Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
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....
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....
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