Week 6-End of Session 1

This was a very different week with many changes to our schedule. We juggled taking off Labor Day, starting co-op, and a field trip.  Even with all of our extras, we managed to finish school by Friday night and are now officially on our first break.  We're trying out a six weeks on / one week off schedule this year.  I'm hoping that taking the week break will give us time to take some day trips, put the house back together and enjoy one of the last weeks of summer.  It feels very weird to take a week off as most children are starting back to school, so I have to keep reminding myself that we started back in July!

 

Science -

We've been reading about trees this week in science, so we also took time to watch videos about Sequoia National Park.  Did you know that the bark on Redwood trees is actually fireproof?  The pine cones from the tree actually need the heat from fire to open and spread their seeds.  We also checked out other national park videos and the boys now have a list of all of the western USA vacation spots they want to hit when everyone is older.

This picture wasn't staged at all.  I love Luke's look of concentration!
 

Handwriting/LA
We went back to Draw Write Now this week after taking a break from it.  Luke worked very diligently on his writing and his picture and was incredibly proud of his work.  He also worked on his story and was proud to use his new writing tool - commas.  I love story writing because it provides great opportunities to learn and apply what he learns from his studies.

I love that the background to his turkey drawing includes a volcano and a waterfall!

Math
We finished the basic addition section of the math book, but I really don't have any exciting pictures or stories of workbook time!  We did work on math in the kitchen, though.  I am working on making sure that I allow the boys to help cook in whatever ways are possible.  Luke is getting better with reading the measuring cup and was starting to recognize thirds on the side of the cup. 

Our cute taste-tester

We try to practice counting money occasionally, so we pulled out the piggy bank and started counting.  Luke is allowed to keep the change after we pay for something (coins only!) if he can count the coins correctly on his own.  He was so proud to have earned over $12 throughout the summer, so we went to the store to do some shopping.  After about 30 minutes walking around Target, we discovered he has a little of his mama in him, because he couldn't bear to spend it and decided to save up for a bigger purchase.  It is amazing how much more conscious of prices a child becomes when the money is coming from his own piggy bank!

In the midst of a big decision

Spelling
We started spelling practice this week.  I delayed it because his phonics book has a strong spelling emphasis, so he is pretty good at sounding out words.  Our spelling list is starting off with sight words that also have tricky spellings like "was" and "has".  We spent time working on his spelling list outside and on the computer (which he loved).

Chalk time spelling

Notice the upside-down stool due to our active toddler!

Michigan Studies
We're vacationing in northern Michigan later this month, so we took a trip to the library for some resources.  We came home with a giant pile of books which meant a quiet evening of lounging on the couches! The books were a hit and we ended up watching History Channel videos on the building of the Mackinac Bridge.  When we were finished, they created a "game" called Mackinac Bridge in our living room.  (As a side note, they learned much more just the fact that you can buy fudge on Mackinac Island!)

 

 Ben School
Besides listening in on Luke's studies, Ben worked on the letter "F" this week.  He loves doing his poke page and Bingo marker activities, but his favorite is always making his letter of the week character.

F is for fox

Letter F bingo markers

He also enjoyed working on his Africa puzzle, so that he could get better at the boys' favorite dinner game - "Guess the Country"(seriously, they request it - weird, huh?).  One person names a continent and everyone else has to guess the secret country.   Ben usually has to get ideas from us, so I think he wants to be more independent. 

Co-op
We started our co-op this week and everyone loved their classes.  I walked by Luke's gym class and saw him doing push-ups!  He was really proud to come home with a bag of "gold" from his history class, too.  Benjamin thought Preschool was great and settled right into his class.  Olivia made a collage and played with the Toddler group.  Everyone came home exhausted!

Field Trip!
Luke and I went on a field trip with our new co-op friends.  We're really enjoying meeting people who have become our friends so quickly and easily!  We completed half a day of school before we left because I was expecting more playing than learning on our trip, however, the boys really had a great time observing great craftsmanship.  They watched glass-blowing for almost twenty minutes and were completely enamored.  They rode in Model T cars, horse-drawn carriages, and the carousel.  The boys had a great time and learned so much!

Glass blowing

Model T!

We finished the day with ice cream!

Fun Family Pictures

Labor Day was so much fun!  We spent the day at the park with family.  Luke found a container of worms left by a fisherman and had a great time observing them as they made their way under ground.  After a day in the sun, everyone was completely exhausted and enjoyed a nice, long nap.