Irritation Today

I had posted on day three, how I had an almost meltdown due to Lesson Pathways no working correctly.  I got it fixed, but now you can not get on their website at all.  People are complaining on their Facebook page, and only one admin has said they will look at it.  No updates, no nothing.  So, since I have no patience for this type of stuff, I spent the day going back through my resources to find more curriculum choices for Caitlin.  DJ's is basically OK.  He was using Lesson Pathways for History, but he is doing Vikings and the Middle Ages, so it is not a problem finding resources for him.  He is currently doing a blog post on Vikings, it is pretty funny, you should check it out at Through the Eyes of DJ. 

Caitlin will switch to Unit Studies that I already have saved for History, and Magic Tree House books for history as well.  She will now be doing the Magic School Bus series, and activities for Science, and Teachnology, ABCya and Internets4 the classroom for Language Arts.  Reading will go as I see fit. 

Animal Adaptations, Ancient Farms, and Setting of A Story

We have discovered that we can not fit Art class into our regular school hours. So, the kids and I have decided to do Art class on Mondays when my husband has his firehouse meeting. I would paint during this time normally, so doing Art class with them just makes sense.

Today Caitlin finished up her lessons on Hunter/Gatherers, and Animal Adaptations. For her Hunter/Gatherer assignment she had to draw what an Ancient farm would look like compared to a modern farm. She also had to discuss with me the differences between farming back then, and farming now. Key points I wanted her to remember were, in Ancient times they had to move their villages according to weather and plants and animals available for food; houses were not permanent but able to be taken down and moved quickly; they ate what they hunted or fished; the women went out and gathered berries and nuts for food; when they started farming villages they planted their crops to harvest and raised farm animals such as goats, cows, chickens and sheep for their food and clothing needs. Plus, they did not have the tools we have now, on farms. This was a good lesson for her.

For Animal Adaptations she had to draw an animal in camouflage. She decided on a tiger, and how the stripes of the tiger help it camouflage itself in the tall grass, not from predators but from their prey.

Last but not least, Caitlin is reading, Charlotte's Web. She finished reading through to chapter six today, and we discussed the setting of stories. She identified that the setting of Charlotte's Web was a farm. So, yes you guessed it, she had to draw Wilbur and his farm. Since Caitlin does not quite write that well yet, rather than torturing her, I used Art and other methods for her to slide into her writing skills. Last week she did quite a bit, so I give her a break this week. Because when she writes, I make corrections, and then she has to rewrite it correctly, this can be a long process. But, it works. Of course she did Math and Spelling/Vocab as well.


DJ did his full scale of lessons today as well. He is still on the Atmosphere in his Earth Science book, and he just started his Viking lessons for The Middle Ages. He is up to Exponents and Expressions of numbers in Math. He is still reading The Outsiders.

Tomorrow is our first Earth Kids meeting of the new year.

Pig Slop!

As I mentioned in a previous post, Caitlin is reading, Charlotte's Web right now. One of my all time favorite books ever. One of the activities, you could choose to do, was make Pig Slop. You know Wilbur was a pig, and pigs will eat anything. You just throw it all in their trough and they eat it. Slop, that is what it is called. There were several variations as to how you could make your own Pig Slop. But, since I wanted Caitlin to actually eat it we decided on vanilla pudding, Reeses Pieces, Reeses Peanut Butter cups, and chocolate fudge cookies. I have to tell you to be smarter than me, and dump the pudding onto a plate. Getting all that crumbled stuff in that little cup was not easy. It was delicious though. I love Pig Slop! Get reading Charlotte's Web with your kids, and make some Pig Slop too.

Johnny Appleseed Video, Science For Kids

Tomorrow is Johnny Appleseed day, here at Melissa's Homeschool. Don't know who Johnny Appleseed is, don't worry I forgot too LOL. The video below, is two parts, and quite cute, from Disney. Tomorrow for science is the food chain, and I found a great lesson plan at Lesson Snips.

Lesson Plans for 09/29/09:

Caitlin:
Science: Johnny Appleseed
Printing practice: Fall name, and worksheet
Number printing 6-10
Math: worksheet adding to ten
Alphabet book: Letter L
Site words
Reading: HOP Pig Wig Can Hit yesterdays Ann's Hat was an error
Coloring: following directions

DJ:
Science: Johnny Appleseed, animal food chains
Math: Division, add and subtract, rounding numbers
Cursive writing
Reading Comprehension: worksheet
Spanish: page 8 workbook one
Language Arts: Prefixes, homophones, capitalization
Spelling/Vocab: Write each spelling word two times each

Reading, Arts And Crafts

Monday's are basically concentrated on reading, writing, and arts and crafts. Because Caitlin has to learn to sit and listen, and DJ needs to be comfortable reading aloud, I have decided that DJ will read to Caitlin.

Lesson Plans for 09/14/09:

Caitlin:
Reading: HOP Dad and Sam
Listening Skills: Farm Puppy, Holidays and Customs read by DJ
Arts and Crafts: Acorn Wreath
Alphabet Book: Letter D
Printing worksheet

DJ:
Reading: Read aloud to Caitlin Farm Puppy, Holidays and Customs pg 4-9
Math: Multiplication, subtraction
Vocab/Spelling: Look up the definition for each word
Art: Draw a plane
Spanish: Book one chapter one, Michael has an idea
Writing: Five food groups, menu plan
Cursive: worksheet
Language Arts: prefixes, synonyms, antonyms

4th Grade Reading List

Back to business for a few days. I finally decided on DJ's reading list for the fourth grade. Tomorrow, I will be posting on yearly evaluations, and portfolios. Then Wednesday will be letter of intent, and Florida laws. Then maybe back to some fun stuff. This post is for record keeping purposes, and anyone who would like some ideas on reading lists. DJ is an andvanced reader, and some of these may not fit all fourth grade readers.

Suggested Reading List for DJ 4th Grade 2009-2010 School Year:

Seeds of A Nation- Florida by Elizabeth Weis Vollstadt
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles by A Conan Doyle
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge
Marco Polo by Manuel Komroff
The Young Winston Churchill by John Marsh
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Black Beauty

I reserve the right to add, delete, or modify the list as needed, as long as I keep written record of all reading material.