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.