Bringing Up the Rear with Week 37

This week we worked only on science and history, which is all we have left to finish up for the year.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our new, slower pace.  School feels a lot less like work, and a lot more like fun!  It makes me wonder if we really NEED to do all the subjects I have tentatively planned for 2nd grade.

Science:  We talked more about skin, we had fun learning about the digestive system, and we started talking about respiration.  We made a model of the digestive system and had fun decorating it:

Perhaps too much fun in some areas:

History:  We were introduced to the great teacher of ancient China, Confucius, and we played with Chinese tangrams.

  We also read about the life of Julius Caesar, and made a "Roman mosaic".

1st Grade: Week 36 Highlights

This was the last week of our full school schedule.  "Rupert" is so excited to be mostly done with the first grade, and is already asking when second grade will start.  We still have to finish our science and history studies, which will probably take about a month more.  After that, we'll celebrate with a little 1st grade open house party with the grandparents where we will have "Rupert's" projects and samples of his work on display.  Should be fun!  I'm also planning to put together a photo book of our 1st grade year, so he will have a book of memories and pictures of all his projects.  That way we won't have to keep the actual projects forever.  :-)


Phonics:  This boy has really taken off with reading!  This week he actually ditched his weekly monitoring of the garbage man in favor of READING!  I could. not. believe it!  He then declared himself the reading master!  When I sit down to read to him, he asks me if he can read to me first.  I've caught him reading along with me during our read aloud time.  And he is looking forward to taking a book to Grandma and Grandpa's house so he can read to them.  I'm not sure how this happened, but I hope it continues!

We officially love Beverly Cleary!  We have been enjoying the Ramona books for about a year now (we're on our 2nd time through them), and we were recently turned on to reading another book by Beverly Cleary, Socks (thanks to Writing With Ease, which we use for writing and copy work).  We finished reading that tonight, and are looking forward to starting The Mouse and the Motorcycle.  

Writing:  We finished up our writing curriculum this week, much to "Rupert's" delight.  I think copy work is his least favorite thing to do, but as I told him, not everything that is good for you is fun...so DEAL.  :-)

History:  This week we talked about ancient China and the Qin Empire.  "Rupert" also tried his hand at Chinese calligraphy.

Science:  We talked a little more about skin and learned about fingerprints.  We studied our own fingerprints to see which of the three main patterns each of our fingers had.

1st Grade: Week 35 Highlights

The biggest highlight of this week was our bird dissection.  I didn't know if "Rupert" would be upset or fascinated by this, but we gave it a try anyway.  Turns out he was not upset at all, and really liked learning about what was inside a bird!

The opened bird:

The brain:

The heart:

        

The eye:

Working the tendons to move the toes:

1st Grade: Week 34 Highlights

"Rupert's" play went very well!  He had 6 performances over the weekend and really loved it.  He's already talking about the next play which will start rehearsals in the summer.  He got some great experience with singing, dancing, and even did a little solo part.  He made lots of new friends, and we are both looking forward to working with everyone again this summer.

Phonics:  "Rupert" is still loving the Little Bear books.  I've actually caught him sneaking in some reading after bedtime.  LOVE that!

History:  We talked about ancient India this week and painted "Rupert's" nails like the ancient Indian men did.  This was actually done as a sign of manliness and strength, and to attract women.

We also tried an Indian dish this week, curried rice.  "Rupert" loved it!

Science:  This week we learned about blood.  We did a little project to show how much blood a baby, a child and an adult generally have.

 

"Rupert" made the signs himself, and I love how you can tell the adult is an adult because he is saying, "Go clean your room!"  LOL!

"Rupert" is on a crocheting rampage!  Ever since my friend's daughter taught him how to do the chain stitch, he has been chaining away like a madman.  He even took his chain to kung fu one day this week so he could work on it during break.  :-)

Speaking of kung fu, this week we sent our junior instructor off to the Air Force.  There was a nice good-bye party with all the students in the school on Tuesday.  Good-bye and good luck, Zach.  We are proud of you, and we will miss you!

Education.com

I just found this website where you can look up the stats on your local public schools.  I was just curious as to which school my son would be attending if we had chosen public school for him.  They come up well behind the state average in all subjects recorded.  It was quite shocking to see!  I am SO glad we are homeschooling!  It is sad to think about what he would be going through if he did attend that school, though...condemned to a life of not reaching his potential.  :-(

1st Grade: Week 33 Highlights

Phonics:  This week "Rupert" read through the book Little Bear and LOVED it!  I am so excited that he is reading books with more words on the page AND he's enjoying it!  Thank you so much for letting us borrow this book, Morgan!

Spelling:  We worked on "Rupert's" trouble words list this week.  There are only a couple words from the entire year that he still needs some practice on; head and said.  He's starting to get them.

Math:  "Rupert" finished his math workbook this week and is looking forward to a trip to the ice cream shop!

Science:  We talked about circulation and watched the Bill Nye video on the subject.  Science will continue a little longer than the rest of our subjects for this year because we're really taking our time and enjoying it.  Once we finish up the human body study, we'll do plants (which I guess we are already doing a bit of since we are planting our garden).

History:  This is another subject that will go longer than the rest.  This week we read about the Punic wars and Hannibal and his elephants.  I think once we are done with this coming busy weekend, we'll make elephant ears to go along with this chapter.  I don't want to feed "Rupert" a bunch of sugar right now and risk him being sick for his play.  I'll add pictures of our elephant ears once we make them.  :-)

Social:  Today we say good-bye to our children's librarian of 3 years.  She is starting a new chapter and a new adventure in Australia.  We will miss her terribly, and we wish her the best!  Good-bye, Sandy!!

This week was an intensive practice week for the play "Rupert" is in.  They practiced every day this week and they will perform this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  This has been a great experience for both of us, and it has been so great for me to see it all come together.

1st Grade: Week 32 Highlights

Spelling:  Spelling went really well this week.  "Rupert" got all his words right even when I tested him a day early.  I think I'm going to give him a break from spelling until we start 2nd grade.  We'll go over his trouble words, but we won't start on any new lists since he's already almost halfway through the 2nd grade spelling list.

History:  We read more about ancient Rome this week.  We learned about Roman gods, things that the Romans built, and Gladiators.  We enjoyed a fun little book called The Time Warp Trio: See You Later, Gladiator.  We also tested the audio version of Story of the World.  It seems to really work for us.  "Rupert" really enjoys listening to audio books in the car when we're out and about, so why not do our history studies in the car?  He seems to get a lot more out of it when it is read by someone other than his fumbling, bumbling, checking pronunciation mid-sentence mom.  :-)

Science:  We are learning about the heart and circulatory system.  We watched a great video, Bill Nye the Science Guy: Heart.  They actually showed a real human heart that was having bypass surgery.  Really cool!

Math:  I introduced "Rupert" to a subtraction challenge...borrowing.  I've only shown him 2 or 3 times in very short segments, but I think he's already catching on.


Learning When He's Supposed to be Playing:  We had a playdate this week with my friend's girls and one of her daughters taught "Rupert" how to crochet!  She taught him the chain stitch, and he made a chain about 8" long while we were there!  I was VERY impressed to learn that this 9-year-old girl also KNITS!  You go girl!!

Homemade Granola Bars ~Recipe 2

These are more chewy than the others I posted recently.

Ingredients:

2 1/2C.  Rolled oats
1/2C.  packed brown sugar
1/2C.  wheat germ
3/4t.  ground cinnamon
1C.  unbleached white flour
3/4C.  raisins
3/4t.  salt
1/2C.  honey
1  egg, beaten
1/2C.  oil (I actually used 3/4C applesauce instead)
2t.  vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease or spray 9x13 baking dish.
2.  In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt.  Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil (or applesauce), and vanilla.  Mix well and pat evenly into prepared pan.
3.Bake for 30 minutes until bars begin to turn golden at the edges.  Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm.

Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

I use this in casseroles and sauces just as I would store bought cream of chicken soup.  I love knowing what's in my soup and knowing that it is HEALTHY!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. chicken broth
1/2 t. poultry seasoning
1/4 t. onion powder (or a bit of diced onions)
1/4 t.  garlic powder (or diced garlic)
1/8 t. black pepper
1/4t.  sea salt (or to taste)
1/4 t. parsley
dash of paprika
1 1/2 C. milk
3/4 C. flour

In a medium saucepan, boil chicken broth, 1/2 cup of the milk, and the seasonings for a minute of two (longer if using fresh onions or garlic).

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and the flour.  Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.

I freeze this in 1-1.5 cup portions so I can just thaw it when I need a can of soup.  And I usually at least double the recipe so I can stock up and always have some on hand.

1st Grade: Week 31 Highlights

Just a couple of "highlights" this week:

We started learning about Rome this week.  I read the story of Romulus and Remus to him, and he told it back to me as "Romulus and Regis".  Has he been spending too much time with his Regis Philbin loving grandma?

We also made our own fasces, the Roman symbol of power.

The other highlight of this week was "Rupert's" renewed interest in cursive.  He's been working in his workbook a bit, but mostly he has just been going nuts writing his name in cursive.  I'm finding papers everywhere with his cursive name written on them.  He even COVERED a sheet of paper in his newfound script while we were driving in the car the other day.  I love it!

We had several social opportunities this week, of course, including:  Play practice, kung fu, 2 playdates, story time, and art day.

Homemade Granola

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me (thanks, Angie!!), and my family is loving it!  We make granola, fruit and yogurt parfaits with this and also just eat it as a cold cereal.  This is so good, I don't think I'll ever need to buy packaged cereal again!

3 C.  rolled oats
1/2 C. chopped almonds
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1/4 C. pumpkin seeds
1/2 C. flaked coconut (unsweetened)
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt (unless you use salted butter, then omit)
4 T. butter or oil
1/3 C. honey
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 C. dried cranberries
1/2 C. dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 325

Stir together oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, salt, and cinnamon.

In a small saucepan melt butter (or oil) with honey over low heat, stirring.  Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and stir until well combined.

On a large baking sheet, spread granola into a thin layer.  Bake, stirring every 5 minutes, until brown and crisp, about 20 minutes.  Do not overcook; it will crisp more once cool.

Let cool, then stir in dried fruit.

Any combination of unsalted nuts/seeds/dried fruit would taste great.  Just use the same proportions.

***I did alter this recipe since I didn't have all these things on hand.  I made mine with almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins and dried dates.  I didn't use coconut (I don't like it), and it came out fine.  Next time around I may try coconut oil instead of the butter.  I think my family would enjoy that.  And I can't wait to try this with other dried fruits like raspberries, strawberries and apples!!

Homemade Granola Bars ~Recipe 1

I liked the way these came out, so I thought I'd post the recipe.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 C.  rolled oats
1/2 C.  wheat germ
1/2 C.  sunflower seeds
1/2 C.  almonds, crushed
1/2 C.  peanuts, crushed
1/3 C.  brown sugar
1/2 C.  honey
4 T.  butter
2 t.  vanilla extract
1/4 t.  sea salt
dried fruit (a couple handfuls)

Crush the nuts (I used my Pampered Chef Food Chopper).  Then, mix the nuts, oats, wheat germ and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides.  Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so they don't burn.

Line a 13"x11" baking dish with waxed paper and lightly spray with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

Mix everything really well in a large bowl (including the dried fruit).

Dump mixture into your prepared dish, and spread evenly.  Cover the mixture with another sheet of waxed paper and press mixture firmly into the dish so it is nice and compacted and won't fall apart when you cut your bars.

Let it cool completely, pull the mixture out of the dish, flip it onto a cutting board, remove all waxed paper, and cut into bars with a large knife.

I store these in the refrigerator or they can also be frozen.

1st Grade: Week 30 Highlights

Ahhhh...spring break was so nice, and a little preview of our summer break to come.  I have toyed with the idea of year-round schooling, but I want a long break, gosh darn it!  I need that extra time to just relax, get geared up for the next year of school, plan, research, and do all the fun activities that come with summer.  I can't wait to see what this summer will bring.  I am excited to let "Rupert" run wild and follow his interests as far as he wants to go.  I'm ready for a summer adventure!

BUT...

not for another (roughly) six weeks.

Grammar:  This week "Rupert" finished his first grade grammar curriculum.  I've decided not to move on to second grade grammar until we officially start second grade.  We're at a good stopping point, and I just plan to intermittently review what we've learned this year through the summer so he'll be ready to move right into second grade grammar when we start back up in the fall.

As we finish first grade grammar, we are going back through his memory work and I am letting him illustrate each of the poems he has memorized.  This is my all-time favorite so far.  He came up with this idea all on his own!  LOVE it!!

Spelling:  This list is giving "Rupert" quite the hard time.  We started it before spring break, and we will continue working on it next week.  Said, head, been, come, some...these crazy 4-letter words are killers!

Math:  I feel really good about where "Rupert" is in the math department.  He is a master of addition, he is now tackling subtraction, and getting a better handle on it every day, and he's been "working" on skip counting.  It has been fun and easy with the skip counting songs, so I can hardly call it work.  He is also understanding other math concepts like time, money and fractions just by living life.  The other day I commented on how I had just spent $28 for this week's groceries and "Rupert" said, "That's almost 3,000 CENTS!  Not that good of a deal!  Well, 200 more cents and it would be 3,000."  I was dumbfounded!  How did he come up with this??  When I asked him, I got a very Uncle Erik response, "Yeah....everyone knows THAT!"

History:  We were introduced to the people of the ancient Americas, the Nazca drawings, and the heads of Olmec.  "Rupert" made his own Nazca drawings using white crayon on white paper.  Then we painted over it with watercolor to reveal the image.

ASL:  We learned the signs for the days of the week and ordinal numbers through "seventh".

Getting Creative

I was telling my brother about my homemade English muffins this weekend, and he suggested putting raisins in it. Why hadn't I thought of that?  So today I thought I'd give it a try.  I just used the original recipe, and then threw in some raisins and cinnamon and I'm so excited to report that they came out really well!  I learned to lower the heat while they're cooking in the pan, though, so the raisins don't burn.

Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

"Rupert" found this recipe in the cookbook he got for Christmas.  We whipped it up today and loved it so much, I thought I should share it.  It's super easy, and super yummy!

1C vanilla yogurt
1/2C powdered sugar
1/4C peanut butter

Mix it all together and have at it.  We loved dipping apples in it, and as you can see, "Rupert" couldn't keep his hands off of it long enough for me to even take a picture.

Homemade Wheat Thins

I got this recipe over at Kitchen Stewardship and gave it a try this weekend.  They came out pretty good, but I think next time I'll try to get them rolled out even thinner.  I think they'll be better that way.  The recipe and some great pictures are on her site, so enjoy!  Here's a photo of mine, too.

Inspired

Seeing the book I made in the 3rd grade not only inspired "Rupert" to make his own book, but also to use the same type of writing I had used in mine...cursive.  All on his own, he got out his cursive practice book and went to work.  After doing a few practice pages, he decided it would be easier to just print, and that is what he is doing.  He is currently writing chapter two of his own book!  :-)

Homemade English Muffins!

I am not a bread master, but I am thankful to know someone who is.  I've adopted JoAnn over at Homeschool Distractions as my resident bread expert.  :-)  She found a recipe for English muffins that her family loved, so I decided to give them a try, and let me tell you...they. are. GOOD!  We used them for last night's cobb sandwiches, and then this morning for breakfast.  I made them a bit too thick, but I'll fix that next time.  Thanks for sharing this, JoAnn!!

Here's the dough recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

Resurrection Lapbook

I just found this Resurrection lapbook this morning and I love it!  They have a little video showing each component of the lapbook and all the links to print everything out.  I just took what I liked and left what I didn't think "Rupert" would be interested in.  I'm also adding a couple more Bible verses to copy:

"He is not here; he has risen just as he said." ~Matthew 28:6
and
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:13

I'm currently getting it all set up for "Rupert" so he can just do the fun little activities and coloring and not have to worry about cutting everything out.

It's funny how the learning doesn't stop just because we're on spring break.  It just has a different flavor.  :-)

Photos of our lapbook:

We Made a Book!

My mom recently brought over a box of stuff I had made in school.  Some of this stuff was from kindergarten!  As "Rupert" and I went through it, we came across a book I had made in the 3rd grade.  The teacher had constructed the book and I had written my own story and drawn my own illustrations in it.  Immediately, "Rupert" asked if we could make one for him.  What a fun idea!  I went out and bought some Con-Tact paper and we were ready to create!

We used:

1. The cardboard from a large pizza box
2. A few of our handwriting pages
3. A needle and thread
4. Rubber Cement
5. Con-Tact paper

First, we folded the handwriting paper in half and stitched it down the center so it would stay together firmly.  I decided to do this because the book I had made as a child was starting to fall apart, and I wanted this one to be stronger.

Then, we cut out two rectangles a bit larger than the folded paper.  These were to be the cover.  We set these side by side on the contact paper and wrapped it around them, and the cover was made!

Then we just glued the pages into the inside covers of the book and TA-DA!!  Our own book.

I have to say...I have a new appreciation for my 3rd grade teacher who made these books for 30 students.  I can't imagine making 30 of these at once!  One is cool.  30 doesn't sound so fun.  So, thank you, Mrs. Wolkenhauer!!