Thursday, April 2, 2009

How far we have come...

DS has hated reading since the 1st grade. He was struggling with it in public school (In the lowest reading group possible) It was so disappointing to me as I love to read myself and had hoped to share this love with him. So needless to say the beginning of our first homeschooling year was very hard, trying to encourage him to read when he had such a strong aversion to it. After working with him at his own pace I saw him slowly begin to pick up books on his own and that eventually led to him sneaking up late at night to read! He is now reading at a 6th grade level and very frequently sneaks up to read and can be found first thing in the morning huddled up in his bed with a book!

Last night he was very excited to start in on a new book he had just picked up from the library so he begged to stay up and read. I said yes, and I DD came running out from her room and said "YAY! Does that mean I can stay up to read too!" I said Yes to her as well. I snuck a peak at her throughout the night. She was reading aloud to herself. She would sometimes get stuck on a work and she would sound it out until she got it and then she would get a big smile on her face when she knew she had it right. She was so proud of herself.

It was so exciting for me to see them both enjoying reading so much, and doing so well at it! I can't believe how far we have come this year!

This is how we found her later that night.....
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DD fell asleep reading.. Just as good a bookmark as any... I guess??

There really is a kid under there... see??

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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Weekly Report # 31

We had a light week due to Spring Break. We took a couple of days of so the kids could play with friends and I could get some work done.

LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
DD- Master Reader Lessons 6+7
DD- Spectrum Workbook Pages 88-93
DS- YellowBook Pages 210-213
DD/DS- Blogging


SPELLING-
DD- DVD 3x 20 mins

MATH-
DD- Saxon Lesson 94+95
DS- Saxon Lesson 92-94

READING-DD read Big Big Bus 2x, Barbie on your toes, Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo Snow Man,
DS read Left Behind Kids

I read aloud The Doll People Chapter 7-12, The Birdwatchers

SPORTS AND EXTRA ACTIVITIES-
Pizza Party with Pageant contestants
Playdate with Girl Scout friends

Monday, March 16, 2009

Weekly Report # 30

We had a busy week preparing for a car show but we still managed to get quite a bit done.


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BIBLE-
Memory Verse

LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
Copied Memory : Mathew 22: 37b-38 "Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment.
Dictation of memory verse
DS- Yellow Book Pages 199-209
DD- Spectrum Workbook Pages 72-87
DD-Master Reader Lesson 6
DS- Master Reader Lesson 11+12
DD- Starfall website (1 hr)

MATH-
DD- Saxon Lessons 88-93
DS- Saxon Lessons 86-91
DS- Made Cupcakes
DD- 2 Fraction worksheets

GEOGRAPHY-
Entered Japan in to our passports.

Located Japan on the world map- Identified bordering countries and water.

Added Japan to our World Map page- Labeling and coloring it.
DS/DD- Colored pictures of Japanese Children
I read aloud from " A Trip Around the World" Pages 76-77 (Japan)


SCIENCE-
I read aloud from Living World Pages 20-25 (The Seas and Oceans, The Ocean Surface, The Depths of the Ocean)

MUSIC/ART-
Origami
DD- Painting (She set up out in the shop in front of a car and painted her surroundings)
DD- Guitar lesson



READING-

DS continued to read from Left Behind Kids
I read aloud from "The Doll People" by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin Chapter 1-6
SPORTS/EXTRA CURRICULAR-

Cheer competition finals

A.H. Gymnastics Practice

Girl Scouts (We had the sherrif come in and talk about Respecting authority- who to trust if you get lost etc.- It was really cool!)
Dog Club
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Stayed the night at Aunt and Uncles house- attended Sons of Norway Dinner- they had so much fun and I am hoping that we will be able to join our local chapter in the future.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Weekly Report # 29

Started the week very ill. I feel great about what we accomplished considering we were sick with the flu for 4 days and out of town for 3! Cheer season ended with an exciting surprise so we ended the season on an extremley high note!

LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-
Watched "Hoot" DS read the book for book club a while back.
DS- Master Reader Program Lesson 6-10
DS read Master Reader book "The Midnight Ride" (Completed Blue Level)
DD- Master Reader Program Lesson 3-5
DS- Yellow Book Pages 186-198
DD-Spectrum Workbook Pages 58-71
DD- Started "Ariel" Workbook- Read Pages 4-7
DD/DS- Letter writing - + revisions
SPELLING-
DS- Spelling Test
DD- Spelling DVD 2x
DS- Spelling DVD 1x



MATH-
DS made dinner. He doubled the recipe on his own, controlled the stove, no help at
all! (Supervised- but no help!) He was so proud of himself!
DS- Saxon Lessons 84-85
DD- Saxon Lessons 85-87
DS- 3 Math Worksheets (Multiplying by 8)


SCIENCE-Started Keeping Oregon Green (K.O.G.) program- Did Lesson 1, (watersheds) then completed Activity #1 online.
Made a Model of a watershed.

MUSIC/ART-DD/DS- Colored Easter pictures for a local coloring contest
DD- Guitar Lessons
Listened to Multiplication- Tunes that Teach several times throughout the week. I usually put it on when we are driving as background music- It is such a great CD- the kids are singing along not even realizing they are memorizing facts- At dinner the other night DD was spouting off Multiplication facts all night "8x7 is 56" etc.

READING-
I read aloud from Boxcar Children #1 Chapters 4-13
Japan
A Light in the Attic Pages 54-70
Barbie and the Giant Panda Problem
DD- Read Fancy Nancy sees Stars
DS- Continued to read from Left Behind- Kids, Pokemon;Prepare for Trouble

SPORTS/EXTRA CIRRICULAR-Cheer practice 2x
Cheer competition (3day National Competition in Portland)
Playdates were canceled this week due to being sick.
DS/DD- Royal Ambassadors

Monday, March 9, 2009

Weekly Report #28

We had another busy week. I have been trying to close cookie sales- very time consuming- and cheer is at the end of the competition season so Nationals time is here- lots of preparation and traveling. We had a 4 day week due to traveling to Seattle and being at the cheer competition. We all started feeling ill on Friday. Which didn't make the trip home very fun.

LANGUAGE ARTS/ENGLISH-

DD- Spectrum Workbook Pages 47-57. She is reading really well now! Sounding out complex words on her own.
Master Reader Lesson 3 (DVD only)
Vocabulary words- Lesson #2

DS- Yellow Book pages 170-185 (Working on punctuations, antonyms, synonyms, cursive writing etc)
Workbook pages 124-128- Cursive
Master Reader Lessons 2-5
Vocabulary Words- Lesson # 3

DD/DS- Wrote stories using a story starter- They both did so well and were so creative!
Watched two episodes of Reading Rainbow
SPELLING-
DS- Spelling Test 100%

MATH

DD- Saxon Lesson 82-84
Math workbook page 16- Graphs
DS- Saxon Lesson 83
Multiplication Cross Number Puzzle
3 Multiplication Worksheets from Hooked on Math
Multiplication Squares Worksheet


GEOGRAPHY-DD/DS- Coloring pages- Chinese children
Made Chinese Tangrams
Learned Chinese numbers 1-10
Wrote out math problems using the Mandarin characters
Watched IMAX film "Everest"
Wrote a paper about "Everest" movie
Watched "Planet Earth- Pole to Pole" movie

MUSIC/ART-

Guitar Lesson was canceled due to the teacher being sick.
(Chinese Tangrams)
Listened to Multiplication Tunes that Teach throughout the week.


SCIENCE-NATURE-
Watched an episode of Oregon Field Guide

READING-
I read aloud Owen and Mzee, The Boxcar Children #1 chapter 1-3, Dodger and Me Chapter 13, Please Bury me in the Library, Mount Everest, The ContinentsDS- read Left Behind- Kids, numerous Pokemon chapter books


SPORTS/EXTRA ACTIVITIES-
Cheer practice 2x
Sunday School
Cheer competition (Washington)
Royal Ambassadors
Girl Scouts
DS- Surprise playdate with friend at our house (They hadn't seen each other in a very long time- we arranged with his parents to have him meet us at our house after church- neither one of the kids knew- they were so excited to see each other!!)
DD- Playdate with a Girl Scout friend at our house.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Your child's test style: Quiz

Ran across this and thought I would give it a try. It was pretty right on for us so I thought I would share.


http://www.scholastic.com/parents/schoolandlearning/quiz_teststyle/

DS'S RESULTS

The Dawdler
Kids learn that slow and steady won the race for the turtle in the famous fable, but they won’t ace a test if they spend too much time on each question. Often these children are slow to complete many tasks, whether it’s setting the table or getting ready for school, because they haven’t grasped the concept of time, says Susan Stiffelman, an educational therapist based in Malibu, California.

Use silly at-home tests to help your dawdler perfect his ability to take timed tests, she says. Fill your test with fun questions like “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” or “What color are your dog’s eyes?” Teach him to scan the entire test first, then divide the test question into thirds. If there are 60 questions, for example, have him draw a line on the paper after every 20 questions. Then place an easy-to-read timer on his desk and ask him to divide by one-third the time allotted to complete the test. This will help him learn to manage his time more effectively, and it’s a skill he can learn to use in the classroom and in everyday life.

Find more test-best tips.

DD's RESULTS

The Second-Guesser
These kids are generally bright, but have a hard time committing themselves. They lose their confidence quickly if they don’t completely understand the material at hand.

Help your second-guesser prepare for tests by creating a series of questions during the study period, and encouraging her to answer them without referring to her book or notes. She’ll get a big confidence boost as she realizes she’s grasped the material, says Marion Blank, Ph.D., director of Light on Literacy, a literacy program at Columbia University in New York.

When it’s test day, tell your second-guesser to do an initial scan of the entire test, and answer the questions she knows best first. Then, encourage her to complete the rest of the test, giving answers to all questions, but making tiny notations in the margin next to questions she’s unsure about. Urge her to leave her answers as is unless she can state to herself why her first answer is wrong.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Just like Daddy...

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