I've been working hard on my planning for the two Math MLBs we are doing right now (one child Business Math and one child Geometric Drawing). You can find all of my notes on the website. I used to compile all of my notes and then create big PDF files and post them only at the very end of the block, but it's way too easy (being a single mom of four, from almost-2 to almost-15) to fall behind. I've found the best approach is to simply create web pages for each main lesson at the start of the block, which I then constantly update as I'm planning, teaching, or reflecting.
We just came back from a free event at the library:
- Art Workshops Inspired by Black History Month
Sundays in February, 1:30-3:00 pm
Join us each Sunday in February for a FREE art workshop for all ages and all skill levels.
February 26 - Basket Weaving with the Mays Family
Supplies provided for the first 45 participants. See the African tradition of basket weaving and weave your very own basket.
This was fun and our entire homeschool co-op went, plus one of my weekend Art/Handwork students! Today we also read They All Saw a Cat, made art inspired by the book (one child painted a cat from the point of view of a wolf, one child used oil pastels to draw a cat from the point of view of a bunny, and one child collaged a cat from the point of view of a fish), played outside, had snack, made handmade paper (we started soaking the pulp yesterday), did puppetry (my well-loved Hansel and Gretel marionettes), and knitted.
Yesterday in Art/Handwork, we read Leave Me Alone!, chose a yarn color (cherry) and wound it and began a knitted chicken, stopped and sanded our homemade needles a little bit more, had snack, wet felted an egg and put it in a (real) found bird's nest to be a Nature table decoration, chose our cookie cutters and our colors and prepared our pulp for papermaking, made apple flowers (with caramel dip, apple slices, and grapes), and played outside.
Our family went yesterday evening to the "Hate Has No Home Here" Dialogue Dinner at the Muslim Center and it was absolutely packed. I mean, packed. The entire time we were there they were bringing in more tables and chairs. We ate on chairs in the hallway. It was so great to see the whole community turn out to show so much support for the Muslim Center!
So our homeschool week looked something like this:
- "How to Tell a Camel" poem from Talking Like the Rain: A Read-to-Me Book of Poems
completing the birdhouse activity from Puddle Questions: Assessing Mathematical Thinking
writing a book review for the absolutely awful How the Rabbit Became the Easter Bunny, which I received for free in exchange for honest feedback
INTENSE lesson on "The Feather Pillow" and making inferences from the text (link is to free lesson plan from TpT)
Theme discussion for "The Feather Pillow," using lesson 2 from Reviving The Essay: How To Teach Structure Without Formula
4th grade math puzzles from Making Math Meaningful: Fun with Puzzles, Games, and More!
reviewing measurement in degrees and probability with a water bottle flip activity
Article of the Day
baking walnut chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin bread, and brownies
playing Big Boggle
spreading last autumn's leaves in the garden, covering paths, insulating daffodils and roses
Farm Day (which included taking a long hike and learning how to make from-scratch pastry for a rooster pot pie)
final Geology field trip: Bell Smith Springs and walking over the largest natural bridge in Illinois (and me leaping into a VERY COLD Bay Creek to fetch Zac's water bottle after he dropped it in there)
charcoal drawing, third assignment from Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools
Structured Word Inquiry
finishing Geology and Astronomy MLBs and beginning Geometric Drawing and Business Mathematics
art exhibit reception at Carbondale Community Arts - Wednesday
poetry workshop at the library - Thursday
awesome Science Cafe lecture at the Science Center on Subsurface Microbiology - Thursday
Hate Has No Home Here Dialogue Dinner - Saturday
basket weaving workshop - Sunday
I also created a flyer for the Aesop's Fables & Puppetry Spring Break Camp which I'll be teaching next month, and began to promote that.
Whew!
This post contains affiliate links to the materials I actually use for homeschooling. I hope you find them helpful. Thank you for your support!
Immersive Experience
Immersive Experience
Immersive Experience
2 comments:
Each student completed the Theme grid activity from Gretchen Bernabei, and shared their six possible statements aloud with the group. Here was one of our favorites, and it goes especially well with the story: "It's a burden if someone sees you sad, both for you and for that person!"
I wanted to update this post to state that I am absolutely appalled at the behavior of Lee Jackson, publisher of How the Rabbit Became the Easter Bunny. She provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. When I published an honest well-considered detailed negative review on Amazon, she wrote to me and told me, "I requested you not to publish it if it were to be unfavorable."
AND she HAD MY REVIEW REMOVED from Amazon.com!!!!
Do NOT buy any book published by Images Unlimited Publishing. They engage in extremely dishonest business practices, artificially inflating their books' ratings by thoroughly squelching any consumer feedback with which they disagree.
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