Winter Promise Week 3

Week 3 is already among us and I still feel like we are missing some key elements to our school day. I can't quite put my finger on it but I feel that I am not scheduling enough. I feel like we aren't reading as much as we did with our other program. How can I fix this? Not sure, but it is something I am definitely going to work on. I have added several books from the library each week but I get the feeling that this literature rich program is not rich in literature. Sound crazy? I know. Maybe it is the fact that I feel like we are schooling on the go and I can't quite get the quality that I expect. This living like a nomad is tough on the family. I am praying that I can work this out soon.

This week, we focused on deer. We read several books about deer and worked on our notebook page. In Math, she worked on addition and tally marks. She had her first spelling test which I did not mention that it was a test and she read a story about clouds.

J is reading about clouds in this reader that I found from a used book store.

She wrote her own sentences with her spelling words for the week. I found a spelling work book that had plenty of practice sheets. There were eight spelling words and she worked with them all week. Then, I gave her a sheet of paper and asked her to write the words that I said. She did really well.

So I am not sure what I need to do to make this work for us. I am committed since we have already spent the money on our Core and J has really loved learning about the different animals. I am struggling because I feel it is not as organized as others. I might have to research better books to add to our weekly work. So far she has enjoyed reading Ereth's Birthday by Avi but we have been reading ahead and will be done with it soon. I just feel like she isn't learning as much as she could. If you have any suggestions as to how I can make this better, I would love to hear it. See you next week.

Tea Party

"Would you like some sugar?" J asked Kaleb and he shook his head yes. I had the privilege to experience a quiet moment between the kids while they played tea party. It is moments like these that I believe my children will be good friends. (And then there are the other moments when I wonder if they will EVER be friends!)

 

Maybe, just maybe....they will be great friends :) I am waiting for that day. 

Tot Tuesday (Somewhat Late)

Kaleb recently found a container that had milk lids in it. I have been saving them for a couple of weeks. I have many plans for these lids but today, they were just meant to be played with.

 

He lined them up, sorting them by color, and just had fun pushing them around the floor with his bulldozer.

Plastic milk lids - great distraction.

Wheel School - Bus

Week 2 of Wheel School is under way. I know that there is a holiday this week but I wanted to post the second lesson plan for B is for Bus. I had forgotten about some of the smaller holidays since they weren't recognized where we were living, so I am going to try to work on school for the full week.

Download B is for Bus Visual Plans HERE.

This week's printable is a printable bus mat with matching cards. Depending on the age of your child, he can match the upper case, lower case, and the vehicle it corresponds to OR create number sentences using the numbers (4 + 1 = 5) OR work on sight word recognition by putting the sight words together. I included a few of the sight words that are available through the Zoomin Movin printable packs.

Use the windows to match the letters to the vehicles. I included the whole alphabet for later review, even though we are only working on letter B. 

Book, Video and Game Suggestions for the Week

The Wheels on the Bus by Child's Play

Hello, School Bus! by Marjorie Blain Parker

3, 2, 1 Go! by Sarah Schuette

Pete the Cat The Wheels on the Bus

Away We Go! by Meredith Rusu

Can You See What I see? by Walter Wick

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems DVD

The Wheels on the bus Storybook Treasure by Scholastic DVD

Wheels on the Bus Board Game

I do not own all of these books. I have been enjoying the library here in 'Merica. In fact, I have gone some what crazy. These links are for your information only, I do not receive any compensation from Amazon. Stayed tuned later this week for pictures of our bus unit.

Winter Promise Week 2

We are now in our second week of school. It has been hectic as ever and it is harder than I thought to homeschool in someone else's home. There are constant distractions and interruptions but I keep telling myself that J is still learning, no matter what. It can be frustrating. Here are a few pics of our week...

We are working on using base ten blocks to represent numbers in the teens.

J is working through her magnetic tiles for All About Reading Level 1. She learned to read last year but I think this will be a good review for her.

I found some old reading textbooks in a used book store. Since I knew that I was going to be traveling, I was looking for many stories in one book so J could practice her reading. These fit the bill. We read one story per week (a couple of times) and then J will work through some of the activities at the end of the story. I like the grammar that we are fitting in because the readers discuss it. This week, we learned about sentences.

J is working through the review drawing exercises at the beginning of her Art book. Here she is drawing Wally the Worm, practicing her straight lines, shading, etc...

J has been enjoying Ereth's Birthday by Avi. It is the main chapter book in our core program from Winter Promise. She began a journaling page in her notebook by learning to draw a porcupine from Ed Emberley's Drawing Animals book.

J is working on her Porcupine notebook page. After reading all about porcupines, she completed the notebook page. We also read about sharks and created a notebook page for them as well. J is really into sharks now, especially after Shark Week on The Discovery Channel!

What is better than swimming after you are done your work? J and Kaleb absolutely love the pool, they are constantly asking when they can go swimming. I can't say no and it is great exercise as well. Hope your week went well.

Book Suggestions for Winter Promise Week 2 

with a focus on porcupines

Prickly Porcupines by Catherine Nichols

Welcome to the World of Animals: Porcupines by Diane Swanson

Prickly Porcupine by Dawn Bentley

Porcupining by Lisa Wheeler

Hokey Pokey by Lisa Wheeler

Adeline's Porcupine by Bobby Strickland

How Do You Hug A Porcupine? by Laura Isop

A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester

Cork and Fuzz: The Babysitters by Don Chaconas

I do not received any compensation for listing the books we used for our porcupine study this week. Can you tell that I am loving the library right now? J got her first library card and we walked out of the library with at least 30 books, DVD's, and one book on CD. I went somewhat crazy but it was a great visit.

A is for Ambulance

Stressful this week, tons of interruptions, but I was able to get some work done with Kaleb. He loved playing with the activities that I planned for him. Because of my lack of personal space, I placed all activities in large ziplock bags which I contained in a shoe box. This kept things down to a minimum and allowed for him to choose what he wanted to do.

I bought a small plastic bin and a large bag of black beans. I kept the sensory bin simple. I added several ambulances and letter A's to the beans.

I gave him some letter A stickers and the ambulance sheet from Royal Baloo's pack. He loves sticking stickers onto things.

In the course of the move, I lost Kaleb's safety scissors and he found J's scissors. He practiced cutting ambulances. He proceeded to ask me if he could cut his hair. (He has watched me trim my bangs, I think I will have to do that behind the bathroom door now)

Kaleb painted with watercolors the ambulance craft sheet that I included in my lesson plan.

This was my big splurge - transportation counters from the educational store. They were a bit pricey but I knew that he would have a ball playing with them. In fact, he played with them all week. Here he is "sorting" them according to color.

I found some cheap dixie cups at the Dollar Store and wrote the letter A on them. Then, I had Kaleb use some small balls to knock down the letter A towers. This can also be done using the ambulance vehicle. Boys love knocking things down.

Can you tell what shirt my tot loves? He is fascinated with Lightning McQueen. He would wear this shirt every day. I promise this is another day ;) I found some Melissa and Doug (love them) vehicle magnets. There are 20 in the set and they just about match the Zoomin' Movin' Alphabet series, so I just had to buy them. I only wish I had a larger magnetic board.

Lastly, Kaleb worked on a vehicle puzzle. I would hide the pieces to make it more difficult to put together. Our first week is finished. Now I am off to prepare for b and bus! See you soon.

Tot Tuesday

I can give you a million differences between 'Merica and the country we live in. It continues to amaze me daily. When I walk in the grocery store and see all of the food choices available, it overwhelms me. This week I was amazed at a local park that we visited, it was jaw-dropping.

This playset was only one-tenth of the play area available for the kids. I could not believe the park. The kids had a blast, running from one thing to another.

Kaleb got to drive a fire truck. He was in heaven!

Then he looked out and saw endless playground. It was a little daunting....  There's more

J found a friend sitting on a park bench. If you would like to see what our parks look like...

and I was excited to see this in our site (seat tay - apartment complex). This was the whole park. The first picture at the top of post was only a fraction of what was in the park. We had a good day at a 'Merican Park, what a blessing my kids experienced.