May 1, 2010

Discussed the boys' goals in Paddle to the Sea and drew pictures representing our dreams to send for the unveiling of the Paddle to the Sea park in Nipigon, Ontario.

August 12

P worked on his handwriting - Print and cursive for the letters A and B.

Little House on the Prairie

P demonstrated his reading comprehension skills this evening as I read a chapter of Little House on the Prairie, which he had been pre-reading for several days. About seven pages into the chapter I came across the phrase 'fever n augue'. Having never heard it before and unsure of how to pronounce it, I trimmed the statement down to 'fever'. Parker immediately corrected me, despite my sitting several feet away and him not being able to see the page from where he was sitting.

Whaling

"P" and I discussed the history of whaling. We talked about the uses for blubber, Moby Dick and current whaling practices, including the stand-off between Japanese whaling vessels and environmentalists.

Circle Camp Finale

After two weeks of our peace talk-themed summer camp, the kids put on an amazing performance complete with drumming, dancing, singing, and skits. Lots was learned in terms of talking with others compassionately and getting to feelings and needs instead of blame and hurt.

Copywork

Can't Stop Reading

Alliteration

"Purple people punch pineapple pies"

"Crazy Kangaroos kick kiwi cakes"

"Snakes slither soundlessly"

"Lucy licks LEGO lollipops"

"Angry alligators ate awesome apples"

"Elephants enjoy eating eggs"

"Fruit flies fly far for food"

Update

In the last few weeks, we've finished Mrs. Piggle Wiggle as a read aloud, Whittington by Alan Armstrong as a read along (book and CD), and 6 Magic Tree House books as self-read (#4 Pirates Past Noon, #13 Vacation Under the Volcano, #15 Viking Ships at Sunrise, #23 Twister on Tuesday, #24 Earthquake in the Early Morning, and #27 Thanksgiving on Thursday). We have, of course, been reading other things from our library, but these are the ones we've borrowed and will be returning today.

We also have two Giant Leopard Moth caterpillars that we're raising in our homemade terrarium. A very large one which we've had for quite a while and a small one which is a relative newcomer. Both have molted once. The smaller one is acting as if it is going ahead and spinning a cocoon, so we're concerned "Miss Piggy" won't make it. Fozzie is loving the marigold plant we've added, however.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (HP2)

So, Jeff started P on Book 2 tonight, and already got through the first two chapters: The Worst Birthday and Dobby's Warning. This looks like it'll be a faster read, considering P actually started reading chapter 3 on his own after Jeff was done.

HP1: Finished!

This past week, we have finally finished the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter, Book 1. I'm not sure if P is ready to continue on to the next book, and so I'm looking around for other options. Jeff and I found The Tale of Despereaux, which looks like a good read.

The National Geographic Atlas

P has been reading the "Habitable Earth" chapter of the National Geographic atlas, using the map legends to determine where on the globe certain things are, like mild summers/cool winters (finding where in America has the same temperatures as western Germany), and determining what the temperature is in Florida.

Yesterday, he went through to locate where the major religions in the world are located. He also looked at the maps showing how plate tectonics have moved the continents over the past 600 million years. Each of these maps has a paragraph description that he's been reading to us, which, when ran through a SMOG readability calculator is apparently college-level reading!

Like his father, P just loves looking at maps and seeing how things are different in different places.

HP1: Quidditch and The Mirror of Erised

P and I took a little break from Harry Potter, Book 1. I'd thought we would be finished by now, but we both focused on other things instead. I am looking forward to selecting another book soon, so I hope to finish this one within the week.

World War II

While we were out today P pretended cracks in the parking lot near the restaurant were tectonic plates.

We continued our discussion with P about the causes and chain of events of World War II. Watched interactive maps on the year-by-year history of the campaigns.

European Theater Map





Afterwards we practiced the th and f sounds.

HP1: update

We've read three more chapters -- Chapter 8: The Potions Master, Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel, and Chapter 10: Halloween -- since the last time I mentioned it. We're just really loving the story, though there is much to be desired in some of the interactions between the characters.

HP1: The Sorting Hat

P already knew which house Harry would be going in, so either he remembers it from elsewhere, or he's been reading ahead.

HP1: Diagon Alley/The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-quarters

P is so thoroughly enjoying the book that he's wanting me to read more than one chapter at a time. So, I did read chapters 5 and 6 tonight. Lots of pages! I missed some words/sentences here and there, and he picked them up and read them for me, letting me know I'd missed.

HP1: The Keeper of the Keys

The back history was handled pretty well, though I am not entirely clear that P understood what it meant. He is very excited for Harry to be getting his wand, though! On to the next chapter ... tomorrow ...

HP1: The Letters from No One

P was fascinated by this chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Loved the (re)introduction of Hagrid and the introduction to magic in the book.

HP1: The Vanishing Glass ...

Chapter 2 of Harry Potter, Book 1 has been much more interesting for P to follow. Although it does have a lot of size discrimination references, I am hoping that further discussions will make it clear that assumptions and teasing based on someone's appearance (whatever it is that makes them different) will get through and be stronger than what he reads in books. At the end of our reading, he predicted that the letters that will be coming in the next chapter are from Brazil ....