Homeschool Week 33: Nailing Down The Basics

We began our week by reviewing the Easter story in Bible using our Resurrection Eggs.  The boys love those! 

Our other stories were Emmaus, the Upper Room, and Breakfast on the Shore.  Cruz is continuing to memorize Matthew 11: 28-30 and Matthew 22: 36-39.  These will be his last passages of the school year to memorize.

In Language Cruz worked on the sounds ear= er (learn) , changing f to ves when making plurals (leaves), long "i" (blind), u=  short oo (put), air (chair), ui= long oo (fruit) and or= er (worm).  He also began working on contractions and reviewing compound words. He then finished with his next assessment test.  

sentences using his spelling words

taking his assessment test

reviewing compound words

contractions

Ben spent the week learning letter "W".  His memory verse for the week was Psalm 56:3- "What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee."  His nursery rhyme was Mary Had A Little Lamb.

learning letter "W"

learning to read using some Bob Books

Below are a few videos I took of him reading.  You'll notice him showing his stickers at the end of the books that he received for reading them well. 

His nursery rhyme for the week was Mary Had A Little Lamb.  Cruz likes playing it on the piano and got the idea to try to teach it to Ben.  It was fun to watch him be the teacher to his little brother.

We plan to start Ben in formal piano lessons once we return from our Stateside Assignment.  I'm not sure if he will like it as much as Cruz but we are hoping he does.

He made this "little lamb" craft to go with his nursery rhyme.  It is covered in cotton but it's hard to tell in this photo.

He also learned the story of the Three Little Pigs and made some stick puppets to help retell it.

watching the story on the computer

the Three Little Pigs stick puppets

Cruz's math lessons were on subtraction -5.  In addition to that new math fact we spent a lot of time reviewing all the facts he has already learned.  There are days when he seems to know them well and other days where he can't seem to answer even a simple problem.   Those days drive me crazy!  I try to incorporate games as much as possible because he enjoys them so much.  One game that we have played a lot of lately is called Math War.  It is great for review.

math review

Ben spends his math time counting to 100 and practicing skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.  He practices number recognition and writing 0-20.  We have been reviewing number order and before and after numbers.  This week we spent some time focusing on which number is more, which is less, which is smaller, and which number is larger. 

Iron Man counting to 100 

(he LOVES that new costume!)

comparing numbers

learning to add

This week in History we began a two week study about American tall tales.  This week we read the stories of John Henry and Stormalong.  I started the study explaining the difference between legend and fact. 

The boys especially enjoyed the activity that went along with this weeks lesson.  They had learned about John Henry's love for hammers so they got to use hammers and pretend to work hard like he did.  We gave each of them a  piece of wood, some nails, a hammer, and some pliers.  They spent over an hour in the back yard hammering away.  They loved it and have begged several times since to do it again.

David showing them what to do

We learned about two States- Oklahoma and New Mexico.

In Science we learned about mammals.  We read about them in our Usborne First Science Encyclopedia and used the internet links to watch videos and do other activities. 

Another IMB mission family had passed down this wonderful Science resource to us.  The boys love looking at.  It is full of animals of all kinds and a lot of facts about each of them. We have especially enjoyed having it during this Zoology unit.  We spent a lot of time this week flipping through the mammal section and learning about some of the animals they love most.

In Health we learned about having good manners in public.  Our lessons taught specifically about having good manners at the grocery store and at doctor's offices.  We learned the importance of covering our mouths when we sneeze and cough.  We also learned a poem to help remind us to be friendly to those we come in contact with when we are out in public.  It goes-

"There's magic in a smile, you know, 

Because it always doubles.

You smile at me, I smile at you,

And we forget our troubles." -Mary Louise Friebele

At the end of the week they each had to illustrate something they had learned.  Both of my boys love to draw so we do a lot of illustrating during school.

Cruz drew himself walking in the grocery store and not running.  He drew an apple that had fallen on the ground and said if he had been running he might have tripped over it and fallen. 

Ben drew himself sitting quiet and patient at the doctor's office.

In Art they drew a baby fox.

They draw all the time.  Here are two more things they did this week that I especially enjoyed seeing.

Cruz drew a knight (top left), "a person that loves God" (middle),  Jesus on the cross (top right), Jesus being beaten by the soldiers (bottom right), and the empty tomb (bottom left).  (The black spider is a clip that I used to hang it)

Ben said that this was me dressed as a  princess in a pretty purple dress in a flower field.  I love it!

Cruz did two journal entries this week-

Would you rather be super smart or super strong? "I would rather be super strong.  I could help people.  I could lift heavy things.  I could help everybody."  He drew himself with his chest and arm muscles popping out.

He had to write about Ben's birthday.  He wrote, "My brother's birthday was minions.  We had cake.  We had a egg hunt.  We watched minions.  He got Legos.  He got 5 Hot wheels and 5 gumballs."

Whew!  It was a full week but a good one.   These are fun days and I am glad I get a front row seat to enjoy it all.