Friday, February 19, 2010

Weekly Report

This week was successful and we seemed to get into a better groove to be able to accomplish things in a shorter period of time. I am sure it was just a fluke though and we will be back to the regular drawn out lessons by next week:) I finally figured out how to make my blog page bigger and how to get larger photos on here. It took some html changing but in the end I got it around how I wanted it, so I am happier with the look.
I think I have found a way to lesson the pain of math time. I don't want Roo to hate math so I am trying to find ways to make the lessons less painless for us both until we get a program that is a better fit. I left her book open to the fact sheet yesterday and picked up a book and began to read out loud. It wasn't an intentional plan of mine to leave the book open, I just thought it was a good time to break for a few minutes before proceeding. As I was reading she picked up her pencil and did her fact sheet without a word. It was so easy, I am shocked I never thought of it before. We will see if it works tomorrow too. This week in math we worked on plus two facts, measuring and recording items using linking cubes as well as the different ways that shapes can be used to cover the same picture. She likes the hands on activities for math and also pages with colour or pictures keep her interest. So my goal is to find a program more suited in this sense than Saxon is. Any suggestions?

Photobucket

Her pretending to drink while I was explaining a lesson.

Language arts this week consisted of solid phonics OPGTR review and the different ways to get the long o vowel sound. We are now on lesson 100 and I plan on slowing down a bit now to spend more time with review before a new lesson. Spelling is working on the beginning and ending sounds of basic words. She seems to get through this quickly and I noticed today how her printing has improved since last week. It is funny how even a few days can cause a noticeable change in things.

In geography we are almost done her Apple Press My First Mapbook and I plan on using the Evan-Moor Continents book before moving on to the next in the Apple Press series. The last few activities have been reinforcing North, South, East and West and how to use these directions on a grid map. This week we travelled across Australia using clues and math equations.  These along with a grid and the compass allowed us to determine what city our characters destination was.

For art class this week the kids made paper plate masks and maracas which I must admit has been driving me nuts.  I think I have muscle pain from shaking it while she was doing work. She said she needed the maracas as background music;)

Photobucket
The frog mask.


I have been using The Story of the Orchestra to slowly introduce Roo to classical music. I plan on building more in depth onto it next year. I looked into The Beautiful Feet History of Classical Music book, but heard it was more for older kids. So I purchased the Beautiful Feet History of Classical Music Timeline to use that as my guide for reading biographies and listening to music about these composers. This timeline comes with two medium length pieces of cardstock to use on the wall. Then you colour and cut out the composers and paste them onto the cardstock. It's good because it will giver her the visual timeline and will help to keep me on track with what composers and when.


Photobucket
 
The Beautiful Feet Classical Music Timeline


I received some of my next year school books this week. It is always so exciting going through new curriculum trying to visualize what the lessons are going to be like. I can't wait until I have most of my core books so I can sit and plan out how I want the year to look. Not that I will necessarily stick to it, but it always makes me feel more organized if I give myself a game plan. I need to find the perfect organizational book/program for myself. I do well with paper based but computer based always seems more professional so I am open to suggestions.
Roo termed today "lazy day", which means we get dressed in our cozy stuff to do school work. She is done for the day and is in the next room. As I type this I can hear a rather high pitched rendition of "A Spoon Full of Sugar" while she is watching Mary Poppins and vegging in her nest (a pile of pillows and blankets on the couch).

2 comments:

Daisy said...

Great idea to buy the timeline and use that as a starting place! My son was fascinated by the craft. LOL.

Robin Johnson said...

Sounds like a lovely week. I agree with you about receiving new curriculum. It's like opening a present!