Friday, March 29, 2013

Easter 2013

I have resigned myself to the thought that maybe holiday lessons really are more about fun than true learning. Duh, right? I am finding that Tessa is just too excited to do her absolute best thinking or handwriting on these days, so I'm going to need to adjust my expectations in the future to avoid disappointment on my part. I am still trying to figure out just how many holiday activities are enough too. I thought what I had planned for Easter was a good amount, but we ran nearly four hours from start to finish! That's a long day for us.

Wow, that sounds so bad. It wasn't...just a thought that I had afterward. On a positive note, we absolutely loved The Easter Egg by Jan Brett Story Study by Little Red's Schoolhouse. It's comprehensive, fun, features super cute artwork and very professional all around. Little Red's Schoolhouse sells other literature studies as well. Might be worth a look, if you're in the market for such a thing.

The Easter Egg - Jan Brett


Reading
I forgot to pick up an Easter-themed early reader for Tessa, but I found Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na in Kindle format via our library's eMedia site that fit well enough. I loved that it is a real book. Tessa thought it was cool she could read a book on my Kindle.


Math

Tessa solved math problems and then colored by number to reveal the mystery picture.
Tessa solved math problems and then colored by number to reveal the mystery picture.

While playing Bunny Bump, Tessa happily bumped one of my markers off the board.
While playing Bunny Bump, Tessa happily bumped one of my markers off the board.

Literature Study

As part of "The Easter Egg by Jan Brett Story Study," Tessa collected as many letter egg shapes as she could in a minute and then constructed words with them.
As part of "The Easter Egg by Jan Brett Story Study," Tessa collected as many letter egg shapes as she could in a minute and then constructed words with them. 

Just for Fun

Tessa's "Just For Fun" Easter packet.
Tessa's "Just For Fun" Easter packet.

Inside the packet.

Tessa's completed "Build A Chick and Egg!" Lego creation.
Tessa's completed "Build A Chick and Egg!" Lego creation.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Life Science, Week 19

What Vertebrates Eat

Tessa learned what vertebrates eat, specifically herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. I'm loving books by Steve Jenkins and Bobbie Kalman right now. It's almost like they wrote them just for us. They fit our current studies that well.


Monday
We didn't do the first part of "Finding Food" since it wasn't practical for the homeschool environment. Instead, Tessa and I talked through the scenario and the ways animals might use their senses to find food.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday
I thought "Telltale Teeth" would be a fun little exercise for Tessa, but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. The issue was writing on a curve. Even when I encouraged Tessa to simply write straight across, she couldn't get past the curved spaces and turned her paper all sorts of funky ways. Finally, a light bulb clicked on in my head and I lightly penciled in some baselines with a ruler. That made things go more smoothly, but frustration had already set in by that point and Tessa was in a poor mood. My recommendation, pencil in baselines beforehand.

Tessa drew pictures of a herbivore, carnivore, omnivore and insectivore, then wrote what they eat and the type of teeth they have. Red foxes aren't true omnivores, but Tessa was interested in how they have adapted to eating plants when meat isn't available, so I went ahead and let her choose it.
Tessa drew pictures of a herbivore, carnivore, omnivore and insectivore, then wrote what they eat and the type of teeth they have. Red foxes aren't true omnivores, but Tessa was interested in how they have adapted to eating plants when meat isn't available, so I went ahead and let her choose it.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Ancient History, Week 21

The Babylonians (Again) & The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

I'm loving these short weeks in history. We really need the extra time in science right now.


Monday
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 46-47).
  • Completed HO map work for Lesson 18, Main Lesson.

Tuesday
  • Read "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon" and "The Splendors of Babylon" (pages 24-27) from Great Wonders of the World by Russell Ash.
  • Completed draw and color.

Tessa's version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate.
Tessa's version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate.

* HO = History Odyssey

Friday, March 22, 2013

Life Science, Week 18

Life Cycles of Vertebrates

Tessa learned how the five classes of vertebrates grow and change.


Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Tessa created a life cycle of a frog viewing strip with part of a recycled egg carton, a paper leaf cut from green card stock, white pony beads, air-dry clay, yarn, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. Each hole of the egg carton represents one stage of a frog's life cycle. She colored the first one blue to show that frog eggs are laid in water.
Tessa created a life cycle of a frog viewing strip with part of a recycled egg carton, a paper leaf cut from green card stock, white pony beads, air-dry clay, yarn, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. Each hole of the egg carton represents one stage of a frog's life cycle. She colored the first one blue to show that frog eggs are laid in water.

Other Resources of Interest

Atelier Art, Level 1 - Module B, Lesson 1

The Cat in the Hat

Has it really been two months since we've done art?!! It sure doesn't feel like it...science and history keep us feeling plenty crafty.

"The Cat in the Hat" is a lesson on drawing. Tessa used a black marker to outline The Cat in the Hat and then shaded him in with MetKids 24 Crayon Brights, which feel a lot like oil pastels. The lesson called for crayons, markers or oil pastels.

This lesson was a bit tricky due to the large size of the 12" x 24" sheet of white paper that was required. A child-sized art table would have come in handy, as Tessa had a hard time getting into a good drawing position. She kept trying to draw smaller than instructed (note The Cat's teeny tie) and her lines tended to tilt, so we had to talk through each step beforehand. She still made a few mistakes, but I helped her figure out how to patch them up. Overall, not our best art day, but we got through it.

Using plush The Cat in the Hat dolls as guides, Tessa first outlined her Cat.

Then, she shaded him in with black and red crayons.

Tessa's completed The Cat in the Hat.

Ancient History, Week 20

The Phoenicians & The Assyrians

There weren't many additional resources for either the Phoenicians or the Assyrians, so we took the opportunity to play catch-up and combined the two since we're a couple of weeks behind schedule.

I don't know why it has taken me this many months to notice, but History Odyssey's dictionary words don't align particularly well with Usborne: Ancient World, our chosen spine. Tessa has been dutifully looking up and copying definitions, but the words are rarely ever used within the text we read. I haven't been all that thrilled with our children's dictionary either, so we are scrapping the dictionary words for the remainder of the year. This small tweak will streamline our schedule too. We will essentially be able to shave off a day of history each week!


Monday
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 40-41).
  • Completed HO map work for Lesson 16, Main Lesson.

Wednesday
  • Read "Dido and Aeneas" from Roman Myths and Legends by Andrew Masters.
  • Completed "Make Purple Dye" and "Use Phoenician Dye to Make a Colored Pasta Necklace" from the SOTW activity guide.

The Phoenicians crushed murex shells to create the purple dye they were famous for. I boiled down a head of red cabbage to achieve a similar effect. Tessa dyed pasta and a pair of socks. We were surprised how pretty the shade of purple turned out. Tessa was enthralled with the entire process and wanted to create more colors of dye from other vegetables.
The Phoenicians crushed murex shells to create the purple dye they were famous for. I boiled down a head of red cabbage to achieve a similar effect. Tessa dyed pasta and a pair of socks. We were surprised how pretty the shade of purple turned out. Tessa was enthralled with the entire process and wanted to create more colors of dye from other vegetables.

Tessa modeled a completed purple pasta necklace while stringing another.
Tessa modeled a completed purple pasta necklace while stringing another.

Thursday
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 42-45).
  • Completed HO map work for Lesson 17, Main Lesson.

Friday
There is a third book (the second of the series) in The Gilgamesh Trilogy entitled The Revenge of Ishtar. Sadly, our library doesn't have it. I kind of wish I would have bought a copy to round out the story. Tessa enjoyed them more than I thought she would.

* HO = History Odyssey

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Ancient History, Week 19

The Hebrews

Studying the ancient Hebrews turned out to be more of a study of popular stories from the Old Testament. Although I was hoping for Tessa to learn more about the daily life of the ancient Hebrews, we still enjoyed these adaptations. Tessa particularly liked the detailed pictures, as the artwork in the children's Bibles we read from tend to be a little cliché.


Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Tessa and I crafted a David and Goliath-style slingshot from a piece of felt and a shoestring. Tessa used cotton balls as stones.
Tessa and I crafted a David and Goliath-style slingshot from a piece of felt and a shoestring. Tessa used cotton balls as stones.

Tessa tested out her new slingshot. She quickly realized she would need a lot more practice to be as good as David.
Tessa tested out her new slingshot. She quickly realized she would need a lot more practice to be as good as David.

Thursday

Other Resources of Interest

* HO = History Odyssey

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Life Science, Week 17

The Five Classes of Vertebrates

In the year-and-a-half that we have homeschooled, we have somehow managed to cover the five classes of vertebrates three times. Needless to say, Tessa already had a pretty good handle on the subject. In addition to reiterating the basics, I explained that the five classes of vertebrates belong to the phylum Chordata. Thus, these vertebrates are also called Chordates.

I highly recommend the What Kind of Animal Is It? book series by Bobbie Kalman. Our library didn't have the one for mammals and I felt like our lesson for that day was sorely lacking. Had I realized just how good these books were, I would have ordered it from Amazon. As it was, the weekend was upon us and there just wasn't enough time for Amazon to get it to us.

There are also Bill Nye the Science Guy DVDs (see "Other Resources of Interest" below) for each class. I originally decided against watching them because that would have been five days in a row of watching television during school time. I'm a little bummed that we skipped them, so I think I will have Tessa watch one or two episodes a week as we continue our study of vertebrates.

One more quick note. I'm not sure how many other homeschoolers visit my blog because of our use of R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey: Life, Level 1 by Pandia Press. As I mentioned in my very first life science post, it didn't work out for us to use it as our primary science curriculum. I had planned to use it as a supplement throughout the year. However, I'm finding that I use it less and less. After discovering The Mailbox supplements I mentioned in my Life Science, Week 15 post, I don't even think about RSO much anymore. The Mailbox supplements are simply a better fit for us. So, I guess this is a bit of an apology for jumping ship. I regret that I am unable to fulfill my goal in chronicling this particular curriculum.


Wednesday

Thursday
Somehow, we forgot to complete "Lizard Licked!" (pages 6 and 8, adapted for homeschool use) from Investigating Amphibians & Reptiles, Grades 1-3 by The Mailbox this day. I'm still annoyed with myself about it.


Friday


Using what she learned the past two days, Tessa sorted various types of amphibians and reptiles.

Following Monday

Following Tuesday

Following Wednesday

Following Thursday

Other Resources of Interest

* RSO = R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey

Saturday, March 09, 2013

St. Patrick's Day 2013

After a lackluster Valentine's Day, I made a vow to do better for the holidays. After all, isn't it the proverbial magic of the holidays that is part of what makes childhood so much fun.

I have never been much into St. Patrick's Day, but like I said, I made a vow. So, here is what I have planned. We'll celebrate March 15 since St. Patrick's Day falls on Sunday this year. Now, time to get working on Easter.

Update: I may have been a weeeeeeeeee bit ambitious in my holiday planning. I misjudged how long some of the activities would take, so I had to weed a few of the lesser coloring-intensive activities out as we plugged along. The asterisked items are the activities Tessa completed (not including "Just For Fun"). Brennan's Irish Soda Bread was delicious, by the way!

St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons    I Spy St. Patrick's Day Words by Teach With Laughter

Loopy Rainbow - One Artsy Mama

Language Arts

Tessa used a magnifying glass to search for hidden St. Patrick's Day words. She carefully copied them onto a record sheet as her handwriting lesson for the day. She really got a kick out this. Never have I seen her so eager to complete handwriting.
Tessa used a magnifying glass to search for hidden St. Patrick's Day words. She carefully copied them onto a record sheet as her handwriting lesson for the day. She really got a kick out this. Never have I seen her so eager to complete handwriting.

Math


Tessa and I absolutely loved this Skittles math. It was perfect for St. Patrick's Day. For one part of the lesson, Tessa used her Skittles to measure her crayon box. She also estimated, sorted, charted, created patterns and more with her Skittles.
Tessa and I absolutely loved this Skittles math. It was perfect for St. Patrick's Day. For one part of the lesson, Tessa used her Skittles to measure her crayon box. She also estimated, sorted, charted, created patterns and more with her Skittles.

History

Art



After watching the "Roy G. Biv" video by They Might Be Giants, Tessa used Froot Loops to create a rainbow. She was careful to put the colors in the correct order.
After watching the "Roy G. Biv" video by They Might Be Giants, Tessa used Froot Loops to create a rainbow. She was careful to put the colors in the correct order.

Science
  • Watch "Roy G. Biv" music video by They Might Be Giants via YouTube.*

Just for Fun
These items are just for fun. I'll fix up a little packet by putting everything in an over-sized plastic zipper bag. Tessa can complete them on her own time, if she chooses.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Teach Them Spanish! - Grade 1

Tessa completed Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K last week. She did an amazing job and loves studying Spanish. Wonderful, right? Yes, but...

Oh, how I wish someone would publish a quality, hands-on, yet affordable Spanish curriculum for lower elementary. Heck, if it were absolutely perfect, I wouldn't even mind spending $50-$100 on it. As it is, nothing is quite right for us, so we're making do...once again.

As mentioned in a previous post, I was thinking about using newly released School Song Spanish by Classical Academic Press after Tessa completed Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K by Instructional Fair, an imprint of Carson-Dellosa. In the end, I decided not to use it. Well, not yet anyway. If Tessa completes School Song Spanish now, there won't be anything even remotely age-appropriate left for her afterward.

Knowing that Tessa was quickly approaching the end of Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K weeks ago, I researched like crazy in hopes of finding something a little more advanced, yet still fun and engaging. Something that doesn't require pages of mindless copywork. I actually bought Flip-Flop Spanish, Ages 6-9: Level 1 (or download the digital version for less from Currclick), but have delayed starting it as well. I really like that it comes with quality audio files...that's what drew me in, but I don't think the presentation is a good fit for us at the moment. It seems like it might be more appropriate for large homeschooling families as well. We may try to use it later. I'll have to wait and see.

I admit it. I decided to finish out the school year with Teach Them Spanish!, Grade 1 (or download the digital version for just $3.99 from Carson-Dellosa) pretty much by default. After cutting out all of the review, which Tessa doesn't need coming straight from Grade K, it will only take us a couple of months to complete. Then, I'll have to do some more crazy searching.


Teach Them Spanish!, Grade 1 is a lot like Grade K, except it uses flash cards instead of posters to introduce and review new words and phrases. The worksheets are more writing-intensive as well. There aren't anymore cut-and-paste activities and very few circle its. Nothing Tessa won't be able to handle, though. It will just take a little adjustment on her part.

For each lesson, I am still either using Forvo to download MP3 files of native speakers speaking corresponding words or searching Usborne Quicklinks for the same thing. I transfer the files to my Kindle Fire and play them for Tessa several times. I am dropping the Little Pim videos, but am still using the Whistlefritz DVDs.

Day 1

Introductions and Greetings - Teach Cards
"Adíos Means Goodbye" - Song (48)
Speak/Find Cards - Activity (54)

Day 2

Introductions and Greetings - Review Cards
Speak/Find Cards - Activity (54)
Sí/No Game - Activity (54)

Day 3

Introductions and Greetings - Review Cards
"Introductions Review" - Worksheet (8)

Day 4

Numbers 0-20 - Teach Cards
The Usborne Picture Dictionary in Spanish - Play Quicklinks audio files for numbers 11-20.
"Diez (Veinte) Amigos" - Song (48)
Counting Practice - Activity (57)
"Listen for the Numbers 0-10" - Worksheet (11)
"Numbers 0-20" - Worksheet (16)

Day 5

Numbers 0-20 - Review Cards
Bingo - Activity (57)
"Show Your Number"” - Worksheet (17), use stickers or stamps.

Day 6

Numbers 0-20 - Review Cards
Mystery Number - Activity (57)
"Sunshine 0-20" - Worksheet (18)

Day 7

Numbers 0-20 - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (57)
"Numbers Crossword" - Worksheet (19)

Day 8

Classroom Objects - Teach Cards
"Classroom Objects Song" - Song (49)
Label the Classroom - Activity (59)
"Listen Carefully" - Worksheet (22)

Day 9

Classroom Objects - Review Cards
Find It! - Activity (59), or use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (28-29).
Guess What? - Activity (59)
"Use the Clues" - Worksheet (23)

Day 10

Classroom Objects - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (59)
"En la Clase" - Activity (59)

Day 11

Food - Teach Cards
"Food Song" - Song (49)
Find the Food - Activity (61)
Colors Review - Activity (61)

Day 12

Food - Review Cards
Guess What? - Activity (61)
Find It! Poster - Activity (61), cut out pictures from magazines or grocery store ads.

Day 13

Food - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (61)
Find It! - Activity, use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (56-57).
"Use the Clue"” - Worksheet (27)

Day 14

Clothing - Teach Cards
"Clothing Song" - Song (50)
Find It! - Activity, use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (22-23).
"Remember These" - Worksheet (30)

Day 15

Clothing - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (63)
Find It! Poster - Activity (63), cut out pictures from magazines or department store ads.
Colors Review - Activity (63)

Day 16

Clothing - Review Cards
Clothing Relay - Activity (63), modified for home-school environment.*
Find It! - Activity, use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (52-53).
"What Belongs" - Worksheet (31)

* We used a container of carefully selected Polly Pocket clothes. I threw in some extras to make it a bit more challenging.

Day 17

Face - Teach Cards
"Face Son"” - Song (49)
Find It! - Activity, use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (18-19).
Funny Face - Activity (64)

Day 18

Face - Review Cards
!Simón dice! - Activity (64)
"Face Riddles" - Worksheet (33)

Day 19

Face - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (64)
"A Blank Face" - Worksheet (34)

Day 20

Family - Teach Cards
"Family Song" - Song (50)
Find It! - Activity, use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (8-9).
"Listen Well" - Worksheet (37)

Day 21

Family - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (65)
"Family Crosswords" - Worksheet (36)

Day 22

Animals - Teach Cards
"Animals Song" - Song (50)
Find the Animal - Activity (66)
Find It! Poster - Activity (66), cut out pictures from magazines.

Day 23

Animals - Review Cards
"Animal Crossword" - Worksheet (40)
"Animal Art" - Worksheet (39)

Day 24

Animals - Review Cards
Spanish Bee - Activity (66)
"Use the Clues" - Worksheet (41)

Spanish Alphabet

I didn't really care for the Spanish alphabet lessons in Teach Them Spanish!, so to help Tessa learn it, I downloaded Ms. Lily's Spanish Sing-Along I "Alphabet...Alphabeto I" song from Amazon for just .99 cents. We sang along with it while looking at a Spanish alphabet chart over the course of two days. While Tessa didn't quite get it down with perfection, this is something that we will be studying long term with our new Spanish curriculum. She continues to listen and sing to the song just for fun.

Ancient History, Week 18

The Canaanites & the Sea Peoples

It's a long week for science this week and next, so we quickly sneaked in a one-day study of the Canaanites and the Sea Peoples to keep us moving forward in history. It worked out well enough, as I couldn't find any age-appropriate resources for either group. We could have read a version of David and Goliath for the Sea Peoples (part of whom later became the Philistines) but that seems to fit more appropriately with our future study of the Hebrews. Oddly enough, there are numerous crafts listed for the Philistines, but we skipped them since none fit well with our readings.


Thursday
  • Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 15, Main Lesson Part 1.
  • Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 36-37).
  • Completed draw and color.

* HO = History Odyssey

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Ancient History, Week 17

Ancient Egypt - Daily Life

That's a wrap! We're all done with Ancient Egypt...until Cleopatra becomes queen anyway.


Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Tessa's Ancient Egyptian history pocket puppets show the fashions of the time.
Tessa's Ancient Egyptian history pocket puppets show the fashions of the time.

Thursday

Tessa cut an empty toilet paper roll in half, stapled it together (with my help) and then painted it to resemble a luxurious Ancient Egyptian bracelet. I thought Tessa would enjoy this project since it involved painting, but she was just so-so about it. She said it was a little boring.
Tessa cut an empty toilet paper roll in half, stapled it together (with my help) and then painted it to resemble a luxurious Ancient Egyptian bracelet. I thought Tessa would enjoy this project since it involved painting, but she was just so-so about it. She said it was a little boring.

Friday

Other Resources of Interest

* HO = History Odyssey