What we are using

20 February 2009

WR20 - Potential Energy, Poetry, and Favorite Things



Steady progress with math, learning limericks, and writing about our favorite things. How is that for a week? We started the week with a discussion of how to get a flow back into days, and ended with art, a cold, and shopping for two birthday parties which are both tomorrow.

We made a list of all the things we do in a day and tried to organize it into a nice flow with quiet and active alternated. Tuesday, we reorganized the list and Wednesday, we decided that it just might work for us. Our days went smoother this week. I finally realized that we are all suffering from BB moving to the other side of the world for college and Grandma going to FL for a few months. Our little house seems empty without them so we are working on it and making sure to have plenty of fresh air and sunshine to help us.

We chose to do limericks for our copywork this week. I included a sample of CC's work. She loves limericks, and we both had fun with them this week. It took her two days figure out what makes a limerick a limerick, but it was a nice revelation.

The big words in science this week are potential and friction. CC made a frictionless car - a balloon is the key. She also realized the she learned to spell both words by writing them in her science journal many times. And did you know that rocks stacked at the top of a ravine have a lot of potential energy? Avalanche is a nice word too. The kids played in the open space near our house with their friends this week and spent a lot of time carry rocks to the top of the ravine and then creating avalanches.

In math this week, CC moved up to 5 digit subtraction which she thought was amazing. She also started adding three three-digit numbers. Our math has a great routine that is working for us. Monday and Tuesday, we do calculations. Wednesday, we do one addition and one subtraction plus some word problems which I mix between the different operations (I comb through the books and rewrite the problems onto a piece of paper for her). Thursday, she is at cottage school and gets a pass on math. Friday, she does one addition and one subtraction, and two pages of multiplication coloring which appeal to her artistic side and her love of order and patterns.

We also worked on learning about Asia in geography and Australian history - I never knew that the Maori didn't get to New Zealand until the Middle Ages.

At Girl Scouts this week, the girls had to make a list of their favorite things. Okay - most did not know how to spell their middle names or know the color of their hair or eyes. CC had a terrible time deciding on her favorite book - in the end she chose four favorite sets - all of Edward Eager books, all of the Little House books, anything by E. Nesbit, and The Sisters Grimm series. She also said that her favorite day of the week is any weekday because she doesn't like weekends. It was interesting to watch her answer these questions.

In an effort to stem the tide of what has been appropriately called "Me Too School", I moved the big wooden dollhouse into the living room so that it is in plain view of the dining room/school table. LB happily played all week instead of sitting down to school. She did make some lovely art with us, enjoy a great retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk which had us all Fe Fi Fo Fumming all week, and figure out that Tony, tapping, and Tokyo all start with T. She sounded out lion and a few other amazing feats all without any me-too-school.

What else, we had a pot luck and a performance at the cottage school and got to enjoy meeting with other homeschoolers. LB caught a little cold that has her eyes a little less sparkly than usual. We talked to BB who is in the middle of his first real mid-terms. I remember those. I think we made some good progress toward getting our groove back.


4 comments:

Unknown said...

I love the idea of asking the kids to help make the day flow better. I am going to try that this week.

It sounds like you had a great week.

Anonymous said...

OH, maybe your new groove will rub off on me!

Chucki said...

Sounds like you guys had a great week.

Our Westmoreland School said...

Sounds like a decent week! Good work!