Week 29 of Learning 2013-14

Well, we did it…we FINALLY got caught up on all of our schooling.  YAHOO!!!!
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the ‘-oil, –oy, –aul, –awn, –all’ phonograms.  We continued to review his sight words.
Math – This week Micah continued to work on addition.
Caleb, Fifth Grade Math – This week Caleb worked on area; hundredths and tenths; writing a check; and recording checks and deposits.  On a sidenote, he was able to use the calculator for a few math problems (balancing the checkbook), and he thought that was super cool.  I guess I’ve neglected to teach him much about the calculator, and I’m guessing that’s not a very bad thing.  LOL!  But – now he wants to use it for every problem, which isn’t an option. 
Now that we are all caught up, our plan from here on out is to school any day that Brian is working.  With that plan, I’m hoping we will be done with the 2013-14 school year right around the beginning of May.  This will make our next move easier.  I also hope to add in more science and history since we won’t be doubling up on any school work.  So, we’ll see how it goes…

Week 28 of Learning 2013-14

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel…we actually only have three more days until we are back on schedule.  YEAH!  Here’s how week 28 went…
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Phonics – Micah is nearing the end of his BJUP Phonics workbook…so, we’ll be moving on to Alpha-Phonics soon.  This week he learned the ‘-ool, –oon, –ook, –ow, –ound’ phonograms.  We did a review of his sight words…I actually gave him a money incentive…he’d get $.10 for every word he knew…we did this daily.  Money is always a GREAT motivator. 
Math – This week Micah worked on writing and adding #s and the days of the week. 

Caleb, Fifth Grade Math – This week Caleb worked on adding and subtracting money; making change; adding and subtracting fractions; improper fractions; and mixed numbers.  Although he still doesn’t like math, he’s doing really well with the Teaching Textbooks program.  He’s almost finished with TT4, and then we’ll move on to TT5…he’ll continue this through the summer (even though we’re taking a few months off, he’ll have to do math daily)…then, he’ll be all caught up with math shortly after we commence in August.  It’s been a long, hard road with math, but I hope we’re turning a corner.

Week 27 of Learning 2013-14

We are nearing the end of having to double up on schooling.  We were scheduled to take next week off, but instead, we’ll continue schooling and get caught up so that we can relax a bit more.  We are ALL looking forward to that. 
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the phonograms ‘-ern, –urn-, –irt.’  His sight words for the week were ‘play, run, find, three, funny.’

Math – This week Micah worked on addition +1.  I’ll admit, this chapter in this math program really disappointed me.  The exercises didn’t focus on addition +1 at all…they were just random addition problems…not adding 1 to any number. 
Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on circles; venn diagrams; regrouping with zeros; and writing money in dollars and cents.
Science – This week Caleb learned about his place in the universe. 

The pictures were slim this week…I’m finding that while trying to focus on just getting the work done, the pictures are taking backseat.  Right now, our focus is just on getting caught up…everything else can wait.  Thankfully, we’re almost there.  I’ll tell you…moving while homeschooling has surely proven to be a chore.  I can’t imagine having to deal with moving with kids in public or private school.  I know folks do it ALL the time, but man…it has to be tough.  I’m so very thankful that we will NOT be homeschooling during our next move…in fact, we’re doing something out of the ordinary and actually taking OFF for two months this summer so we can move and get settled before beginning the next school year.  I’ve learned my lesson. 

Week 26 of Learning 2013-14

We just finished up week 26 today.  I’m hoping we can knock out two weeks over the next week, so we’ll be closer to being all caught up.
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the phonograms ‘-ar, –ark, –orn, –ore.’  His sight words were ‘here, help, make, yellow, two.’

Poetry – This week Micah’s poem was ‘I’m a Little Valentine.’  We used the poem to discuss commas, periods, and syllables.

Math – This week Micah worked on learning about the + and = signs. 

Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on symmetry; more regrouping; other quadrilaterals; and congruent and similar figures.
History – This week Caleb learned about Christopher Columbus and other European Explorers.

Week 25 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 25 earlier this week, and it went well.
Micah, Kindergarten 
Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS book.  He has memorized all  the books of the New Testament.

Phonics – This week Micah worked on using ‘y’ as a vowel.  His phonograms were ‘-y, –uddy, –usty, –unny, –ight.’  His sight words were ‘blue, red, where, jump, away.’

Poetry – Micah’s poem this week was ‘Teeth.’  We used the poem to discuss commas, periods, and long ‘I’ words.

Math – This week Micah worked on practicing more with patterns and shapes.

Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS book.

Math – This week Caleb worked on squares and rectangles; perimeter; area; and a faster way to calculate area.

Science – A while back I purchased Considering God’s Creation to use for science.  I figured it was cheap enough that if we liked it great, and if we didn’t, no worries.  Well, Caleb seems to be liking it, and it’s simple and to the point.  We completed lesson 1 this week, so Caleb learned about creation.  That’s the premise of this book…teaching science topics based on the order of God’s creation.  We discussed the seven days of creation, and then we did a little experiment where Caleb picked up cards displaying these days and we noted the order.  We repeated the experiment three times.  The purpose was to show how there was a reason God created the earth in the matter and fashion He did…it didn’t happen by chance. 

Caleb began a science class at a local co-op this week, too.  He’s taking three science courses over three months on Fridays…life science, marine science, and entomology.  We also enjoyed a day at the movies with some fellow Lego club friends seeing the new Lego Movie.  It was a really cute movie, and the underlying theme/moral was a very relevant and needed one.  We’re looking forward to completing week 26 over the weekend since Brian is working all weekend. 

Week 24 of Learning 2013-14

The boys really stepped up to the plate last week, and they did four days of school on Friday.  We’re really trying to get caught up so that we can resume our normal, more relaxed schooling schedule.  I’m hoping it’ll only be about two more weeks of doubling up.  Here’s how week 24 went…
Micah, Kindergarten Bible – Micah continues to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.  He’s almost done with the whole book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the long ‘o’ and long ‘e’ sounds.  His phonograms were “-oat, –oad, –ow, –e, and –o.”  His sight words were ‘one, my, me, big, come.’

Poetry – This week Micah’s poem was ‘Wake Up, Groundhog.’  We used the poem to discuss commas, periods, and long ‘e’ words.

Math – This week Micah worked on place value and patterns of 10.  He had already been practicing how to count by 10s, so this was a fun week for him.

Caleb, Fifth Grade Bible – Caleb continues to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on right angles; other kinds of angles; triangles and quadrilaterals; types of triangles; and perpendicular and parallel line segments.
Brian was out of town all week with his new job, so this gave us the opportunity to really focus on school and get a lot of it behind us.  We spent Saturday having fun at the Brevard Zoo.  The boys did the Chutes and Ladders treetop trek challenge, paddled a kayak with Brian, and we all walked around the zoo.  It was a fun filled family day.