What’s Cooking Week of May 12, 2013

First – let me say Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there…especially to my mom, Sheila, and my mother-in-love, Rose.  Thanks for being two wonderful examples of what a mother’s love is all about.   

Second – here’s what’s cooking at our house this week.  Omi (the aforementioned mother-in-love) will be joining us on Tuesday for a week-long visit.  So, my meals are liable to change.  But – I do have a game plan.

Meal 1 – Grilled Steak w/Salad (You may see this served almost weekly in our house, but it’s easy, yummy, and healthy)

Meal 2 – Parmesan Chicken Bites, Salad, and Corn on the Cob

Meal 3 – Saucy Mozzarella Patties, Noodles, Salad

Meal 4 – Fried Noodles w/Eggs and Bacon (this one always throws folks for a loop when they read it, but I’m telling you…it’s one of our favorite meals.  Brian actually introduced it to me shortly after we were married.).

Meal 5 – Grilled Chicken w/Salad (another one that could be served weekly because of it’s ease, healthiness, and taste).

In addition to Omi’s visit this week, we’ll also be celebrating Micah’s Pre-K graduation.  He’ll graduate on Thursday, and we’re all looking forward to his celebration at the preschool.

What’s cooking at YOUR house this week?  Do you serve any meals that would make people go “hmmm….” ???

What’s Cooking Week of May 5, 2013

Have you planned your meals for the week?  We’re still doing well with sticking to our plan…we’re not at 100%, but we’re getting there.    Here’s what I’ve got planned for this week…

Meal 1 – Breakfast for Dinner

Meal 2 – Meatballs, Jasmine Rice, Steamed Broccoli (we STILL haven’t gotten to this)

Meal 3 – Grilled Steak w/Salad

Meal 4 – Steak Fajitas

Meal 5 – Beef Tips over rice/noodles, steamed veggies

We finally picked up our meat from our grass-fed beef provider, so there’s plenty of beef in the freezer.  Now, I just need to stock up on some chicken, and we’ll be set.   

What’s cooking at YOUR house this week?

Fourth Grade Week 38

We are DONE!!!!!  Here’s how Caleb finished up his last week (plus some) of 4th grade…

The majority of our week was spent taking the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills).  Georgia law requires that we test every three years, beginning in 3rd grade.  However, Caleb has taken this test every year.  It’s more for my benefit than anything else…I know it’s not a true test of what he knows, but it does give me some idea of how he’s doing academically and where he may need some extra attention.  I’m not going to debate standardized testing…this is just what we do as a family. 

DVDS/Movies
World’s Weirdest:  Sneak Attacks
Outrageous Acts of Science:  Homemade Heroes
World’s Weirdest
Outrageous Acts of Science:  Human Guinea Pigs
The American Bible Challenge
Planet Ant

Games Played
Animal Jam – PC
Blurt! – this is a new game that I ordered…Caleb enjoyed it

You’ve Been Sentenced – I ordered this one, too, and Caleb had fun playing it, too.

Stack the States – iPad
Presidents vs. Aliens – iPad
Stack the Countries – iPad

Projects/Activities
Lego contest – Caleb found a lego contest in his new Lego Club magazine, so he’s been working on building his entry.  He’s still putting it all together, and he’s having fun working on it.

So, there you have it…4th grade is FINISHED!  Caleb has been officially promoted to FIFTH grade (I cannot believe  my child will be in 5th grade next year…where has the time gone).

Caleb’s 5th Grade Curriculum Choices

Caleb and I have finally come up with a feasible game plan to tackle his 5th grade schooling.  Here’s a look at the curriculum we will be using and what his days will look like…

Reading – Caleb will spend 45-60 minutes reading books of his choice each day.  This is the time that I will use to work with Micah on his Kindergarten work.  Then, Micah will move on to independent learning, and I’ll focus my attention on Caleb.

Math – Amusement Park Math; Math Warm-Ups; # of the Day (Pinterest Idea) – He will do Amusement Park Math every other week, and he’ll rotate the others on the off weeks.  I think this will give him plenty of variety, keep the fun level high, and make him use his math noggin.  We will more than likely take some weeks off from written math work to play math games, but I don’t have that scheduled out yet.  I want to be more flexible, so I do have a game plan, but it’s not set in stone. 

Language Arts – Spectrum Language Arts – I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need to spend oodles of money on Language Arts curriculum because it repeats yearly, going deeper each year.  So, I went the cheap route.  This will be just enough to satisfy my need for Caleb to do something LA oriented each day.  I don’t think it’ll be too difficult or overwhelming for him, either.

Miscellaneous Skills – Maps, Charts, Graphs, & Diagrams; Dictionary Skills; Take Five Minutes:  365 Calendar-Related Editing Activities -- After taking the ITBS, Caleb and I discussed areas that were difficult for him.  Once he identified those, I asked if he’d like more practice, and he said he would.  I think it will help build his confidence in those areas, and he wants to improve.  I will choose one sentence for him to edit daily, and we’ll rotate weekly between the maps, charts, graphs, & diagrams AND the dictionary skills.  I am also going to add in some table of contents and index work throughout the year, too.

We will also add in daily Bible reading, and then Caleb will have plenty of time to have free exploration where he can learn and study more about what interests him.  This is a plan that Caleb and I have both agreed on, so I’m pretty confident that next year will be a smooth year.  We’re looking forward to lots of learning and even more fun!  I’m just crossing my fingers that schooling two children won’t stress me out too much. 

What’s Cooking Week of April 28, 2013

We did much better at eating at home and sticking to our menu plans last week.  Here’s what’s on the menu this week…

Meal 1 – Spaghetti Meat sauce served over Spaghetti Squash (we’ve never tried this, but I figured it was worth a shot).

Meal 2 – Meatballs w/Gravy, Jasmine Rice, Steamed Broccoli (we didn’t get to this last week)

Meal 3 – Baked Chicken w/Stuffing Casserole, Steamed Veggies

Meal 4 – Grilled Chicken w/Salad

Meal 5 – Frikadellen, Noodles, Steamed Veggies

What’s cooking at YOUR house this week?  Have you ever cooked or eaten Spaghetti squash???  Did you like it?

What’s Cooking Week of April 21, 2013

Well, it’s time to get back on the cooking bandwagon.  I’ve mentioned before, if I don’t plan the meals, we’re more likely to eat crap or head for take-out.  That’s just not a good idea any way you look at it.  So, I’m trying to do better with meal planning.  We also just placed a big order from our grass-fed beef provider, so the freezer will have plenty of meat that will need to be eaten.    Rather than post meals for a certain day, I’m just going to come up with 5 meals for the week…then, if life happens, we’ve still got flexibility. 
Here are our five meals for this week…

Meal 1 – Beef tips in crockpot, rice, sauteed brussel sprouts
Meal 2 – BBQ beef in crockpot, coleslaw, corn on the cob
Meal 3 – Meatballs, rice, steamed broccoli
Meal 4 – Grilled chicken with salad
Meal 5 – Scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits

What’s cooking at YOUR house this week?  Are you a menu planner or do you wing it each night?

Fourth Grade Week 37

We are finished with another week, and here’s what Caleb was up to…

Books
How To Be a Genius:  Your Brian and How To Train It by DK Publishing
Math for All Seasons by Greg Tang
The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang

DVDs/Movies
The American Bible Challenge – GSN
Deadly Dozen:  Australia’s Deadly Dozen – Netflix
God of Wonders – Netflix
Beakman’s World – Netflix
Deadly Dozen:  Asia’s Deadly Dozen – Netflix
River Monsters
Myth Busters:  Exploding Toilet – Netflix
Myth Busters:  Deadly Straw – Netflix
Myth Busters:  Ancient Death Ray – Netflix

Games
Tri-ominos
Banagrams
The Allowance Game
Animal Jam – PC
Monkey Quest – PC

Activities/Projects
park time – rode bikes at the park
treadmill

email – I used this to teach Caleb Language Arts skills.  I would send him an email, and he had to complete the task/objective.  Some of the things we worked on were identifying verbs/nouns, making words plurals, synonyms/antonyms, capitalization/punctuation, and writing.

domino building – Caleb used the dominos and Tri-ominos to do some building.

This was Caleb’s rendition of Stonehenge…he took the picture, too

random tower

# of the day – Caleb chose to do a # of the day, and his # was 567.  This is where he has to do certain tasks with his chosen #…write it, rounding, adding, subtracting, etc.

vet appointment – both of our dogs had vet appointments, so Caleb accompanied his dad to these appointments.

magnet kit – Caleb and Micah had some fun playing with magnets

salt experiment – This was an experiment we started weeks ago, but it took FOREVER.  We put table salt and water in one cup and epsom salt and water in another.  The water mixed with table salt evaporated within a week, but it took a long time for the water mixed with epsom salt to evaporate.  The table salt crystals grew up and out of the cup; however, the epsom salt crystals did not…they stayed in the bottom of the cup.  This was a very interesting experiment, and Caleb enjoyed watching it over the weeks.  Here are the results…

We only have about 8 more days of school…YEAH!  Then, it’ll be summer break for a bit.    We commence with 5th grade (and Kindergarten for Micah) on June 4th. 

What I’ve Learned…

I’ve learned quite a bit along our deschool/unschooling journey.  Granted, we’ve only spent about 6 weeks on this journey, but it has been a very eye-opening experience.  We still have a few more weeks left, but I thought I’d go ahead and share what I’ve learned.

1. My son NEEDS boundaries and guidelines when it comes to screen time.  I know there are many unschoolers out there who will say that your child will learn to self-regulate and won’t want to watch TV or play games ALL day.  However, I just don’t think that’s true with EVERY my child.  He has proven to us on numerous occasions that he will sit and play Animal Jam (insert another PC game or Wii game) for hours on end.  So, for his sake and mine, there has to be guidelines in place to monitor his screen time.
2. I can’t completely let all control go when it comes to math and language arts.  Again, I know there are unschoolers who will tell me that if I’m still breaking stuff down into subjects, then I’m not truly unschooling.  I, however, believe differently.  In my heart of hearts, I think there are many rungs on the unschool ladder.  I don’t think you have to unschool every subject or even ALL of life.  For us – it’s just not what is best.  I’m not saying I have to use a set curriculum, but Caleb needs to do some sort of math and language arts each day.  I’m perfectly content letting HIM choose what he does, but he will have to do something.  It’s my job to provide all sorts of materials and experiences for him, and I’ve been building up our home library and homeschool supplies with math and language arts choices.  I’ll share more about these in another post…I’m hoping Caleb finds them useful and intriguing.
3. My son is quite capable of unschooling himself when it comes to science and social studies.  Caleb LOVES these two subjects, and when left to his own vices he will usually gravitate towards an informational text.  He will also choose a science or history show on Netflix or on TV the majority of the time.  So, I’m completely comfortable not having control of these two areas…he has proven he knows where to find information for these topics, and he does it without my assistance.
4. This goes back to number 2, but I’ve found out by visiting various unschool groups on Facebook, that not all unschoolers agree with my philosophy on the matter.  Like I mentioned, I think it’s perfectly fine to have some sort of structure to your day regarding some school subjects, but then release that structure for other areas.  However, most unschoolers will tell you that this is not unschooling.  It goes back to my thinking of “you have to do what is best for YOUR family.”  I don’t think there’s a wrong way to unschool…however, unschoolers will certainly disagree with me.  That’s okay…I’m fine with that.  They will say that what I’m doing is relaxed schooling…not unschooling.  While that may be true to them, I don’t think it really matters what the label is.  If I want to call what we’re doing for everything minus math and language arts “UNSCHOOLING”, then that’s what it’ll be called.  The main thing I learned from all of the books that I read is you have to make UNSCHOOLING work for YOUR family in the way that is best.  Unschooling in my house doesn’t have to look like unschooling in your house for it to be called the same thing.
5.  There are advantages to making notes of what my son reads, watches, plays, and accomplishes along the way.  While this isn’t necessary for all folks and some would think it’s tedious, I have enjoyed being able to mark down what Caleb does in a week.  It allows me to see where his interests are, and it also works as an accountability system if you live in a state where that matters.  It’s also nice for folks like me who enjoy blogging about their homeschool weeks.   
6. You need to stop and take time to assess how what you’re doing is working, and get your child involved.  I think this is true in all areas of life, but it’s especially true when it comes to homeschooling.  If you are schooling a certain way and things aren’t working, then it’s okay to change them.  If your child isn’t happy or is frustrated with the current method, then TALK with them.  Get their opinion and ask them what their goals are when it comes to their education.  This is obviously easier with an older child, but I feel that you can ask a Kindergartener what they’d like to learn each day.  Ask your child how they think they’d best learn math, language, or whatever else.  Give them the opportunity to make decisions and then give them a chance.  You’ll eventually know if it’s going to work or not…then you can always continue or tweak the system again.  We’ve changed our method of schooling many times, but I’ve learned that Caleb needs to be involved in the decisions just as much as I am.  He has a voice, and I need to listen to his opinion. 

So, there you have it…that’s what I’ve learned.  I’m sure I may learn more over the next few weeks, and if so, then I’ll come back with Part 2.  We’ve got 13 more days left of 4th grade, and then we’re going to take a break.  We’ll start back with 5th grade in June, and there will be some changes.  I’ll share those later…I may learn more by then and change my mind again. 

Fourth Grade Week 36

Wow – the 4th grade school year is almost over…I think we’ll even finish earlier than I had originally planned, and that’s fine by me!  This was a very different week as Caleb attended an art class 3 mornings this week.  So, that threw us off a bit, but we still managed to make it through the week.  Here’s what Caleb was up to…

Books –
Guinness World Records 2013
Scholastic Encyclopedia of Animals by Laurence Pringle
Animals – A Visual Encyclopedia by DK Publishing
Great Americans by Flowerpot Press

DVDs or Movies –
Wonders of the Solar System
The American Bible Challenge – GSN
National Treasure 2:  Book of Secrets
Pilgrim’s Progress
World’s Weirdest:  Oddities – NGW
World’s Weirdest:  Freaks on Land – NGW
National Treasure

Games Played –
Animal Jam – PC
Minecraft – iPhone and iPad – I’m going to let him try it out a bit before I purchase the Desktop version.

Projects/Activities –
Barry Stebbing’s 3 Day Art Class – Mr. Stebbing is the creator of How Great Thou Art, and this was a 3 day class taught by him.  Caleb LOVED it.

Treadmill – Caleb walked on the treadmill a few days this week.

Park – We spent some time at the park, so Caleb was able to ride his bike and his scooter.

Johnny G’s – this is a fun place here in town, and we had our Classical Conversations end of the year party yesterday.  Caleb had fun playing laser tag, spin zone, and other games.  The boys LOVE this place.

Well, that doesn’t look like a very eventful week, but that’s okay.  I think he learned PLENTY from that 3 day art class.  We only have about 4 weeks left (really only 13 days I think to reach 180), so we’ll finish up 4th grade REALLY soon!

Fourth Grade Week 35

Well, we finished up our 4th week of deschooling/unschooling.  I’ll admit, this was the week that doubts and uncertainties crept up.  However, I’m committed to sticking to this for the next 5 weeks, and I will!  Here’s what Caleb was up to this week.

Books
Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space by Paul Dowswell
The Lego Ideas Book:  Unlock Your Imagination by Daniel Lipkowitz
The Usborne Children’s Encyclopedia by Jane Elliott & Colin King
Animals:  A Visual Encyclopedia by DK Publishing
Knights and Dragons by Igloo Books
Fearsome Creatures by Rona Skene & Simon Smith

DVDs/Movies
The Bible – History Channel
The American Bible Challenge – GSN
The Planets:  Different Worlds – Netflix
19 Kids & Counting:  Duggars Do Asia – TLC
The Planets:  Life – Netflix
How It’s Made:  Nails & Staples, Safety Glasses, Fabrics, Bicycles – Netflix
How It’s Made:  Hydroponic Lettuce, Construction Wood, Fishing Flies – Netflix
Jeremiah – GMC
How It’s Made:  Robotic Arms, Tattoos, Concrete Pipes – Netflix
How It’s Made:  Wooden Doors, Paintballs, Newspapers, Diamonds – Netflix
How It’s Made:  Hockey Gloves, Snack Cakes, Remolded Tires, Wastewater Treatment Plants – Netflix
Shark Week:  Restless Fury:  Shark Attach Survival Guide – Netflix
Shark Week:  The Great Bites Collection:  Mythbusters Shark Special – Netflix
Shark Week:  The Great Bites Collection:  Day of the Shark – Netflix
Mythbusters:  Buried Alive – Netflix
Mythbusters:  Lightning Strikes/Tongue Piercing – Netflix
Mythbusters:  Killer Brace Position – Netflix

Games Played
Animal Jam – PC
Bible Battleship – PC
Ten Commandments – PC
Days of Creation – PC

Projects/Activities
Treadmill – Caleb walked on the treadmill several times this week.

Email – The novelty has worn off, but he still sends a few during the week.

Planets song – Caleb was interested in planets this week, so we found the planets song on You Tube, and he learned the names of the planets.

Planets – Caleb watched a few videos on planets on You Tube for Schools.  He also did a few Solar System worksheets to see if he remembered what he watched.

Live Mocha – Someone mentioned this free foreign language website, so I emailed Caleb about it.  He chose to start working on Spanish.  So, he completed a few lessons on the site.  There are lots of languages, and I have a feeling he’ll choose others soon. 

Park Play – Micah had an Easter egg hunt and picnic at the park, so Caleb tagged along.  He was able to ride his scooter and play with another homeschool boy while we were there.

Coloring – Caleb and Micah both spent a little time coloring in some coloring books.  Micah is all focused on staying in the lines now, and he does a GREAT job.

Well, there are no pictures for this week.  Oh well…maybe next week. 

Fourth Grade Week 34

We finished up another week of our deschooling/unschooling adventure.  I know that to the ‘unread’ eye, it may seem like there’s not much going on.  But – you have to trust in the process, and that’s what I’m doing.  Like I mentioned before, we’re trying this out until the end of 4th grade, and we’ll reassess at that point.

Books – Caleb spent time reading the following books this week…
100 Facts:  Saving the Earth by Miles Kelly
How It Works:  Giant Machines by Miles Kelly
Discovery Kids:  So Cool!
How It Works:  Space Exploration by Miles Kelly
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History
How to Do Homework Without Throwing Up by Trevor Romain
Usborne Discovery:  Knights by Rachel Firth
National Geographic Encyclopedia of Animals by Karen McGhee & George McKay, Ph.D.

DVDs/Movies 
America Unearthed:  Hunt for the Holy Grail  -- History Channel
The Bible – History Channel
The States:  Florida, Indiana, Washington, Utah, and Rhode Island – History Channel
Nature’s Deadliest:  Australia – Netflix
Nature’s Deadliest:  Africa – Netflix
Meerkat Manor – Netflix
The States:  Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Montana – History Channel
Deadly Dozen:  Central America – Netflix
The Lincoln Assassination – Netflix
Nature’s Deadliest:  Brazil – Netflix
Nature’s Deadliest:  Africa 2 – Netflix
How It’s Made:  Steel, Apple Juice, Aircraft Landing Center – Netflix
How It’s Made:  Holograms, Package Printing, Skin Cultures, Canned Corn – Netflix
Deadly Dozen:  India – Netflix
The American Bible Challenge – Game Show Network
19 Kids and Counting:  Duggars Do Asia – TLC

Games Played 
Animal Jam – PC
Stack the States – iPad
ToonTastic – iPad (he created a cartoon movie, and he had lots of fun with this game)
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution – PS3

Projects or Activities 
You Tube Video of St. Patrick – Caleb’s Omi emailed him a link to this, so he watched it.

Drawing – he spent lots of time drawing with stencils.  Micah joined in on the fun, too.

Seussical the Musical – we joined up with many other homeschoolers to go see this performance at a local theater.
 
Save the Animals Poster – Caleb has always had a love for animals.  Well, he decided to cut out pictures of animals and glue them onto a poster.  He wanted to find out how many animals are killed every year, so we used the Internet to find the answer (58 billion...if this isn't correct, oh well...it's what we found).  Using this information, he then wrote a little bit about how animals are hunted, and he ended by asking for donations.  While I know he’d love to use this for donations, I’m not sure how well that would go…I’m not sure folks would be inclined.  We’ll continue thinking of ways to make this happen for him though…mom has to do some thinking. 


Wet Chalk & Tape Resist Easter Eggs – I found this idea on Pinterest.  The boys had a lot of fun, and I think the eggs turned out great.  I’m thinking we’ll try the activity again using other shapes/holidays.

Linking Cubes – Caleb used these to spell out Micah’s name and other words (they are like Unifix cubes, but they can link on all sides).

Treadmill – Caleb spent some time walking on the treadmill this week.

Overall, our adventure is still going well.  I’ll admit that it’s hard for me to sometimes sit back and relinquish all control.  However, Caleb seems to be doing well and enjoying this process.  There's only 6 more weeks, so I think we can hang on for that long. 

Fourth Grade Week 33

This was our 2nd week of deschooling (on our way to seeing if unschooling is a good fit).  It was another successful week, and everyone seems to be adjusting well.

Books – Some of the books may seem “below” Caleb’s reading level, but he read a lot of them to Micah.  So, as long as he’s reading, I’m not judging the level of the book.

National Geographic Kids – Cats vs Dogs by Elizabeth Carney
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenfeld
Ladybug Girl & Bumblebee Boy by David Soman & Jacky Davis
Big Brother, Little Brother by Marci Curtis
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Brian’s Hunt by Gary Paulsen

DVDs/Movies –
The Bible – History Channel
Beakman’s World – Netflix
Drive Thru History:  Ancient Rome – Netflix
Meerkat Manor – Netflix

Games Played –
Mental Math Popsicle Sticks – this was something I saw on Pinterest, and Caleb really enjoyed it.  So, I will be making more…

Brain Quest Smart! Game
games with Micah (flash cards, puzzle games, etc)
Uno
Mexican Train Dominoes
Animal Jam on the PC

Projects or Activities –
Toilet Paper Roll Painting – I saw this idea on Pinterest, too.  We cut toilet paper rolls to make flowers, and then painted with them.

Symmetry Sheet – I think I found this on Pinterest, too.

Email – Caleb continues to send email.  I think the novelty has worn off a bit though.

Letter Tiles – Caleb used these to spell words and make sentences.  Micah also joined in the fun.  He spelled a few words and then wrote them on his paper.

Counting Money – Caleb pulled out the jar of plastic money and stacked it up.  He then proceeded to count what he had stacked.

Collage – Caleb made a collage using various art materials.

Pom-pom critters – Caleb made lots of little pom-pom critters using pom-poms and wiggly eyes.

Mad Libs – Caleb did several pages of Mad Libs in his huge Mad Libs book.  He gets a kick out of making the funny stories and sharing them with us.

Decoding Pages – Caleb found a few decoding pages in a Brain Games workbook that I had (I bought this many, many years ago when I taught in the public school).  He worked on a few of them.

Overall, it was another good week.  My only concern this week was his desire to watch Beakman’s World for two straight mornings.  So, on the 2nd morning, I asked him to write down at least three things he learned or heard during each show.  He kindly obliged. 

Caleb seems to be happy with the deschooling process, and I’m curious to see how it continues to unfold over the next few weeks.  I also LOVE that he’s including Micah in some of the process.  Micah also seems really interested in what we’re doing, so he’s joining in the fun more now, too.  I’m looking forward to adding him in on a regular basis in a few more months.  Right now…it’s at his pace and on his terms. 

Fourth Grade Week 32

I know I posted last week that Caleb had come up with HIS plan for how he wanted school to look.  However, after more reading and thinking, I looked at how much time we had left for fourth grade (about 9 weeks).  So, I decided that we’d just get into a deschool/unschool mode for these last 9 weeks and see how it works and what happens.  You never know how something will work if you don’t try…so we’re trying something new.  At the end of the 9 weeks, we’ll reassess and determine where to go from there. 

We both came up with three guidelines that will be followed beginning at 9am each school day:
1.  Electronic use must be educational (computer, iPad, DS, etc)
2.  Legos after 1pm (these are educational, but this is all he’d do if allowed)
3.  Video games after 2pm

Other than the above three guidelines, Caleb is free to do as he chooses for the morning hours.  For the next nine weeks, I’ll post the books that are read/used, the DVDs or movies watched, games played, and projects or activities.  Here’s how this week went for us…

Books –
Usborne Romans by Anthony Marks & Graham Tingay
Travel Through America by Elaine Jackson
Travel Through India by Elaine Jackson 
Travel Through the Caribbean by Lynn Huggins-Cooper  Travel Through Brazil by Joe Fullman 
Travel Through the British Isles by Lynn Huggins-Cooper
National Geographic Kids – Everything Rocks & Minerals by Steve Tomecek 
Bones by Steve Jenkins 
National Geographic Encyclopedia of Animals by Karen McGhee and George McKay, Ph.D

Caleb used the ‘Travel Through’ books to find inspiration for things he could build with Legos.  He drew a picture of some sites (Taj Majah) and then worked on Lego building.

DVDs and Movies –
’The Bible’ on History Channel
’Feeding Time’ on Netflix
Lego Club DVD (this came in his Lego Club magazine a while back)
Man vs. Wild on Netflix
Beakman’s World on Netflix
Veggie Tales:  Duke and the Great Pie War on Netflix

Games Played –
Dominoes – we multiplied both sides together and then determined if the product was even or odd.  Caleb then sorted the products into even and odd.

Discovery Toys Wiz Kids
Timez Attack on computer
Stack the States on iPad
Brain Age on Nintendo DSI

Treehouse Game – Even and Odd – This was an idea I found on Pinterest.  We used a deck of cards to determine if numbers were even or odd.  Then, I had him add two cards together and determine if the sum was even or odd.  I then had him multiply two cards together to determine if the product was even or odd.  Finally, he added three cards together to see if the sum was even or odd.  We played together, and the first person to reach the treehouse won.

Scrambled States of America
Marbles

Projects and Activities –
Magnet Kit – Caleb used this to determine what metals were magnetic.  He also made magnets by rubbing mettal objects onto the magnets.  He then watched a You Tube video on magnets.

Rock Kit – Caleb sorted and cleaned out his rock kit (this was passed down from my brothers and nephew).  He used Google to identify some that had name cards and put them in the proper spot.  He also measured some of his rocks.

Paper Bag Puppet – Caleb made several paper bag puppets.  Micah joined in the fun as well.

Caleb’s two puppets on the left and Micah’s on the right

Salt Experiment – Caleb found an experiment in the ‘Rocks & Minerals’ book mentioned above.  He put 5tsp of table salt in one clear cup and 5tsp of Epsom salt in another clear cup.  He will watch them over the next week as the water evaporates and then observe the crystals with a magnifying glass.

Email – I set Caleb up with an email account, and he is LOVING it.  He’s only allowed to email friends and family, but this is a great way for him to practice spelling, punctuation, typing, and basic letter writing skills. 

Tangrams and Pattern Blocks – Caleb used these to build shapes.  He also practiced his photography skills by taking pictures of what he created.

These are all Caleb’s creations, and he took all of the pictures

Micah joined in with the Discovery Toys Pattern Blocks

Science Brain Quest Questions – He spent a few minutes reading the questions and answering them.

Geography Brain Quest Questions – same as above

Marbles – He found some marbles in his above mentioned rock collection, and he sorted them.  He then discussed marbles with his daddy.  I found a You Tube video on how to play marbles, and then he played a few games with his brother.  He’s excited about being able to play marbles with his daddy this weekend.

Shaving Cream Painting – I saw this idea on Pinterest, and I thought it would be fun to try with the boys.  We did the activity, and then I had them cut it out into an egg shape.  They had a lot of fun, and I’m sure we’ll do it again soon.

Micah’s is on the left and Caleb on the right

Overall, I think it was a successful week.  Caleb said he really enjoyed the week because he was in control of his choices.  I think he’s a lot like me in that he likes being in control.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not always good, either.  So, we’ll continue this experiment and see how things are going at the end of May.