01/31/09

Yesterday was the field trip to the museum at Hill Air Force Base. We've been here several times in the past so I was worried that the kids would want to rush quickly and be done. They were in a hurry to run back to the pilot seat in the far back of the museum. They love to play on the seat and yesterday there was no one back there so they spent a good 20 minutes playing on it. We did go into the education center which was the first time we had ever been in there. We were allowed about 30 minutes since we went as a class field trip. The education center was a blast. I highly recommend going when they have the education center open to the public. They had activities for the young ones to learn about airplanes and stuff for the older kids. However the highlight for the boys:
Dressing up in pilot suits and getting to sit in a cockpit. I included a few pictures of the boys dressed up and in the cockpit.
Overall it was a fun school activity for the day.

School Work for the week of 1/26-1/30

Math
Learn numbers 13-20
learn about groups

Phonics
continue with Bob books and a few other easy to read books
McGuffey's primer
sight words

Handwriting
continue to practice keeping letters in the lines

Language Arts
A Chair for My Mother
poem Hushabye
Junior Great Books Lion at School

History
The Plains Indians
Indians of the Eastern Woodlands

We also have a field trip on Friday to the air force museum at Hill Air Force Base

01/19/2009

I thought I'd share a review of one of my favorite books. The book is The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss. I first discovered this book many years ago in fourth grade. I have always been an advanced reader and I remember our school librarian introducing me to this book. The book is not written for kids but it is an easy read. The story follows a couple through their struggles to have a baby. The first chapter deals with the heartache of not being able to have a baby. Keep in mind that this book is based the 40's, 50's, and 60's.
The couple ends up adopting the "perfect" baby according to adoption agencies. Helen decides she wants another baby and tries to adopt another. She is turned away from many agencies and told that she should consider herself lucky to have the one white baby she has. Other agencies tell her its too bad she is not another race or mixed race. She then decides she will adopt one of those babies that no one wanted but is turned down left and right. Finally she finds an agency that will allow her to adopt a baby of another race.
The story continues on with the twists and turns of raising their family and the eventual adoption of twelve children that nobody wanted. If your looking for a light and easy to read book this is a great book to consider. I promise you'll find yourself loving and rooting for this family over and over again. They did update the book a few years ago and it includes a forward with updates on the family members currently.

School Work Week of 1/20-1/23

Math
working on subtraction up to 4
vertical subtraction

Phonics
work more with the explode the code books
read the Bob books set one again and start on the second set
starfall

Handwriting
Handwriting without tears book
practice writing in the lines

Language arts
The Snowy Day
poem The Five Little Rabbits
poems about animals and living things
A Chair for my Mother

History
learn some more about Katherine Lee Bates and America the Beautiful
The Anasazi of the Southwest

01/15/09

So after swearing I would never read the Twlight books nor would I ever go see the movies I did. My sister dragged me to the Twlight movie and while I was not impressed with the movie I had to know what happened next. So I borrowed the books from the library and read all four books in the series over the weekend. Needless to say I wasn't all that impressed with the books either. However they were an easy read that kept me entertained for the weekend. Out of the four books I would have to say Twlight was my favorite book followed by Breaking Dawn although I thought Breaking Dawn was longer than it needed to be. The two books inbetween were not books I'd want to read again. I do think the movie was better than the book but then I usually find that if I read the book before seeing the movie I like the book and if I see the movie first and then read the book I usually like the movie better. Yes I will go see the next movies only to see if they can make the movie more interesting than the books. So there you go someone who read the Twlight series and didn't fall completely head over heels in love with them.

01/11/09

Memoade. Yes that's what Noah and I made today. I tried about a thousand times to correct him but he still insisted it was memoade and not lemonade. Now all three boys are outside with cups of memoade enjoying the sunday! Not Sunday as we know it but a day to drink memoade in the sun.

Reminds me so much of when he called his twin brother WaWa. I miss those days sometimes.

School Work 1/12-1/16

Math-
learn that addition is the joining of two groups into a combined group continued from last week

Phonics-
continue to work on sight words and sounds

Language arts-
The Huckabuck Family
poem To a Forgetful Wishing Well
The Ox Cart Man
poem A Small Discovery

History-
Learn that the 50 states make up the United States
start to become familiar with some major features of our country

Handwriting-
practice lower case letters
Handwriting without tears Kindergarten book

1/09/09

Why do I try to take the kids to the grocery store? It seldom turns out to be a pleasant experience
for any of us. Today was no exception. The twins behaved like wild animals who have never spent time in public. Here's hoping our next trip improves somewhat.

School Work for the week of 1/05-1/09

Nathan will be learning the following things this week:
Math-
learn that addition is the joining of two groups into a combined group
Language Arts-
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
The Huckabuck Family
poem- The Secret Place
learning about the neighborhood
riddles


Phonics-
Explore the Code workbook 1 1/2
review of sounds we've learned so far

Handwriting-
practice lower case letters
Handwriting without tears Kindergarten book

History-
Mexico