1st Grade: Week 10 Highlights

I'm a little late, so I'll go ahead and post last week's highlights even though I don't have the picture to go with it yet.

Phonics & Writing: "Rupert" got a letter from his pen pal this week, and, for the first time, he was able to read the entire thing all by himself!! It is so exciting to see him reaching these milestones and really starting to get (and like) this reading thing. We used one of our writing days to write a letter back to his friend. "Rupert" is starting to remember to use spaces between words. That is something that it is taking a while for him to get.

Math: We started learning double digit addition this week. I think we'll hang out here for a while before going on to carrying.

Science: We talked about Dolphins this week and did an experiment about condensation.

History: We talked about the Hammurabi Code. We also decided to make an Egyptian costume. "Rupert" loves costumes and this was no exception. He made the bracelets out of toilet paper tubes and paint, and I made the kilt and belt out of some old sheets, and even though I'm not much in the sewing department, it came out cute, and it was fun! Here he is walking like an Egyptian. :-)

Spelling: This week's words were common words in books, but harder to spell than the previous words we've had. He got tripped up on "are", "was", "of" and "to". Oddly enough, the first time I asked him to spell "to", he spelled it T-W-O. I never would have thought that out of all the possible options, he'd come up with the most difficult spelling of the word.

1st Grade: Week 9 Highlights

Bible and History went together this week as we read about God's promise of a son to Abraham. We followed Abraham's journey from his birthplace in Ur to Haran, then later, on to Canaan on the map. We also read about the life of Joseph and how God used him to help the people of Egypt and surrounding areas.

Writing: We spent our writing time on birthday thank you notes this week. "Rupert" also enjoyed drawing pictures for his friends on the back of each note.

Math: I've decided to move along in math even though "Rupert" hasn't memorized the addition facts we have done to date. For the next couple of weeks, we'll loosely review addition, then we'll move on. I'm getting more relaxed with the curriculum, and not following it to a T. I think this is better for his individual learning style.

Science: This week we studied skunks and rabbits. "Rupert" especially liked that rabbits have their own version of recycling (eating their droppings until they come out hard and dry and have no nutrition left in them), and that their babies are called "kittens".

ASL: We learned the signs for several fruits and vegetables and for the colors of the rainbow.

Spelling: I gave "Rupert" 2 spelling lists this week, and there was just one word that he needed practice on. The spelling words will be getting harder soon.

And here is this week's Chicken Mummy photo update:

Spelling Games

Dana at School for Us posted this on her blog and I think we'll give it a try next week. Spelling City has all kinds of games you can play with your spelling words. It looks like something "Rupert" might enjoy. Thanks for the tip, Dana!

1st Grade: Week 8 Highlights

We took this week a little easier than usual because we had a lot to do to prepare for "Rupert's" birthday party. "Rupert" wanted to make his own pinata this year instead of buying one, and we managed to finish our masterpiece in time for the party on Thursday. It worked perfectly!

Science: We studied kangaroos and beavers this week. Oooh, that reminds me: we still need to watch the video on beavers that I got from the library.

ASL: We learned the ASL alphabet and reviewed counting to 10. "Rupert" even taught it to his grandma and practiced it with his cousin.

History: This is the subject we dropped this week. We'll pick it back up next week when we have more time and attention for it. We did change the "natron" salt on our chicken mummy though. Here's a peek at what he looks like this week.

Grammar: "Rupert" is currently memorizing his 3rd poem. We are also continuing to learn about nouns and proper nouns. We are moving fairly slowly through this but he enjoys it because the lessons are quick and easy.

Math: I'm trying to decide what to do for math. "Rupert" knows how to add single digits. The problem is that he gets his answers by counting. He almost always gets the correct answers, but he doesn't have his addition facts down cold. I'm not sure if I should keep him here until he learns them (and risk math boredom, which he is already showing signs of), or move on and experiment with the next concept. He loves math, and I don't want to kill that by drilling him to death. Still thinking on this one...

Kung Fu: "Rupert" learned the last half of his new form this week, and it looked so cool, I had him teach it to me. I can't wait until we can take lessons together!

Phonics: We've started working with the silent e. We've been here before, but when we started first grade, I decided to back up and start with quite a bit of review. I think this has been beneficial to him, helping him to gain more confidence in reading.

Music: We finally got a piano back in the house last weekend, thanks to a wonderful friend of mine! I wasn't the only one to be excited about this. "Rupert" loves playing with the piano, and has been really impressed with my playing. For now, I am just answering his questions and teaching little tidbits. It will be interesting to see if this excitement for the piano will last or if it is just the newness of it that he loves. It sure is fun to watch him learn and get excited about it though. :-)

1st Grade: Week 7 Highlights

This week's highlight was definitely our trip to the zoo! We've been studying animals in science and decided to take a field trip to the zoo. It was great to see that "Rupert" had retained some of the things he had learned about the animals we have studied so far. As we looked at the hippos, giraffes and zebras, he shared interesting facts with his grandma, who went with us.

Kung Fu Tourney

"Rupert" competed in his 2nd martial arts tournament yesterday. He did a great job! We are so proud of him for getting up there and performing for the judges. It is such a great experience for him. He competed in empty hand forms, weapons forms, and sparring in which he took 4th place. He has only been sparring in class for about 4 months, and it is amazing to see his improvement as he gets more practice.

Several kids from his Kung Fu school competed in this tournament and it was so great to see them cheering each other on. His school, as a whole, did amazingly well and took home several trophies and medals. I have to say, after watching these kids for several months, I am impressed with who they are not only as martial artists, but as people. These are some of the nicest kids I have met and I am happy that "Rupert" has friends of all ages with such great character. They have accepted him with open arms and have been both friends and role models to him. We are very blessed to have met these kids and their families.

1st Grade: Week 6 Highlights

Phonics!!! (notice the exclamation points): Rupert informed me that he did not like phonics because it was too EASY. Well, then, let's just move right along at record speed! We zipped through digraphs on Monday and then for the rest of the week we read sections from McGuffey's Eclectic Primer. At first he didn't seem too interested, but then my phone rang. As I was on the phone I faintly heard him jabbering to himself. When I turned around, I realized that he was not just jabbering, he was READING the book to himself! He was not getting frustrated like he does when I supervise, he was just happily reading. I think his reading confidence is building because I am catching him reading little things here and there and EVERYWHERE!! Yay!

Science: We did a project to see how the fur on the bottom of polar bears' feet helps them to keep from sliding on the ice.

History: Past project updates: We have flooded our model of the Nile River three times now and it is looking great! I wish our back yard looked this good!

Here's the photo update on our Chicken Pharaoh.

This week we also built a pyramid out of sugar cubes:

Math: We used the drill section on www.mathusee.com . It's a quick and easy way to practice what we've been learning.

Kung Fu: We've been doing lots of practice for the tournament, which is this Saturday. He will do an empty hand form, a weapons form and sparring. It should be a fun time!