First Grade Week 22 in Review

Yeah…I’m only a tad bit late in posting this.  Granted, it’s posted for November, but it’s actually December as I type this.  It was my intention to post this before we went to VA for Thanksgiving, but yeah…it didn’t happen.  Anyway, here’s how week 22 went at Childress Academy:
Heritage Studies:  We discussed Old Plymouth and planning a town.
Science:  We started a new chapter on air and discussed temperature of air and movement of air.
Math:  We started a new chapter on measurement.  We discussed measuring in paper clips and inches.
Bible:  Our Bible verse for the week was Ephesians 1:4.  The Bible story was on “God Chose Jacob to Be In His Family.”
Vocabulary:  We added “lively, chore, pile, ripe, and hollow” to our list of vocabulary terms.
Phonics & English:  We added “another, watch, America, and very” to our list of service words.  The “-ace and –ice” families were added to our word family list.  We discussed hard/soft “c” and adding “ing/ed” to long/short vowel words.
As always, thanks for following our adventures here at Childress Academy.  We’ll have more to share soon. 

Chasing George Washington and Last Day of Co-Op

I mentioned earlier that we were going to see “Chasing George Washington” at The Grand Opera House on Wednesday.  Well, it was a WONDERFUL trip.  I don’t remember ever going to The Grand, but that’s not a promise that I didn’t go as a child.  I just don’t remember.  But – Caleb and I will definitely be going back!  The play was really cute, and Caleb had a blast.  After the play, we joined some friends for lunch at Moe’s Southwest Grill, and it was a fun time as well.
We were not allowed to take pictures during the play, so I can’t oblige you there.  And with an “uncooperative picture-taking” Caleb, well, my picture taking was limited.  So, here’s what you get…

Today was the last day of our Fall Homeschool Co-op session.  It was a very busy, but fun eight weeks.  Both boys had lots of fun, and they both made new friends.  Hopefully, they both learned a little bit as well.  That is, after all, what it’s all about, right?!!?
We ended the session with a pot-luck lunch and presentation time today.  All of the classes did a wonderful job this session, and it seems that all the children enjoyed co-op.  I, myself, enjoyed teaching for a change.  After being out of the classroom for more than 5 years, it was a good feeling to be back in the “teacher’s seat”.  Granted, yes, I homeschool Caleb, but it’s different when you have a class of little eager ears (that belong to OTHER children) listening to every word.   I’m looking forward to teaching more classes at our spring session beginning in March.  Right now though…I’m going to enjoy that break.
Caleb took the Eric Carle class that I taught, a Time & Money class, and a World of Animals class.  According to him, the Animals class was his favorite.  Needless to say, I’m not surprised.  Here are some pictures of some of the crafts that he did and pictures from the presentation dinner today.

Micah was sooo loud during the presentation.  But – he enjoyed himself as is evident by his “chair climbing.”  Caleb and his friend, Emerson.  These boys had so much fun together. Caleb and Emerson during the Time & Money song.Caleb…he’s growing up so fast. This is a panda that Caleb decorated using crumpled tissue paper. This is a “Life Cycle of the Butterfly” activity that we did after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  We put sesame seeds on the green leaf to represent the eggs, rolled black/white/yellow pipe cleaners together to represent the caterpillar, added a green (using food coloring) cottonball for the chrysalis, and then colored the butterfly. This is a spider web (and spider) that Caleb drew using chalk.  He then traced it with silver glitter glue.  We did this after reading The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.

First Grade Week 21 in Review

Well, another week of first grade is complete.  We’re quickly approaching the halfway mark, and I’m super excited.  I am doing all that I can to get us all caught up before we leave for Virginia next Wednesday.  It’s going to be tough and require a lot discipline from Caleb and myself, but we can do it!  Wish us luck!  Here’s how this week panned out:
Heritage Studies:  We discussed Indian towns (how they lived, their houses, etc) and finding old towns (mainly focusing on Jamestown).  Again, we are adding this to our “list of places we need to visit for homeschool purposes.”  LOL!  That list just keeps on growing. 
Science:  This week we began a chapter on Teeth.  We discussed the part of teeth, sets of teeth, shapes/jobs of teeth, and care of teeth.  This is a GREAT chapter right now as Caleb is now at the age of losing teeth.  He’s already lost 4 (I think that’s it), and one more is barely hanging on.  If he would just let his dad pull the thing, he’d feel better I’m sure.  LOL!
Math:  We discussed missing addends, subtracting from 10, fact families, and families for 11 and 12.
Bible:  Our Bible verse this week was 1 John 4:10, and our Bible story covered “God Kept His Promise to Abraham.”  With this week’s Bible verse came a super big word…propitiation.  That was a fun word to teach.
Vocabulary:  We added “cross, wagon, weave, fancy, and tame” to our list of vocabulary terms.
Phonics & English:  We added “-o and –ue” to our list of word families.  We added “wash and great” to our list of service words.  This was a review week, and we finished it up with a test over ALL of our phonics lessons to this point.  Caleb scored an “E” (Excellent) on the test, and he was super proud.
Art:  Caleb painted a picture of beautiful flowers this week.  I think he’s got 1-2 more sessions left, and then we’re going to take a break from art lessons.  He still enjoys it, but I think a break is needed (probably more for my sake than Caleb’s).
Extra Stuff:  We went on a tour of a local fitness center with the homeschool Boys’ Club.  It was a great time, and Caleb got to work out some of his energy.  Now, if only I had his energy…we’d be golden.  LOL!  Tomorrow, we are going to The Grand in the next city over to watch a play…”Chasing George Washington.”  I am soooo excited about seeing this because we’ve talked about George Washington in our studies, and Caleb LOVES to learn his history.  So, look for some more details about that later.
As always, thanks for following our fun adventures in first grade.  We look forward to sharing more next time!

African Animals and Lizards Lapbook

Nope…these two subjects have NOTHING to do with one another.  I’m just trying to save time by combining two posts into one.  I seem to be making that a habit lately.  Hmmm…wonder if it could be because I feel like I’m absolutely swamped and have no free time?!!?  Are the holidays over yet?  Oh…sorry, they haven’t even started have they?  Geez…oh well.  No time to rest, then!
Anyway, Brian and Caleb spent some time on Saturday painting some African animals.  These animals were bought back in August when we visited our friends, The Neil Family.  Yep…it’s taken us that long to sit down to paint them.  Oh well, it was still fun and worth the wait.  But – the company needs to do a better job of providing ample paint.  There are two completed animals, one half-painted animal, and one albino animal (meaning the paint ran out). 

Here are two of my favorite boys painting. Caleb’s just too focused…look at the tongue.  What is it about the tongue?  Why does it have to be out when you’re concentrating?  LOL!

For the past two weeks, Caleb has been working on a Lizards Lapbook.  He thoroughly enjoyed himself, and I think he even learned a bit.  We always enjoy taking a break from our normal science curriculum, to do some “hands-on” fun with lapbooking.  Here are the pictures from this latest project…Enjoy!

This is the cover. This is the inside. This is the inside of the Lizard Classification component.This is the inside of the Lizard Senses booklet.

This is the inside of the There be Dragons component.

This is the inside of the Long Live Lizards and Defenses book.

This is the Reptile Relatives booklet. This is the Where Do Lizards Live component.

This is the inside of the A Lizard is a…component. 

So, that’s a little bit of what’s been going on at the Childress household.  The next lapbook we do will cover some Christmas topics, so look for that one coming before the holidays are over!

A Bunch of Random Stuff…

You know…I could probably make 4-5 posts out of all of these pictures.  But we all know that I don’t have time for that.  So, this is what you get.  LOL!  It will still serve the purpose!  So, enjoy the randomness…it’s what we’re about these days. 
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Micah loves him some soup.  In fact, the boy is so grown that he will dip his crackers in the soup.  Here he is enjoying some veggie soup!  Look at that face…I don’t think he likes it.  What do you think?
   
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I’ve mentioned before that I’m teaching an Eric Carle Carnival class at co-op.  Well, we’ve been doing lots and lots of crafts.  Here’s a clay pot ladybug that we made the other week after we read The Grouchy Ladybug. 

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The other week we went and visited Lane’s Southern Orchard with the homeschool co-op group.  We were able to enjoy the corn maze and a hayride.  Let me just say…this was my first venture into a corn maze, and I really didn’t care for it.  Let me tell ya why…I was pulling Micah in a wagon, and it well…it was a bit too muddy.  And – I really didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t find my way out fast enough.  So, it was just not fun for me.  Maybe I’m a little claustrophobic…who knows?!!?  Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Micah and Avonlea enjoying some time in the wagon while we wait on the festivities to begin.Caleb just being a boy while we wait for everything to start.

Micah playing with my Blackberry during the informative talk about corn…he had no interest in listening to the lady speak. 

Caleb posing before we entered the corn maze…the sun was in his eyes. Micah is ready to go…he’s got my keys and my Blackberry.  LOL…a boy after my own heart! Caleb holding our flag (we had the flag to wave in case we got lost.  We could also text for help clues  using our cell phones).Micah on the hayride…this was his first ever hayride I think.  He seemed to enjoy it!Caleb on the hayride…he had fun goofing off with his buddies.

Okay, I think that’s all the randomness I have for ya tonight.  I’m sure I’ll find more at a later date, so stay tuned! 

First Grade Week 20 in Review

You’re probably wondering how we did week 20, when we just finished week 19?!!?  Well, it’s a little thing I like to call “doubling up".  We do two day’s assignments in just one day.  And – since this has been a rainy and dreary few days, we’ve been doing just that.  So, here’s how week 20 panned out…
Heritage Studies:  We discussed making towns and cities.
Science:  We finished up our Lizards lapbook.  We discussed the komodo dragon, jaragua lizard, basilisk lizard, lizard senses, where to find lizards, and shedding.  I’ll post pictures as soon as I get it all put together.
Math:  This week we started a subtraction chapter.  We talked about counting back 1 or 2, subtracting 0, subtracting all/nearly all, comparing to subtract, and doubles.
Bible:  We continued to review John 14:21, and our Bible story was on “God Protected Abraham’s Family.”
Vocabulary:  We added “reverse, exhibit, misty, tropical, and surface” to our list of vocabulary terms.
Phonics & English:  This week we added “-oat, –oe, –oast, –ow, and –own” to our list of word families.  We added “front” to our list of service words.  In English skills, we discussed compound words and complete sentences.  Caleb learned more about the naming and telling parts of sentences.
Extra Stuff:  Caleb enjoyed a time of skating with other homeschoolers last Friday.  He always enjoys going skating, and he’s improving his skills each time we go.  I, however, am fine just watching Micah play in the play area. 
As always, thank you for joining us each week to find out what we’ve been learning.  I look forward to sharing more next time.

First Grade Week 19 in Review

Well, another week is complete.  We’re trying to double up on some days, so that’s helping us get caught up just a bit.  Here’s how week 19 went for us.
Heritage Studies:  We discussed foods that the Indians gave us, and then we read about the First Thanksgiving.
Science:  We started a new lapbook on Lizards.  This week we learned some new vocabulary words, about reptiles, relatives of the lizard, methods of defenese, and their classification.  Caleb is just soaking it all up and loving every minute of it.
Math:  We finished up our chapter by discussing fair shares, probability, and tally marks. 
Bible:  Our Bible verse for the week was John 14:21.  Our story was on “God Called Abraham.”
Vocabulary:  We added “meet, cranky, train, injured, and hatch” to our list of vocabulary terms.
Phonics & English:  This week we added “Christ and children” to our list of service words.  We added “-y, –igh, and –ight” to our list of word families.
Art:  This week Caleb painted a picture of various fruits and vegetables.  He continues to do a great job.  I, however, have no clue what to do with all these paintings.  ?????
Extra Stuff:  We enjoyed a visit to Lane’s Southern Orchard to visit their corn maze and have a hayride.  I’ll post pictures on a separate post.  Caleb had fun at co-op.  I, however, had to miss due to a fever.  I’m not sure why I had a fever, but I did nonetheless, so I had to be absent.  I missed being able to teach the little ones and interact with everyone.  But – here’s hoping this week is a different story.
As always, thanks for following our adventures in first grade!  We look forward to sharing more next time.  So, tune in!

Trick-or-Treat 2009

As I think I’ve mentioned before, we never really have celebrated Halloween here at the Childress house.  Yes, we would let Caleb participate in the trick-or-treating at his preschool when he attended, but that was it.  It was just a personal conviction that Brian had, and we agreed to just do our best to ignore the holiday. 
Well, Caleb started asking lots of questions, and Brian had to do some explaining.  We then decided that we would only partake in the trick-or-treat aspect of the holiday.  So, that’s what we did this year.
Let me just tell you…trying to get a 6-year-old to decide on a costume was quite the feat.  We went to all the stores and perused all the different choices.  Well, Caleb thought they were all super cool, and he just couldn’t decide.  So, I went on the Family Fun website and browsed the homemade costumes.
He narrowed it down to two, and he finally decided to be a bug catcher.  Once that decision was made, we then tried to find Micah a coordinating bug costume.  Well, the gender neutral bee costumes just weren’t cute.  So, I ventured to Toys ‘R Us and found an inchworm.  There…a bug catcher and his catch, the inchworm.
We met up with some friends last night and went around their neighborhood for the kiddos to have fun.  There were 4 older children and 3 toddlers.  The toddlers had the best deal because they were pulled in wagons.  Brian and I stayed behind with the little guy, so I don’t have any pictures of Caleb going from door-to-door.  But – he had a BLAST!  He really enjoyed being with his friends, explaining his costume, and getting lots of candy.  Micah just enjoyed riding, waving bye, and blowing kisses. 
Overall, it was a great experience, and Caleb has already decided to be a fisherman next year.  Now, it’s time for me to start figuring out THAT costume!  Enjoy the pictures!