Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Our Oak Meadow Week 29

Spring Break / Unschool Week

  • Lego Play
  • Netflix Watching (Jeremy Wade from River Monsters is their hero)
  • Phineus and Ferb
  • Trip to the Playground
  • Watercolor Pencils
  • Sidewalk Chalk
  • Homeschool Group
    • Art- Painting with Watercolors, discussion about Primary and Secondary Colors
    • Music- Names of the lines and spaces on the staff.  Made up their own acrostics: Every Giant Bee Does Fly; Edge Getting Bigger Daily, Fish
    • Gym- Variation on Dodge Ball
  • Playdate with Good Friend
  • Map Drawing
  • Jungle Joe show
    • Animals and Conservation
  • Burger King Indoor Playground (I wish the weather would decide to finally be Spring for good)
  • Local Aviary
    • Observe and draw favorite bird- Great Horned Owl, Red Tailed Hawk
  • Visit From Pittsburgh Grandparents
  • Visit From local Nana
  • Relaxing
  • Being a Kid
Next Week:
  • New Reading Books
  • Money
  • Civics
In 3 Weeks: Trip to the Smoky Mountains and the Biltmore Homeschool Festival

Saturday, April 2, 2011

We've Hit the Wall

Our school year using Oak Meadow has been great.  We've stayed on track through remodeling and moving, the kids like the curriculum, and they have learned things that I would not have thought to teach them.  They were doing great, and there was no whining when I called "time for homeschool."

That was until 2 weeks ago.  It was a crazy week that began with a night in Pittsburgh with my inlaws so that my MacBook could get fixed.  (Macs are wonderful computers, but the fact that I have to travel at least  an hour and a half to get mine fixed, after having traveled an hour and a half to get it diagnosed may factor into my next computer purchase.....)  And it was out 10th wedding anniversary and at the end of the week we were going for a weekend getaway to the ocean without the kids.  In the middle we were trying to get some homeschooling accomplished, and the boys were a bit out of sorts, but I expected that from the crazy week.

But this past week (Oak Meadow Week 28), the boys were unfocused.  I would put math in front of them that they knew, and they couldn't get it.  Division with remainders would be understood, and then completely forgotten.  It would take forever to read a story because they were unfocused.

By Wednesday I knew it-- they had hit a wall.

I don't know if it the awful weather we are having, or Spring Fever, or what.  There is a reason why so many schools have a Spring Break.  And Easter is so late this year that if I put off Spring Break until then, nothing will really get accomplished for the next 3 weeks, except for all of us being frustrated.

So as we progressed through the stuff I had planned for Thursday and Friday (though admittedly a lighter load), I was planning for OM Week 29.  In the week's schedule I had already factored in Homeschool Group and a trip to the local college with other homeschoolers to see a kid's show.  I looked through the rest of the week and decided that Week 29 was going to be an Unschool week.  Yay!!!!!

Our Oak Meadow Week 28

  • Finished Mummies in the Morning Unit with 1st Grader
    • Not Oak Meadow, but it worked for my excellent 1st grade reader.  For $1 on CurrClick, I downloaded a unit with comprehension questions.  Every other day I either had him write a sentence or two in addition to the questions, or draw a picture of the day's chapter.  I made him write on lined paper, so it improved his questionable handwriting skills (or at least show me that he could write well if he tried).  I put it all in a folder together, so now I have an excellent example of handwriting, composition, comprehension, and art skills to show off at our June evaluation. And my son likes to show it off to people who come and visit.   
  • 3rd grader is reading book of choice- this week it was Mouse Tails.  He would read a story each day, discuss it with me, then draw a picture and write a t least 2 sentences to go with the story.  He is a late blooming reader (various issues including reversals and he should have never been taught to read phonetically) but it is really starting to click for him :)
  • 4 Math Processes
    • 1st grade division and multiplication
    • 3rd grader division with remainders
  • Bird Watching
  • Trees
  • Biodiversity
  • Began Civics unit for both
    • rules and laws
  • Hiking (with Dad, as I am still a gimp)
Next Week:
  • Homeschool Group
  • Jungle Joe Show
  • Unschooling Week, 'cause they need a Spring Break

Our Oak Meadow Week 27

  • Reading books, writing sentences and/or paragraphs

  • Mummies in the Morning Unit

  • VCCV words

  • 4 Math Processes

  • Economics



  • Budgeting- Community needs vs wants


  • Trip to Pittsburgh



  • Grandparents, Mac fixed, playground



  • Independent Reading

  • Playdate

  • Phineas & Ferb
  • Our Oak Meadow Week 26

  • Reading books, writing sentences and/or paragraphs

  • CurrClick reading comprehension worksheets for Magic Tree House Mummies in the Morning

  • Handwriting

  • 4 processes in Math

  • Pond Life

  • Biomes

  •  Independent Reading

  • River Monsters - Jeremy Wade is a new hero
  • Our Oak Meadow Week 25

    Our week 25 started out excitingly.  If you look on week 24, you will see a fishing trip listed.  That was a planned trip.  I was blogging on Saturday morning, as we were collecting stuff to go on the fishing excursion.  We were headed to the C&O Canal, and bringing our beagle with us.  The boys were carrying their fishing rods, my husband the tackle, and I was walking the dog.  Apparently he (the dog, not my husband) caught hold of a scent (probably a duck or goose, I swear Gatsby must come from a long line of bird dogs), and I sprained my ankle.  It was a pretty good sprain (or bad, depending on your perspective), and I have been trying to nurture my ankle ever since.  It is not really an excuse (as I have spent many hours sitting on the couch with my foot up), but I blame my ankle on why I am so behind in my blogging.

    Anyway......

    • Reading books, writing sentences and/or paragraphs
    • 4 Math Processes
    • Economics
      • George Washington-working together
      • Sarah Whitacre- sacrifice
    • Temperature
    • Water Cycle
    • Built terrarium
    • Lots of Independent Reading
    • Scratch
    • LEGO Pharaoh's Quest
    • River Monsters