Friday, January 30, 2015

Week of 01/25/2015-01/31/2015


Reading/Language Arts : We've had some battles with Mimzy about her reading, and so, to preserve her enjoyment of it, we decided to adjust her reading lessons away from Oak Meadow standards. Instead of reading the required reading, she is instead able to pick any book she wants and journal that. This week she chose Silverlicious to journal, and discussed her Hogwarts books with us each morning after reading them. With this method, I often found her sitting and reading aloud with her little brother, or choosing reading over playing games on her computer or tablet, so I'm quite pleased with the change thus far.

Math : We reviewed our times tables, and Mimzy also some pages in her Star Wars math book every day.

Social Studies : This week was Capital Resources in a story about Nansa : A Child of Mali. We also reviewed Natural Resources and Human Resources again, and after looking up where Ancient Mali was located, she made a list of capital resources and drew a beautiful picture of a mosque. 
Science : We discussed habitats, she did a lot of research online using National Geographic. She listed each habitat, along with some of it's features and animals (also adding her own note : what she'd most like to do there) and then drew a picture of each. 

Health : I still haven't found her Oak Meadow health book, after tearing apart the house. Sigh. So we used Easy Peasy again this week, playing more games through them, including one on sleep habits, and "Mission Nutrition".

Art : Heavy on journal activities, she also did her own report on the movie The Little Mermaid, including a summary of the story and some art.

Music : Lots of dancing time! We took time out of each day to just dance our hearts out, it was a lot of fun.

Craft :  Nothing major, much of her free time this week was spent (not) cleaning her room, unfortunately. 

Extra : Karate lessons and swim team this week along with lots of games. Splashmath, Tynker, etc. She had another swim meet, as well, and was 3 seconds faster on her backstroke!









Friday, January 23, 2015

Week of 01/18/2015-01/24/2015


Reading/Language Arts : We finished reading The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, and entering it into the journal. 

Math : Reviewed times tables, played several math games online, and practiced word problems.

Social Studies : This week Mimzy learned about Human Resources with a story about Luoyang City. She also reviewed what Natural Resources were from her story last week. She then journaled about what human resources were, and drew a picture of a busy marketplace.
Science : The cave swiftlet makes a nest out of it's own saliva that people in SE Asia and India collect and use in Bird's Nest Soup. EW! Mimzy located these places on her world map, researched all about the cave swiftlet, and drew a beautiful picture of it in her journal.

Health : I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I apparently lost her health book this week ... Uhm .. whoops. So, instead we've been using some curriculum from Easy Peasy Homeschooling for health. Mimsy really enjoyed the game they have on household hazards, and asked to play it multiple times!

Art : Heavy on journaling, and she took on a lot of projects on her own.

Music : Mimzy practiced on the recorder and keyboard this week.

Craft : She made decorations and cards for her room and her family. 

Extra : Karate and swim. She had her very first swim meet, and did three events







Friday, January 16, 2015

Week of 01/11/2015-01/17/2015


Reading/Language Arts : This week Mimzy copied two poems into her reading journal and drew pictures for them. She also continued reading The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.

Math : Continued discussing the 3 times table, and played several math games on her tablet.

Social Studies : We started the nine-week economic block of her curriculum! This week she read the story "Deidre of Ulster: Life in Ancient Celtic Ireland" and learned about natural resources and their value in ancient times (and today.) She also learned about how people would trade these natural resources in their raw form for man-made objects of value, such as weapons and jewelry.

Science : Mimzy learned about the weaverbird of Africa, and all about how they make their fascinating nests. We also practiced weaving with yarn.


Health : We started a new block of curriculum in health covering self-esteem. This week was Good Sportsmanship, and she journaled different ways she could show good sportsmanship when losing or winning a game, and also discussed some of her favorite games.

Art : This week was heavy on drawing and journalling, so we didn't do any official art, though she's always drawing on her own.

Music : This week Mimzy and Michael covered more about rhythm, rests, and reading music. 

Craft :  She made papercraft dragons, and we also built a snow man! 


Extra : No karate lessons or swim team this week because we only had one working car! Thankfully that issue is fixed and we'll be able to go back to normal next week. She had her homeschooling day at the zoo, did splash math, and other educational games on the computer and tablet. 

Friday, January 9, 2015

Week of 01/04/2015-01/10/2015

Mimzy's extra interests have started getting a bit overwhelming! Spanish, typing, programming ... now she gets to pick one a day rather than trying to do them all at once.





Reading/Language Arts : We're now reading The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle! This week was a slow intro back into the regular routine, so she just read and didn't journal.

Math : We reviewed and wrote down all of the times tables she already knew, and started focusing on the 3 table. 

Social Studies : We talked about heritage, including where her ancestors and those of close family members came from.

Science : Mimzy got to watch and read all about birds and how they build their nests! We also used a loom to weave some potholders so she could get an idea about how some birds weaved their nests by interlocking sticks.

Health : This was just a review week! We went over the things we'd learned in previous weeks, which fit very conveniently into our relaxed start to the year.

Art : Mimzy and Shark painted with some new paints she'd gotten for the holidays, that are filled with sparkles! There were also some new paintbrushes in various shapes.

Music : This week she started learning how to read music! Her step-dad is in charge of these lessons since he's much more musically inclined than I am. All three of them (Mimzy, Shark, and Dad) had drums and learned what the different kinds of beats were, and how to keep time.
Craft : Besides making the pot-holder, Mimzy had time on her own to make crafts. She made some of her own scented hand moisturizer, put it into bottles, and distributed it to family!

Extra : Karate lessons, swim team... She also started using a new program called Tynker, which is a game that helps teach kids how to program! It was a lot of fun! 


Saturday, January 3, 2015

Week 3 of Homeschool Holidays and Christmas Update

Drinking cocoa on Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately we weren't able to finish the lesson plan as we'd hoped to because the entire family came down with what we're referring to as "The Plague." Then the madness of the holidays took over. I'm a bit disappointed, but homeschooling means rolling with the punches and doing what works best for your family.

Thankfully, we're all feeling much better after the new year, and ready to start back up with the regular routine on Monday morning! Here are some fun pics from our holidays. We hope you all had a great holiday and a wonderful new year full of love and excitement!


Santa's visit.
Playing with her new Snap Circuits, Jr.