February 27-March 3: Dr. Seuss Week

This week we returned to having regular school sessions with a theme! Between Halloween and Christmas Arthur and I alternated being sick, so we didn't do much school. And then after the holidays, we had a hard time getting back into a routine, but we still had fun doing some school stuff here and there. This week, we finally made it back to our classroom and did school for 3 of 5 days this week, which is a great start to getting back into our routine. And what better than doing it during Dr. Seuss' birthday week?

LITERACY

This week we learned two new sight words: HAD and OR. 

Since it we were learning about Dr. Seuss, we decided this week was the perfect week to practice rhyming words. Arthur is a really good rhymer.

We also continued practicing the sight words we already know, and we practiced our hand writing skills.

We also started reading BOB Book #6, which has Arthur reading longer sentences, new words, and introduced the concept of the question mark.

MATH

This week we started working on identifying numbers over twenty, and we've moved on to simple addition problems. This is something we've been working on for a while, and he's gotten to the point where he can look at a problem, and he doesn't need to count the pictures. He can say, "two plus two equals four."

SCIENCE/SENSORY

Who doesn't love a good baking soda and vinegar science experiment? We followed the theme by having a Green Eggs and Ham science experiment. Arthur dropped vinegar on the baking soda eggs. And when he got tired of that, he poured all the vinegar on the baking soda and had a blast playing in the paste that it made.

ART

We made handprint fish in honor of the book, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish."

October 17-21: Construction

LITERACY

This week we learned the words BE and THAT, we continued to gain fluency in our readers, and we practiced our handwriting. We are nine weeks into our school year, and we have 23 sight words. We're moving along very smoothly with reading as well. Arthur's sounding out skills have greatly improved since the beginning of the year. And as you can see below, his handwriting is coming along well as well.

Word Wall

Wrote the word BE

Name writing practice

CVC Word Puzzle

Matching Pictures with Same beginning sound

Matching Rhyming pictures, and writing the word under the picture

Match the Color to the Color Word. Minimal Help Needed.

MATH

This week we focused our efforts on counting and writing numbers. 

SCIENCE

Introduction to basic engineering. We sat down with our blocks and we experimented on the best way to build them so that they would stay standing upright.

ART

We made a toolbelt!

Wrote his name on the back.

This week we're doing all things Halloween! I have a lot of activities planned, so expect a much longer blog post for next week!

October 10-14: Trains

We are back to our routine and taking time out for school every day. It was great to be back in our routine, and  Arthur surprised me with everything that he's learned.

LITERACY

This week we continued with HE, since I wasn't sure if our two days last week was enough time for Arthur to master it, and we added ME. I shouldn't have worried, he is such a sponge and a quick learner, that he mastered both words. We learned about Trains, practiced our handwriting skills and started new readers.

Arthur independently identified the beginning letter and wrote it.

BOB Book #4

Practicing Sequencing of Events

We talked about the parts of a train

Our word Wall. I zoomed out so you can see all the sight words we know, as well.

MATH

This week we practiced patterns, we sorted shapes, and we practiced writing numbers.

Sorting shapes

Drawing pictures to complete the pattern

Circling to complete the pattern

Trace and write numbers

Writing numbers

Completing the pattern

SCIENCE

I made a train out of baking soda, and gave Arthur some vinegar and an eye dropper. We talked about what we thought would happen. Arthur hypothesized that he would put the vinegar on and it would smoke and disappear. Instead when we put the vinegar on it fizzled. Arthur still loved it, and played until he ran out of vinegar.

ART

We read the story "Freight Train," and then found a train template online. Arthur colored each car a different color, like in the book, and then we glued it together on paper.

TECHNOLOGY

Library computers. The best resource for educational tech time.

Next week our theme is construction, and we're going to try our hands at some beginner engineering for our science activity!