Another Smiling Face!

As of October 31st, we have another student in our classroom! Meet Jordan, aka JJ, a bright, funny, energetic 4 year old! JJ is joining us every weekday afternoon - it is truly a one room schoolhouse now, as I am teaching 1st grade (which is technically 2nd/3rd grade if you're talking about content) and Pre-K simultaneously! It's what homeschool is all about!

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The boys work side-by-side quite well!

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The only thing the boys do together are the 'First Language Lessons'. I read a passage from classic literature, and they both respond. Hunter with a dictated sentence, and JJ with a drawing in his literature journal.

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For JJ, we are focusing primarily on early literacy and pre-reading skills. Prior to joining us, he attended a private preschool that used ABeka, so he is quite used to tracing his name, as well as other letters and numbers. Our goal is to move away from the tracing, and get JJ writing independently, working up to basic reading skills.

As for the Pre-K curriculum, we are doing the same thing I did with Hunter - using the Brainquest Kindergarten workbook, and supplementing with worksheets made by yours truly :o)

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Here is my other smiling face :o) Still working hard, and FLYING through
Math U See Alpha!

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Another concept I am working on with JJ is the calendar - days of the week, months of the year, yesterday/today/tomorrow, etc.

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For the calendar, JJ counts all the days of the month, starting with 1 and ending up at the current day - the future days stay turned over until we get to them! (I saw it done this way in Hunter's mommy&me class a long time ago, and I loved it!)

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Today is TUESDAY!

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While we have had to make many adjustments, they have all been postive! We do science and history at odd, random times now (while eating lunch, while I'm cooking dinner, before bed...) but that is just the fun of homeschooling!

Burning Things! (don't worry, it's science!)

For the past two weeks, Hunter has been learning about the sun! To end the week we did a little outdoor project

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What better way to exemplify one's ability to concentrate sunlight than to burn things with a magnifying glass on a sunny day! (science lesson + good old fashion fun = an awesome Friday afternoon!)

We started with a fun-size Hershey bar, which was not super gratifying to watch. It was definitely melting, but it wasn't amazing to watch...

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Enter... the dried leaf!

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Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! The dead leaf was great because it heats up very quickly, gives off a significant amount of smoke, and smells awesome!!

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Next, Hunter wanted to know what would happen if we tried to burn a green leaf. Now, we don't routinely go around destroying living things, but in the name of science, I was willing to sacrifice a leaf from the bush in our yard.

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So, thanks to Hunter's awesome question, I got a chance to explain to him why the green leaf didn't react to the concentrated heat the same way they dried leaf did.. (three cheers for homeschooling!!)

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And then, because, why not? We burned a marshmallow...

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And yes, Hunter got to eat it :o)

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Pyramids, Treasures, and Mummies, OH MY!

To wrap up our week on mummies and pyramids (no pun intended haha), Hunter experienced an archaeological dig right in our dining room :o) I found this Dig and Play Egyptian Tomb kit on Amazon, and was saving it for the perfect time - Friday was that time!

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I hid the box, and just presented Hunter with the plaster brick and digging tools. We talked about archaeologists, and what it might be like to find a Pharaoh's treasure!

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This was the first glimpse of treasure:

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Hunter's face was so cute, because he didn't have a clue about what he was expecting to find!

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Brushing away the dust!

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All kinds of treasures!

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And of course, a mummy! (Hunter was VERY excited about this!)

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How awesome is Hunter's surprised/excited face?? I love that I get to experience moments like this, in the middle of a Friday afternoon :o)

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The Caterpillar (memory work!)

One of the components of the First Language Lessons curriculum is memory work. Every few weeks, Hunter sets out to memorize something, whether it be a poem, a Bible verse, or a list of important people!

His first memory task of the year was a poem called 'The Caterpillar'

Here is is final performance :o)

'The Caterpillar'

by Christina G. Rosetti

Brown and furry

Caterpillar in a hurry;

Take your walk,

To the shady leaf or stalk.

May no toad spy you,

May the little birds pass by you;

Spin and die,

To live again a butterfly.

Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 History Projects

We are having a great time working through 'Story of the World'! For Chapter 1 (The Earliest People), Hunter made an awesome cave painting! He used a crunched up brown paper grocery bag, and some dark paints - I am so thrilled with how it turned out!

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Last week, we worked on chapter 3 (The First Writing). Hunter learned all about stone and clay tablets, hieroglyphics and cuneiform, and papyrus. On the last day of the week, Hunter made his own cuneiform tablet using FIMO clay.

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Roll the clay out into a tablet shape (I only picked up one square of clay, and our project came out a bit small. If I had it to do again, I would use to squares).

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Poke two holes in the top of your clay, for hanging after the project has hardened.

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Using the cuneiform guide in the activity book, spell out a message! This one says 'HWB' (Hunter's initials)

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Justin had an unexpected afternoon off, so he joined us for this project :o)

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When the design is done, bake the tablet at 230 degrees for 30 minutes, and let it cool completely.

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I hung the tablet using some leather string and a 3m hook - it looks great hanging under Hunter's cave painting - I'm looking forward to seeing this wall fill up with more history projects as the school year moves along!

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Spelling Power

Today I thought I'd provide a glimpse into the new spelling program we are using this year. So far, I LOVE IT (as for Hunter, I've received no complaints whatsoever). 'Spelling Power' (an award winning program and Cathy Duffy pick!) focuses on the 5000 most frequently used and misspelled words in the English language. There are no grade levels (just corresponding letters -level A= first grade, level B= second grade, etc.), and no weekly lists. You read that right! NO WEEKLY LISTS!

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You start off by giving your student a series of detailed assessments (very user friendly, everything is in the manual!). The results of these assessments determine which level is an appropriate starting point for your student. You begin with group 1 of the appropriate level, and work your way through AT THE STUDENT'S OWN PACE! No pressure to finish the book in one year, no getting bored with the same words over and over. In my opinion, I believe the best part of this program is the idea that if Hunter knows a word, we move on, and he never has to prove his knowledge of that word again! We only practice words he has misspelled.

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Here is a shot of the page we are currently using. He is on level C, and working through group 3 right now.

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Hunter's test sheet starts off looking like this. The left column is labeled 'Test Words', and the right column is labeled 'Words to learn'. The book comes with a cd rom that contains files of printable test sheets. I feel they are a little busy for Hunter's level, so I just improvise :o)

The first words of the test are always the word/words he got wrong the day before. SO you start with the missed words from yesterday, and then continue through the list in the book - for five minutes, and then you stop!
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I love watching him use that noggin!

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Here he is writing the first word, 'which', which is the only word he missed yesterday.





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An important step in this special process is to stop and review each word immediately after your student has finished writing it. If they spelled it right, move on to the next word. If they spelled it wrong, the student rewrites the word, spelled correctly, in the 'words to learn' column. Move on to the next word.

Hunter got through five words before he missed one, 'pick', which he spelled 'pik'. At that point, I write the word on the whiteboard, and we discuss the correct spelling.





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Here is Hunter copying the correct spelling into the 'words to learn column'.




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After that, we had time for one more word, 'picked', which he spelled correctly, leaving 'pick' as the ONLY word he has to study!

Here is where things get interesting:

Now that we have his words to learn, we go through a unique list of activities.

Step one:
Review the word, say the spelling out loud, and discuss anything tricky, such as silent letters

(Hunter took this picture, and was told NOT to include anything but my arm, on pain of no birthday presents!)


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Step two: The student closes their eyes, says the word, spells the word, and says the word again (spelling-bee style). If the student spells is right, move on, if not, go back to step one.

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Step three: The student traces the letters on a tabletop, while saying the letters out loud. This is an awesome mental/physical connection for them! Again, if he gets it right, we move on. If not, we go back to step one.

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Step four: The student says the word, writes the word (speaking out loud as he writes each letter), and says the word again.

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At this point, if he has it right, you're done! (if not, you guessed it! Go back to step one, and continue until the student gets all the steps right)

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Go through all of the steps, on missed word at a time. I make a point to throw the words out at Hunter throughout the evening, and especially at dinner. So tomorrow, the first word on Hunter's test will be 'pick', and I'm sure he'll get it right!

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By the way, if your student gets the word wrong again the next day, it is no big deal, you just proceed exactly the same way. That word will stay on their test until they've gotten it right, but you've been able to move through the list at the same time!

Another interesting thing worth mentioning, is that the book you purchase contains ALL of the spelling lists needed for 1st - 12th grade! That is ONE non-consumable book that will sustain ALL of your kids through ALL of their school years!

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Friday Reflections - Week 1

Well, week one is officially behind us! We had a great week, and I am BEYOND thrilled with all of our curriculum. I think the 'well-trained mind' way of doing things is wonderful, concise, organized, and casual, while at the same time, is extremely content-rich!
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Here is a look back at our first week of the year


Here is our happy first-grader on the first morning of school!

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He was VERY happy to see the new school room. He had been SO patient as Justin and I poured everything we had into that room to get it ready for the new school year!

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Morgan quickly made herself busy, checking out the goodies in her nook :o)

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And of course, my 15 month old baby stayed on the rug and quietly amused herself while Hunter and I did lessons. (yeah, I totally snorted pop out of my nose when I read that sentence too....)

I swear - she looked like this the WHOLE time!! (Ocean front property in Arizona, anyone???)

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When I was planning out the school year, I had a little bit of difficulty deciding how I would organize some of Hunter's work this year. One thing I am really, really happy with kind of sprung up out of nowhere, but I think it's going to work great.

For writing, we are using Writing With Ease. It is easy to forget that writing should involve much more than handwriting worksheets. This program encompasses the physical act of writing, but also includes reading comprehension, narration, mechanics, and formation of thought.

I decided that we would organize Hunter's writing in a composition notebook (which I covered in camo duck tape to up the 'coolness' factor!) Each page will have the entire week's worth of lessons on it. This way, we can flip through the book and see Hunter's progress as the year goes by.

While reading 'The Well Trained Mind', it was brought to my attention that just because Hunter is physically capable of writing, that doesn't mean I should force him to write out every little thing he thinks. Hunter has written very little this week, but each day he has formed thoughts into words, which I have put down on the page for him to read. At this stage, most kids' ability to form sentences in their brains far outpaces their ability to physically write those sentences down. By incorporating narration into almost every subject, Hunter is generating complex thoughts and sentences, but not getting burnt out while recording them. This concept makes so much sense to me, and it's validity was confirmed 100% as we got through an entire week without so much as a *peep* of complaint from Hunter.

Here is what his writing notebook looks like:

In Writing With Ease, each week focuses on a different work of literature. Week one takes its assignments from 'Little House in the Big Woods'.

Day 1: copy work sentence, discuss title and author

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Day 2: read a passage from 'Little House', discuss comprehension questions, complete narration exercise

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Day 3: copy work sentence

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Day 4: read a second passage from 'Little House', discuss comprehension questions, complete narration exercise

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Science was also fun this week, as Hunter learned about NASA, Copernicus, Galileo, and definitions of words like astronomy, astronomer, and gravitational pull! He also created his own mnemonic device to remember the names of the planets. The sentence he came up with was:

My Very Enthusiastic Muppet Jumped Sideways Up Nine Pinetrees

(and yes, we discussed the Pluto controversy!)

Here you see one of the notebook pages, once again utilizing narration!

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I copy Hunter's worksheets in the hope that the originals can be used for Morgan in the future. Our copier/printer is acting up, so I had to do as the Marines do and 'Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome' - so hand copied worksheets it was!

We are continuing from where we left off at the end of last school year, Alpha, lesson 15

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So there is our week in review! On deck for next week: Pinocchio (for writing), nomads, full moon, and a cave painting!