Mind Games

As of July 1, we are officially homeschooling and responsible for reporting to the state. This is the third week that I’m writing a post summarizing the things we’ve done that I would include in his records. I enjoy reading this type of post on other blogs, and I’d like to make a similar post each week. I had a much harder time this week convincing him to make a pile of what he’d read. I did my best, though, in scouring his shelves!

If you’re interested, you can find my summary of the week’s learning notes behind the cut.

Math

• Math-U-See Alpha, Lesson 21 dvd segment and student pages 21A-F, Lesson 22 dvd segment and student pages 22A-F, tests for lessons 21 and 22
• 4 sticker sudoku (The Backyardigans Easy Sudoku Puzzles #1)
• 8 addition worksheets from a Scooby-Doo addition and subtraction workbook
• 100 addition facts flashcards (reviewed once, got two wrong - 8+6 and 9+7)
• did some free play with a set of magnetic pattern blocks and some puzzle cards, about 15 minutes at a time on three different days

History

• The Story of the World Volume 1: Chapter 2 (Egyptians Lived on the Nile) and review questions
• made a model of the Nile in a roasting pan - planted grass seed and let the river flood, made small pyramids from clay and boats from grass
• played “Egyptian” several times during the week; made “Egyptian daggers” and bows from cardboard, paper and sticks, and wore the clothing parts of his Thoth costume
• did the map work on SP6 - the Nile River
• read related books: Mummy Riddles, Ancient Egyptian Jobs, Egyptian Myths, History Dudes: Ancient Egyptians, Croco’Nile, Bill and Pete, Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile, Bill and Pete To The Rescue, and part of the The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

Science

• Fun With Nature: Snakes, Salamanders and Lizards p.102-137
• made two faux stained-glass (tissue paper and glue) salamanders, clay models of lizards and snakes, and a dried bean collage of a lizard
• completed a snake coloring page and a label-the-parts snake worksheet (he specifically wanted to choose and color a snake that gives birth to live babies, so he chose a rainbow boa)
• dictated a 4-page handwritten story inspired by a picture of a girl with a snake
• did his first-ever crossword puzzle, which used snake names and terms, and a snake maze
• read related books: Take a Look at Snakes, The Salamander Room, Chameleons Are Cool, A Gathering of Garter Snakes
• went to the pet store to observe the animals, which included lizards, salamanders, frogs, fish, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, puppies, crabs, spiders, one newt and one snake
• watched squirrels, chipmunks and birds in the yard
• found a tiny toad at the park and held it for several minutes to observe

Misc.

• Handwriting Without Tears: Letters and Numbers for Me p.7-10 (B, R, N, M)
• made bubble-prints using a straw, colored bubble solution and white paper
• tried painting with water balloons, but gave up and just threw plain water ones
• played video games with PisecoDad when he was home on Monday
• played board games: Pirate’s Cove Game by RoseArt, Franklin and the Green Knight Adventure Game, Apples to Apples Jr. 9+
• worked in his Lego Lab at least a half hour each day
• watched the Disney movies The Black Cauldron (half on Monday, half on Tuesday) and Robin Hood
• played with his Papo knights while listening to the Jim Weiss King Arthur and His Knights cd, on several different days
• went to see a kids’ musician at the library - not his idea of a good time, but BabyGirl loved it!
• went to see a magician at a different library - this one he loved! He even got to pet the rabbit.

Reading

I read most of the reading passages in other subjects (except those noted below). This week, we’d lost our bedtime equilibrium and so I read him short books or snippets of longer ones, but we didn’t settle on one novel for the week.

The list of what JediBoy read independently this week is certainly incomplete, since on Wednesday he told me he probably hadn’t read any books that day… and I know he did, because I saw him reading, I’m just not sure what! I do know he read these 48 books:

1. Mummy Riddles (history)
2. History Dudes: Ancient Egypt (history)
3. The Salamander Room (science)
4. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table graphic novel (several times)
5. Magic School Bus Looking for Liz
6. The Magic School Bus Out Of This World: A Book About Space Rocks
7. The Magic School Bus Ups And Downs: A Book About Floating And Sinking
8. The Road to El Dorado
9. Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age (several times)
10. Dumbo (more than once)
11. Pooh Gets a Check-Up
12. The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat
13. Moongame
14. Spot Goes to the Beach
15. Walt Disney’s the Sword in the Stone
16. A Medieval Feast
17. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four Vol. 1: Family of Heroes graphic novel
18. Richard Scarry’s A Day at the Fire Station
19. Knuffle Bunny
20. Knuffle Bunny Too
21. The Velveteen Rabbit
22. The Hobbit graphic novel
23. Tikki Tikki Tembo
24. Clifford’s Adventures
25. The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs
26. Doctor Desoto
27. The Black Cauldron movie storybook
28. Hero of Hamblett
29. Beowulf graphic novel
30. Robin Hood: Classic Comics
31. Nurse Nancy
32. Doctor Dan
33. Walt Disney’s Donald Duck’s Toy Sailboat
34. Cinderella Penguin: Little Glass Flipper
35. Katy and the Big Snow
36. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
37. The Magic School Bus Gets Planted: A Book About Photosynthesis
38. Super Slam Turtles! (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) (several times)
39. Star Wars: A New Hope
40. Knight: A Noble Guide for Young Squires
41. Sheep in a Jeep
42. Where Is Boots? (Dora the Explorer)
43. The Magic School Bus: All Dried Up: A Book About Deserts
44. Quest for Camelot: the Battle for Camelot
45. Pooh’s Bad Dream
46. The Berenstain Bears and the Real Easter Eggs
47. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
48. The Journey Home