We Survived the First Week but More Hands On Means Less Time for Other Stuff

We made it through the first week, and it went really well.  DJ has taken to his two FLVS classes, without difficulty.  Though he did say the Digital Design is kind of hard.  I reminded him that, that subject is all new to him and can not expect to learn it over night.  Caitlin has settled in more for her second week, not so much drama.  Her, and I, are doing a lot of hands on together work, this year.  I feel like she kind of got neglected last year, and am giving her extra teacher attention this year.  We are currently reading, The Yearling, together.  Some homeschoolers love this book, others hate it.  We are on chapter 4, and I love it.  At first she said it was boring, but now she is getting into it.  Because, the book takes place in rural Florida, we get a kick out of some of the language, and descriptions of where they live.  We discuss vocabulary words, and what is happening as we go along.  I think this will really benefit her, and me a lot.  Plus, sometime this year we can visit the Marjorie Keenan Rollins museum, which will be fun.  I don't know if I spelled her name right, too tired to look it up.

I will be doing a post later this week, that will be all supplemental work for a 3rd grader.  A friend of mine asked me to help her find some resources, so I thought I would share it here for all my readers too.  There is tons of info on this blog, but if you don't have to search for it, that is nice too. 

We did get to walk today, using our Charity Miles, apps, so that was nice.  It rained all last week, but one day. 

Earth Day, and Scientific Method

Tomorrow in Science we are learning about Scientific Method. Since my son is only in third grade, we are not covering the more complicated issues this year. We will be watching the short video below, with discussion to follow.



Earth Day is Wednesday April 22nd. We already do a lot of the things to help save our Earth. We pick up garbage, when we are out walking. We turn off our lights when not in use. Car pool, when we can, and do not drive if not necessary. We do not turn on our air conditioning until we have to, and then set it at the most bearable level. We reuse items when we can, rather than throw them away. We conserve our water, whenever possible. We also use those new GE energy lightsaver bulbs. I have to say they are pretty cool. We also plant a small garden ever year, I will get to that another day.

On Wednesday we will be planting a rose bush, for Earth Day. We already have quite a few trees, so we decided with the plant this year.

School Express offers several free themed units, for Earth Day. We chose the one on Pollution, and will be starting it tomorrow. I also found some other great sites for Earth Day, check them out, and use them in your teachings, if you choose.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/earth-day/printable-book/54010.html?detoured=1
http://www.theteachersguide.com/earthdaylessonplans.htm
http://www.earthday.net/kthrough4


Lesson Plans for 4/20/09:

Reading: Pages 77-97 Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
Math: Problem solving, multiplication, division
Movie Day

Lesson Plans for 4/21/09:

Science: Scientific Method, Pollution themed unit
Writing: Write a science story
Spelling: Lesson 28- Write each spelling word 2x each
Vocabulary: Lesson 28- Look up the definition for each vocabulary word
Math: Problem solving, multiplication, division
Language Arts: Practice spelling with double consonants, pronouns
PE: 30 minutes

Pilates For PE, and Report Card Time

We have started doing Pilates for PE class. We do it twice a week, and it is not easy. The first week we did it, I thought I was going to die, for real. I am 39, and have not followed a strict exercise regime since before my son was born, nine years ago. Today when we did it, it was easier, and not nearly as painful. I have a reason for doing this, one it is a great option for PE class, and two my back has been hurting me lately, and the stretching helps strengthen, and feels better. We will probably continue with this for the remainder of the school year, supplementing swimming when it is warm enough, and the pool is clean enough.

We have finished our 3rd quarter, of 3rd grade. Here is DJ's report card results:

Language Arts, Spelling, Vocab: 91, from a 97 in 2nd quarter
Reading: E
Reading Comprehension: 98 from a 97 this has improved greatly from the second grade
Writing: Much improved, but still needs to concentrate on capitalization, and sentence structure
Math: 92 from a 92 in second quarter. I have added harder multiplication and division for 4th
Science: 93 from a 96
Health: 94 from a 97
Social Studies: 95 from a 94
Art: S to E

These are posted for record keeping reasons, and so family, and friends who live out of state can watch our progress

Caitlin continues with preschool work, and is progressing nicely.

Lesson Plans for 3/17/09:

Science: Energy and its sources
Writing: Write a story about planting a garden
Spelling: Lesson 24- write each spelling word two times each
Vocabulary: Lesson 24- look up the definition for each word
Math: variables, multiplication, division
Spanish: review
Language Arts: Antonyms, compound subject

Fun And Easy Animal Science Project

It seems like much of 2nd and 3rd grade, we have spent learning about animals for Science class. That is okay because my kids love that topic. It does get a little boring, though after a while. Anyway, I was sifting through one of our Science books, and I find this cool Weekly Puzzler, and I thought I would share it. This is geared towards 2nd and 3rd graders, though my 4 yr old joins in the conversation. Choose a live animal to watch, we have fish, birds, dogs, and cats that are easily visible from our home. Draw how your animal looks. Write what the animal is. Then compare the animal with yourself, with these things in mind: Its body parts compared to yours, how it moves compared to you, what it eats compared to you, sounds it makes compared to yours, where it lives compared to where you live, if it lives with others compared to you.

I have been asked to evaluate a new spelling program. I hope to get to that this week, and have the information posted.

Lesson Plans for 1/21/09:

Reading: Read Chapter 7 Dolphins at Daybreak
Language Arts: Parts of speech, punctuation
Math: Multiplication, division, round 3 digit numbers
Writing: You will be meeting Batman. What would you like to ask him?
Social Studies: Inauguration, flat maps and globes
Spelling: Lesson 16- write each spelling word, and circle the vowels
Vocab: Lesson 16- Use each vocabulary word, in a sentence
Spanish: Food and utensils 3
Arts and crafts

Some Free Writing Prompts For 2nd-4th Graders

Here are some writing ideas, for a 2nd-4th grader, depending on their abilities.

If you could be one age forever, what would it be, and why?
Aliens have landed on the Earth, draw a picture story.
You can only have one food, times one whole week, which would you pick, and why?
Imagine you are a dolphin, write about your day.
If you could zap yourself into a TV show, what would it be, and why?
You will be meeting Batman, make a list of questions to ask him.
Robin Hood wants you to join his team. What special talent would you bring to his team.
You won the lottery. Write what you will do now that you are rich.
You're are Pirate Camp. Write a letter home telling about your time.
If you could be invisible, where would you go, and what would you do?

Lessons For 9/3/08, Freebies Alert, The Tropics

Right behind Gustov, comes Hanna, Ike and possibly Josephine. Hanna, will definately be effecting Florida, and possibly so will Ike. So as per usual, these days, we are watching the tropics.

This weeks School Express freebie is a themed unit on Amphibians. To get it go to http://www.schoolexpress.com sign up for their free newsletter, and every Sunday, or Monday they will send you a free unit study.

Today is our first day of school, and here is the lesson plans for 9/3/08

Spelling Lesson 1
Vocabulary Lesson 1
Math multiplication, addition and subtraction
Language Arts phonics review, nouns, capitalization
Read 2nd chapter of Dinosaurs Before Dark
Writing Tell about one place where you have alot of fun
Social Studies Targeting Communities, and Arkansas work sheet
Music I can play piano, if time permits

These are work sheets on communities, that we are using. You should be able to print them and use them if you like.

Free Transportation Themed Unit Study

This Mondays School Express free unit study is on Transportation. It is the same one from last week, except this week they added a Transportation activity book. Both of these are avaiable for free. The email they sent me says I can share the information. It is a rather large file, so if you are interested in it, just drop me a comment, or email, and I will send it to you via email. If you would like to sign up for the School Express newsletter go to http://www.schoolexpress.com click sign up for free newsletter, then all you have to do is verify via email, and you will get next weeks free themed unit. Tomorrow I will be putting up our school calendar for the 2008/2009 school year. If you need a calendar for your school year, this one will be great for you to print and use. Have a great week.

We Did Excellent On Our Homeschool Evaluation

Yeah, I am glad it is finally over. I was so nervous. Being my first year of homeschooling, and I made the curriculum myself, I was a bit nervous. We did excellent, and DJ is above average in his reading. Matter of fact the only thing she didnt care for, was the way he held his pencil, and needs to work on handwriting neatness. Well I am glad it is over, and we can move onto third grade.

TS Fay, is still dumping rain on us, and wind gusts, nothing severe however, and no flooding here.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.