More books for T

Pizza Party by Grace Maccarone
Sunshine, Moonshine by JenniferArmstrong
Monster Money by Grace Maccarone
The Gym Day Winners by Grace Maccarone
The Snow Baby Margaret Hillert
The Snowball by Jennifer Armstrong
I have a cold by Grace Maccarone

Fairy Tales

Here is a list of books T has been reading:

The Yellow Boat by Margaret Hillert
Tiny Goes Camping by Cari Meister
Here Comes the Snow by Angela Shelf Medearis
The Great Roadrunner Race adapted by Sarah Willson
Buzzzzzzz said the Bee by Wendy Lewison

I am also starting a Fairy Tale unit. I have been ashamed to realize that I have neglected to read T fairy tales. He is familiar with them through movies and stories I've told him, but I have never actually read any to him. I will make it up to him now.

So far I have read Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood (a bit scarier than I thought - it was the version where Goldilocks and her Grandma get swallowed whole) and Cinderella.

T's reading more

Books T is reading this week:
Thomas and Percy and the Dragon by Reverend W Awdry
B is for Books by Annie Cobb
Morris the Moose by B Wiseman
Popcorn by Alex Moran
Beth's Job by Carole Roberts

We're making good efforts to read everyday for 20 minutes. T goes and grabs the kitchen timer and reads until the timer goes off. He's started reading Dr Seuss books. Those books tend to take him longer. So he will read until he finishes the book, usually well after the timer goes off.

More books read by T

Some books T has read:
I like Mess by Marcia Leonard
In the Yard by Dana Rau
Catch the Bus by The Berenstains
Just Like Me by Barbara Neasi

T's reading list

Here are the books that T has read this week. I need to start a new list on the sidebar. Another thing on my to do list.

Little Puff by Margaret Hillert
Play Ball by Margaret Hillert
Dancing Dinos by Sally Lucas
See Pip Point by David Milgrim
My New Boy by Joan Phillips

Making lists

I guess I really did make an impact on T about making shopping lists. We had to run to Target yesterday to catch the last day of a sale. I was preparing their water bottles and saying aloud what we needed to get. T's response: "Okay, I'll write it down." And he proceeded to go get the scribble pad, turn to a new page and write down what I was mumbling. I was so proud of him. I noticed that he made some minor corrections on misspellings - some items were duplicates of the previous list.

On a roll

We're doing good. We are actually still on task. It's been a busy week.

Mathematics:
T has continued with his addition practice. He is getting quicker with this basic addition facts. We've also reviewed counting by 5s. This was a lead in to telling time. T is very good at reading a digital clock. Now it's time to really work on the analog clock.

Literacy:
Some skills that T has been working on are rhyming, sequential order and prediction.

T read a couple of books: Jack's House and Dr Seuss' I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.

T continued to work on his Thank You cards. We're reinforcing letter writing, capitalization and punctuation. I'd like to use this as a springboard to find T penpals for this schoolyear. I think it would be a great way to reinforce real life writing skills.

More real life skills - T wrote out our shopping list for a couple of stores. He was terribly cute about it. I made a big show of using the list. Honestly, I really do need a list. And he got to see how useful writing is.

Science - It is the perfect time to talk the change of seasons. I've always talked about the signs of fall or the big word, autumn. I touch up chlorophyll and sunlight, but this time I had an article that explained everything in more detail. T seemed to grasp the information a little better. It was a little too much for L. Next week, I plan on reading some more books on the season.

Foreign Language - And as always, T practiced writing his Chinese words. We had a plus of having Grandma come visit so that she was able to review and critique his writing. It looked alright to me. But what do I know? And thankfully, she was able to "teach" us the new words for the next week.

A Good Start to a New Year

I think we've eased into the new school year nicely.

Math:
We've been working on addition skills. We've even started on two digit addition. At first glance, T said there was no way he could do it because it was too hard. I think he surprised himself when he was able to actually do it.

Social Studies:
I briefly discussed 9/11 with him. It is still rather difficult to talk about. I haven't had a chance to view President Obama's speech yet. Once I do, T will get to hear it for himself.

Literacy:
We've been doing quite a bit of reading. I have been negligent and have not finished to 100 books list so we're still working on that. We're almost there. T even read a book, Mr. Gumpy's Outing, on his own with a few assists. I think he was pretty proud of himself.

We are also working on his Thank You cards that he is writing on his own. We're working on spelling, punctuation and spacing.

We've been playing with the Discovery Toys Roll and Play. T, L and Z had fun. This activity reinforced colors and following directions. T also had a chance to practice his reading.

Foreign Language:
T has been reviewing his Chinese words and practicing writing his name. Chinese School started today. So far it is only 2 students with 1 yet to show up. I'm a bit surprised that his old classmates did not continue with Chinese School. However, I think that this will give T even more one on one instruction which will be to his benefit.

Science:
I know we've covered something in science but I can't remember what. We've had minor discussions on ice and how it melts or sticks together. We've looked up green leaf bugs because they seem to be abundant in our backyard.

Reinforcement:
T's been reinforcing math and reading skills on his VSmile and Leapster. I am not a big fan of video games but I have to admit that these are fun ways to reinforce and teach.

I've also taught the boys to play Old Maid. It was a great way to reinforce matching skills - preliteracy - with L.

As always, I have to get organized. I have lots of plans but I need to execute them. I plan on getting membership at a local children's museum and go at least once every 4-6 weeks. We also plan on going to Adventure Aquarium down in Camden, NJ next month during homeschooling week. It's a special offer of $10 per person. That's a substantial savings. D has a convention down in Washington DC coming up. I am going to try to see if we can tag along and I can take the boys to the Smithsonians. Oh, I would love to do that. I think I would look forward to that maybe more than the boys would. Maybe not....

Throw, throw, throw

Much accomplishment is being made with the "homeschooling" room. One major coup is the removal of the sofa set. Our neighbor was correct and the sofa was able to be removed from our house without being chopped into pieces as D had assumed. D simply took the back door off the hinges and with the help of our neighbor, was able to take the sofa out! Woohoo! The sofa set is now sitting under the canopy on our neighbor's driveway. I don't care. It's out of the house! So D quickly took apart the futon and moved it into the family room. Wow, the family room looks so spacious now. And my office looks extremely spacious. With a lot of boxes, of course.

Today, after some nagging, D took it upon himself to watch the boys while I tackled the downstairs. I sorted out the things that I could in the family room. I placed what had a home into its rightful place. Then I tried to make a dent in my office. Not only for the homeschooling, but if we intend to move within the next year, I really have to condense and get rid of things. So I will attempt to make my motto, "Throw, throw, throw." It will be difficult since I have a tendency to save things, but I will try. I already cut up many boxes - which is huge for me. And I have brought T's table to my office. Baby steps.

I have also found my collection of free video cassette tapes that I ordered years ago from Video Placement Worldwide. I found one for the White House. It will come in very handy when we gear up for election day. I also found one for Switzerland. I am determined to continue our studies of countries. The Winter Olympics are coming up this winter, so this will work very well.

August already!

I cannot believe that it is August already. Kiddie camp and gymnastics is over! Celebrations were to be had by both classes. Kiddie camp had a pizza party and a day of fun. But then again, everyday was fun for T at Kiddie camp. Gymnastics ended the class with show and had invited family and friends to watch what the kids have learned this past summer. My parents and brother came in to see T and Daddy took early day to see his big guy do his thing. T is such a flexible and fearless little boy. We also found that he is quite talkative!

Now it's time to start preparing for the new homeschool year. I'm in the process of cleaning up and cleaning out my office downstairs. Daddy says with the help of our neighbor, he is going to get rid of the sofa set downstairs and then move the futon from my office. That would leave us a great space for schooling. It's a slow going process because I have so much junk. I admit it. I am a hoarder. 'You just never know if you might need something' is the ongoing theme. So right now, the goal is to organize everything as much as possible. I know there is a lot to throw away as well. I am finding things like coupons which are dated from 2007. I think it's safe to say that it's time to throw those away.

Halloween in July

Today was Halloween in July day at camp. I had to scramble up to the attic and dig around for the Halloween box for T's costume. Five boxes later, I found his dragon costume from last year. Yay! I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about this particular theme. I wasn't sure that there would be many kids participating. But when we showed up to camp, there were many kids already in costume. After a little bit of hesitation, T asked for his costume and ran happily to play with his co-campers.

We arrived early for pick-up. I am so glad I did. We got to the municipal just in time to see the campers all decked in their costumes in line for trick or treating. The counselors were strategically placed, each with a bag of candy. The campers went "trick or treating" with their loot bags that they decorated today. It was quite a sight to see 60 some odd kids in costumed lined up waiting for their candy. I wish I had the foresight to bring my camera. It was much cuter than I had anticipated. T had a blast! It was a wonderful idea!

Kiddie Camp

So last week, T started Kiddie Camp through our township. Our town has some amazing programs at very little cost. This Kiddie Camp which runs for a month, 5 days a week from 9:30am to 1:30pm costs $50! Yes, $50. That's it. Talk about a bargain. Before I even sent T, I figured that even if I sent him once a week, it would be worth it. I can't even get a babysitter for that amount. Granted they go on trips that must be paid separately. The trips range from $7 to $22, mostly in the high ranges. The $7 trip was to the park that was less than a mile away. I decided not to let T go on any of the trips. It wasn't a cost factor. It was a safety concern. He would be going on a bus which I'm wary about. And there would be 3 counselors who, while I believe they are nice kids, are high schools and college students. I am nervous when it is just me taking them out, let alone 3 "adults" to 30+ kids. Not very good odds. But even if T doesn't go on the trips, camp is still open. He's gone once when they were on a trip. He seemed to still have fun.

He also has a gymnastics class two times a week. This class is perfect for my little monkey. And he actually does very well. Not that I doubted it.

100 Books to read in Kindergarten

As you may have noticed, there has been something new that I've added on the side there. At the OB library, I found a list of 100 Books to read in Kindergarten. I thought of it as a challenge. I skimmed the list and found that there were many books that I was familiar with. And many books that I was not. It is a great compilation of books. We've been borrowing a bunch of books at a time. We actually own quite a few of them. We're about a third of the way through the list. I believe that we'll finish in no time.

ETA: I placed an asterisk next to the books that we own. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many books we actually have. Nice to know that I have a decent and wide variety of books.

Where has my little boy gone?

I've noticed some big changes in L. Besides the potty training, which in itself is huge! L has been making attempts to "read." When T is reading, L would grab a book and start "reading." He holds a book and starts going "bbb, uh, uh, ah, ah..." It's so very cute. Sometimes with books that he's very familiar, he will tell little stories. I cannot believe that L is on his way to reading. I really thought he was my clueless child. I do not mean that in a bad way. I just thought I knew that I would have to work harder with L because he was just not that conscientious a child. He has proven me wrong. And I am very happy about it! He has also taken to quietly playing in T's room. He will gather up toys and get into T's bed and play on his own. I would suddenly realize that L is gone and he would be in the room playing. Sometimes L would come out and say that he is finished feeding the babies. It is so very cute. I believe that he has calmed down a lot. Of course, L is still my loud, rambunctious child, but in his own little way, he is maturing.

Big Boys!

I've been making a conscientious effort to have T read daily. This generally means a book a day since he is still working on beginning readers. I keep combing the shelves at the library for any and all books that T would be able to read. He is so proud when he finishes a book. I definitely enjoy setting him up for success!

He read a book called Dan and Dan by David McPhail. It was the perfect book to do a venn diagram on. T did pretty well in understanding the concepts of comparing and contrasting - although I did not use those words.

On a big positive note, L is fully potty trained! So I signed him up for the preschool class through the township. I have to admit I was very nervous. He does not do well with the Game Fun class that I drop him off at, so I have major concerns of leaving him for over 2 hours. I waited until the very last minute and registered him at 4:50pm the day before the first class. Talk about cutting it close! L was very excited. I kept talking to him over and over again about what to expect and how to behave and not behave. I reminded him to go to the bathroom. I reminded him to not touch anyone else's snacks. I asked T to teach him about bathroom etiquette. Daddy asked T to watch out for L and foods. I kept up with the reminders Friday morning. L walked right into class with a big smile. He said he wanted to sit with Connor and zoomed straight for his table. I spoke with the teachers about his allergies and my concerns. I tried to give L some last minute reminders and he brushed me off! It made me so sad. I left the classroom and sat outside with Z for a while. Everything sounded fine. I didn't hear any screaming or crying. Eventually, I took Z outside to the park area but I never left the premises. Apparently, L did fine. Miss Linda did tell me that L asked where I was, after an hour or so, but was quickly placated when told I'll be back for him soon. I am so proud of my little boy!

On the other hand, Game Fun class at the beginning of the week did not go so well. I did get L into the classroom but he didn't participate. I watched him edge into the classroom and then when I checked on him again L was by the door again. Sigh! His teacher jokes around that L talks to her more outside of class then he does in class.

Since L seems to be a bit under the weather, he may have to miss Game Fun again this week. We already skipped the first day of outdoor Pee Wee Soccer today since he threw up last night. I did not want to have him play hard in his weakened state. I will have to see how his cough and wet nose is like tomorrow before I determine whether or not to send him to Game Fun class.

A Delicious Mistake

We made Betty Crocker's Rainbow Cake. I was trying to make our version of the Funfetti cookies but I made a mistake and put in liquid that we didn't need, so we ended up making a cake instead. T read the ingredients we needed. I briefly introduced fractions. He was able to identify the right measuring cup needed. He even cracked two eggs. T was pretty proud of himself. This is always a fun lesson. At the end, you have something yummy to eat! T enjoyed two big slices of his rainbow cake after dinner.

We continued to read from Mary Poppins and Clementine. I realize that it's not the best idea to be reading two different chapter books at the same time. But T seems to be following the storylines pretty well. I think it helps that the two books are so different. Also, he has a rough idea of what to expect in Mary Poppins, after having seen the movie so many times.

Game Fun class was bust this week. L did not want to go into class. He kept claiming that he was upset. About what? I don't know. I wonder if L was thrown off because the class was in a different room. I hope he will be better this Monday.

This week at Little Chef class, T made pigs in a blanket. Yum! I happen to have the crescent roll dough. I do need hot dogs, though. I can probably use the Shelton's Turkey franks. But it will be a fun activity for the boys to do here at home. For L, I will just roll his bread flat.

I've been orally quizzing T on his Chinese words. He really seems to enjoy when I do this. I need to quiz him more often.

Pyramids of Egypt

The boys still have a cough, so we skipped the Game Fun class for L and the Little Gourmet Chef class for T.

T practiced writing some more of his Chinese words. We also did some word play with his words to see if he really understood what they meant even when switched around. He did pretty well.

T added more facts to his Egypt pages in his Social Studies journal. I intended for him to journal about pyramids and what is found inside pyramids. T drew a number of pyramids, from different angles. He understood that the side view was a triangle and the top view was a square. I was impressed. He also drew scrolls with hieroglyphs. Then T took initiative and wrote the words/pronunciations for the numbers in Arabic.

T also made an attempt to read All Aboard. The book was way too advanced for him, but he did make the effort. He read the first sentence.

I finished a chapter in Mary Poppins. T recalled what happened in the story and made predictions.

Busy day

I am so terribly disappointed in T. We were studying his words all week and when I tested him on Friday, he knew them all. When I pick him up from Chinese school, I find out that he did not complete his test. It was sitting on his desk. When I asked him what happened, his teacher tells me that T told her he didn't know the words. What?!? Of course, he knows the words. I just tested him on them. His teacher is letting him re-take the test next week. I told T that he is lucky that he has such a nice teacher. Another teacher might have just given him a zero. Sigh. We're going to have to do a lot of studying this week...

On a bright note, today was a very productive day. Since everyone is sick (not that that is a good thing), we stayed home and skipped soccer class. We had a nice breakfast and then proceeded to hang out in the kitchen. I set T to work on practicing writing some Chinese words that he was supposed to know for his test. While he was writing, I was asking him the words and their meaning.

I was planning on baking with the boys. While I was prepping, I had L sort cookie cutters by color. He had fun doing that. In fact, he repeated the exercise a couple of times. Then he counted how many cookie cutters he had a color group. L has always wanted to help me "cook." I wanted to make his pumpkin muffins. I thought this was perfect opportunity. L went to wash his hands. Hygiene is of utmost importance when cooking! I had pre-measured all the ingredients. And as I named the ingredients, L would pour it into the big mixing bowl. Then we mixed it all up. L had a blast! He wanted to eat his pumpkin muffins right away! He climbed into his seat and asked for his muffins! Ummm....L, you have to wait for them to bake?!??! As the first batch was baking, I realized that I left out the vegetable oil! Yikes! So before making a second batch, L got to try his pumpkin muffins. He thought they were yummy. So I guess he wasn't missing the vegetable oil. So here is the complete recipe. I used canned pumpkin. And of course, L's gluten free flour and egg substitute. You can also put nuts or raisins in them. I baked them at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups real pumpkin (If you are going to use canned pumpkin then it is 1 1/2 cups of canned pumpkin and a 1/2 cup of water.)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

Tyler read Elmo Says Achoo! We also re-read Count Your Way through Egypt. We discussed more about Egypt and T added some facts about Egypt in his Social Studies journal. I made paper pyramids for the boys.

Review

T just does not cease to amaze me. He's studying for his mid-term exam for Chinese school. I understand it is difficult for a 5 year old to understand the concept of study. What am I saying? I don't really know how to study. But he's doing a pretty good job. He's been practicing reading and writing his words. We did a practice test today and he made 3 minor errors. Not too shabby.

He also read The Close Shave. His fluency is getting much better. I think the practice we had with Hooked on Phonics has helped him understand that repetition will help with his fluency. He is not so hesitant about re-reading as he used to be.

The boys watched a few of the Baby Einstein DVDs. Both in English and in Chinese.

This reminds me: on Totlol, I found some Baby Signs videos. I think it would be great to use these videos to add to our journey with sign language.

We started re-reading Count Your Way through Egypt. We found Egypt on our mini-globe. The mini-globe was such a great find at Target! It has been so helpful in teaching T the countries and locating them on the globe.

We also had a long review discussion on: length, weight, dental hygiene, senses, heat, shadows.

Listening Pleasures

In an effort to expose the boys to more Chinese, I have been playing more of the Chinese dubbed VCDs. How much they are paying attention? I don't know. At least they hear it more. I was able to pick up some more VCDs. I picked up a couple of Baby Einsteins and a few more movies. One of the Baby Einsteins was a Neighborhood Animals one. I play it for Z while I get the other boys ready and I hear T repeating the names of the animals in Chinese. Cool! It's working.

I've also borrowed more books on tape for the kids to listen to. I figure the more literature they hear, thus the more vocabulary they hear, the better. We just finished listening to The Cricket of Times Square. It is on our Read Aloud list. Maybe I'll get it after I finish Mary Poppins. We're also listening to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unforunate Events. Honestly, I borrowed the books when I finished the Harry Potter series and was looking for another children's book to read since I enjoyed Harry Potter so much. I hated it. I didn't like the writing and the story was sooo depressing. However, when I finished listening to the Harry Potter books on CD, at least up to Book 6 The Half Blood Prince, I didn't know where to go. I looked at the bookshelves and could not find anything else of interest that I might have the boys listen to - without worrying about foul language. I grabbed the Lemony Snicket series out of desperation. And I have to admit that the boys and I are actually enjoying it. I am beginning to see what the interest and the reasons behind the popularity of the series.

Happy St Patty's Day

Or Happy Green Day to L! This is probably one of his favorite days of the year. His absolute favorite color is green. So St Patty's Day is perfect for him. The boys all had some green clothing item on. Since T has his preschool class, we were in a rush this morning. But with lunch, I made an effort or rather a green effort. T had green eggs and ham, aka scrambled eggs with a spinach and herb mix and bacon. It was such a big hit for Dr. Seuss' birthday, that it was worth a repeat for St Patrick's Day. His entree was accompanied by a side of avocado. L had a sunbutter sandwich cut into a shape of a tree. I looked through all the cookie cutters - all 101 of them and not a single shamrock! - so I went with a tree. His sides were edamame and avocado. Then the boys followed up with apples and strawberries. Sorry, no green fruit. The Granny Smith apples were much more expensive than the Empire apples.

In preschool class, T made a shamrock or rather decorated a shamrock with green glitter and made a shamrock glitter pin. Yes, glitter everywhere.

I read Count Your Way through Ireland. The boys practiced saying their numbers in Gaelic Irish. We discussed different facts about Ireland.



Then we made a torn paper shamrock. I thought it would be much easier for L to tear paper than to cut or have me cut. I thought wrong. L does not seem to know how to tear paper. (Z, on the other hand, is great at tearing apart paper.) I think I will have him practice some more. It will help with his fine motor skills.

Pee Wee Kids Kixx

L had his Pee Wee Kids Kixx soccer class yesterday. We have Coach Robin again. Love her! She is so energetic and great with the kids. L took a little to get acclimated, as usual. Then he participated full force. I was particularly proud when he engaged Coach Robin in a full fledged conversation after the class was over. His speech is getting so much better.

While Dad and L were in class, I was took advantage of the time to work with T. I used Flat Stanley's The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery as a springboard for a brief study on Egypt. We read Count Your Way through Egypt by Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson and used Egypt the land by Bobbie Kalman as a reference. T also read Slam & Dunk and The Big Game from the Hooked on Phonics First Grade.

Today, L's Game Fun class is canceled. It's just as well. I was a bit concerned about his cough last night. He was coughing nonstop. T will still have his Little Chef's class tonight. T made green chocolate lollipops and decorated cookies with green sprinkles. Yes, St Patrick's day is around the corner. Tomorrow, in fact. So we briefly went over what St Patrick's Day was about. I showed T a picture of the green river which Chicago dyes in honor of St Patrick's Day. I also explained about shamrocks. Now T wants to look for a four leafed clover.

We've started reading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. Yes, we did it a little backwards this time around. We saw the movie before we read the book. But it gave T some visual references. He has already made some comparisons to the movie and has noted some differences. For example, we learn that there are 4 Banks children whereas in the movie, T recalled that there are only 2 children, Jane and Michael.



T read Ducks in a Muck and Wet Pet - reinforced word families/rhymes. Wet Pet is a very cute flip a word book that really reinforces word families.

Busy week

This week is when all the craziness with the classes began.

On Sunday T read Wall E's Smash Trash.



On Monday, L had his first Game Fun class. It took him a while to get acclimated but he is excited to return next week. I had a brought a few books for T to read while waiting. He read Smash Trash. I am glad that he is working on his fluency through repetition. With the hour and a half between classes, we went to the library for books to read. T had his first Little Chefs class. We waited in the car being T's first day. I read a few books to L and Z. I read Thomas books and a couple of Peek-A-Boo books that L quickly understood the pattern of.

The rest of the week is a bit of a blur. I know we read more of Clementine. We re-read Smash Trash. We also read What is a Princess? together. We have been listening to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events #2 The Reptile Room in the car. And at home, we've been listening to The Cricket at Times Square. T has been been quite captivated by the books on tape. I am really glad he is enjoying them. I also like the exposure to more reading and listening to someone read, other than myself, is a big plus. I am glad I thought to do this. The boys have also watched the Talking Signs video. And have also been watching the Baby Einstein dvds, esp the Language Nursery, Baby Bach, Baby Newton and Baby Van Gogh. While these DVDs are intended for babies, I like the exposure to classical music and different language in the Language Nursery.

Then on Friday, T studied his words for his Chinese test: Dad is early, Mom is good, Grass is growing, Red flowers bloom, Everybody smiles, No need to cry. He also colored a picture for a coloring contest.

Then of course, today is Chinese school. His new phrase: My books has drawings.

Library time!

Library Playdate - We had a playdate at the library with Ry, I, Brad, Sara, Izzie, Jillian and Samuel. The boys worked on puzzles and played with building blocks. We also picked up books on Egypt to further study what we had learned about in Flat Stanley #2 The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery.

T finished up on his Chinese homework and continued practicing writing his phrases for his test tomorrow.

Bring out the pennies!

Tuesday
Science Day - These are the experiments we worked on. The boys had a great time.
Penny Challenge Games
- Drops on a penny. Set a penny on a plate. Predict how many drops of water can fit on a penny. Use your medicine dropper and start dripping. Count and see if you were right. Get your eyes at penny level. What shape is the water?
- Pennies in a cup. Set a cup on a plate and fill it to the rim with water. How many pennies do you predict you can add to the cup before the water spills over? Count and see if you are right. Get your eyes level with the rim. Check out the amazing bulge.
- Feel it! Get a knit mitten and a plastic bag. Place your hand in the plastic bag. Plunge your hand into a tub of water no further than the top edge. Now put on the mitten and take the plunge. Which got you wet (absorbs the water) and which kept you dry (repels the water)?
- Science at work. Crumple a paper towel and jam it into the bottom of a glass. Predict what will happen if you push the upside-down glass straight down into a tub of water. Try it and see. Were you right? It seems like magic that the towel is dry, but really it is science at work. What do you think kept the towel dry?

I read some more Flat Stanley #2 The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery. I introduced camels, hieroglyphs and pyramids.

Wednesday
Hooked on Phonics. Worked on the following sounds: sh, wh and th. Read the story, Can You Get Sam to the Ship?

I finished reading Flat Stanley #2 The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery. We did some research online on camels, hieroglyphs and pyramids.

Thursday
Hooked on Phonics. Worked on the following sounds: sm, sn, sp and sl.

Tyler practiced writing this week's Chinese words: Dad, early, Mom, good. We also reviewed the words/phrases for his upcoming exam: Grass is coming up, Red flowers bloom, Everybody smiles, No need to cry.

Snow day!

Is that another benefit of homeschooling? Today is a snow day. Schools are closed today due to the snowfall we had last night. But that doesn't make a difference to us. We school whenever and having snow does not affect us.

I borrowed the Hooked on Phonics First Grade version and we started on that today. T did great. He worked on the following sounds: ch and th. He read the story, Matt and Tom.

I read a chapter from Flat Stanley #2 The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery.

Must Speak More Chinese...

Yesterday, T completed his Chinese homework. He practiced writing his words: big, family, smile, not, need, cry. T practiced reciting the phrases. He also watched another DVD on community. This one was about school. We compared the school we saw on the DVD and our homeschool.



On a side note, T threw up after dinner last night. We're pretty sure he must have eaten something wrong as opposed to him being sick. But I said that just in case, if he wasn't feeling well in the morning, we would not go to Chinese school. T then tells me that he shouldn't go to Chinese school because there are germs there! Oh my, that was funny. Here I was thinking he might not be able to go to school because he might be sick. He was the one with germs and shouldn't bring the germs to school. And he thought it was the other way around! Too funny!

T also read some easy readers I got from the library.

Today, T went to Chinese school from 9:30 to 11:30am. His new words were: Dad, early, Mom, good. The phrase is Dad is early, Mom is good. There is no infinitive or 'to be' in Chinese. His teacher, Ms. Chan, says that we should speak more Chinese at home with T. I need to work on that. I will also play more of the Chinese dubbed movies for the boys. The boys watched Wall-E in Chinese. Any bit of exposure to the oral language has to be a plus.

Science day!

Yesterday, T caught up on his math. He finished up on groups of four. Then he went on to practice writing his fives (5) and found groups of 5. We also read another chapter of Flat Stanley and worked on prediction skills.

Today, T and L watched a few Magic Schoolbus videos on recycling, the rainforest and the desert.



T also watched a Talking Signs video and practiced his sign language.

We also had a whole science lesson on sink and float. T made predictions, grouped like items and reasoned.

We also read another chapter in Flat Stanley.

Pluto's not a planet anymore?

Yesterday, I read another chapter of Flat Stanley to T.
We went internet searching for the names of the dinosaurs in The Land Before Time II. T made some good guesses, isolating choices bases on features as he compared the pictures on the videotape box and the pictures on the computer. There were many possibilities. Then I finally had the smarts to look at the videotape box and the summary actually named the dinosaurs. They were struthiomimuses. And I also showed T that Spike in the movie was a ankylosaurus.

Today we
- reviewed how to write our Chinese words for the week.
- practiced writing three (3).
- found groups of four.
- discussed Pluto and how it lost its status as a planet.
- discussed the discovery of the possible tenth planet, Xena, that was eventually named Eris.

Classes, classes and more classes...

Through OB, we have
T - Preschool classes at Camp Robin Tuesday/Friday 9:15 - 11:15am March 10 - April 14
T - Little Chef at Camp Robin Monday 5:15pm March 9 - April 27
L - Game Fun at Municipal Monday 3:00pm March 9 - April 27

Through Monmouth, we have
T - Tball at Dorbrook Wednesday 10:30am -11:25pm May 6-27
L - PeeWee Soccer at Dorbrook Sunday 11:00 - 11:45am Mar 15 - Apr 5
L - PeeWee Soccer at Dorbrook Sunday 11:00 - 11:45am Apr 19 - May 10
L - PeeWee Soccer at Dorbrook Sunday 11:00 - 11:45am May 31 - Jun 21

Community DVDs

Sunday, February 22

The library has a nice selection of DVDs about the community. Yesterday T & L watched two videos. Actually, they watched a whole lot more than that yesterday, but we shall not talk about that.... The boys learned about the community and the library. During the library video, when the new books were discussed, T was able to read the "New Books" sign. I was particularly proud.



While watching the Land Before Time video, we briefly reviewed different dinosaurs: triceratop, pterodactyl, velociraptor, tyrannosaurus rex, parasaurolophus. T and I different in opinion on whether the Long Necks were brontosauruses or brachiosauruses. We will have to look these up. And I wasn't sure about one dinosaur. I was thinking it was an ankylosaurus. Another one we will have to look up.

Teachable Moments

T had Chinese School today from 9:30am to 11:30am. Daddy brought him to school, so of course, he was on time. I have got to work on our tardiness.

His new words are: big, family, smile, not, need, cry. Of course, if we put all the words together, the two phrases are "We all smile, no need to cry."

I brought L to the dentist. It turned out to be just a checkup. This time. Then L and I had a nice lunch, just the two of us. I can't remember the last time we did that, if ever. I also took advantage of our time together and a mini lesson on numbers and dinosaurs. In the elevator, we identified the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Talk about applying to real life! Then we briefly discussed carnivores and herbivores during lunch when L decided he was a tyrannosaurus rex. Have to love teachable moments! And the fact that big brother was not there to jump in with unwanted answers!

New Start

I am just hoping to keep a blog dedicated to homeschooling with the boys. My other blogs have taken on a life of their own, so I needed to create this new one. Hopefully, I will be more organized in documenting the work that T, L and Z have done, well, mostly T.

- T completed Chinese homework: grass, ground, up, red, flower, open. Well, technically those are the individual words. They are two phrases, "The grass is coming up" and "Red flowers blossom." Pretty, huh?

- T read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss without too much difficulty. Daddy was so impressed. I was so proud of him. There were some words here and there that he didn't know. I think if T reads the book a few more times, he will recognize the words. Yay, T!