Week 3 2013

Edging back to a more "normal" week, but with playdates instead of afternoon work.  School friends will be back at school next week and the week after, and term activities kicking off, so we'll be back in the swing of it in no time.

Theme of the week: 

THINK before you speak.  Opportunity to practice scissor skills as well as learning to be a little kinder with our words.  Big Brother has been desperate to try some fancier cursive than the plain italic style he's learning, so he got a chance to do that too.  

Maths: We're nearing the end of Ice Cream!  This week's topics included graphing functions, reviewing long division,  and counting back change.  BB is still very much in love with the Fred way of Maths.  He's also embarked on his "real" textbook for the year - Beta Mathematics and this week reviewed order of operations, factors and multiples and prime numbers.  It turns out he's never actually made a sieve of Eratosthenes, only read about them, so he enjoyed making one this week, and liked finding "patterns" in the numbers.  I think you're supposed to use it to find the primes though, not show why they are after you already know them... ah well!  He's enjoyed revisiting Kahn Academy too, and is getting into the groove on that.  

Spelling: topic words this week... true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind, piano, apologise, celebrate.  Two lessons of All About Spelling (5) completed.  

Typing: we only managed to get onto typing web once this week, but next week we'll try again :-)

Writing: was completed with out crying or complaining... woohoo!  We've worked through first part of WWE(3) and we'll ass in some more challenging stuff as we get into the swing of it.  

Handwriting: review of the oecs family and also adgq.  Taking care to form letters carefully and working on slope.  

Other stuff... playing with friends 

Enjoying the summer afternoons

Arty Things:

Crayon Rubbings

 

 

Little Sister calls this "The Spiral Bridge Between the Gardens"

And she calls this one "Stars Over the Sea"

We made Puppies today... more scissor practice!  

 

Introducing Sparkly Super Rainbow Flying Dancer Dog... he looks like a happy guy. 

Books Big Bother's been reading include (lots of chess and...) Me and My Dog Gary Crew, Birdmagic Holly Webb, Gods Goddesses and Monsters Sheila Keenan, DK Puppy Care Kim Bryan and Where Did I Come From Peter Mayle

Little Sister decided to surprise me this week and have a go at writing her own story:

"I am in my cot"

Great spelling!

Movies watched: Harry Potter #2

Websites enjoyed: wonderopolis, PhET, Kahn and Chesskid

Read Aloud: The Secret Mountain... nearly done!  

Week 2 round up

Week 2 in review...

Holiday programme 9-12 each day for Big Brother.  He has made papier maché, painted a pet rock, planted a geranium and been to the movies (Rise of the Guardian).  Unfortunately he was also kicked and punched by another child :-(  He was happy with how it was dealt with though, and decided that on the whole it was a positive experience, and he'd like to go again another time.

Kindy is back for Little Sister... three mornings of playing "Mums and Dads" with new and old friends,  sandpits, painting, dressing up, playdough and generally being three... yay!

On Tuesday Grandma took both kids to see a stage show of the Three Little Pigs.  BB's comments are in another post... that's about all I've heard about it, but they seem to have had a good time.

At home:

Lego for LS... this is a "policeman's house, and his 'mergency vehicle"
Lots of reading books.  Little Sister has decided she really wants to read like everyone else so she's working really hard.  She has reached about yellow level now (RTR) and is accelerating quickly.  I scored a Reading Eggs CDRom at Every Educaid's new shop (which is not as cool as it was prequake)  and she has had a little play with that but, like the website, it's just too much repetition and the steps are too small for it to be much fun.

Little Sister and Big Brother both got out their hot dots pens (LS has the cat and BB the dog) and played with their cards - LS is working on telling the time (o'clock and half past) and BB is reviewing and learning new stuff about the Human Body.

Working on our coursera course - Evolution and Genetics.  

Big Brother has been playing more Chess (surprise!), reading more Chess (another surprise) and trying out the lego mindstorms kit we have borrowed.  He made a start on his brand new handwriting book (E) and I'm working on tracking down a fountain pen for him to start using soon.  He's very excited about that!  He's been playing Minecraft, and enjoyed a movie afternoon with a friend.



This is my bargain of the month too... two buckets for oranising the kids' school supplies for just $2.99 each!

These will be especially handy as some of our school will be in the car / out and about this term.

Read Aloud: Still The Secret Mountain

Next week... school starts "properly"

Week 1 round up

As I promised myself, here's a round up of week 1 of our school year.

We started the week with a trip to the beach instead of going to bed because it was much too hot.  Lots of fun jumping the waves and getting sandy.  Big Brother managed to have one of his sandals float off out to sea.  Oops.

Little Sister headed off to grandma's house for a holiday and stayed form Monday to Thursday.  She had a wonderful time, driving Go-Karts and playing with her cousin.

Big Brother has spent his mornings at a Sport Canterbury holiday programme, where he has tried out a variety of different sports and generally had plenty of running around and exercise.  The weather did not cooperate, with sweltering heat on Monday and heavy rain on Tuesday and Thursday, but he seems to have managed to have fun anyway.

Afternoons have been filled with Chess, and lots of it.  Reading (books about Chess, lol!) and a smattering of fiction.  He's re-watched Harry Potter VII pt 1, Harry Potter III and watched the Tale of Despereaux too.  We visited the New Brighton Library and walked out on the pier and saw some crabs getting pulled in.  He and I are taking a Coursera course in genetics and evolution - partly so I can get an idea of whether it's a good level for him.  He seems to be holding his own so far.  For fun and recreation he's been reading a level 6 maths book... I have no idea how much he's getting out of it, but he seems to be happy with it for now.

Since being home Little Sister has learnt to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the piano.  Her lessons don't start for a couple of weeks, so goodness knows what her teacher will think, but she's having fun for now.

We've been to play with friends, BB had a friend over to watch his movie with him, and we all met friends at the local school for climbing, riding and general mayhem.

Interests and Obsessions:
BB - chess and Harry Potter trading card game
LS - Ponies and Princesses

Read Aloud: The Secret Mountain (Enid Blyton)

I may or may not add photos later :-)