Friday, January 18, 2013

What We Learned 14-18 Jan 2013

This week has gone a bit smoother (no impromptu ski trips), but we still have a lot to learn. Being structured and scheduled is tough. It takes a lot of planning on my part, and a lot of discipline on everyone's part to actually get everything done.

I am so glad we are starting with a small amount of work. Otherwise we would have thrown in the towel last week.

So, this is how our week looked.

Monday: The Plan
Math- Workbook, Science- Rock Candy, Reading- Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl (to read throughout the week).

Reality:
I think we may have started with a bit of Yoga, but I can't remember for sure. Emma thinks we did some yoga as well, but it could be we are thinking of last week. Oh well.

Math: Emma did about 11 pages in her math workbook. The workbook is way to easy for her, but I thought it might be a good place to start so she gets in the habit of doing a workbook. Plus, it builds her confidence in math and reading as she is able to read most of the instructions herself.

Rock Candy, Day 1
Rock Candy- Day 1

Emma did all the measuring and mixing for this. She followed the directions correctly, but for some reason it didn't work out like I had envisioned. There are no crystals forming on the stick (as of day 3). We will try again at a different time. 

Reading
Reading Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl
(There is a video here if you want to listen)

So, these books that I keep picking out, thinking they will last the month, or the week, don't. After Emma whipped through the book last week (that I thought would last the month), I picked up a different book thinking it would at least last the week. 

Not so much. She finished it in one sitting. Yeah for her! More work for me (not that I am really complaining, I LOVE listening to her confident reading). 

We were both in the mood to snuggle on the big cozy chair, so we got some more school work done.

Time-Line and Lipizzaners (2)
Adding stickers to our time-line. This is Leonardo da Vinci

After learning about Lipizzaners for the past 2 weeks, as well as some other interesting events that happened during the time frame of the book, I thought rereading Maestoso Petra would be fun.

Time-Line and Lipizzaners (3)
Rereading Maestoso Petra while drawing a Lipizzaner

Time-Line and Lipizzaners (6)
Using our Austria Travel Guide to look up places mentioned in Maestoso Petra.
(I am pointing at the location of the Spanish Riding School)

As if we hadn't done enough, Monday's are the homeschool meet-up at the base gym. After lunch, we headed to base. Emma had a great time playing with some new friends. 

Making Friends (3)
This picture is horrible, but this way I don't have to worry about blurring out anyone's faces :0)

That was a busy Monday! 

Tuesday: The Plan
Writing- Letters to friends/family, Art- Read about da Vinci's inventions; sketch an invention of our own, Music- Read more about Mozart, listen to CD's

Reality:
I felt kinda crappy on Tuesday, but we did manage to get the letters done. The art and music didn't happen though, so we will probably move it to Thursday.

Wednesday: The Plan
Math- Workbook, Reading- Continue with Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl

Reality:
We had an inter-library loan book that was due, so after doing a little Zumba

Zumba
Booty Circles- Emma's favorite

we ate breakfast then hopped on the bus for the post office (to mail out the letters) and library.

Going to the Library (3)
Waiting for the bus is always fun for Emma

Going to the Library (5)
As is riding the bus

Going to the Library
Petting "Nibbles" the dinosaur on the way to the post office.

Yes, I forgot to take pictures while at the library. We were too busy looking at books. 

Once home, Emma read me a book (Dino School: Meet Teddy Rex) while I made lunch. After eating, 

Lunch (2)
Turkey lettuce wraps and veggies in homemade ranch

we got to work. 

Landforms and Bodies fo Water (3)
Adding a few more touches to the Lippizaner Horse Geography Sheet

Landforms and Bodies fo Water
Learning about land forms and bodies of water 

After that we were both pretty much done. I read her "The Bernstein Bears Lend a Helping Hand," then it was off to do our own things (Emma listening to audio books and playing with horses, me on the computer).

Thursday: The Plan
History- Talk about WWII & work with timeline, Geography- Learn about landforms

Reality:
We started our day with more Zumba. The moves are starting to get harder now, so it's a bit frustrating for her, but she did a good job and stuck with it today. I think tomorrow will be yoga.

Thur 17Jan13 (2)

History: We sort of did this last week, so we skipped it today. Geography: We did this yesterday. Oops!

Thur 17Jan13 (3)
Emma got two letters over the weekend from new pen pals, so she wrote letters back to them today.

We pulled out Emma's portfolio to add some finished work to it and discovered some undone worksheets that Emma wanted to work on.

Thur 17Jan13
Secret messages and word families

Color Theory (2)
Color Theory Worksheet

Emma's Photos- School Bookcase
Emma Taking Photos- School Shelf

Friday: The Plan
Math- Workbook, Writing- Continue with monthly story, Reading- Finish up Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl

Reality:
We got up early to take Da into work so that we could have the car today. Why did we need the car today?

Horse Lessons- 18Jan13 (2)
Horse Lessons!!!

We also did some schoolwork this morning. A few math sheets, work in her composition book (transcribing her monthly story), and she read a mini book. All while I did dishes. 

I knew we needed to run to the library after horse lessons, so we went through our HUGE stash of library books to take back the ones we were done with. We somehow missed one, so we sat down to read it. 

Math Curse
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

This book is awesome! We decided to keep it for a few more days so that we can finish it. 

Well, that was our week! It went well. I think we may get the hang of this eventually. 'Course by then we will probably be on something totally different. I am thinking of doing a modified version of workboxes. You can sort of see our super simple set up on our school shelf. The top row is a stack of stuff for each day (M-F). 

Anyway, I will probably keep up with the weekly recaps as it helps me remember what we have done (and forces me to remember to take more pictures). Hope someone finds them helpful!

Oh, I almost forgot! We found a movie that fit in nicely with our Lipizzaner theme for the month.

Miracle of the White Stallions
Miracle of the White Stallions

This movie, by Disney, was originally released in 1963. It tells the story of the Spanish Riding School's escape from Vienna at the end of WWII. A long movie (about 2 hours) and slow in parts, Emma really enjoyed it. It expanded her knowledge of WWII a tiny bit (she has now heard of Hitler and Nazis) while also giving her a glimpse of what it was like for the Lipizzaner stallions during the war. 

Now I'm done!

1 comment:

Des said...

Looks like you had a busy yet fun week.