The Learning Nook

READ ALOUD: 45 minutes; 1 hour; 15 minutes

Stepping Stones, Book 3 - 3 pages

Singapore Math 1A - text Pg. 20, wrkbk pg. 17, introduced number bonds for 8. Reviewed number bonds for 6 and 7.

Worked on American Girl - Kit vocabulary words, completed final 3 words (Depression, opportunity, challenges)

Pulled a slip from What Would You Do? You have toys you do not play with and meet a girl who has none. I'd give the toys that I don't play with to her.

Read Christmas in 1934 from Kit's Surprise, talked about how families celebrated Christmas during the Depression.

Read aloud from American Girl - Happy Birthday, Kit! Talked quite a bit about appearances, snobbishness, and "putting on airs." Sydney played with her Kit paper dolls while I read.

Began reading aloud from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (unabridged). Completed 1 chapter and so far Sydney says she likes it.

Alphabetized a list of 10 space words and practiced handwriting with them (asteroid, comet, nebula, galaxy, etc.)

Completed a Universe Word Search from start to finish without help. I created it at Puzzlemaker.

Literature Pockets, Aesop's Fables - The Fox and the Goat - drew pictures of each character and listed in what ways each animal is like real animals and which way they are different from real animals.

Selected a book and (unbeknownst to me) read the entire thing during quiet time. This is a new trend where she picks a book and reads it start to finish during the day. Most of her independent reading is done at night when she can't fall asleep. She read Nate the Great Stalks Stupidweed (which she chose to call Superweed).

Lots of discussion and research on hurricanes.  Ernesto went right over our house today and was less than thrilling.  So we had a long talk about hurricanes/tropical storms and preparedness (again).

Read the rest of Wednesday August 30, 2006

READ ALOUD: 15 minutes

Literature Pockets, Aesop's Fables - The Fox and the Goat - created a mini-book of drawings based on the moral Look Before You Leap

Singapore Math 1A - text pg. 19, wb pg. 16. Also reviewed number bonds for 6 (she knew them all!) and introduced number bonds for 7 using manipulatives.

Dr. DooRiddles - 2 pages

Listened to Romeo & Juliet audiobook by Jim Weiss

Gymnastics Class

Worked together to complete a Mad Libs - reinforcing nouns, verbs, adjectives

Created a zoo with small plastic animals and bugs. Charge me admission and let me shop at her "gift shop." We worked on making change.

Used fabric crayons to decorate a t-shirt - decided on a Star Trek theme

Listened to Professor Toto Spanish audio CD

Read Sergio and the Hurricane by Alexandra Wallner - discussed hurricanes and the strength and track of this one. As it stands, we are directly in the path and in the small portion of FL still under a hurricane watch. Talked about preparations for tomorrow and completed today's preparations.

Read the rest of Monday August 28, 2006

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes

Read from American Girl - Kit's Surprise (completed the book). Made up a Kit story with the Kit paper dolls. Reviewed Vocabulary words and added 3 more.

Worked on creating another solar system and making a planet. Did a space related crossword with Dad.

Played Dino math Tracks with Mom. Worked on place value up to 1000. Used the characters to reinforce the number bonds of 6 as well.

Played Clue Jr. with Dad

Listened to Rip Van Winkle audiobook read by Jim Weiss

Read the rest of Sunday August 27, 2006

Girls Scouts meeting

Playdate with SM

Spent the day with B. Went with B & J to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Lots of discussion. Syd was adament on finding Apollo 13 memorabilia.

B stayed into the night and D came to babysit - played games, beaded, etc. LOVE it when Syd gets one on one time with another adult.

Volunteered in the Downtown Scavenger Hunt hosted by our Girl Scout troop. Read hints to people, handed them directions, sold water. Did a great job helping out the participants.

Spent the afternoon & evening with Grandma & Grandpa C. and Uncle Ron & Aunt Amber before Aunt Amber has the baby (just a few more weeks!).

Read the rest of Thursday August 24 thru Saturday August 26, 2006

READ ALOUD: 25 minutes

Stepping Stones, Book 3 - 3 pages (chosen and completed independently)

What Would You Do? At the store, someone in a wheelchair is trying to reach something on the bottom shelf. I'd say, "I'll get that for you." And I'd get it and give it to who was in the wheelchair. "Can I get you anything else?" I would say. Discussed being helpful. Sydney also made up a bunch of What Would You Do? questions for me to answer and we discussed why I would do one thing over another.

Worked on number bonds for the number 6 based on the Singapore Math concept. Reviewed in the evening and (it looks like) Syd has memorized her math facts for the number 6. WooHoO!

Started working on her Try-it Brownie badge for Careers. Listed hobbies and things she likes to do and start the list of jobs one might have as an adult that would incorporate that interest. Also talked with 2 Brownie friends today about setting up a lemonade stand at the next homeschool park day.

Discussed the new rocket ship Orion that NASA is planning and what it will mean for space travel. Looked at conceptual pictures of the rocket and talked about how it differs from the shuttle.

Spanish co-op - watched DVD and colored picture that had the colors written in spanish. I was surprised that Syd knew them all and needed no help. Tonight, she made an obstacle course in the living room and each time she got to the end, she had to shout out a new spanish word she is learning. After she ran out of words, she got the book out and read new ones from it.

Drama Class

Playdate at B & G's along with J & SM.

Talked extensively about oil and the products that come from oil. Discussed how oil came to be and how it is a finite thing. Brainstormed about what we could do to reduce how much oil we use. Since plastic comes from oil, Sydney wants us to use more glass - bowls to store food, cups to drink from, etc. We also talked about alternative fuels. Her first idea was to use hair. When I told her you'd need something that had inherent energy so that you could use it for a fuel, she came up with blood. Hmmm...not too sure how many people would line up for that. But it IS renewable. LOL! After I ix-nayed that idea she said leaves. Wow. Smart kid! So I told her all about ethanol and what they have done with it. We also discussed the possibility of solar energy on cars.

Sydney read aloud to ME at bedtime! TWO books (Tacky the Penguin & Frog and Toad are Friends). I was in heaven. Of course, she pointed out that Frog & Toad were only reading level 2 and really easy for her. Again with the modesty.

Read the rest of Wednesday August 23, 2006

READ ALOUD: 1 hour

Visit to eye doctor - asked scads of questions about the process and the equipment (received tons of complements from the staff as well )

Went to library and selected own books. Read 2 books independently while we were there.

Swimming

Listened to Professor Toto Spanish instruction audio CD

Stepping Stones, Book 3 - 4 pages

Started Singapore Math FIRST GRADE! (WooHoo!) Skipped Unit 1 (too easy) and started Unit 2 in textbook. Discussed number bonds. Did the corresponding workbook page as well. (Syd is excited - she says first grade is easy.)

Literature Pockets, Aesop's Fables - The Fox and the Goat - created a story board for the story. Read the fable aloud. Again talked about the meaning of the moral and what was wrong.

Talked at length about numbers. Syd wanted to know what came after a million. So I told her billion, and trillion. Never one to be satisfied, she wanted to know what came next. So we looked it up. Then she asked if numbers keep going on forever. Tonight at dinner, she was able to tell Dad all about infinity and the symbol for it.

Read Starry Messenger - Galileo Galilei and discussed the discovery of the universe. She wants to grow up and be an astronmer and determine if there is anything after space - after the universe. Of course (she said) no one would probably believe her and she'd end up like Galileo. Modest little cuss, isn't she?

Looked at Brownie Try-It book and decided what activities she wants to do to earn her Career badge. She is planning a lemonade stand, to speak with some adults about their jobs, and to list her hobbies and how they might translate into jobs for a grown-up.

Chose a slip from our new "What would you do?" jar. Got the following: A friend tells you she stole some money from her sister. Then she has to state what she would do. Her reply: I'd say, "That's not nice! You shouldn't have done that." I would tell her to give the money back.

Read aloud from American Girl - Kit's Surprise. Discussed some new vocabulary words. Explained the eviction process in detail.

During our readings today, we discussed space and space travel quite a bit. We learned two interesting moon facts that *I* never knew (thank god I'm homeschooling or I'd live my life as an ignorant public school graduate - ouch, that was judgmental!). ANYWAY, we learned that if you yell at someone, or bang two rocks together, it will not make a sound. Sound waves are carried on air and there is no air on the moon. Oooohhh, I liked that one! Also, I've always been told that there is an American flag flying on the moon (never mind that it can't fly because, again, there is no air in which it can blow and they cheated and held the cloth up with wires for the TV shots). Well, aside from that, there is NO flag standing on the moon! It blew over when the rocket took off and it is laying flat on the ground. OK, OK, I know - a bit picky. Still, something I did not know.

Read the rest of Tuesday, August 22, 2006

READ ALOUD: 1 hour; 15 minutes

Worked on a LOT of Solar System activities. Colored pictures both with pen and online (on the sun, Syd wrote "No Man Has Gone Before" as a tribute to her new favorite show - Star Trek). Viewed a few pictures of sun spots and the aurora's. Talked about what causes each. Discussed many features of the planets (smallest 2, closest to sun, moons vs. no moon, life, etc.).  Created a custom solar system online. Made a planet from scratch.

Independent reading - Sydney is working on completing her very first chapter book. She chose a Geronimo Stilton book which is, I believe, a 4th grade level.

Gymnastics Class

Read the rest of Monday August 21, 2006

READ ALOUD: 15 minutes; 20 minutes (SYD!)

Completed Singapore Math K-2B with the Review - did a little ceremony to celebrate the end of Kindergarten Math

Literature Pockets - Aesop's Fables - Began The Fox and the Goat and discussed the moral.

Sydney helped in the kitchen making tomato sauce - peeled garlic, measured ingredients & spices, stirred pot, etc.

Did 2 experiments from Pop Bottle Science. The first was the ol' baking soda & vinegar one (always a favorite).  Then we did an air pressure experiment using the bottle.  As hot water vapor inside was cooled quickly, the pressure decreased and the bottle was crushed.

Did the blubber experiment with 2 baggies, crisco, and ice water.

Played Dino Math Tracks with Dad

Sydney read aloud to me after I had been cooking for 5 1/2 hours - what a wonderful treat!  She read 4 whole books! 

Read the rest of Saturday August 19, 2006

Faith over at Dumb Ox Academy has a wonderful post on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Homeschoolers.  Very insightful!

Read the rest of What we strive to be…

Why is it impossible to tell the truth and not end up feeling like the bad guy? Why do I end up feeling so hated? Society says that honesty is valued, but I think that in reality everyone would rather just live in their politically correct, touchy-feely, all-is-good bubble and not really know the truth.

I told the Mom hosting art co-op that we won't be attending because she lives too far away. It would be about a 50 minute drive from my house. She is not even in our county! She moved out of it last year. She has chosen not to attend events "in town" because it is too far for her. So, I thought she would understand. Nope. And since there have been other cancellations (for more "correct" reasons) she is feeling like shit and everyone is rallying around her with, "awww, don't let it get you down" comments.

So, I guess I am the bad guy.

Next time I'll lie and say we have a doctor's appointment.

Read the rest of Why is it impossible to tell the truth?

I have a good friend who is the mother of an academically gifted 6 year old boy. He's been working on multiplication and division for over a year now and knows more about the Ancient Celts than I do. It is so easy to use the word "gifted" when one talks about him.

Shockingly, one day this mother-who-should-know-better used that word when talking about my daughter. Sydney? Gifted? Well, I think she is smart, and pretty clever. But gifted? Noooooooo.

But, as any good obsessive mother who was raised in a culture which prizes such labels (if not amongst same-age classroom peers, at least as adults) I started researching. I found a list on the Internet of "characteristics" in infants and young children that may clue you in that you are not dealing with the average paste-eater here. This is what the list looks like (anything italicized applies to my kid):

In babies and toddlers:

Unusual alertness.
 (The day of BIRTH the nurses kept remarking on this)
Less need for sleep.
Smiling or recognizing parents early.
Intense reactions to noise, pain and frustration.
Early and extensive language development.
Fascination with books.
Curiosity.

As a young child:

Extraordinary memory.
Excellent sense of humor.

Poor attention, boredom and daydreaming but long attention span when involved in something.
Wide range of interests.

Extended general knowledge.
Perfectionism (!!!!!!)
Strong opinions.
Leadership ability.
 (????)
Questioning rules, customs and traditions.
Abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Vivid imagination.

Sensitivity and compassion - easily disturbed by news reports.

OK, so based on this, she's a god damn genius, Gump! (To quote the movie.) But you know, I look at a list like this and all I see is the absence of negativity. Unusual alertness? Or hyperactive? Wide range of interests? Or ADD? What I mean is... is this really a list of what being gifted means, or is it a list of what being an engaged, curious, life-learner means? Is it just a pattern for kids who have not YET been pigeon-holed as troublemakers or slow learners just because he/she is acting as he should - as a child.

I'm not sure.

But I did find an echo of myself in a statement from p.14, Gifted Children edited by Kate Distin, "Indeed the immediate response of many parents to the suggestion that their offspring may be gifted is along the lines that, "I wouldn't describe him as gifted, necessarily: he's bright, but he's not going to be the next Einstein."

Off to do more research.....

Read the rest of Do I really want to “label” my daughter?

READ ALOUD: 20 minutes

Dr. DooRiddles - 1 page

Singapore Math K 2B - Lesson 16, Lesson 17, and Lesson 18 - all about coins and money ~ Syd was on a roll

Read The Pledge of Allegiance and discussed the actual meaning of the words.  Working on memorization for Girl Scouts.

Practiced reciting The Girl Scout Promise.

Read Hairy, Scary, Ordinary by Brian Cleary and discussed in detail what an adjective is.  Came up with examples.  Identified nouns, verbs, and adjectives in a sentence as well.

Stepping Stones Book 3 - 5 pages

Worked on a word search puzzle and was quite pleased with herself when she "found" a word that was not on the list.  We just circled it and added it to the list. 

Drama class

Read the rest of Wednesday August 16, 2006

READ ALOUD: 1 hour

Stepping Stones, Book 3 - 5 pages - one page dealt with reading a simple bar graph; without introduction or explanation Syd was able to read the graph and provide the information requested

Mind Benders - 2 pages

Singapore Math K 2B - Lesson 15, 2 pages - worked on skip counting by 5's

Read Pearl, The Cloud Fairy aloud and shared the task - Syd read about 16 pages aloud to me

Literature Pockets ~ Aesop's Fables - Completed The Fox and the Stork. Cut out and decorated a "Courtesy Chain" of people (she'd been wanting to learn how to string people together!) and marked each one with how she would like to be treated. She also wrote a play of how the Fox and the Stork should have treated each other. Using her puppet stage, we acted out her play using the stick puppets she made for her Pocket last week.

More puppets and plays using her collection of puppets

Read aloud from American Girl Kit Learns a Lesson and discussed schools in 1934. Of course, she has nothing to base comparisons on, so we discussed schools today and also how we "do school."

Played Jumpstart Spanish CD-ROM

Read the rest of Tuesday, August 15, 2006

READ ALOUD: 20 minutes

Spanish co-op

Playdate with friends

Gymnastics class

Swimming

Tried to fly a kite - that was an exercise in physics (not a good one either)

Read the rest of Monday August 14, 2006

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes

Practiced with physics and engineering as Syd created a fort. LOL!

Played Blokus, Gobblet, and Squiggle with Mom & Dad

Read independently from the library books she picked this week.

Practiced Girl Scout Promise and Pledge of Allegiance - we've had some discussion about including "serve god" in the Promise. I want her to decide whether she wants to include it for herself. She asked what her troop says. I explained that, while going along in the beginning might make her feel more comfortable, it is important to make her own decisions and not just do what the crowd is doing. Looks like for now, she is choosing to include it.

Read aloud from American Girl - Kit Learns a Lesson

Read the rest of Sunday August 13, 2006

READ ALOUD: 10 minutes

Discussed Perseid meteor shower and looked up information on the internet. Found lots of space pictures (Mars, nebula, galaxies, etc.) and read about each one. At night, we tried for 45 minutes to find the meteor shower but light pollution (and drifting clouds) prevented it. (Mom has already made notes of similar meteor showers expected this fall!)

Played Cadoo and Blokus with Mom & Dad

Watched Star Trek marathon with Dad. (For the life of me, I cannot figure out how this kid came up with a Star Trek obsession! She says her favorite is Mr. Spock. Go figure!)

Read the rest of Saturday August 12, 2006

READ ALOUD: 20 minutes; 15 minutes

Went shopping for Brownie uniform & handbook. Worked on memorizing Girl Scout Promise. Discussed being a Girl Scout and it's responsibilities.

Discussed hackers (!) and why they do what they do.

Swimming

Read the rest of Friday August 11, 2006

READ ALOUD: 40 minutes

Went to very first Girl Scout meeting and officially registered as a Brownie. Participated in pledge, songs, and dance.

IHN Park Day

Played Totally Tut with Mom

Did a centrifugal force experiment from Pop Bottle Science

Discussed food and who to trust for an OK on safety (Mom & Dad only).

Read the rest of Thursday August 10, 2006

Went to the Not Going Back to School Today Pool Party at the Aquatic Center with homeschool group

Discussed helping out friends in need and how we all should work hard to care for those we love

Read the rest of Wednesday, August 9, 2006

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes; 30 minutes

Wrote Thank You note to great grandmother - first thank you note where Syd wrote all the words!

Finished reading American Girl - Meet Kit and discussed

Learned vocabulary words for Meet Kit: Headline, Typewriter, Colorless, Commotion, Refreshments, Terrace, Profit, Debt, Financial, Economy, Stock, Stock Market

Singapore Math K 2B - 3 pages (finished lesson 14)

Literature Pockets Aesop's Fables - Started The Fox and The Stork. Read story, discussed moral. Made stick puppets and acted out the fable. Independently gave me a puppet show of how the fox and the stork SHOULD HAVE treated each other.

Played Guess Who with Mom

Read the rest of Tuesday August 8, 2006