busy boys

My day was mostly spent in this kitchen. Baking, cooking, cleaning, crafting then cleaning again.

The boys made blueberry muffins this morning and this afternoon Emile helped make cheese straws. Tonight Avery snapped snap beans and entertained the baby while I made dinner. It feels so good to be productive as a family. Today, so I wouldn't feel like the little red hen, I made it a point to constantly direct the kids energy by giving them chores and other productive activities instead of letting them just play all day. They were so much more present, I felt like we were on the same wave length.

Just a few of our lessons today:

For science we finished his animal kingdom folder/book that he decorated and will fill with his lab sheets. In math we're counting money and learning the ones, tens and hundreds place. Grammar we reviewed parts of speech and diagramed sentences.

I found this great web site for spelling that Avery loves.

http://www.spellingcity.com/

Check out this great idea. I'm loving her idea of workboxes.
http://homegrownmom.com/workboxes/workboxes/512

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!