Introducing Gizmo…

We purchased Gizmo, a two-month-old Shih-Poo, over the weekend.  We were able to welcome him into our home yesterday.  Yeah, yeah, yeah…I’m crazy for allowing another pet into our home, but I truly think Gizmo is special.  You see…Caleb has not liked dogs too much…well, he hasn’t been happy with Little Man.  Since we had Little Man before Caleb was born, he’s always been a wee bit jealous.  So, we didn’t think we’d ever get another dog if Caleb had anything to say about it.  Even when the idea was presented over the weekend, Caleb said he’d just have his lizard and Micah could have the new dog (before we had seen/purchased him).
I guess Gizmo pulled at Caleb’s heartstrings, and he’s in love…he LOVES that he can play with Gizmo.  It warms my heart to see him interacting with Gizmo and being truly happy.  So, he was a GREAT purchase, and I think Gizmo has stolen all of our hearts.

Caleb and Gizmo

Little Man…grumpy in his old age

LOVE

He’s a little furball

Gizmo with his pig

Micah and Gizmo

Goofy Micah

Look at that face…

Acckk… a snake

A boy and his dog…

Warms my heart…

Third Grade Week 21 in Review

We are finished with our studies until after Thanksgiving break.  Here’s how week 21 went for us…
Bible – Our Bible stories were on “Jesus Showed His Glory” and “Jesus Died For Us”.  We read Matthew 17:1-8 and John 19:11-18.  Caleb’s Bible verse was John 10:15b.
Math – NEW CONCEPTS:  Points and Polygons; Subtracting Nine; How Many More/Fewer; and More Fractions (Fifths, Sixths, and Eighths).  REVIEW CONCEPTS:  Fact Focus:  12, 9, 3 and Fact Focus:  13, 9, 4.
English – This week Caleb finished up another ACE Pace, and he took a test.  He scored 100%.  I’m REALLY pleased with this English curriculum, and I think it’s working well with Caleb.
FUN SCHOOL – Due to the Thanksgiving break and the fact that we’re still a few days behind, we opted to forego fun school this week.  Caleb still spent some time watching educational shows and doing some other “educational” things, so all is not lost. 
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We’re welcoming a new addition to our home today…Gizmo, an 8-week-old Shih-Poo (Shih Tzu and Poodle mix).  So, we’ll be busy house breaking and training him for a few weeks.  Wish us luck…pictures to come soon!

Third Grade Week 20 in Review

Another week is complete at Childress Academy.  Here’s how week 20 went for us…
Bible – Our Bible lessons were on “Jesus Forgave Sins” and “Jesus Showed Who He Was.”  We read Mark 2:1-12 and John 20:24-29.  Caleb’s Bible verse was John 20:29b.
Math – NEW CONCEPTS:  Counting by 3’s to 12; Words with Special Meanings:  A, Each, Pair; Fact Focus:  Adding 9 to 3, 4, 5; One Third of a Group; Fact Focus:  Adding 9 to 6, 7, 8; Counting by 3’s to 21; Pints and Quarts; Quarters to Pennies; One-Fourth of a Group; and Line Segments.  REVIEW CONCEPTS:  Caleb reviewed everything he has learned thus far…nothing major was focused on.
English – Caleb worked on state-of-being verbs.  He’s still doing really well with this ACE Pace curriculum for English.
FUN SCHOOL – This week I made Caleb sit down and write our his plans for FUN SCHOOL.  I felt that this would still give him autonomy, but some sort of a guideline and focus for each day/subject.  In Math, he worked on using the clock to give directions (for instance…take 3 steps 12 o’clock, etc), using the balance scale, and telling time.  In English, he worked on typing.  He has JumpStart Typing, and he spent time using that program each day.  In Reading/Magazine, he read Star Wars Adventures in Hyperspace – Shinbone Showdown by Ryder Windham.  In Science, he read the first two sections of Science Crackers – Cracking Chemistry by Steve Parker.  He also did an experiment do determine the strength of paper.  I’ll explain this at the end.  In Social Studies, he read Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures – The Japanese Flying Ninja Surprise by Sara Pennypacker.  In Bible, he read a devotion called “The Three Teachers.”  In Art, he did some drawings from All About Drawing – Horses and Pets by Russell Farrell & Peter Mueller.  He drew a cat and a mouse.
As I mentioned earlier, Caleb did an experiment to determine the strength of paper.  Basically, a piece of flat paper is not very strong.  However, if you roll it up, it becomes stronger.  Caleb had to roll up 16 pieces of paper, and tape them together into groups of 4.  Then he was to stack a book to see if the paper would hold the book.  It did, and then he continued to pile on books until I made him stop.  LOL!  He had fun, and he learned that we can re-construct items to make them stronger.   

The rolled up paper

Top view

1 book

3 books

6 books

7 books

11 books

***I really think this game plan idea is a GREAT compromise for both Caleb and myself.  It gives him some goals for the week, and it gives me the accountability to know that he’s LEARNing.    I think we’ll continue to try this as long as it works.  ***

Caleb’s Bedroom Makeover

Back over the summer, Brian and I had a “duh parenting” moment.  We realized that while we had spent time reducing the use of chemicals in our home and cleaning up our diets, we had overlooked one area.  Caleb’s bedroom was decorated with taxidermy animals.  Yep…lots of once living animals were hanging on the walls.  What we didn’t think about at the time was how all of the chemicals used in the taxidermy process were seeping into Caleb’s bedroom and in essence, his system.  So, we came to our senses and realized that it was time for a bedroom makeover.  We promised Caleb that we would use the money we received from selling all of his taxidermy animals to decorate his room in the décor of his choice.  After much back and forth, he finally settled on a COWBOY room. 
Brian and I went to Hobby Lobby and bought lots of COWBOY décor to bring life into Caleb’s bedroom.  We also purchased him a bunk bed loft system (again, his choice).  We were in the process of removing carpet from the living room, and Caleb wanted his carpet gone, too.  So, we hired a crew to put in laminate floors.  Since the room was going to be made over, it made sense to have the walls painted/repaired, too.  So, we hired a painting crew to come in and paint his room (and some other rooms).   Once his room was painted and the bedroom furniture was built, it was time to start decorating.  Caleb got to choose what was put on each wall, and I must say…the finished project is GREAT!  I LOVE his room, and I think he does.  I also love that it’s one that can grow with him…even if he chooses to dismiss the COWBOY theme, his bedding will work with something else.  Or – he can keep the COWBOY theme until he moves out…either way, it works, and we’re all in love! 

The view of Caleb’s room from the hallway

Caleb’s bedroom door

Wall right of his closet

Wall left of his closet

Right of his bed

Boot hooks

Cross

Wagon wheel above his bed

Wall across from his bed

Cowboy

Praying cowboy

Roping cowboy

Wall left of his window

Western themed shadow box

Smith & Wesson gun chart

Bunk bed loft system…steps/drawers on the left, desk on the right

Close-up of his bedding

Now, Micah wants his room re-decorated.  However, the deal is…he MUST sleep in his own big boy bed before that happens.  LOL!    I’m sure it won’t happen any time soon.

Third Grade Week 19 in Review

It seems like forever since I’ve posted a review of our schooling.  Omi and Opa came into town last weekend, so we postponed our lessons for a few days in order to spend time with them.  We finished up week 19, and here’s how it went…
Bible – Our lessons were on “Jesus Controlled the Wind and the Sea” and “Jesus Commanded Sickness and Death.”  We read Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:49-56.  Caleb’s memory verse was Mark 4:41c.
Math – NEW CONCEPTS:  Put Hands on a Clock.  REVIEW CONCEPTS:  There weren’t any.  Caleb did his review work, and then he took his LightUnit Test and scored 100%.  He’s doing really well in math using the CLE curriculum.
English – This week Caleb learned about action words…aka verbs. 
FUN SCHOOL – For Math, Caleb did some work with the money jar.  We also played some games using playing cards…Sum 10, Sum 11, and Sum 12.  Caleb really enjoyed these games, and I see us playing them a lot in the future.  For English, he worked on writing letters.  He wrote a letter to his friends Will and Ethan (brothers), and he also wrote a letter to his Omi and Opa.  He also read Mom and Dad Are Palindromes by Mark Shulman & Adam McCauley.  In Science, he read about bones, rocks & minerals, cats & dogs, and he also read from Every Day on Earth – Fun Facts That Happen Every 24 Hours by Steve Murrie & Matthew Murrie.  We also spent some time going over some of the Brain Quest Questions & Answers.  In social studies, he read from 100 Facts – Explorers by Miles Kelly.  We also went to see Alice in Wonderland at The Grand Opera House in Macon. 
Our “FUN SCHOOL” experiment is still going well; however, life has happened so much that we haven’t gotten to it as much as I would like.  We spent a good part of October having new flooring put in and having walls painted.  So, that took up a good part of our “fun school” time.  We also spent the past 8 weeks participating in a “new to us” Co-Op.  Now that the Co-Op is over, I’m hoping our schedule will lighten, and we can focus on more fun school activities/learning.  It’s a learning process for me, and I’m slowly figuring out how to best help Caleb achieve success during FUN SCHOOL.