Weekly Wrap Up #5

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Our poem of the week, Seven Black Birds in a Tree, is one of my favorites in the book.  The last line makes reference to "a secret that's never been told".  Cyrus really really wants me to tell him what the secret is, and I wish I could.  We decided that our poem of the month will be acted out for Matt next week.  What a treat!  Our "silly poem" this week was a version of "Happy and you Know it" that included the emotions sad, tired, mad as well as happy.  For our activity we drew faces expressing emotions.

In Social Studies....
We spent time talking about the exciting things you can find all over the world.  We used photo cards of major landmarks and talked a little about who made them and why, then found their location on the maps.

In the Kitchen..
We made muffins!  Using box mixes from Trader Joe's we made a few batches of Pumpkin Muffins, and Gingerbread Muffins.   These delicious little beauties were wrapped up and frozen to be served at Ava's birthday party.  She loved being able to help prepare the food for her own party.

My favorite part was when they showed me their finished tray.  "Look how we did mama!  I was so worried they were going to be messy, but the turned out really neat and pretty"

In Music...
We further discussed emotions in music.  Music can make you feel things you didn't expect, and it can also help you process feelings.  Sol proved a very admirable distraction to this exercise, but we still had fun.

In Art..
We didn't actually get to our official project this week, which is unfortunate because it's a great idea.  We did spend a lot of time outside, decorated the house for Halloween, and did tons of baking for her party! (more on that later)

In Art Study..

We explored Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh.  Ava decided that this looks like "underwater land"  with the "underwater moon, underwater stars, and seaweed trees."  She said that she really "likes the mermaid land, with the sea fairy stars."  I think sometime she says things just to get to me, but maybe she was being sincere.  Either way, she makes me smile.

In Science We..
Rolled our social studies work of exploring the world into our science lessons.  While social studies focused more on the "things" found around the world, the science time was spent talking about the  major landforms and biomes on earth.

In Math We... 

Are now a few weeks into book Level B.  I have read that some families found the transition between levels A and B a little awkward.  I'm finding that I really enjoy the balance of review and new material so far.  I feel like I'm giving Ava time to strengthen confidence in her mathematical skills while still providing a solid forward momentum.

~Make squares and other rectangles from tiles
~Understand the commutative property
~Learn that one thousand is 10 hundreds
~To read thousands
~To review ab, abb, and abc paterns

In Math games Ava requested that we made more Math-Story-Art.  So I made up a silly Fall Festival story and fun was had by all.

 

 

These last few weeks have been very exciting.  

There is so much going o behind the scenes, 

our future plans have been on a roller coaster of change

It's just when I think that I cant possibly focus on homeschool that I find I need these moments the most.

Here's to next week.

Whatever it may hold.

Pumpkin Patch

 

~Petting Zoo

~Hay Bale Maze

~Pumpkin Field

~60 Pounds of Pumpkins

A really good day.

Good Clean Fun

Sometimes

A

Little

Mudslinging 

Is

Just

 Good

Clean

 Fun.

Little lambs

A
Three day old lamb takes a few minutes to turn around.
I stand there talking pictures saying
Awwwww.
Because everything a three day old lamb does is just super cute.

I'm sure the mother cared more than she was letting on.

Gratitude Mondays...

What I am loving today...

~A great weekend with family...

~My babies had the opportunity to march (ride) in the Tucson Pride Parade...
(they passed out necklaces and felt very important!)

~A very successful trip to the pumpkin patch...
(more on that later)

~A little girl who dreams big...
(and tells everyone about her ballerina goals)

~A little boy who discovered tree magic...
(the glitter he found on his hands after rubbing a leaf.
This was a HUGE deal to my babies.
They didn't seem to make the connection to the spray glitter that Cyrus had in his hair)

~A baby that loves to laugh...
(he starts his own games, and then cracks himself up)

~A partner who makes me laugh...
(probably something to do with his irresistible giggle)

~A season of change...
(its quite a ride, even if you don't know the destination)

Weekly Wrap Up #4

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Our poem of the week was October, from A Journey Through Time.  We started a new poem of the month, On Halloween, by Aileen Fisher.  My children think this short poem is hilarious.  Our narration activity this week was Elephant for Sale! by Maurice Poe.  (Drawing elephants is challenging for some, and spelling elephant is challenging for me.)

In Social Studies...
We talked a lot about the earth.   Reinforcing the concepts that we've recently covered in science, we looked for land features in satellite images, on the globe, and on our wall map.

In the Kitchen.. 
This week we made flat bread rolls from The Kindergarten Snack book.  Everyone got to get involved with this project.  We served the warm flat rolls for dinner with peanut butter, honey, and apple slices.

In Music...
We played Scribble Music.  It was a lot of fun.  Cyrus didn't like being asked to close his eyes during this project, so he opted only to play once.  Ava wanted to create scribble music in a variety of shades, and played many times.  They look forward to  "music class" all week.  I'm really happy that we decided to add this to our schedule.  It's required minimum effort, and everyone has had a blast with it.

In Art...

We played outside a lot this week.  In Arizona we're getting our first taste of temperate weather that lasts all afternoon.  Every chance my children had they went outside.  We did take some time to make these adorable fall blessings.

In Art Study..

We explored The Oregon Trail, by Albert Bierstadt.  When we sat down together to look at this painting, and talk about it Ava was pretty tired.  I wonder how much of her opinion was influenced by fatigue.   Ava thought that this painting "...looks like a dinosaur land.  The picture seems wild.  I don't really like it"   We did get out magnifying glasses to notice all the details in different areas of the painting, and she really liked that.


In Science We..

Went on a nature walk to collect tree specimens.   We are currently pressing and drying our leaves from the neighborhood trees.  We've done a little identifying using a field guide, but we are finding that to be very challenging.  Maybe we'll stick to pressing and mounting?


In Math We...   
~learned the term quadrilateral
~found similarity between adding ones and adding tens
~found similarity between partitioning ones and tens
~reviewed hundreds
~reviewed rectangle is a special quadrilateral
~reviewed that a square is a special rectangle
~partition hundreds
~read and write hundreds
~form new rectangles from existing rectangles
~played  Halloween Math Party

 

This has been a looong week.  

I've not been sleeping well, 

and its shows up in my patience and enthusiasm.  

Thankfully the weather couldn't have been better, 

  and my children didn't have to face the consequences of a cranky mother!
Next week

More Sleep is my theme.

Wish me luck!!

5 years ago

I'm very very tired today.  The kind of tired that doesn't want to find my camera, load the photos and write an original blog post.  Instead I'll tell a story.  A true story.

Around 5 years ago Ava was freshly two.  She was a very clever little girl, she still is today.  I set her up with a plate of paint, and some paper while I laid my very pregnant self down to rest on the couch.  A few quiet minutes later Ava calls to me.

"Mama?  Could you bring me a warm wet washcloth?"

She was a very eloquent freshly two year old girl with a lisp that was so insanely cute.

"In a few minutes, Ava"  I said, in hopes to lay for a little longer.

"Mama?  I think I have just a little bit of paint in my eye."

"Alright Ava, let me help you."

Expecting just a little bit of paint.....

"I painted my face mama!"


Yes she did.

Autumnal Blessings...

This week we made Autumn blessing cards to use before meals.  I chose a traditional poem that I really like, and my children each wrote something new.  We decorated the card stock using our new favorites, the water color crayons.

Fall
Fall is when the leaves turn red, golden, orange, and brown.
When the weather turns cold
When the trees lose their leaves
When the days grow shorter, nights grow longer.
It's harvest season.
Blessings on our family.

By 
Ava Rana
almost seven

Seasons of the Year

Autumn in Orange

Summer is Yellow

Spring in Green

Winter is White.

Thank you for the seasons.

By

Cyrus Rana

age four and a half.

Oh my goodness I love them.

Her Eyes

And she's turning seven in exactly two weeks.

Gratitude Monday

Here's what I'm loving today...


~Early birthday celebrations...
(I'm not really accepting that Ava's turning seven)

~A little girl who's missing her two top teeth...
(possibly the cutest smile I've ever seen)

~A baby who tries to tell "Knock Knock" jokes...
(I SWEAR he said "knock knock".
The facts that he doesn't talk yet, and he's only 15 months old are minor details)

~A little boy who maybe still doesn't quite get the interrupting cow knock knock joke...
(somedays he seems to get it, but others... probably not)

~A partner who distracts me..
(all in good ways)

~Waffle breakfasts with my family..
(not my ultimate breakfast food, be definitely my ultimate breakfast moments)

~Getting ready for my little girl's 7th birthday party...
(just a few weeks now!)

~Escaping it all in a book!


Here's to a new week! 
Maybe this is the week that I get my act together and everything flows smoothly?
Maybe.