Tuesday

Today we completed our final lab in our Human body Unit. It was our favorite so far. We made fingerprints by using a pencil and rubbing it on a piece of paper and rubbing each finger into the pencil led. Then we took clear tape and pressed each finger to the tape and put the tape with the prints onto his lab sheet. It was really neat to see each print so clearly with this method. Avery compared prints from each family member and even tried to figure out a "mystery print" by comparing it to the other prints he collected from the rest of us.

Now he is very eager to start the Animal Kingdom, making Science his favorite subject without a doubt!



For language today after completing his spelling lesson we did a new journal activity from a little journal idea book I picked up from the education store last week. The first entry asked Avery what would happen if in the story Jack and the Bean Stalk the Giant caught Jack. What would they say to each other?

What he ended up writing was simple, maybe two full sentences, but at least he was excited to write something. I told him there are no rules, you can write outside the lines, you can use capitol letters where ever you like and I won't even correct your spelling! He was very pleased with all of that. When I gave him freedom to make mistakes I saw him relax and enjoy the process more. That is what a journal is for. Free thoughts, no limitations, just a place to be oneself with out scrutiny. Amen!

Lego Blog

Avery would like anyone who has not yet visited his new Lego blog to come on over and check it out. He spends most of his waking hours thinking how he can arrange his Lego "bases". This is serious business, and with his little brother so determined to wreak havoc, our house has officially been declared a war zone.

http://averyslegocollection.blogspot.com/

Weeks end

We have had a great week full of exciting activities and fun lessons. Emile has taken a great interest in learning his letters and numbers. I have these neat sandpaper letters that he traces with his finger while we talk about the sound the letter makes, also I have these dry erase number cards that he has been tracing ever so carefully and really learning his numbers, I don't think Avery did that until he was four! Homeschooling with siblings is so rewarding!

Avery this week learned all about the central nervous system. We conducted an experiment where I would drop a ruler into his hand and see if he could improve his reaction time. Then documented his findings in his Human Body Journal. Today we will do an experiment with the five senses- it will involve blind folds and paper bags filled with different items like cotton balls, jingle bells, coins, and a jar of vinegar just to name a few.

I finally threw out our math book (Singapore), and pulled out some good old fashion first grade workbooks that I picked up from the toy store. It's been fun, challenging in a good way and most of all easy to understand. This week it's been all about word problems and bar graphs.

Spelling- I'm now using Spectrum Dolch sight word workbook that Avery and I both like a whole lot. There are reading exercises included that I think have helped him a lot in his fluency. There are 6 sentences with a box next to it and each day we practice reading those sentences that use our sight words, if he gets it right with no error we put a check in the box, if he misses a word or two we save it for the next day. He feels like it is a good challenge, and feels so accomplished when he gets those checks!

Our Reading Corners

I have set up a few areas in our house where the boys can go for some quiet reading time, and sometimes not so quiet reading time. In our living room I set up a shelf that has our library books in it and also a nice stack of begining readers for Avery. Everyday he spends 15-30 minute reading aloud from the books from this shelf.

In the babies room I have a refrence center where we have our learning books. Feild guides, National Geographic Magazines, and the Eyewitness books sit neatly on these shelves. We also have a few treasure boxes on this book case for our nature findings and also a box with foreign coins and other rare treasures the boys acquire.

So on days when our school work becomes mundane, we go to our reading corners and always learn something new!

back to work

It was a wonderful holiday for all of us here. Staying in jammies for most of the days, bundling up inside away from the cold. Loading up on sugary goodness, and playing for hours with all of our new toys! It's been heavenly having Adam home from work for so many days, you could call me spoiled at this point. So now it is back to reality, back to routine and the rhythm of a new and productive year.

Over the weekend in preparation for this new start I cleaned out the pantry and the fridge (major accomplishment!). I must have thrown out 5 lbs of candy/cookies/sugar. And in turn stocked both places full of nutritious goodness ready to start this year on a healthy note. Of course that means more preparation and planning to do on my part, but we'll all be healthier this way. My resolution this year is to get back to a more holistic lifestyle. Prepare more whole foods, start up a family yoga practice including the boys, and have more FUN with the kids in general. I want to laugh more and fuss less!

We started back at our school work today. We did the usual handwriting, and phonics lesson, then a writing exercise where he pretends to be a reporter and reports what he witnesses as me and his little brother play. He learns to record events chronologically and has fun role playing as well.
For science we completed a lab where we took yarn and measured and labeled the parts of the digestive system. We were both quite shocked to find out that a child's digestive system measures out to be about 22 feet long. I later discovered that when I asked him to label the large and small intestine I didn't check his spelling right away and found that he was calling those parts the large and small "innards" which I found quite hilarious!
I'm already laughing more, what a great start to a new year!