Saturday, February 28, 2015

Week of 02/22/2015-02/28/2015






Reading/Language Arts : Mimzy decided to do mostly workbooks this week. She focused on her drawing practice book (which has step-by-step drawing instructions, then a brief story describing the subject, and room on the back for creative writing about the subject.) and her Star Wars workbook.

Math : Using a story example in the curriculum book, Mimzy and her dad learned more about "Mr. Placevalue" and his adventures in real estate. It's silly, but a really fun way to understand place values.

Social Studies : We discussed real-life examples of money exchange and bartering in the modern world, and roleplayed both.

Science : We discussed the food chain. Mimzy has done this subject before, especially during her zoo adventures, so we focused more on HER food chain than that of animals in the wild. She made a list of her favorite foods and traced the chain back to the sun, and then we made an actual "chain" of two of them (cheese crackers and juice) our of construction paper.

Health : So, I finally found her health book, stealthily hidden in the tote where I store all of her other school supplies. What? I don't even know. ANYWAY - This week we discussed challenging herself, and how it can benefit her in the future. She made a list of her talents and interests, then where these could lead her in the future. (ie : Her interest in art and creative writing could give her a career in comic books, her interest in swimming could lead to her being a world champion.) 

Art : We painted (faces, paper...) and decorated for the birthday party. Mimzy always helps me decorate for parties, it's a lot of fun for both of us.

Music : Does singing "Happy Birthday" count? haha we didn't have anything formal this week again, just music enjoyment per usual. 

Extra : Happy birthday to my little Shark! <3
We had a fun week this week. Mimzy decided to write a new game called 'The Yolk Is On You!' In it, two or more people pass a yellow ball (the "yolk") back and forth while singing a song. (Any song.) When the song is over, whoever is holding the ball has to tell a joke that makes the other person/people laugh.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Week of 02/15/2015-02/21/2015



Reading/Language Arts : Since giving Mimzy more freedom in her reading lessons, she's started loving reading again. I found her and Shark one night, well past their bedtimes, lying cuddled up in her bed with a pile of books and his toy computer. 

Math : Practicing the times table and we recently started setting a timer so she can "race" herself in completing problems. It helps her focus on actually doing the problems, instead of on everything but. We're keeping these "races" very casual and low-pressure, but it seems to work.

Social Studies : This week we learned about "ring money", the first official "money", used in Celtic Ireland. She read a story about "Erin and the 'Ring Money'" and journaled about it in her workbook. We also discussed times when using money is much more practical than trading goods directly. (ie : Carrying an entire herd of cows around with you wherever you go haha)

Science : Animal prints! This week Mimzy did several fun worksheets about identifying animal prints, including the difference between predators and prey. We found some tracks in the back yard and she helped to identify and "track" them.

Health : We did a self-esteem project! Mimzy listed several traits she considered true of herself, and then decorated the word "ME" with them. It was a lot of fun. Shark did one, as well, though I might've helped a little. ;)

Art : She did a lot of drawing for her journal and on her own. (The picture to the side her her expressing her love to Inuyasha, an anime character, and his responding (eloquently) with "What?")

Music : Nothing formal this week, we're all kind of getting cabin fever. Lots of dancing and singing to work out some wiggles, though.

Extra : We made juice-box robots for Shark's birthday party! Also, karate as usual. No more swim team, unfortunately!



Monday, February 16, 2015

Week of 02/08/2015-02/14/2015


Reading/Language Arts : Mimzy chose to copy down several poems into her reading journal, write one of her own, and did several pages in her Star Wars reading and writing workbooks.

Math : Star Wars math workbooks, online math play, reviewing 3 & 4 tables, and doing some speed sheets in subtraction!


Social Studies : We learned about silent trade in the Mali marketplace, read a story and journaled about it. We also practiced silent trade with several items.

Science : This week was all about cold and warm blooded animals! We watched several videos online, discussed what the perks and downfalls of each were, and wrote about them in her Science journal. Then she made lists of several of each type and drew pictures. 


Health : This week we studied anger management. She did a worksheet exploring her anger (how she felt, things she said) and discussed ways she could deal with it differently.


Art : We practiced origami, Mimzy painted with tempera paints, and did several other small crafts.


Music : We had fun singing the song from Potter's Puppet Pals on YouTube (The Mysterious Ticking Noise). It's a silly song, but was great for exploring timing, rhythm, and pitch.


Extra : Mimzy had her last swim meet this weekend, lost a tooth, and had her Homeschooling day at the zoo! She had a special assignment to do a "Creature Feature" for the zoo, and spent a lot of time researching for it. She chose a red fox as her animal to feature.





Friday, February 6, 2015

Week of 02/01/2015-02/07/2015

Apparently my car keys are hiding wherever the health book ended up .. again, I've scoured the house, and cannot find them. So we missed karate and swim all week due to lack of transportation. It was also my husband's birthday week!


Reading/Language Arts : Mimzy got to choose each day if she would like to write about something she watched/read, if she would like to copy down a poem, if she would like to write something original, or if she'd like to do some pages in her Star Wars Reading and Star Wars Writing books.

Math : Introduced the 4 times table and practiced mixed multiplication problems for the 3 and 4 tables. Did some pages in her Star Wars books. We also took turns measuring each other with the tape measure, and marked them on the walls.

Social Studies : A brief review of Natural, Human, and Capitol resources, she journaled about all three, offering examples of some in our everyday lives. 

Science : Discussed the differences between vertebrate and invertebrate animals at length, and journaled about it.

Health : More fun health games at Easypeasy.com! This week a game called "Food Flight", where she had to capture the healthy foods in order to feed a snowman. We also focused on staying active at home to make up for her lack of regular activities. 

Art : Since she did journal activities every day for reading, there were no scheduled arts, but of course she's always doing fun things on her own.

Music : Lots of dancing and singing together, and she played with several musical apps (piano and drum) creating her own songs.

Extra : Lots of birthday celebrations for her step-dad!