Math - We worked a little on adding and counting up from a given number rather than starting at one. This time we used the counting bears. I wrote the problems out ("2+1=") and helped Suzi write the answers so she could have a visual of what we were learning. The rest of our math for the week was unschooling. Suzi got birthday cards with money in them--several $5 bills, so we decided to try counting by fives. I'll post a little later about how we are learning that. Suzi did some chores to earn a little extra money, and Saturday we went shopping at yard sales. Suzi brought her own money and paid all by herself. She was so proud. I also made up some Iveybucks to pay Ivey so I don't have to give her possibly hazardous coins. 10 Iveybucks=$1, which I can give her safely. I love helping the kids learn about money. I think money management is probably the most important math lesson a child can be taught. There are lots of math lessons that most people will never really use, but everyone will always need to understand money!
Science - We read our Oak Meadow story, "The Maple Tree." It was about how maple syrup comes from trees. We looked at our little potted maple tree that we brought home from a trip to the mountains, and Suzi and Ivey did leaf rubbings from Treebo, our tree friend in the front yard who is an October Glory maple. Daddy made french toast so we could eat maple syrup on it, but then we realized we were all out! Darn!
Our prisms came in the mail this week. We hung them up, admired the rainbows and connected this back to our science story from last week. We taped little pieces of paper under the rainbows, and I invited the girls to copy them.
For Suzi's birthday, Jordan's mom and dad gave her a bug-catching vacuum, a bug observation jar, and a butterfly raising kit. (My in-laws are really great.) Suzi spent some time at her party searching the backyard for bugs to catch. By the end of the day she had gotten a couple, looked at them through the magnifying glass and then let them go. I went shopping for a little while at Goodwill and happened to find "Bug Safari" by Bob Barner--a fun little read about ants, and at the end there are some fun facts about insects. Suzi liked it a lot and it only cost me a few cents! Right now the girls are on their way out to the backyard, equipped with bug jars and Suzi's "super duper sucker-upper," to have a bug safari of their own.
Reading/Writing - Still reading our easy readers and doing some new sight word flash cards, but mostly taking it easy. Want to guess when Suzi gets most interested in reading and writing? When I stop nagging and leave her alone. I'll probably let her play a while on starfall.com later today.
Social Studies - We are spending a little time each week learning about different careers and important people in our society. This week we read "Mr. Griggs' Work" and talked about how the post office works. We found a short PBS video on YouTube about the post office, too. Then Suzi wanted to wait for our mail carrier to come, so we sat outside on the front porch for about half an hour. It started to rain, so the girls danced in the rain. Eventually we had to go in because Robert was upset, and I told the girls they could watch through the window. Suzi went upstairs to change her shirt, which was wet, and in that minute the mail came! She was so upset that she missed it, but she still got to go get it from the mailbox with me and waved at the mail lady as she drove back up from the cul de sac. Maybe we will wait on the mail another day. This week it was extra important to Suzi because people had mailed her birthday cards.
Health - We read "Mortimer Mooner Stopped Taking a Bath" and talked about personal hygiene. We went over why we need to brush teeth, wash hands, take baths, etc.
Clock - Suzi was getting tired of clock drill, so instead I found this Paddington clock book from my childhood and read it to her. She enjoyed setting the little clock to the time given in the story.
Arts and Crafts - The craft from our Oak Meadow curriculum was to make a "love collage" by cutting out pictures of things we love from magazines. Cutting and gluing--my girls' favorite! They ran out of steam pretty quickly and only ended up getting a few things on their papers, but at least they had fun for a while. The girls always prefer the projects they think of themselves, anyway, and they made things this week just like they always do. For example, Suzi took the box our large prism came in and decorated it to be a gift box for her Green Lantern doll's tenth birthday gift.
What's up next: At a yard sale Saturday, I was excited to find a foam map puzzle of the continents. I'd love to get one of the United States too. Maybe next paycheck. Geography is a huge educational weak spot of mine, and I'd like to make sure Suzi gets a firm grasp on it while simultaneously improving my own body of knowledge. There, um, might be a few states I am unsure of (*blush*). Might have to make a trip to the Learning Safari store sometime soon!
Also, this week Jordan and I registered to attend our very first homeschooling conference! It's the Love to Learn conference in Charlotte, NC. A bit of a drive for us, but I wanted to go to this one because it's inclusive and I felt many of the sessions would be especially helpful to me. There are a few on unschooling, which I desperately want to learn about. I will probably take my netbook with me so I can furiously type notes. I can't believe I have to wait until August to go to this!
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