From Our Family to Yours...

Week 20 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 20 a few days ago.  Here’s what we were learning…
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on final ‘ng’ and final ‘nk’.  He worked on the phonograms “-ing, –ank, –ink.”  His sight words were the, to, and, a, I.

Math – This week Micah worked on triangles.

Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge Book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on reading larger numbers; writing larger numbers in words; multiplying by 100, 1,000, and 10,000; and multiplying numbers with zeros.
English – Caleb played online games that focused on contractions and alphabetical order.
Even though we’re still behind due to our multiple moves since moving to Florida, we’re taking a little break.  We’ll commence school lessons again on December 26th.  I’m planning on slowing down and just enjoying the holidays with the family.  The boys are excited to have a small break, too, so it’s a win-win. 

Week 19 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 19 yesterday, and here’s what the boys learned…
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – This week he worked on the initial ‘th’ and ‘wh’ blends.  He learned the ‘-ath’ phonogram.  His sight words were ‘the, is, it, my, can.’

Math – This was another review week for Micah…he reviewed #s 0-9, rectangles, circles, and patterns.
Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on multiplying by 3; multiplying by 9 and 11; multiplying by 7 and 12; and the multiplication table. 
English – This week Caleb finished up his final draft for his Reptiles paper.  He then spent time playing games on the computer that focused on pronouns and contractions.  He has informed me that he’d rather have “fun” in English playing games and learning that way.  So, that is what we will aim for.  Besides, we all know that English grammar terms just repeat EVERY year, so taking a few months off from the textbook method won’t hurt. 

We also have been enjoying PE and art at one of the local rec centers on Tuesday afternoons.  It gives me a couple of hours of alone time to get some errands run, and it allows the boys a chance to interact with other homeschoolers and have some fun.  So, a win-win for all of us.    Our Friday park outing is always a huge hit, too, as the boys get to see more friends and ride their scooters.  I get to enjoy adult conversation with other homeschool moms…another win-win. 

Week 18 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 18 this morning, and here’s what we’ve been up to…
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the initial ‘sh’ blend.  He also worked on the final ‘sh’ blend and the 
–ash and –ish phonograms.  He learned the initial ‘ch’ blend as well.  His sight words were look, at, the, my, see (we’re to a reviewing point with sight words, so we’ll spend lots of time playing review games to cement what he’s learned thus far).

Math – This week Micah reviewed circles and patterns.  For now, I’m impressed and pleased with the Math Lessons for a Living Education curriculum.  We’ll see how it continues to go. 

Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book…which is quite difficult, I might add.    He’s getting a bit frustrated with it.

Math – This week Caleb worked on multiplying by 10 and 5; tally marks; odd and even numbers; multiplying by 2 and 4; and multiplying by 6 and 8.

English – Well, I decided to ditch our lessons on pronouns this week and focus on what was keeping Caleb busy in his spare time…researching pet lizards for whatever reason (he’s not getting one anytime soon, so I really don’t get the current obsession).  So, I convinced him to work on a paper on reptiles.  We did the outline and rough draft this week, and he’ll type up the final copy next week.

We have enjoyed some time with friends this week, too, and we’re looking forward to more next week. 

Week 17 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 17 this morning.  Here’s what we were up to…
Micah, Kindergarten
Bible – Micah continued to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the initial blends of ‘sl, fl, tr, and pl.’  His sight words were 'get, yes, he, that.’

Math – This week Micah continued to review numbers 0-9 and added in learning about rectangles.

Caleb, Fifth Grade
Bible – Caleb continued to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on adding three numbers in your head; special times; multiplication; and multiplication basics.
English – Caleb started a new chapter on pronouns.  He worked on pronouns; the antecedent; subject pronouns; and object pronouns. 
We enjoyed a very low-key Thanksgiving yesterday.  We went to see Frozen at the movies, and we were going to head to Cracker Barrel for our lunch.  But – it was crazy crowded even at 2pm, so we opted for Boston Market instead.  While it was NOT my mom’s delicious Thanksgiving meal, it was still decent and we enjoyed being together as a family.  After lunch we headed to the park to let the boys ride their scooters, and we then headed home so we could all enjoy an afternoon nap. 
How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

Week 16 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up another week of school, and while we’re still behind in our schedule, we’re trekking right along.
Micah, Kindergarten
Bible – Micah continued to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – Micah worked on blends…initial ‘sl’, final ‘st’, final ‘mp’.  His phonograms were ‘-est, –ust, –ump, –end’.  His sight words were ‘of, say, now, there.’

Poetry – Since our printer is in storage, we’re skipping poetry for the next few weeks.
Math – This week Micah continued to review numbers 0-9.

Caleb, Fifth Grade

Bible – Caleb continued to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book.

Math – This week Caleb worked on subtraction word problems; telling time; reading an old-fashioned clock; more on time; and more long subtraction.

English – Caleb worked on more confusing verbs and narrative paragraphs.  Here’s his narrative paragraph…

We enjoyed meeting up with friends at Lego Club and for fun at the park as well.  Even though we’re only focusing on the basics, the boys are still enjoying their school time and things are going smoothly considering all of the chaos we’ve been dealing with the past month or so.  We’re looking forward to a very low-key Thanksgiving holiday.