shelves.
And what will this weekend's drive-in movie be?!? Last weekend was Maleficent, which I was reluctant to see, but I ended up LOVING it. Maybe that's how the kids will feel about book reports!
My mother-in-law, Karen, is out for a visit and I think she is going to help Emma finish up her grade 2 Math Mammoth stuff. Karen had a lot of other useful suggestions so I think we might have to get her to come visit at the beginning of every school year!
ReplyDeleteThe Girl Scout Co-op sounds cool :0)
Math Mammoth 3 is easy to get a swift start in, too, because it starts with review, and then builds on that very logically. Today's mileage chart business is the first lesson that I've had a WTF reaction about in a long while!
ReplyDeleteWill's been grousing about Math Mammoth quite a bit lately, but I don't think she'd like any math curriculum any better, so she's going to muscle through it, anyway.
In good news, though, the package with Will's limestone carving tools came this morning, so I told the kids that after they finished their schoolwork and chores, I had a big present for them. They're suddenly soooo much more motivated!