Quick Note ~ If you downloaded the Skip Counting Charts I mentioned last week,  you might want to download them again. There were a few errors {ahem} that I fixed. I apologize for those of you who printed them off {the 4’s, 10’s and 11’s pages were the issues if that helps}. I especially apologize to Carisa who had already LAMINATED them. :)

The weather outside this week was GORGEOUS, so there was much incentive to complete schoolwork and be able to play. To soak up every possible minute, we even moved school outside for a little bit. Zachary and I spent time sitting together on our porch swing to read together. :) THOSE are the moments of homeschooling that I really do love!

Overall, we didn’t do anything super-exciting this week. Same old, same old routine. The basic subjects… just plugging along a little more at a time.

Bible

Zachary finished memorizing the Books of the New Testament and is now working on John 3:14. We’re talking about Moses and the Israelites and their time in the wilderness.

The kids are also having fun watching some new DVDs created by Phil Vischer called What’s in the Bible? {p.s. I have a giveaway for two of the dvd’s going on here!! ~ ends Sunday, March 14th!}.

Handwriting

We’re reviewing some things ~ matching uppercase and lowercase letters {we had fun using our uppercase/lowercase letter matching cards  found here}. This week was HUGE for Zachary in this area. We’ve been working on using only a capital ‘Z’ and the rest of his name in lowercase letters, but keeping them all ‘within the lines’ can be pretty non-existent. This week he sat down and worked independently ~ and did amazing on it.

Yep, it was a one shot deal, but he was so very proud {and so was Mommy!}.

Math

Telling Time ~ Our skip counting charts {we’ve been working on the 5’s} have really been paying off, especially when it comes to telling time. Zachary is now working on telling time in 5 minute increments.

Money ~ Zachary is also in charge of our ‘money chart’ on our daily calendar now. We’re working on remembering the values of the penny, nickel, and dime.

Addition ~ Simple addition up to 9. He likes to use his fingers, but is getting better with the lower addition facts to do it in his head.

Identifying number names ~ Zachary used our number cards to match numbers with their word names {from 1 to 10 so far}.

Reading

There are times when Zachary {and I} get completely frustrated in this arena. One day reading is a most enjoyable time and others….well, Mommy might as well just go back to bed. :) That said, early in the week I just wanted to cry in frustration with the attitudes ~ so we just let it go. Two days later, Zachary picked up the Rocket Phonics books we’ve been using and read me a TON in the book, laughing and smiling the whole time.

We won’t tell him that he ended up reading way more than I had planned for him that week anyway…

He also read some to me from his Beehive Reader and was VERY excited when a NEW reader showed up this week! We also had fun playing with our Flip Along Fun book ~ don’t miss the giveaway that I have going on right now too along with a great discount code!

Spelling

We reviewed one of our recent spelling lessons to make sure that we’ve got a few concepts covered. I’m working on a few printables to go along with our lessons, since Zachary was a little ‘jealous’ of some playdough mats that I made for Kaleb this week. I’ll hopefully have some put together to share with you all soon!

Ready to Link Up?

 

This week I had grand plans in place after all the craziness and busyness during the month of January.

And then there was this thing called a blizzard that hit our area and the kids all got this glazed look in their eyes because snow is such a hot commodity {to children} in our town. Generally it’s that rare, except when you get it in back to back snow storms and get even more fun dumped on you.

We also talked about what it meant to be a good neighbor ~ and the kids all worked together to shovel out a few of our neighbors.

My plans then went out the window and the kids instead spent much of their time playing outside and then came inside to have fun playing together to warm up. Add to the mix friends visiting {i.e.  our local schools will be shut down probably til early Spring at this rate}.

A few things that we did do this week school-wise:

Valentine’s Day

Cards ~ ‘Tis the season to make lots of crafty things for others, so we made cards for all the people in our family….and a big mess for Mommy.

Patterns ~ All we had to do was cut out a few simple hearts in red, white, and pink and then have fun creating different patterns together. We worked on patterns like red/pink/red/pink {these are called ABAB patterns}, red/pink/white {ABC patterns}, red/red/white {AAB patterns} ~ I think you get the idea.

Candy Sorting ~ We used a bag of the candy hearts, sorted them by color and then counted to see which one we had the most of {after certain children were sneaking them to eat…}.

Fruit Hearts ~ We made some yummy fruit hearts together. You can see how to make them in the Little Books for Little Cooks post at Totally Tots.

Games

We did sneak in games that would at least help out with learning & activity in some way, shape or form.

Uno was great for counting, color matching ~ and we decided to name the colors in Spanish to make it more fun!

Life on the Farm ~ This was a great game to play with Kaleb and Zachary together. Think Candyland, but with fun puzzle shapes and farm animals all rolled into one. The boys love this game.

Wii Sports Resort ~ Nothing like getting some more energy out playing a little Wii together. :)

Go Fish ~ Great for identifying numbers!

Cooking

I don’t know if I would exactly consider it cooking, but it is a recipe! We made Snow Cream with some of our freshly fallen snow. It was really easy to make and the kids loved it!

Ingredients:

• 8 cups fresh {and clean} snow :)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar

1. Mix the four ingredients together.
2. Enjoy!

Snow Books

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