Weekly Wrap-up

It's been yet another busy week around here, but it's been a good one. Monkey and I are both feeling much better, and Andy's going to the doctor on Monday, so hopefully he will be joining us in healthyville soon.

Phonics: I made a new game this week, based on the "Rainbow Game" posted last week at Loving Our Homeschool's wrap-up. I was a little concerned that it would be too "old" for Monkey. I shouldn't have worried; he loves it.


I made up a batch of cards with 2 letter blends from Webster's Syllabary, as the 3 letter blends seemed really hard for him at this point. I just did the first column, with all the short /a/ sounds; 31 cards in all. We played the game twice this week, and the first time we got through the deck nearly 2 times. I think the second time ended more quickly, but still it's great practice! Monkey's getting the hang of reading the letters from left to right, but he still hasn't had that "ah-ha!" moment yet where he blends. That's OK. We're having a good time. This is an addition to the Happy Phonics. The program goes right to CVC words. But the program is intended for bigger kids, and I don't mind making and playing games with my Monkey so it's all good. It will be very easy to do up additional cards to practice blends with other vowels when the time comes. To practice whatever, really. It's a very flexible game.

Math: We're beginning to get a little more into the Math Expressions program now. This week I just focused on doing their "daily routines." These are simply daily counting practice at first (it changes later in the book). We added them to our calendar, which we are inconsistent on, but I'm working on improving that. What we do is first, we have a 120 chart. I laminated it and every day Monkey colors in the next number. Once we have 10, the "old" tens will be bracketed, and he'll color the 1s in the "new" ten we're working on. If that makes any sense. He then practices counting the numbers. We use fingers for this. Next, we have a page with 100 pennies on it, and he colors the next penny. Then he counts them. He has a brand new pointer he wanted needed to buy at Hobby Lobby, and he uses this to point at the "Number Parade" taped to the door. These numbers are on cards, with the correct number of dots for each number just below. They look just like the ones on the flannel board, only lined up and taped to the door in a parade. And we have a mason jar that we're adding straws to. I have him count the straws, then we talk about what happens if we add another, and recount them. The idea is for this stuff to be quick and student-led, though it's neither one of those things now. He also spent a little bit of time looking at Anno's Counting Book. That book is awesome. I also built him a "Silly Snakes" matching game. This one was very easy because I just photocopied it out of The Lucky Learner.All I did was color it.




Nature Study: Nuthin. Again. I've got to do better on this.

Memory: He is enjoying memorizing things enough that tonight he initiated doing his verses on his own. He's got two of the 10 commandments that he knows - "Thou shalt not kill," and "Thou shalt not steal." Though I need to look up the citations again because they are mixing up in my head. We've been working on saying Romans 8:16 slow enough that someone besides his parents could understand what he's saying. Maybe we can convince him to say it for Nana and Grandpa on Thanksgiving.

Art: We did more fondant. I have pictures, but I didn't download them yet. Monkey and I also colored a number book. We got it from Childcare Land, which has a daily free printable. You have to kind of keep an eye on it, as they're generally only available for the day. (She's got a Yahoo group, just make sure that it's the one that is just a mailing list, not the one that's a discussion group for daycare providers. That one's not very friendly to parents.)



Read-Aloud: We finished up Little House on the Prairie, and after some dithering, I decided to read Through the Looking Glass. We have a beautifully illustrated version I picked up at a thrift store a while back, though I can't remember who drew those pictures right now. But Monkey seemed to enjoy the first chapter when I read it him today.

Mom's Ed: I finished up my fondant class, so now it's just a matter of practicing the skills on my own until I can drape a cake in fondant reliably by next April for that wedding. I'm getting better. It's easier to do if you do the fondant a bit thick, but it tastes so much better if you do it thin. Plus, thin is easier to eat. I'm using marshmallow fondant now, and playing bit with gumpaste flowers. Hopefully I can get my current cake finished up tomorrow and post pictures.