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!!

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!!

Hooray For Books on Tape!!

We have been enjoying listening to books on tape while we are in the car. G has been really interested in the stories and seems to follow them quite well now. We have recently listened to The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, and Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. As soon as we finished listening to each of these stories, G would shout, "Do it again!" So, I've let him listen to them again in his room at bedtime. He loves them so much that he actually stays awake for 2-3 hours after going to bed, just so he can listen to his stories. I am so excited that he is enjoying the books on tape so much!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...I LOVE our library!!!

Dumbing Down Our Kids

I thought I'd mention the book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or Add by Charles J. Sykes. It was definitely an eye opener for me, and discussed many thought-provoking issues regarding our public school system. I definitely recommend getting your hands on a copy of this book!

How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World

This week's Five in a Row book was How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. It was a fun book about traveling to several different world locations to gather ingredients for baking an apple pie. Some of the activities we did to go along with the story were:

1. We looked at a book about Italy, introduced G to some of the major Italian landmarks, and found Italy on the world map.

2. We did the same for France and then built our own Eiffel towers out of popsicle sticks. Daddy was the perfect leader for this project!

3. We found Sri Lanka on the world map.

4. We looked at a book about Jamaica (paying special attention to pictures of sugar cane plants).

5. We found Vermont on the US map.

6. We read a great science book called How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro.

7. We did a science project: Evaporating the water out of salt water and finding out what was left (salt crystals). G even enjoyed a taste test.
8. We made an apple pie and discussed measurements and fractions as we prepared the pie for baking.

This Week's Theme: Cranberry Thanksgiving

Our Five in a Row book this week was Cranberry Thanksgiving by Harry Devlin. It was a fun holiday book with lots of great activities to go along. Some of the activities we did this week to go with the story were:

1) We tried fresh, whole cranberries and dried cranberries for a snack.

2) We talked about nicknames.

3) Our Bible verse for the week was "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 It went perfectly with the way the grandmother in the story judges Mr. Whiskers by the way he looks.

4) One of the illustrations is done in silhouette, so we talked about what a silhouette is and made

our own silhouettes using a bright light and G's easel paper. We also took a photo using the

silhouette technique.

5) For science, we did a project to find out how an alkaline ingredient like baking soda would react with an acidic ingredient like yogurt, lemon juice or vinegar. We found that it makes bubbles of carbon dioxide, and that's what makes a cake rise when baking.

6) We made Grandmother's famous Cranberry Bread. The recipe was at the end of the book.

Piano

Today was the first day of the 2nd quarter of kindergarten. I decided to add piano to our studies and found this cute little book for children ages 2-6. It's for the absolute beginner and I expect G will get two things out of it:

1. He will have fun with it since he will be playing songs he knows within a short amount of time.

2. He will learn the letter names of the white piano keys.

He's excited about starting piano, and so far he loves his new book!

James and the Giant Peach

We began doing read aloud books last year, I believe. We kicked it off with Charlotte's Web. Since then we have read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chocolate Fever, The Chocolate Touch (do you see the theme here?), How to Eat Fried Worms (ok, end of theme), and Alice in Wonderland. We are now reading James and the Giant Peach, and G is LOVING it! It's so much fun to read to a child who bursts into laughter with each silly thing that is said. G is constantly begging for another chapter. He never wants to stop! It is so great!

A New Attitude

The past week has been a great one! It's like I've had a revelation, a new breakthrough in my struggle with infertility. I feel great about my family as it is. Reading these books on parenting only children has really given me a new perspective and a much needed attitude adjustment. I'm so happy with our little family the way we are and the only way I want it to change is if it is God's will. I'm feeling contentedness wash over me and it's a great feeling. I'm looking forward to using my mental energy to build myself and others up instead of dwelling on what I can not do. I want to invest that energy into my marriage and my role as a mother.

I've been reading Parenting an Only Child: The Joys and Challenges of Raising Your One and Only by Susan Newman and The Only Child: Being One, Loving One, Understanding One, Raising One by Darrell Sifford.