Menu Plan Week of June 26, 2011

Let me just say…I don’t know if it’s worth it for me to keep posting these menu plans.  Half the time I don’t end up following them.  However, it is some sort of accountability.  Just not sure if it’s something I want to keep up with here on the blog…we’ll see.  I do plan to continue to plan them out on the computer though…I’ve done that for years (word document).
Here’s what’s cooking at our house this week:
Sunday – YOYO
Monday – Tacos
Tuesday – YOYO
Wednesday – Crock-Pot Chicken w/Black Beans and Cream Cheese (new recipe, and we’ll either eat it as tacos or over rice or pasta)
Thursday – Parmesan Crusted Fish, Rice, and Steamed Veggies
Friday – 11 year Anniversary Dinner OUT (sans kiddos hopefully)
Saturday – Grilled meat with salad (not sure what type of meat yeat…beef or chicken)
So, what say you?  Do you think I should keep posting my weekly menu plans or ditch the idea?  What’s cooking at YOUR house this week?

Third Grade Week 2 in Review

We finished up week 2 of third grade today.  Things are still going well, and we’re slowly getting back into the routine of schooling.  Don’t worry…we’re not spending all day schooling, so Caleb still has plenty of time for fun with his friends and family.  Here’s how week 2 went for us…
Bible – Our lessons this week focused on “Our Hearts Ask for God” and “We Cannot See God.”  We read Psalm 105:1-4 and Psalm 104:1-13.  Caleb’s memory verse for the week was James 4:8a.
Science – We continued our discussion on amphibians, and we studied reptiles.  Caleb learned how to classify reptiles and the types of reptiles.  We then moved on to birds and their characteristics.  He also learned ways to identify birds.
Social Studies – This week we read about how the Native Americans lived.  We discussed the Eskimos, Iroquois, Pueblo, Mayans, and Incas.  Caleb learned how each tribe lived.  We finished the week by reading Before Columbus by Muriel Batherman.
Reading – Caleb read the following books:
Herbie Jones Sails Into Second Grade by Suzy Kline
All About Rattlesnakes by Jim Arnosky
Cinderella by Marcia Brown
Frog’s Best Friend by Marion Dane Bauer
Vocabulary – Caleb continued to study his words, and he finished the week by scoring 93% on his test.
Math – I’ve decided to take a break from new math lessons for a few weeks so we can focus on review.  This week we reviewed addition facts and making ten.
English – I’m still going back and forth on our English plans, so we’re just spending some time reviewing basic concepts.  This week we discussed alphabetic order.  I also started a diagnostic test in English so I can better understand where Caleb is struggling.  Hopefully, the results from this will help me find something to use with him this year.  I have some ideas…just nothing set in stone yet.
Thanks for following our 3rd grade adventure!    Are you all enjoying your summer?  Are you having the children do ANY school work over the summer to keep stuff fresh? 

Menu Plan Week of June 19, 2011

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, especially to my hubby.  He’s an amazing man, and I’m blessed to call him the father of my children.  I’m also thankful for my dad and for my father-in-law.  All three men are excellent examples to our boys.
Here’s what’s cooking at our house this week:
Sunday – Tacos
Monday – Baked Fish and Tater Tots (didn’t get to this last week)
Tuesday – Sauteed Chicken, Noodles, and Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday – Italian Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Veggies
Thursday – YOYO
Friday – Grilled Chicken with Salad (didn’t get to this last week)
Saturday – Parmesan Crusted Fish, Rice, and Steamed Veggies
What’s on YOUR menu this week?

Third Grade Week 1 in Review

We finished up our first week of 3rd grade on Monday; however, I’m just now getting around to posting our review.  I’m so far behind on my blog posting that it’ll take me a while to get it all caught up.  Anyway here’s how our first week of 3rd grade went:
Bible – I ended up deciding I wasn’t happy with what I purchased for us to use for Bible, so we skipped it for the week.  I’ve since made up my mind, so we’ll be posting on that for our week 2 review.
Science – This week, we started discussing animals.  We defined vertebrate, invertebrate, warm-blooded, and cold-blooded.  We listed the types of vertebrates and invertebrates.  We then broke the group of vertebrates down into the 5 main types (fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals).  After this, we spent some time learning all about fish and amphibians.  ***Caleb LOVES animals, so this is a great study for him.  We plan to spend about 6-7 weeks learning all about animals.***
Social Studies – We started discussing “The First Americans” this week.  We learned how the Native Americans were the first Americans, and how they came over from Asia and settled as far south as the tip of South America.  Then we discussed how we can use ancient artifacts to learn about how these people lived many, many years ago.  We ended our discussion by talking about how the Native Americans made their way of living better (developing weapons, cloths, and agriculture).
Reading – This week Caleb read the following books:
The Book Report from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
Thinking About Ants by Barbara Brenner
Fluffy’s School Bus Adventure by Kate McMullan
May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
Vocabulary – The words we’re studying for the next two weeks are:  cylinder, examine, fatal, feature, grasp, jet, marine, scar, tentacle, and vessel.
Math – This week we worked on multiple-digit column addition.
English – Like Bible, I realized this week that I wasn’t happy with the English curriculum I chose.  So, I’m revamping our English.  Until then, I’m skipping it. 
I hope you’ll follow our 3rd grade journey at Childress Academy.  We look forward to sharing our weekly reviews with you.  Feel free to ask questions or comment. 

Celebrating National Yo-Yo Day

Last Monday was National Yo-Yo Day.  We weren’t able to get together on Monday, so we gathered with a group of our homeschooling friends for a celebration on Thursday.
We met up at a local park, and the children were taught how to properly use the yo-yo .  They learned the basic way to yo-yo, and they also worked on a few tricks.  All of them seemed to have lots of fun regardless of their yo-yoing skill. 
When it was all over, one of the moms gave each of the children a Yo-Yo cookie (Oreo Cakester with red twizzerls wrapped around).  Caleb gobbled his up, but Micah only wanted the twizzlers.  And – he didn’t want them to be “dirty”, so I had to make sure all the frosting was off…LOL!  He’s such a Mr. Nice Nasty…it tickles me to watch him.
Here are some pictures of our yo-yo fun. 

Caleb trying to work his yo-yo

All the children with their yo-yos

Micah takes a break for a quick snack

Caleb trying to master the technique

Caleb enjoying his yo-yo cookie

Micah enjoying the twizzler

Have you ever celebrated National Yo-Yo Day?  We look forward to celebrating MORE National holidays with our homeschool friends this year. 

Welcome to 3rd Grade

Most of you know that we have chosen to school year-round, so that means we get back to school in June.  We do this for many reasons, but the main one being it allows us a 4-day week, and we have plenty of time to make-up days should life happen. 
Our 2011-2012 school year started on June 6th, and both boys were eager to get to schooling.  We’ve finished our first week, and it’s gone really well.  I’ll continue to post weekly updates, so be sure to look for those each week.  Until then, here are some pictures of the boys on the first day of school.

Caleb, our 3rd grader

Micah (3) and Caleb

Micah working on his puzzle

Caleb working on his Bible lesson

When does your school year start?  Do you school year-round?

Family Visits

Omi and Opa came to visit us back at the end of May (yeah…I know, I’m late in posting).  Even though Brian had to work most of the time, we still had a really good visit.  They flew in on Wednesday, and the boys were thrilled to meet them at the airport.  I think they really just wanted to get their hands on those delicious airplane cookies!    We spent time just relaxing and enjoying our company on Wednesday. 
Thursday, the boys and I took Omi and Opa to help us pick strawberries at a local patch.  We came home with three huge buckets of berries.  I ended up freezing two gallons of berries, and we enjoyed the rest.  Friday we did a bit of shopping, and then we just hung out at the house.
Saturday we all drove up to Hapeville to spend the day with Uncle Patrick, Aunt Darcy, and Harper.  We were all looking forward to seeing their new home, and the boys couldn’t wait to play with Harper.  Uncle Patrick and Aunt Darcy prepared a fabulous lunch for us all, and then we headed over to a neighborhood park.  The cousins all had fun playing, laughing, and playing some more.  After some more playtime back at the house and a quick supper, it was time to head back home sans Omi and Opa (they stayed and visited with Uncle Patrick, Aunt Darcy, and Harper).  Both boys crashed on the way home from all the fun.
Here are some pictures of our fun…

		Omi & Opa May 2011 Visit VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL