The Learning Nook

READ ALOUD: 45 minutes; 45 minutes

Sydney set up an Annual Reading Festival in her room , complete with pillows & blankets on the floor for guests and her stuffed animals propped up with their own books to read.  I was invited to join the festivities, being told I could select my own grown-up book to bring (how generous).  Instead, I chose a book of Poetry by Emily Dickinson on Syd's shelf.  She ended up worming her way onto my back (I was laying, stomach-down, on the floor).  We read Dickinson poetry and discussed.
I continued our reading aloud of Wizard of Oz.

Worked on the gameboard for 4-H.  Decided on board format, pictures to include, font, etc.  Created pictures.

Counted out the Froot Loops for the Estimate Game (grouped tens, ones, etc.).  Determined who was closest.  Refilled jar with Skippers (peanut-safe M&M's).  Discussed whether there are more or less Skippers than Froot Loops (there were 210 Froot loops!).

Played in the backyard while I read aloud to her (can't imagine a teacher following her student out to the playground and reading to them while they turn flips over the playground bars.  Thank god we homeschool!).

Syd went worksheet crazy this afternoon (she liked that I let her sit on the kitchen counter to complete them) and finished 7 different worksheets.  I had printed them all off the internet and they ranged in grade level from 2nd to 5th.  They were: Synonym matching; Synonym selection (best out of 3); Homophone sentences (We went [threw/through] the door.); Sentence Punctuation; Synonym identification (The BLEAK skies ushered in a GLOOMY winter day.); Using a Table of Contents (had to determine what page or chapter to find specific information on).

Played another (improved) round of the Subtraction Tic Tac Toe/Bingo game with Mom & Dad.  Except this time, we used a die to determine the "answer number" and then limited our flips per turn to one.  This made it much easier than having to recalculate all 9 cards on each turn.

Played Snap it Up! with Mom & Dad.

Worked on MathBlaster 2nd Grade.

Watched another episode of How It's Made (her request).  This one was on Hockey goalie pads, cardboard boxes, wine glasses, and lapel pins.

Read from a vocabulary list I printed off the internet.  Got about 50% of the words right.  I was happy with that - it was a 5th grade gifted class vocab list!

Read the rest of Sunday, February 25, 2007

READ ALOUD: 20 minutes

Reviewed spelling words orally

Discussed homophones and worked on identifying correct useage.

Played the Subtraction Tic-Tac-Toe/Bingo game (that's a mouthful!). Basically, each player is dealt 9 cards with subtraction problems on them. The cards are laid face up in a 3 by 3 grid. A number (1 thru 5) is called out. All cards whose equation can be solved with that number are turned over. (If "5" is called out, you can turn over 28-23, 19-14, 10-5, etc.) First person with 3 turned over cards in a row wins.

Played a fraction identification matching game (I really need better names for these games). A 4 square grid is marked 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and other. Then small cards are drawn and the picture must be identified and placed in the appropriate grid (a circle with 1/2 if it darkened, a square divided into 4 and 1 section darkened, etc.).

Read Brian Clearly books on antonyms and synonyms. Practiced each concept orally.

Lots of imaginative play outside - created a nature preserve in the backyard and called me out for "classes."

Helped me make a batch of soft pretzels.

Completed 2 jigsaw puzzles with Dad.

Watched more How It's Made episodes (glass cookware, golf balls, parking meters, etc.).

Finished first round of The Estimate Game (should be called the Estimation game, but I want her familiar with the word "estimate").

Counted the pasta by grouping into tens and ones. Determined who was closest and then computed how close they were to the actual count. This game is popular in the household and both Syd & Dad requested the jar be refilled quickly. We ended up playing 2 rounds today.  The 2nd one was a jar full of marbles.  Now we've filled it up with Froot Loops.

Read the rest of Saturday, February 24, 2007

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes

Finished writing in Flat Traveler journal for our Scottish visitor.  Went in the backyard and took pictures of typical Florida trees and shrubs.  Gathered pine needles and rocks to send.

Worked at a Girl Scout cookie booth

Introduced the Estimate Game.  I filled a small jar with ziti and the three of us are going to to make guesses.  Tomorrow we will spill the jar, count the pasta, and start again.

Read aloud from Wizard of Oz

Read the rest of Friday, February 23, 2007

READ ALOUD: 10 minutes

Girl Scouts - worked on My Body Try-it with the troop

Birthday Party at Pump it Up!

Gymnastics Class

Watched a few episodes of How It's Made.  We're completely hooked on this show!  Great way to get a "virtual" field trip to a manufacturing facility!!

Read the rest of Thursday, February 22, 2007

READ ALOUD: 15 minutes; 20 minutes

History Pockets ~ Colonial America - Created a Stew of Good Manners and puppets of a Pilgrim woman and man

Mindbenders - 2 pages

Completed a What Would You Do? question.

Singapore Math 1B textbook page 35, workbook exercise 20

Drama class

Spanish co-op - learned a song identifying body parts in spanish

Had a lengthy discussion on trust, friendship, and honesty. Sydney had a friend steal something from her recently and I took it as an opportunity to discuss both sides of the issue. We discussed pride in the person for coming forward, being careful with our belongings, learning who we can trust, never taking anything that doesn't belong to us, etc.

Created a life-size drawing of her own skeleton

Read the rest of Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Singapore Math 1B - textbook pages 32, 33, & 34; workbook exercises 18 & 19

Reviewed spelling words orally

Analogies for Beginners - Lesson 4

History Pockets ~ Colonial America - began pocket for The Family.  Defines doublet, waistcoat, bubble & squeak, and breeches.

Attended first 4H meeting - learned about the project we will be working on.  Helped cut & strip wires.  Used a cut portion of Christmas light wires and a battery to complete a circuit and light up the light.  Acted as President for the day and performed opening and closing duties.  The group voted on a club name and, as President, Sydney had to tally the votes and announce the results - twice, since there was a tie.  She performed admirably and I was impressed with her vote counting/tallying skills.  I think she's seen me vote often enough in elections to know how it works.  She was even careful not to let the other kids see the ballots since it was a secret vote.  After we got home, she went right to work on her gameboard she is designing.

Read the rest of Tuesday, February 20, 2007

READ ALOUD: 20 minutes, 20 minutes; 20 minutes
Had a family birthday party for Grandpa C. - Syd decorated the whole house and spent time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Amber, Uncle Ron, & cousin Shelby.  Read aloud to Shelby - TOO cute!  (Shelby is just under 5 months old).

Art co-op class - created a picture of her favorite palce and then used family pictures to complete it.

Playtime at Sophie's with the group

Read Sir Cumference & the Great Knight of Angleland.  I created a "quest" for Sydney to go on by placing measurable angles around the house.  She knew she was on the right path when she discovered a 90*, or right, angle.  After she completed it, she made a quest for me to do.

Read the rest of Sunday, February 18 & Monday, February 19, 2007

Not as muching reading as normal.  Syd has read some independently.  Received her American Girl magazine and devoured it in one sitting.

Drama class

Made valentines for friends and family

Spanish co-op

Went to The King Center and saw Peking Acrobats.  We see this every year and are always awestruck!

Grocery math while at Publix

Helped work Girl Scout cookie booth

PE class - started basketball and worked on dribbling, passing, and lay-ups.

Helped prepare for Grandpa's birthday party.  Lots of cooking, cleaning, and decorating.

Played some word games - I was trying to spell backwards to Tom so she wouldn't understand.  She figured out a way to decode what I was saying.

Read the rest of Wednesday, February 13 ~ Saturday, February 17, 2007

READ ALOUD: 35 minutes
INDEPENDENT READING: 20 minutes

Used the Math Mat Challenge game (turned off) to review addition and subtraction facts for 1 through 10.  Drilled on the "make 10" concept.

Reviewed "ow" spelling words and wrote them down (handwriting practice).  Created a sentence from spelling words.

MindBenders - 2 pages

Dr. DooRiddles - 2 pages

Examined growing crystals from yesterday's experiment.  Not all solids had formed crystals yet.

Assisted at Girl Scout cookie booth.

Read the rest of Tuesday, February 13, 2007

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes
INDEPENDENT READING: 20 minutes

Singapore Math 1B - pg. 28-31 in textbook and ex. 17 in workbook

Wrote spelling words for the week

Took a short spelling quiz from last weeks words

Analogies for Beginners - 1 page

Read aloud from American Girl - Molly Saves the Day

Began science experiment in crystal growing.  We are trying to identify solids by the size and shape of their crystals.  Solids were dissolved today and layed out.  This multi-day project should yield results within 48 hours.

Worked on scrapbooking her Disney trip.  She is really good!

Read the rest of Monday, February 12, 2007

Family trip to Disney!!

We had a wonderful time, though a melancholy veil was over us as this is the last trip before we let our passes expire (drat the insurance costs in Florida!).

Why is it the simplest things are loved the most? The sand pit at Animal Kingdom is Sydney's mecca. She could spend hours and hours there. Go figure.

The Campfire Sing-Along was fun again this year. Of course, her favorite part is the marshmallows!

Someone didn't want to leave Minnie's house!

WOW! 3rd ride in 30 minutes. I was out after one. Syd & Tom are near the back of the train on Big Thunder Mountain.

Feeling brave, Syd strikes a pose with Chum.

Read the rest of Monday, February 5 ~ Sunday, February 11, 2007 Disney Trip!!

Me: "The Arctic terns migrate from the Arctic to the Antarctic every fall and then turn around in the spring and fly back from the Antarctic to the Arctic."

SmartAleck: "When do they go see Uncle Arctic?"

Read the rest of Frigid Relatives

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes; 30 minutes; 45 minutes
SYDNEY: 20 minutes (aloud)

Girl Scouts Songfest - attended a great big sing-along with 60 (?) other Brownies.

Read aloud to Daddy for 20 minutes from The Bald Bandit

Read from Discoveries - Ancient Greece ~ identified when the reign of Greece began, discussed King Minos & his minotaur, the Trojan War, greek myths, etc.

Read from Usborne Greek Myths - finished up the Heracles stories and also read Pandora and Theseus & the Minotaur.

Watched the 2007 Miss America pageant (discussed what is meaningful and what is fluff). Of course, being a 6 year old girly-girl, she then had to put on her own pageant complete with talent competition. There were soooo many teachable moments here - I hope I covered them all! LOL!

Reviewed spelling words for the week verbally

Watched half the Super Bowl with Dad (while some may not consider this a learning experience - considering the fact she thought the Super Bowl had to do with Bowling, I think she learned something today. LOL!)

Made some crafts from her Usborne Fairy craft book. Choose project, gathered materials, read & followed instructions - without assistance from Mom!

Read the rest of Saturday February 3, 2007 & Sunday, February 4, 2007

I gave Syd a reading level assessment test today. Recently, I reviewed my blog entries from "the beginning" and noticed she was reading Bob Books back in April 2006. At some point during the year, I checked her and she was up around the 4th grade level. So, I thought this might be a good time to check again. I didn't expect what I got.

A sample of words she read with ease (nearly all of which she knew the meaning):

contemporary
theory
threshold
participate
ethics
desolate
eliminate
triumph
tranquility
humidity
alcove
humiliate
conspiracy
aeronautic
emphasis

According to the test, this reading level is about 7.5. As in HALF WAY THROUGH 7th GRADE! Did I mention the kid is 6 years old? What the heck am I supposed to do with her? I'm serious here. I'm not doing anything to get her to read and understand these words - she just knows them. How am I supposed to get her reading material at her grade level, yet is appropriate for a 6 year old? There are not too many books written for 7th graders that have content appropriate for a 1st grader.

I was so excited. When I thought she was reading at the 4th grade level, I discovered Ramona and Boxcar Children and that seemed to work for her. High reading level, medium content - perfect! There are TONS of books out there that are "high-interest, low-reading level" for kids who are older and can't yet read. But what do I do with the opposite problem? I can't just let her stagnate - she'll grow bored and/or lazy.

Any suggestions for books that are appropriate for a 6 year old but might have words like intrigue, audacious, or repugnant? How can I help her continue to learn and grow, and be challenged, without resorting to mature content?

Read the rest of Our Reading Level Assessment - YIKES!

READ ALOUD: 30 minutes; 30 minutes
INDEPENDENT READING: 20 minutes

Singapore Math 1B - Workbook ex. 14, 15, & 16

Reviewed weekly spelling words - traced them

History Pockets - Colonial America ~ Read Home, Sweet Home section and learned definitions for cauldron, flint, keeping room, and settler. Created a Keeping Room diorama.

Made stained glass window clings from glass paints.

Created a "bead curtain" for her doorway.

Colored mandala's with Mom.

Read independently from an A to Z Mysteries book for 20 minutes. She has set a goal for herself of 20 minutes of independent reading. She already does this, and much more, but for these 20 minutes she reads a book she chooses from 3 options I give her. She still gets the choice, but I "steer" her in the right direction.

Read aloud from American Girl - Happy Birthday, Molly! and Molly Learns a Lesson discussed American arrogance at wartime.

Read aloud from Usborne's Greek Myths.  Read a few of the Heracles stories and also The Gift of Fire.  Sydney noticed how similar it was to the Adam & Eve story I told her recently.  We discussed the similarities and why that might be.  Of course, she then wanted to hear the Adam & Eve story.

Read the rest of Friday, February 2, 2007

READ ALOUD: 45 minutes; 20 minutes; 20 minutes

Girl Scouts - created personal jigsaw puzzles

Helped clean-out art drawer and misc. toys. Lots of discussion on needs vs. wants and WASTE! (UGH!)

Completed Spanish worksheet on family terms - wrote names for mother, father, baby, grandmother, etc.

Discussed new spelling list. Sydney read the words aloud and spelled each word from key.

Think-a-Minutes - 1 page

Independently read To Root, to Toot, to Parachute ~ What is a Verb? by Brian Cleary.  Identified and circled the verb in 5 given sentences.

Read Aloud from Marie Antoinette.   Discussed greed, compassion, responsibility. Explained what a guillotine is. Looked online for pictures of Versailles. Discussed interior & exterior - mused about the cost. Located portraits of Marie Antoinette online. Being quite interested in fashion (also after reading she was "scrimping" by only getting 2 new gowns a week) Sydney was interested in her gowns. We found a number online and she then sketched out a gown in the French style of the 1700's.

Singapore Math 1B - Lesson 3, 10 pages in textbook. Workbook exercises 10, 11, 12 & 13.

Practiced face painting on each other.

Began American Girl ~ Happy Birthday Molly!  Talked about bomb shelters and compared Molly's "playing" at being bombed with Emily's experience of actually living through it.

Read the rest of Thursday, February 1, 2007

READ ALOUD: 15 minutes; 20 minutes

A couple of sick days - waaayyyy too much video watching!

Spoke with doctor about ear infections and she showed Sydney her model of the inner ear.  Named the 3 smallest bones in the body.

Drama Class

Spanish Co-op

Playtime with friends

Read the rest of Monday, January 29 ~ Wednesday, January 31, 2007