2011-2012 School Year is here!

We had our first week back at school and everything is going great!

We made some changes from last year and I plan on highlighting them each day over the next week. So far all of our choices are working out great.

Check out my 2011-2012 Curriculum page to see what choices I have made.  I will update as I tweak or change things. 

This week we accomplished so much!

Matthew-

 Play Paint Chip Phonics

The rules to this game are simple.  To create you use free paint color samples that you get from your local big box store or paint supply store.  We had painted three rooms in our house last year so I had a lot laying around.  For the extra I needed I went and asked if I could buy the samples. The manager just told me to take what I needed.  I got the idea of this game from The Snails Trail a few years ago.  If you go to her site she has all the letters you need to put on the cards and the full instructions.  Shelby used to love this game and I was excited to put it in our center bin for Matthew.  He played three days this week.  Basically he creates words with the phonic blends.  He writes down the real words on one sheet and the silly words on another.  He had a lot of fun playing this game and did not even realize he was both reading and learning.  To him this was a fun puzzle. 

-Reading and Phonics evaluation- He scored above grade level
-Wordly Wise lesson 1 Week 1
-Explode the Code 3 pg 1-10
-Handwriting without Tears pg 31-34 plus writing name each day
-Bob Jones Reading 1- day 1-5
-A Reason for Spelling A- day 1-3
-Horizons 1 Math: Lesson 1-5
-Algebra Readiness Grade 1: 3 lessons
-Critical Thinking Skills: 2 lessons
-2 Maze exercises

SHELBY

 Shelby learned how to create sentences this week.  She learned that it must have a subject and an action.  I had subject and action cards that she put together each day.  Some of them were telling sentences, some where commands and others were exclamations.  As an example one white card said. "The car" and then the yellow car said, "roared down the street."

-Reading Evaluation- scored above grade level
-Read "Keep the Lights Burning Abbie" and answered comprehension questions
-Bob Jones Press Reading Grade 2 and English Grade 2: Lessons 1-5
-Daily Language Review Grade 2 - Week 1
-Wordly Wise 2: Lesson 1- Exercise 1 &2
-SWO Spelling: List A 100% test
-Horizons 2 Cursive: Lesson 1-5
-Memory Work: Psalm 24:1
-Horizons Math 2: Lesson 1-5
-Algebra Readiness grade 2: 3 Lessons
-Critical Thinking Skills: 2 lessons

Both-

Listen to 2 chapters in "Ginger Pye" and answer comprehension questions
Daily Geography Skills Grade 1- Week 1-3 (map skills)
Story of the World Ancients Chapter 3- Early Writing
Apologia Astronomy Chapter 1- What is Astronomy?  What is in our Solar System?
United States Flag and Alabama for US Map work
Bob Jones Heritage Studies Grade 1 - Chapter 1 Oceans and Continents
Spanish Vocab (numbers 1-6), Book "Bigger/Mas Grande", Animal vocab
Art- create solar system with chalk pastels, create items out of circles, draw an animal (dinosaurs)

Music - Quarter Note, 4/4 time



 I plan on posting individually about these in the next few days. We created a solar system through art and sculpture this week.  We also wrote our name in cuneiform on cookie dough.  The kids LOVED this project.  In math we reviewed our Place Value Lane.  I took lots of photo's and will be updating this blog daily with fun non writing activities.