Friday, July 23, 2010

Weekly Wrap Up - The First Week

We did it . . . Our first week of school is complete!  Simply cannot believe it.  Well, okay, we only did school four days this week, but whatever - close enough to a whole week!  (We had a birthday party to go to today -  only a homeschooler would have a birthday party on a Friday from 12:00 to 3:00! haha gotta love it!)

So back to the post.  I think our first week went really well.  I had a house full of good attitudes (for the most part) and Dalton even asked THREE times if we could please homeschool next year too.  (I have no idea why he is already thinking about next school year - good grief, we are only four days into this one!)  Also - note to self - remember this post when Dalton is whining about school in say . . . oh. . . a few weeks. 

Anyway, I have already decided that I don't think I am going to like our new grammar curriculum.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I mean "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"  I loved what we used last year for grammar.  I just needed some more writing instruction for the boys. 
Okay, I'll be honest.  I will be going back to Growing with Grammar as soon as it arrives in the mail.  Already ordered it.  So sad, so so sad.

Here is a little of what we did this week: 

Our state of the week was Maine.  I love these notebooking pages and these coloring pages!

We are talking about the water cycle in science.  We did a few really fun (and super easy) experiments.  But I totally forgot to take pictures.  I know.  I know.  What is wrong with me?  (Hey - it's the first week back to school, I'll get back into the swing of things . . . hopefully. . . at least by May!)

Didn't really dig grammar - already talked about that.

Math was fun.  (Yep, I said it: Math = fun)  I was really super pleased with how much the boys remembered from last school year.  We are starting off in the middle of the Saxon 3 book so there weren't any real ease you in kinda lessons like at the beginning of most books.  One of our lessons talked about cups, pints, quarts, gallons.  Once again - here comes the honesty.  I couldn't tell you how many cups were in a pint, in a quart, or in a gallon until I did this really fun little craft way back when I was doing my student teaching.  He's called Mr. Gallon (or Mrs. Gallon, or if you have three boys:  Monster Gallon).  Whatever you call him.  He is easy to make and the kids really had a good time with it!


Here are just some random pics of kids doing some school work.  I think it is actually a sheet for their science notebook.

Okay so maybe Drew wasn't loving getting his picture made.  Boys!?!


* On a total side note - I don't know if you noticed or not, but my kids have on the same shirts in these pictures as they do from my post on the first day of school.  These pictures were not taken on the first day of school.  Actually, they were taken on the second day of school. 
 I know that I have a laundry problem.  I love doing it.  I can't stand having any dirty laundry.  It's weird and kinda sad - I know.  Here is what is even more sad.  As I was putting these shirts into their drawers at night, I thought about the fact that if I took pictures the next day (I knew we were doing the math craft) that they would probably have on the same shirt.  So . . . I picked up their other t-shirts and put these toward the middle of their drawers.  I thought I was going to fall out when the next morning not one, not two, but all three of them had dug through their drawers and picked out the same shirt as the day before.  Seriously?!

8 comments:

  1. Mr. Gallon looks like a great idea for learning liquid measurements! Please give me the details for that the next time I see you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a fabulous first week! Love it. Love seeing the pictures and reading your play by play. It's truly encouraging for me.

    Blessings,

    Rachel

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Leslie - Absolutely! This was by no means something that I came up with. My teacher that I was working under (a wonderful woman by the way) gave me this idea when I was student teaching and then I was able to find the same basic idea on the internet!
    @Rachel - Thanks so much! I can't imagine me being encouraging after reading your fantastic post! I can so relate to you! Crying in the chip aisle . . . been there and I only have 3 kiddos!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. YEA! Sounds like a great start, Elaine! I hope our start in a few weeks goes as smoothly ... now I'm nervous b/c I'm switching grammar, too! Uh, oh!

    Thanks for sharing your week ... it's always a joy to read your Weekly Wrap-ups! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yay! I am not the only mom that has her kids wear clothes more than one day in a row! As long as they don't go outside in it or get it dirty, I tell them to put it away...of course, they think that's gross...now I can tell tehm that I am not the only one! Yesssss!

    Also, what grammar did you not like??

    We are starting homeschooling this year and the girls are anxious to get started. We may start early so we can take extra time off around Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My kids are the same way about some of their shirts. They have their favs that get worn again as soon as they are washed. Unlike you, I don't have the problem of not liking dirty laundry. I hate folding laundry and putting it away, so I let the dirty laundry pile up until they don't have any more clothes to wear. Yes, I know it makes me miserable, but I have a few laundry free days to enjoy. Our first days of school weren't as great as yours. I'll spare everyone the details!

    ReplyDelete
  7. LOL about the laundry! I usually have ours done the same day or next day also.

    It looks like it was a great week! Mr. Gallon is cool! I've seen a similar poster available, but I love the idea of having kids make their own!

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is so funny about the shirts! Totally something that would happen at our house too! Looks like you had a great first week of school! Thanks for your comment on my blog and God Bless!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails