April 22 - 26

MATH

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his math book this week.  He is learning how to find the area of a square.  

Marissa:

Marissa completed four assignments in her math book this week.  She is reviewing perimeter and learning about higher numbers by figuring out counting by hundreds up to the thousands column.

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his math book this week.  He did a lot of work with shapes this week.  

LANGUAGE ARTS

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his language arts book this week.  He read and narrated a fun short story about twins who want to find a lucky plant.  One goes searching for the lucky plant and the other one ends up finding it while doing her chores in her own yard.  He also completed some reading assessment sections in his language arts book.  His fluency has improved so much!

Marissa: 

Marissa completed two assignments in her language arts book this week.  She is still working on phonics lessons for "sh", "th" and "ch."   

Caleb:

Caleb comleted two assignments in his language arts book this week.  He is getting really excited about letters again so we checked out the movie "The Letter Factory" from the library and he watched it twice last week.  It's getting him excited about early reading skills again.   

HISTORY (WORLD GEOGRAPHY)

Preston, Marissa & Caleb:

We are still studying Japan for world geography class.  We read a book called "Kikuchi's Sushi" that explained a lot about traditions in Japan and also explained the process of making sushi.  We made carp flags that are flown on May 5 to celebrate Children's Day.  It was a very simple activity, but the kids LOVED it!!  Everyone commented on how much fun the craft was to make.  Caleb was so excited about it that he decided to make an octopus and a crab out of the same materials.  They weren't exactly authentic ocean creatures, but I was thrilled for him to be so excited about something so we continued crafting while the older kids finished reading and playing on their own.   

We also purchased some California rolls from Sam's Club (I know...not exactly authentic, but close enough).  The kids did not love it, but it was a good experience sampling something that was new.    

Carp Flags 

(Marissa and Slade have serious faces because they are preparing for an epic launch of their carp flags).   

 Caleb's crab

Caleb's octopus

TECH (BUILDING & ENGINEERING)

Preston:

Preston completed his Tinker Crate this week.  It was called Color Mixer LED Crystal and was created with circuits and a battery pack.  It was really cool to play with the different colors after we got it working. 

Marissa:

Marissa completed the second half of her marble timer Kiwi Crate this week.  She died wooden shapes that were made into bracelets. 

Caleb:

Caleb completed his Koala Crate for building and engineering this week.  One of his favorite parts was making a felt face game.  You get to spin the wheel and decide which body part you get to add to the blank face.  He and Marissa had so much fun playing with it for days! 

OPTIONAL (PE)

Preston:

Preston attended his karate class three times this week.   

Marissa:

Marissa attended tumbling this week.   

Caleb:

Caleb attended tumbling twice this week.  His class is almost over and we will not be continuing karate with him until fall.  He has one more week of classes.  He will continue having PE class at home with me with outdoor games and sports for the remainder of the school year.   

April 15 - 19

MATH

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his math book this week.  He also worked on increasing his speed with fact practice using addition, subtraction and a few of the multiplication facts he has learned up to this point.   

Marissa:

Marissa completed four assignments in her math book this week.  She used a foam clock to practice finding the exact time on a clock while working on practice learning about time.  

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his math book this week.  He got extra practice counting using his on-the-go game book with two dice attached.  He loves counting and numbers!

LANGUAGE ARTS

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his language arts book this week.  He had an editing assignment as part of one of his lessons.  It was such a good exercise for him.  It makes him slow down and try to remember all the grammar and spelling rules he has learned up to this point.  He missed a couple of small things, but overall, it was a really good part of his language arts lesson that day.  I hope more of those are included in the future.  If not, I may need to look into something simple for him to work on editing skills in the future.  

Marissa: 

Marissa completed two assignments in her language arts book this week.  She is working on sh, ch and th for phonics and spelling.  We took her reading practice really slowly and she caught on just fine.  Her dyslexia seems to stress her out when reading out loud, but when we slow things down, she can usually figure out each word and read with increasing fluency.  I am looking into potential tools to help her with dyslexia as the reading becomes more and more difficult.  

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his language arts book this week.  He also got lots of practice with story telling during his music and nature class with reading about and painting blossoms on a tree.  We LOVE his music class and it helps give him extra skills in every subject because it incorporates so much of the world around us.  He is in a class called cycles and seasons that focuses on nature, incorporates music and art and includes many beautiful stories and activities.  We love it! 

HISTORY (WORLD GEOGRAPHY)

Preston, Marissa & Caleb:

We ended up with sick friends for world geography class this week so we decided to study Japan a little bit more, but save our fun activities for a week we have more people attending class.  We read a book called "An Illustrated History of Japan" because I knew that would be a difficult one to complete during a class period with other activities included.  It was very informative, but maybe not our favorite part about learning about Japan.  

The kids remember the Japan section at the Treehouse Museum and are begging to go back so they can play now that everything is fresh in their mind.  I am working on scheduling a field trip, but we may end up with an impromptu one instead.  

TECH (BUILDING & ENGINEERING)

Preston:

Preston built a Lego set for building and engineering this week that he received as an Easter gift.  It was a smaller set that he has been wanting for a long time, but one he was looking forward to adding to his collection.  

Marissa:

Marissa made a geometric bowl this week for building an engineering.  She decided not to use geometric shapes that were provided and instead created her own design.  It was a really fun project though and she is hoping there is enough material left to create a second one.   

Caleb:

Caleb built a little Lego set that he received as an Easter gift this week for building and engineering.  It was really small, but he did it all by himself following the instructions on the paper.  It was a big boy moment for our little 5 year old for sure!  

OPTIONAL (PE)

Preston:

Preston attended karate four times this week.  We were able to take him to sparring night because Marissa had a sprained ankle and could not attend tumbling at her regular class time.   

Marissa:

Marissa did not attend tumbling this week due to an injury.  Instead she chose to watch a documentary about gymnastics that was really interesting for both of us.  

Caleb:

Caleb attended karate two times this week.  He loves it and the discipline is really good for him even if he gets distracted and loses focus a lot of the time.  

April 8 - 12

MATH

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his math book this week.  He also worked on math wrap-ups with addition, subtraction and multiplication to work on his speed with math facts.   

Marissa:

Marissa completed four assignments in her math book this week.  She is reviewing perimeter, time in minutes and money.  She also completed math wrap-ups for addition and subtraction.  

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his math book this week.  He is working on counting, matching numbers and simple addition problems.  

LANGUAGE ARTS

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his language arts book this week.  His reading fluency continues to improve as well as his spelling and grammar skills.   

Marissa: 

Marissa completed two assignments in her language arts book this week.  She read mini books from the beginning of the year to practice her speed and gain confidence in her reading abilities.  She also worked on spelling simple words using wikki stix for extra practice.  

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his language arts book this week.  He worked on the letter C and practiced making the letter C with wikki stix, play dough and other sensory materials.  

HISTORY (WORLD GEOGRAPHY)

Preston, Marissa & Caleb:

We flew to Asia this week and began our studies with the country of Japan.  We had SO MUCH FUN studying Japan that we may stay in that country for another week or two.  There were so many fun books and activities!  

We read some books about Japan.  One of our favorites was about a boy from America who moves to Japan.  It is called "The Way We Do It In Japan."  It was so interesting for the kids to learn how different it is to attend school in Japan.  We watched a really awesome YouTube video about how lunch is a subject in Japan.  The kids learn to prepare their lunch area, serve one another and clean up.  It brought up so much good discussion about how we can learn so much by cleaning and cooking and doing other chores as well as learning subjects in school.  

 

We learned to count to five in Japanese after reading a book called "Count Your Way Through Japan."  

We learned how to fold oragami boats (that had a step that looked like hats).  Marissa decided origami was fun and ended up folding all sorts of other things, including a little paper drawer that could hold her small markers.  Caleb needed a little more help so he and I made a sword out of paper (technically called kirigami since it included cutting and not just folding).  We had a great time and finished off the class with a Ramen noodle lunch that resembled a Japanese noodle meal.  We forgot the chopsticks though so everyone was sent home with an assignment to practice eating with chopsticks another day.  

TECH (BUILDING & ENGINEERING)

Preston:

Preston built an awesome "mech" this week out of Lego's.  He made it look just like another one he built from a Lego set.  It took him so much time using random pieces, but it turned out so great! The one on the left (white) is the official mech from a Lego set and the one on the right is what he built using random Lego pieces he had in his bins.  

Marissa:

Marissa built her Kiwi Crate this week for building and engineering.  She made a marble timer.  It was so cool!  Probably one of her favorites so far.  It was been played with and adapted by the whole family all week.  

Caleb:

Caleb built his Koala Crate this week.  His was on things that glow.  He made an adorable firefly out of a sock and played with it all week.  We also checked out some books from the library and did some more reading on fireflies and other glowing plants and animals.  So much fun!  

OPTIONAL (PE)

Preston:

Preston attended karate three times this week.  He is excited to learn new things and start working towards earning his orange belt. 

Marissa:

Marissa attended tumbling this week.  She sprained her ankle when she landed her whip so we may need to take a week off depending on how long it takes to heal.  Fingers crossed.   

Caleb:

Caleb attended karate two times this week.  

March 25 - 29

MATH

Preston:

Preston completed four math assignments in his math book this week.  He's working on early multiplication skills and reviewing multiple digit addition and subtraction.  We also worked on math facts with wrap-ups before we had play time at the park.  

Marissa:

Marissa completed four assignments in her math book this week.  She is learning about time (minutes) and reviewing counting money.  She is also secretly trying to keep up with her brother learning multiplication.   

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his math book this week.  He is working on numbers and counting and very simple addition problems.  

LANGUAGE ARTS

Preston:

Preston completed four assignments in his language arts book this week.  He is working on learning about soft c and soft g.  

Marissa: 

Marissa completed two assignments in her language arts book this week.  She also did extra reading in her Bob Books and other early reader books.   

Caleb:

Caleb completed two assignments in his language arts book this week.  He is practicing letters and their sounds and can put simple words together when he tries.   

HISTORY (WORLD GEOGRAPHY)

Preston, Marissa & Caleb:

We took a field trip to Tree House Museum for world geography class this week.  It was so much fun!  The kids have such good imaginations and remembered so many of the countries we have already studied.   

TECH (BUILDING & ENGINEERING)

Preston:

Preston made a jet-powered skateboard out of Lego's for building and engineering this week.  He's also been working on using the Lego Maker App to understand how to move Lego pieces in a stop motion movie.  

Marissa:

Marissa made an alien creation without any help or guidance this week.  She loved him and carried him around for days! 

Caleb:

Caleb made a spaceship with only blue Lego pieces to be like Benny from the Lego Movie.  He was so proud of his creation!

OPTIONAL (PE)

Preston:

Preston attended his karate class three days this week.   

Marissa:

Marissa attended tumbling this week.   

Caleb:

Caleb attended karate twice this week.