It was definitely a summer week;) We played outside each morning and did little with school or housework until it got really hot outside and Mom limited the popsicle intake... LOL!!
It was nice to get a "break" and let school go for a couple of days! But I quickly realized that I was also letting the discipline go as well and by Wednesday I felt like I needed to purchase a referee shirt!!!
So summer isn't just going to be "letting go" :( We're going to have to work through some "not fun" habits that have crept back into our home... whining, not completing chores completely and not playing kindly with siblings. It was getting me down that these things are back....
but then I read some encouraging words somewhere saying that seeing "trouble spots" in your family, your thoughts, your words, etc, allows you the opportunity to FIX it! So were going into the fixing it full steam with Momma trying to see these things as character building, practicing manners and learning experiences and NOT just disobedience or forgetfulness :)
Bible
We are almost finished with the Bible storybook... it feels awesome to think that we actually completed a book until the end!! And it's especially sweet that it means we have been regularly reading through some of these greatest moments of Jesus' life and the start of the Church. We have all enjoyed our "Bible time".
And I finally settled on going through and memorizing the Lord's Prayer with the kids. I thought they already knew it but when I asked them to recite it, they didn't know it! So why not learn something so well-known and teach us all again about prayer;) Since the kids are starting to read more and more, we made bookmarks with the verses so they could practice on their own!!
Language Arts
So this is basically just reading for the summer;) Although I have three older kiddos who love to copy books or write their own stories... so there will be plenty of handwriting and "Mom, how to you spell?" as well!
And this week Anna wrote thank you notes for birthday gifts;)
Lydia, Chris and I SLACKed the beginning of the week. But Thursday and Friday we DID pull out OPG for some reading lessons. Chris completed 2 and Lydia did at least 3 (once she gets started it's hard to get her to stop)!!
Anna's reads this week : American Girls book: Changes for Samantha, A Lion to Guard Us by Bulla and found her re-reading Black Beauty (she loves that book)!
Math
So our journey with just doing math facts has begun... well mid-week;) We've decided to focus on math facts this summer since I now have 3 kiddos learning them and because when Anna was tested I saw our need to practice more. Let me first say that usually the kids can figure out all the addition/subtraction (and Anna multiplication/division) facts on their own.... but they can't do it fast! And usually resort to using counters, their fingers or a number line. I thought it was fine... but was convinced by the test and the test administrator that having the kids become sharp and confident with math facts now was one of the best things we could do with them to help them with math later on:)
We have lots of ways to practice them this summer!! Thankfully I already had most of these resources, I just haven't been disciplined enough for the kids to pull them out during the school year :( So let me share what we have and will be using;)
History
While studying about Napolean, we also look a little into the life of Beethoven. The kids colored a page, we listened to some pieces of Beethoven and the kids and I looked through a HUGE biography of him... mostly skimming major parts and reading the captions under the pictures.
I did find some fun composer websites for kids:
DSO Kids - Beethoven
Making Music Fun - Beethoven
They also lasted almost 20 minutes.... LOL!!... watching a documentary about Beethoven on Netflix. I like all the exposure they got to his pieces and some of the events/stories behind those pieces! I know I learned a ton!!
We worked on our maps of the world of Napolean, including his battles with England and the Lousianna Purchase. And played a review game of the chapter.
I think I mentioned the book Why Not, Lafayette by Jean Fritz last week! We finished it this week and I really recommend that book during this time period ! I've known the name Lafayette for many years, but the book really did bring him to life. So it you have studied the American Revolution, the French Revolution or even Napolean... find a copy of this book to see how everything fits together in the lifetime of this one unique character of world history!
Science
We did no formal science although I set out science books for us to use :(
One morning though the kids rescued a bird from the cats:/
The kittens were desperate to "play" with the little bird. And the kids were soo passionate about saving the bird. We talked about the fact that cats go after birds... that's the way our kitties were made.
I think they would have had a different reaction if we had found a dead bird that the kittens had gotten. But to have a little bird hopping around the yard and watching the cats bat at it brought on a totally different set of emotions and ideas.
Other
During some of our rainy afternoons we pulled out some other fun:)
Chris worked with the Lite Bright:)
Anna and I had bought a cross stitch set to learn to cross stitch after reading about samplers in Colonial America! It seemed like we could never find the time...
and to be honest, none of my natural talents are in sewing, crocheting, quilting or cross stitch. But we started though and we'll see how long it takes us this summer. And it's fun to have a project to complete with Anna;)
Linking up to Weekly Wrap-Up!
It was nice to get a "break" and let school go for a couple of days! But I quickly realized that I was also letting the discipline go as well and by Wednesday I felt like I needed to purchase a referee shirt!!!
So summer isn't just going to be "letting go" :( We're going to have to work through some "not fun" habits that have crept back into our home... whining, not completing chores completely and not playing kindly with siblings. It was getting me down that these things are back....
but then I read some encouraging words somewhere saying that seeing "trouble spots" in your family, your thoughts, your words, etc, allows you the opportunity to FIX it! So were going into the fixing it full steam with Momma trying to see these things as character building, practicing manners and learning experiences and NOT just disobedience or forgetfulness :)
Bible
We are almost finished with the Bible storybook... it feels awesome to think that we actually completed a book until the end!! And it's especially sweet that it means we have been regularly reading through some of these greatest moments of Jesus' life and the start of the Church. We have all enjoyed our "Bible time".
And I finally settled on going through and memorizing the Lord's Prayer with the kids. I thought they already knew it but when I asked them to recite it, they didn't know it! So why not learn something so well-known and teach us all again about prayer;) Since the kids are starting to read more and more, we made bookmarks with the verses so they could practice on their own!!
Language Arts
So this is basically just reading for the summer;) Although I have three older kiddos who love to copy books or write their own stories... so there will be plenty of handwriting and "Mom, how to you spell?" as well!
And this week Anna wrote thank you notes for birthday gifts;)
Lydia, Chris and I SLACKed the beginning of the week. But Thursday and Friday we DID pull out OPG for some reading lessons. Chris completed 2 and Lydia did at least 3 (once she gets started it's hard to get her to stop)!!
Anna's reads this week : American Girls book: Changes for Samantha, A Lion to Guard Us by Bulla and found her re-reading Black Beauty (she loves that book)!
Math
So our journey with just doing math facts has begun... well mid-week;) We've decided to focus on math facts this summer since I now have 3 kiddos learning them and because when Anna was tested I saw our need to practice more. Let me first say that usually the kids can figure out all the addition/subtraction (and Anna multiplication/division) facts on their own.... but they can't do it fast! And usually resort to using counters, their fingers or a number line. I thought it was fine... but was convinced by the test and the test administrator that having the kids become sharp and confident with math facts now was one of the best things we could do with them to help them with math later on:)
We have lots of ways to practice them this summer!! Thankfully I already had most of these resources, I just haven't been disciplined enough for the kids to pull them out during the school year :( So let me share what we have and will be using;)
- Addition/Subtraction BINGO game
- Wrap-Ups
- Flash cards from Saxon curriculum
- Mad minute sheets (add/subtract made by me, mult/division used from here)
- mathfactpractice.com
- xtraMath I saw this on the Well-Trained Mind Forum. It's a free program to help kids practice their facts and sends reports to the parents weekly! My kids like computer activities and this will be nice that it's online with no books/papers/manipulatives to mess with when we are in the thick of the move. The goal is for them to practice daily... so that is nice too... getting them in the habit of practicing! I will add that they are wanting to be fast, so I have been typing the answers for them... but it's good for me to see them at work and provide some encouragement :)
History
While studying about Napolean, we also look a little into the life of Beethoven. The kids colored a page, we listened to some pieces of Beethoven and the kids and I looked through a HUGE biography of him... mostly skimming major parts and reading the captions under the pictures.
I did find some fun composer websites for kids:
DSO Kids - Beethoven
Making Music Fun - Beethoven
They also lasted almost 20 minutes.... LOL!!... watching a documentary about Beethoven on Netflix. I like all the exposure they got to his pieces and some of the events/stories behind those pieces! I know I learned a ton!!
We worked on our maps of the world of Napolean, including his battles with England and the Lousianna Purchase. And played a review game of the chapter.
I think I mentioned the book Why Not, Lafayette by Jean Fritz last week! We finished it this week and I really recommend that book during this time period ! I've known the name Lafayette for many years, but the book really did bring him to life. So it you have studied the American Revolution, the French Revolution or even Napolean... find a copy of this book to see how everything fits together in the lifetime of this one unique character of world history!
Science
We did no formal science although I set out science books for us to use :( One morning though the kids rescued a bird from the cats:/
The kittens were desperate to "play" with the little bird. And the kids were soo passionate about saving the bird. We talked about the fact that cats go after birds... that's the way our kitties were made.
I think they would have had a different reaction if we had found a dead bird that the kittens had gotten. But to have a little bird hopping around the yard and watching the cats bat at it brought on a totally different set of emotions and ideas.
Other
During some of our rainy afternoons we pulled out some other fun:)
Chris worked with the Lite Bright:)
Anna and I had bought a cross stitch set to learn to cross stitch after reading about samplers in Colonial America! It seemed like we could never find the time...
and to be honest, none of my natural talents are in sewing, crocheting, quilting or cross stitch. But we started though and we'll see how long it takes us this summer. And it's fun to have a project to complete with Anna;)
3 comments:
Poor birdie. I'm glad the kids rescued him. I'm surprised he let Chris hold him though. That's cute!
That's a great idea to work on the math facts this Summer. We should do that too.
I love that Anna and you started the cross stitch. How fun!
Here's another math facts practice site: http://mathfactspro.com It uses the mouse/touchpad instead of the keyboard, students never see the wrong answer (so they don't accidentally remember seeing the wrong thing), it has jokes to make it a little more fun, and it adapts to the speed of the user, instead of always giving them three seconds. (some kids can count on their fingers faster than that!) I hope you like it. You have a great header and Title:)
Let Anna know I have a gift for her to help her with her cross stiching. I used to cross stitch and love doing sewing type projects. I'm not very good, but I have a lot of fun :)
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