WEEK 3

LANGUAGE ARTS

Mercer did Lessons 37-39 in All About Reading Level 2, the first half of WriteShop Level A Lesson 2, Week 3 of his Daily Reading Practice workbook, 6 pages in Explode the Code Book 3, and Lessons 11-14 in handwriting.

 

Ryder did Week 3 of his Daily Reading Practice workbook, Fix It Grammar Week 3 where he learned about quotations, and 3 pages in his Word Roots workbook. He also worked on spelling through Spelling City using Natural Speller words and had a test.

 

 

MATH

Mercer did Day 11-15 in his Easy Peasy Math workbook.

Ryder did Lessons 10-13 in Teaching Textbooks 5. He also used XtraMath online to work on his Math Facts.

SCIENCE

This week Mercer learned about the senses taste and hearing. He had his first experiment on smell and taste.

This week Ryder learned about an endangered animal, changes by people and animals in an ecosystem including pollution and littering, and he took his first unit test. We also started Unit 2 and he learned about insects, spiders, and arthropods.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY

Both boys did Week 3 in their geography workbooks.

Mercer studied about the bald eagle, the liberty bell, the great seal of the USA, and Uncle Sam.

Ryder studied about the 3 levels and branches of government, America's founding fathers, and how we can be good citizens.

We also did a holiday study on Labor Day.

 

 BIBLE

This week the character trait was boldness.

 

 

CRITICAL THINKING

Mercer and Ryder each did 4 pages in their critical thinking workbooks.

MUSIC

This week the kids learned all about the viola! They also listened to music played with the viola.

 

TOT SCHOOL

We officially started "Tot School" this week! I haven't had a chance to hang all the posters and decorate like I want, but the girls had a great time doing "school" this week! We did Unit 1 Week 1 on Love. We played "Find the Rabbits" with the red circle rabbits, sang "Eensy Weensy Spider" and "God Made Me," read in the virtues book, talked about love and made a picture for daddy, learned the color red and added it to our poster, ate strawberries, read about how God makes wonderful things and Adam and Eve in the Preschooler's Bible, colored hearts read, read a story about bunnies, played with red playdoh and used a bunny cookie cutter, and read a bunny poem!

 

 

CO-OP

Ryder had his first day of classes on Monday! He is taking writing and art. His buddy Phoenix is taking the same classes!

 

Mercer has his first day of classes on Wednesday! He is taking foundations and art.

WEEK 2

LANGUAGE ARTS

Mercer did Lessons 36 in All About Reading Level 2, the second half of WriteShop Level A Lesson 1, Week 2 of his Daily Reading Practice workbook, 6 pages in Explode the Code Book 3, and Lessons 6-10 in handwriting. I have decided not to do spelling with Mercer this year. He gets spelling/phonics from Explode the Code so I feel that is sufficient for 1st grade!

 

Ryder did Week 2 of his Daily Reading Practice workbook, Fix It Grammar Week 2, and 3 pages in his Word Roots workbook. I also decided not to use Soaring with Spelling with Ryder this year. We are just going to be doing word lists from Natural Speller. This week we started with list one and went through the words until he missed 13. Those will be his spelling words for next week and we will use Spelling City online to study the words through their games.

 

 

MATH

Mercer did Day 6-10 in his Easy Peasy Math workbook.

Ryder did Lessons 6-9 plus a quiz in Teaching Textbooks 5. I also had Ryder start XtraMath online to work on his Math Facts. He has almost completed all the addition math facts in less than a week! Then he will move through subtraction, multiplication and division. This program is free, fun, and works!

 

SCIENCE

This week Mercer learned about the senses touch and smell.

This week Ryder learned about how living things get food, shelter, work together, and survive. He also learned about defenses such as camouflage and mimicry and he learned about migration and hibernation. He did three science experiments this week. The first one was figuring out which household tool worked most like a hummingbird's beak. The second one was using different tools to gather different types of food to see which tool was most like which animals' mouth. The third was using paper and hole-punch dots to observe how camouflage affects the ability to see something. Ryder LOVES doing hands-on projects!

 

 

SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY

Both boys did Week 2 in their geography workbooks.

Mercer studied about freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. He also studied about America's flag and the "Pledge of Allegiance."

Ryder studied about America's founding documents - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. And he studied about the National Archives building which holds each of these documents. He also learned about the presidents Jefferson and Madison.

 

 

BIBLE

This week the character trait was availability.

 

 

CRITICAL THINKING

Mercer and Ryder each did 5 pages in their critical thinking workbooks.

MUSIC

This week the kids learned all about the violin! They also listened to music played with the violin.

 

 

TOT SCHOOL

This week went more smooth with the girls. They are getting into a routine again and did a little better with knowing it is school time and they need to play quietly or color. Speaking of coloring, they colored A LOT this week. In fact, I need to get some new coloring books because I feel like we will run out soon! Both girls loved this peg sorting activity. I got out the lacing cards too. Mercer loved them, but the girls are still too young for them. Hoping in the next week or two once we get into a groove with the boys co-op classes to start doing the girls preschool curriculum. This year we will focus on animals, character traits, shapes, and colors!

WEEK 1

LANGUAGE ARTS

Mercer did Lessons 33-35 in All About Reading Level 2, the first half of WriteShop Level A Lesson 1, Week 1 of his Daily Reading Practice workbook, Soaring with Spelling Lesson 1, 6 pages in Explode the Code Book 3, and Lessons 1-5 in handwriting.

 

Ryder did Week 1 of his Daily Reading Practice workbook, Soaring with Spelling Lesson 1, Fix It Grammar Week 1, and 3 pages in his Word Roots workbook.

 

 

 

MATH

Mercer did Day 1-5 in his Easy Peasy Math workbook.

Ryder did Lessons 1-5 in Teaching Textbooks 5.

 

SCIENCE

This week Mercer learned an overview of the 5 senses and then we studied all about sight. We also put together a space puzzle!

This week Ryder learned about living things, living in an ecosystem, and basic needs such as getting food, finding shelter, and working together.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY

Both boys did Week 1 in their geography workbooks.

Mercer studied about our country, America, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. He also studied the freedom of worship and speech in America.

Ryder studied about citizenship, different churches in America and our freedom to worship and pray, the order that the fifty states joined the union, and how there are many different types of people that are American citizens but we are all one people. He also learned about the first two presidents - Washington and Adams.

 

BIBLE

This week the character trait was attentiveness.

 

CRITICAL THINKING

Mercer and Ryder each did 5 pages in their critical thinking workbooks.

 

MUSIC

This week we did an overview of the orchestra and the string instrument family. All the kids loved listening to the music. They learned there are two ways you can play a string instrument - with a bow and plucking the string with your finger. So, all the kids plucked a rubber band and we pretended it was a string instrument!

 

TOT SCHOOL

This week the girls mainly just played (and climbed on the table and colored and ate snacks and fought and screamed, haha!). Overall it was a good week! I am glad to be back in a routine and here's to hoping the girls continue to just get better each day during school time! I did order them their own preschool curriculum that we will be starting soon!

 

These are our new schedules! They boys LOVE being able to visually see what they have done and what they have left to do for the day! It helps me stay on track and organized too!

First Day of School!

Homeschool Day 1 ~ Here we go! Even though today was crazy hectic trying to get everything done in two separate grades with two 2-year-olds running around, I feel really blessed to be able to stay home and teach my kiddos during this season in life! We started around 8:30 and finished around 1:30 with a 30 minute lunch break!

 

 

 

And here's a picture of where we will be doing most of our school this year! It's a portion of our game room so the girls can just run around up there and play with toys. We are still using the homeschool room downstairs with reading and online math though.