U week wrap up....

This week in our school we...

Learned the letter U (as in umbrella)

In Poetry we..
Started our new poem of the month!  The Vacant Lot, by Barbara Juster Esbensen from Swing Around The Sun.  I think we are both happy to be back to this old favorite poetry book of ours.  I know that Ava is delighted that we finally read The Song of the Apple blossom Fairies.  "A" is Ava's most favorite letter, "V" is her second.  (6 is her favorite number.  She's not that hard to figure out)

Our Theme for the week...
Was Birds, Nests, and Ducks.  Kind of a hodgepodge.  We read Our Nest, by Reeve Lindbergh.  This charming story illustrates how all living things are tucked into their nest, (from the mouse, and deer to the earth holding the oceans, universe holding the earth) and is perfect for bedtime.  The Little Duck, by Judy Dunn (I just found out they have a Little Goat in the series!) is a photographic tale that follows the life of a little duck from egg to an adult duck with a curl in his tail feathers.  All Together Now, by Anita Jeram may be a little too sweet for me, but my children love the story, and why wouldn't they?  Its a story about love.
This week our local homeschool group switch park days, to park mornings.  Perfectly timed with the triple digit weather.  We still haven't met many of the families, and I look forward to when we do.

This weekend we are taking a field trip to The Desert Botanical Gardens with our binoculars and this handy guide.   A lot of our migratory birds are leaving (or have left by) now, but the Phoenix air has lots of year round residence that keep our days (and nights) full of sound.  Ava hopes she finds a nest with eggs in it, as that would be "the most magical nest of all".  Wish us luck!


In Science we....
Talked about the distinguishing differences between plants and animals (The Plant and Animal Kingdoms).   We started with reviewing living, natural non living, and human made things.  Then we talked about how all things in the living (biological) category can be broken into two more categories, or kingdoms.  This was a very well loved lesson.  It amazes me how Dr. Nebel  finds so many ways to bring science to their level, with out dumbing things down.  (Plus, I made it super pretty)

In Math we...
~reenforced traditional names for tens
~partitioned 10 and 100
~wrote equations in the form of 10=5+5
~partitioned teens
~reviewed the term dozen
~learned that the word teen means one ten
~learned traditional names for 13 to 19

If it seems like we did a lot in math, its because we did.  Ava was so inspired and empowered by her ability to set her own pace these last few weeks with her letters, she decided she wanted to take the same initiative with math also.  Working together we figured that if she added a third lesson every week not only will she finish the whole book (not an original goal), but she will finish a week earlier than planned.  She can start summer break a week early!  She even made a little chart to mark her progress.  Wow this girl works hard when she wants to.


In Art Study...

We explored Interior of a Ropewalk by Charles Bird King.  Ava remarked that she liked their 'painting of a boat' that they have hanging in the factory.  I let her know (reading from the guide) that it's supposed to be a window looking out, and that's a boat on the outside of the factory.  "hmm", was all she replied.  After we had talked about the photo for a while Ava announced that she wishes she could visit a rope factory just like this one.  "Then we can find out if that is really a window".  Gotta love my confident little cynic.  I'm not sure if you can see it very well, its located in the foreground on the left.


This week was amazing.  We are getting so much done, and sometimes her drive seems so effortless.  I will be on the look out for signs that she is taking on to much.