Sunday, October 31, 2010

November 1 - November 7, 2010

Monday
  • Review Letter "J" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 14: prewriting skills (Upper Case J)
  • Cinderella, page 14: visual perception (recognizing squares)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 12: learning colors (black), distinguishing one color from others (black)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 9-10: learning numbers (1-10)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Wednesday
  • Letter "K" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 15: prewriting skills (Upper Case K)
  • Cinderella, page 15: visual perception (recognizing squares)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 13: learning colors (orange), distinguishing one color from others (orange)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 9-10: learning numbers (1-10)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Friday
  • Letter "L" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 16: prewriting skills (Upper Case L)
  • Cinderella, page 16: visual perception (recognizing squares)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 14: learning colors (green), distinguishing one color from others (green)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 9-10: learning numbers (1-10)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Saturday
  • Science Play!: Garbage Viewer: We'll make our final observations of the lettuce, apple, and Styrofoam that we buried in the dirt on Halloween.
  • Science Play!: Make a Splash!: We'll explore the different shapes that water can take.
Sunday
Who Am I?, lesson 3: I Am Special to God Who Made Me
  • Concepts of Faith:  We are special because we are made in the image of God.
  • Activities: Look at pictures of Henry as a baby and discuss how much he has grown.
  • Story Time: selection from Everyday Graces

Week in Review: October 25 - October 31, 2010

Henry completed all of his workbook assignments, all the while whispering "do my best work" as he toiled away. We were able to read a new story, "Benjamin Bunny," although "Squirrel Nutkin" is still number one on the request list. For Henry, it gets more funny every time.

Saturday was quite busy. Henry and I got up early to make a batch of dinner rolls and an apple pie. It was our first apple pie and, although it leaked a little on one side, we were very proud of the results!


Later in the day, Henry carved pumpkins with Daddy:


The results:


We were so busy on Saturday that the creation of our Garbage Viewer was pushed back to Sunday.  Here are the subjects of our experiment:


Henry filling the bowl with dirt:


What they look like today:


For Sunday, Henry completed his workbook pages while I read the story of Creation to him from our Bible for Young Catholics.

After he colored the different pictures of the Creation story, we made a little book to put the pictures in:



Friday night, Henry was able to recite the "Glory Be" all by himself.  Now he knows three prayers!


Tonight is Halloween and Henry is very excited to go trick-or-treating.  It should be a lot of fun.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Score!

I love a good deal, especially when it's for school supplies.  Kids.woot.com is a great "deal-a-day" site for a wide variety of children's products.  Today's deal is for a Thames and Kosmos science kit or electronics kit.  A quick price search on Google shows that these usually go for about $80 or $90, but Woot has it for $39.99, including shipping.

The kits are for older kids, but I grabbed a Fun and Fundamentals Core Science
because it's such a good deal.  I'll tuck it away in our school cabinet to have for later on.  135 different science experiments await!

Monday, October 25, 2010

October 25 - October 31, 2010

Monday
  • Review Letter "G" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 11: prewriting skills (Upper Case G)
  • Cinderella, page 11: visual perception (recognizing circles)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 9: learning colors (yellow), distinguishing one color from others (yellow)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 7-8: learning numbers (9)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Wednesday
  • Letter "H" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 12: prewriting skills (Upper Case H)
  • Cinderella, page 12: visual perception (recognizing a circle)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 10: learning colors (purple), distinguishing one color from others (purple)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 7-8: learning numbers (9)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Friday
  • Letter "I" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 13: prewriting skills (Upper Case I)
  • Cinderella, page 13: visual perception (recognizing squares)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 11: learning colors (red), distinguishing one color from others (red)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 7-8: learning numbers (9)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Saturday
  • Science Play!: Garbage Viewer: "What happens to garbage at the dump?  Guess, test, and find out by burying some garbage in your garbage viewer."  We'll place a lettuce leaf, an apple slice, and Styrofoam in a plastic bottle and see what happens over the course of the following week.
Sunday
Who Am I?, lesson 2: We See God in the World Around Us - Creation
  • Concepts of Faith:  God made the world and everything in it.  God is our Creator.  We are made in the image of God.
  • Activities: Go for a walk and point out all of the wonderful things God made for us.
  • Story Time: selection from Everyday Graces

Week in Review: October 18 - October 24, 2010

After a busy weekend, we're catching up today!

Henry completed all of his workbook assignments with continued emphasis on always doing his "best work."  "Squirrel Nutkin" remains the favorite.  This week, we'll try to get him to branch out a little bit, maybe some of the poetry from A Child's Garden of Verses.

The Bug Hotel was a partial success.

Henry, readying for the dig:


Placing the cup:


Setting the bait (Henry chose Froot Loops):


The results (a few ants):



Jane's baptism went beautifully!



I can't say that Henry paid close attention to the ceremony.  He was very excited to see some of his friends at the church and wanted to play instead.  However, he enjoyed coloring the pages from his workbook and was able to circle the items he saw.  We continue to include the "Glory Be" in his nighttime prayers and I think he will have it memorized soon.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

October 18 - October 24, 2010

Monday

  • Review Letter "D" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 8: prewriting skills (Upper Case D)
  • Cinderella, page 8: visual perception (recognizing triangles), prewriting skills (tracing triangles)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 6: learning colors (orange), distinguishing one color from others (orange)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 5-6: learning numbers (7 and 8)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Wednesday
  • Letter "E" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 9: prewriting skills (Upper Case E)
  • Cinderella, page 9: visual perception (recognizing a circle)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 7: learning colors (purple), distinguishing one color from others (purple)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 5-6: learning numbers (7 and 8)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Friday
  • Letter "F" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 10: prewriting skills (Upper Case F)
  • Cinderella, page 10: visual perception (recognizing circles)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 8: learning colors (brown), distinguishing one color from others (brown)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 5-6: learning numbers (7 and 8)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Saturday
  • Science Play!: Bug Hotel - I'm shuddering to think what we'll find, but we'll be setting a small container along with some bait in a hole in the ground outside overnight.  In the morning, we'll observe our "guests."  I think my husband may have to take the lead on this one.
Sunday
Who Am I?, lesson 8: God's Family - Baptism (We're skipping ahead on this one because it will go hand in hand with our main activity this Sunday: Jane's baptism!)
  • Concepts of Faith:  All baptized people are members of God's family.  Through the sacrament of baptism, we receive the gift of grace.  Grace is a share in God's own life.
  • Activities: Attend Jane's baptism.  Look at pictures from Henry's baptism together.
  • Story Time: selection from Everyday Graces

Week in Review: October 11 - October 17, 2010

Henry completed all of his workbook assignments for the week.  Our emphasis was on "always do your best work."  At the end of each page, we looked over all of the letters or shapes that were traced and picked out the one that looked the nicest.  While Henry was tracing, I encouraged him to take it slow and do his best.

Henry's favorite Good Books story is still "Squirrel Nutkin."  He is beginning to memorize parts of it and continues to find Nutkin's tail loss hilarious.  Last night, he realized that we have another Peter Rabbit book, one that we've had since he was a baby: Peter Rabbit Touch and Feel.  He was very excited to tie them together, but was disappointed that Nutkin did not make an appearance in the other book.

Saturday's science lesson, Circle of Earth, was fun.  Henry pored over the grass with his magnifying glass and made some good observations about what he saw (green grass, a purple flower with a yellow center, ants, spiderweb).  The find of the day was an abandoned snail shell, which we collected:


Sunday, after Mass, we completed Henry's first lesson in Who Am I?.  He colored a shamrock (to represent the three Persons of God), and put cards in order showing the steps to make the Sign of the Cross.  I recited the Glory Be to him and he repeated it back to me line by line.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

October 11 - October 17, 2010

What we're working on this week:

Monday
  • Letter "C" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 5: prewriting skills (Upper Case A)
  • Cinderella, page 5: visual perception (recognizing rectangles), prewriting skills (tracing rectangles)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 3: learning colors (yellow), distinguishing one color from others (yellow)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 3-4: learning numbers (4, 5, 6)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Wednesday
  • Letter "D" flashcard
  • Snow White, page 6: prewriting skills (Upper Case B)
  • Cinderella, page 6: visual perception (recognizing rectangles), prewriting skills (tracing rectangles)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 4: learning colors (green), distinguishing one color from others (green)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 3-4: learning numbers (4, 5, 6)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Friday
  • Snow White, page 7: prewriting skills (Upper Case C)
  • Cinderella, page 7: visual perception (recognizing triangles), prewriting skills (tracing triangles)
  • Rumpelstiltskin, page 5: learning colors (brown), distinguishing one color from others (brown)
  • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 3-4: learning numbers (4, 5, 6)
  • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
Saturday
  • Science Play!: Circle of Earth - We will use a 5' length of string to make a large loop.  We will place that loop on a spot in the grass outside and Henry will use his magnifying glass to investigate the area inside.  I will record his observations in his science notebook.
Sunday
Who Am I?, lesson 1: There Is One God - Trinity
  • Concepts of Faith:  There is one God and three Persons in the one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We call the three Persons in one God the Blessed Trinity.
  • Activities: Review the "Sign of the Cross" and the "Glory Be."
  • Story Time: selection from Everyday Graces

    Week in Review: October 4 - October 10, 2010

    Henry completed all of his assigned workbook pages with great excitement on Wednesday and just a little prodding on Friday.

    Perseverance is a must, I'm finding.  Our story time is a great example of this.  Henry has always enjoyed reading selections from the collection of Disney books that my husband's mother saved for him.  However, he was less than enthused when told to pick a book from our Good Books list.  More accurately, he didn't want anything to do with any of them.

    I wound up negotiating two stories for the evening: one of his picks and one of mine.  We read "Peter Rabbit" on Wednesday evening: uninterested.  We read "Squirrel Nutkin" on Friday evening; uninterested.  Or, so I thought.  Last night, Henry retrieved The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit on his own and requested "Nutkin."  I suppose there is something appealing to a three year-old boy about a naughty squirrel having his tail pulled off by a crotchety old owl.

    Saturday was a great success.  We began our day by baking up a storm.  Henry and I made a loaf of honey wheat sandwich bread (in the bread machine), a pumpkin pie (and my first attempt at a homemade crust), three loaves of pumpkin bread, two loaves of banana bread, and a batch of dinner rolls.  Henry was very proud of the results.  And so was I!


    In the afternoon, we prepared for our science walk by loading Henry's backpack with crayons, paper, a plastic sandwich bag, and a magnifying glass.  I taped a piece of clear contact paper to a dry-erase board to use as a specimen collector.  Then, with Jane in a sling, Oliver with a snack, Henry with his pack, and my husband with the camera, we set out into the great outdoors.

    Henry's first find, a dragonfly:


    Inspecting a pile of dirt left by something excavating a tunnel in the yard:


    Collecting a flower specimen (and eating a dinner roll at the same time):


    Looking for bugs on a piece of wood:


    Checking out some seed pods on a plant:


    Making a rubbing of a leaf:


    We also listened for nature sounds.  Henry pointed out the wind rustling the leaves in the trees, birds chirping, and dogs barking.  He smelled blades of grass and flowers and pointed out the different colors around us.

    The science walk was a lot of fun for the whole family.  Henry is already asking to do it again and, for now, science is his favorite subject.

    Sunday, October 3, 2010

    October 4 - October 10, 2010

    What we're working on this week:

    Monday 

    We will spend our first day reviewing all of the different materials that we are using this year.

    Wednesday
    •  Letter "A" flashcard
    • Snow White, pages 1-2: prewriting skills (strokes for A, K, M, N, V, W, X, Y, Z)
    • Cinderella, pages 1-2: visual perception (recognizing circles), prewriting skills (tracing circles)
    • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
    Friday
    • Letter "B" flashcard
    • Snow White, pages 3-4: prewriting skills (strokes for B, C, D, G, P, R, S)
    • Cinderella, pages 3-4: visual perception (recognizing squares), prewriting skills (tracing squares)
    • Rumpelstiltskin, pages 1-2: learning colors (blue), distinguishing one color from others (blue)
    • Count with Peter Rabbit, pages 1-2: learning numbers (1, 2, 3)
    • Story Time: Henry's choice from the Good Books list
    Saturday
    • Science Play!: Science Safari - looking for colors in nature, listening to nature sounds, feeling different textures and making rubbings with crayons and paper, collecting small samples of fragrant leaves and flowers, inspecting soil using a magnifying glass
    Sunday
    • Who Am I?: Review of book with Mom and Dad