Daily Report: Poetry And George Melies

Neat moments happened today!!

During our reading time we got to a great twist in the story The Inventions Of Hugo Cabret. Hugo was able to solve the mystery to the key that his friend Isabell wears all the time that belonged to her grandfather Papa Georges. The signature on the page got DJ very interested. He wanted to know if this was a real person. He looked it up and found out that yes George Melies was indeed a real person, who was also the first to build a film studio in Europe. DJ learned other new things about this man. It was awesome that he was so intrigued by the signature page, which led him to do some research.

Ken and I are having a blast reading Are You There God? It's Me Margret. Our go along book is so informational. Today we talked about taking care of our ears, and about Swimmer's Ear. When we were done reading, she was wondering about how the inside of a ear looks like. Guess I may have to get some Ear Nomenclature cards.

The adverb filling boxes were a hit with Ken.

Looked over and saw Ken with all of her music works and was wondering what book she was reading. Turns out she was looking for a poem that she could make a rhythm to using the four beats in the measure. I thought this was very creative and a wonderful way for her to enhance her work. Ken is so close to mastering the C chord.

DJ worked on making sentences, this one he was proud of using 11 words. Looks like I may need to prepare in the near future for The Key Comma Experience.

Here we are having flashcard time because he absolutely loves it!! Still working on the sevens and the eights tables.

Types of Lines three part cards.

United States map work.

Working with Advanced Spelling Cards from Montessori For Everyone. DJ then chose a word, found the word in the dictionary and then wrote the definition. Of course he would pick the word chemical:)

Project time. They are still working it has been three hours and I have not heard a peep!! I guess I better get dinner going.

Adverbs, Projects, And Weekend Sharing

I finally decided to put together a grammar box activity. What prompted me to create the Adverb boxes first were both of the kids are confusing adverbs with adjectives, also DJ is really into writing now and longing for longer creative sentences. I purchased the materials from Montessori Print Shop. I am so pleased with this purchase and the kiddos gleamed with excitement as the work was being prepared. I only put out the first two filling boxes 6-1 Manner, and 6-2 Place and Time. I just put them in an organizer box with rubberbands around each part of speech.

The definition card.

This is one of the sentence strips with the parts of speech in primary colors. I thought it was best to stick to the colors that they have learned while reviewing adverbs.

They can use the lid of the box to set up their work, or the table. The definition card should have been replaced with the sentence strips, I didn't photograph that correctly. We do not have the Grammar Boxes, and we do not need them right now in our homeschool. The purchase came with four grammar filling boxes work, and a command box that they are going to love after working with all four boxes.

One thing is for sure they are loving project time and having a special time dedicated for it. After lunch which is usually about 11:30 they jump into uninterrupted project time. They really enjoy using their hands to create awesome things! Having a special dedicated time for this allowed them to work more diligently during the morning Montessori Work Period. They would often speed through their work during this time to get to their projects so we adjusted our schedule, so that we are making the best use of the time we have avaliable. Which in return cut out mini units like learning about Greek Mythology right now unless they are working on a project about it. The best part is that often their projects keep them interested enough to work on them after dinner, until bedtime, and on the weekends!

Ken will be trying her hand at making her very first handsewed summer dress and a matching purse.

DJ will be repairing his catapult. He is understanding that Elmer School Glue can not glue everything:) Also DJ will work on putting a rocket together and have more fun with baking powder and vinegar.

We had a lots of fun this weekend in our backyard preparing for some summer.

They painted their camouflage hideout.

Ken definetly inproved her butterfly catching skills.

DJ became a proud owner of a treehouse.

Linking up to Montessori Monday.

Our Weekly Wrap Up: Learning Naturally

Learning about fractions was the focus of their math learning this week....

labeling the parts of a fraction

matching fractions to decimal

this is some work that Ken recorded in her math journal

DJ had much fun learning about physics and measurements with the catapult that he built.

There is so much more he plans to do with this so stay tuned.

Ken is sticking to learning how to play the guitar. This week she practiced keeping rhythm, still focused on learning the c chord.

One of her favorite things to do was make different combinations for the 4/4 measure and record it in her songwriting book:)

The parts of the guitar cards from Montessori Print Shop were so perfect for her interest.

DJ continued to work on some troubleshooting with his robot, and continue to work on his own invention of a robot.

We read a lot in our read alouds this week. Both of them kept asking "Can we read one more chapter?"

Ken and I read from this book that is just right for a eleven year old to understand how its' body change. We read through the parts discussing positive self esteem and also about hair care. Did you know that if gum gets stuck in your hair peanut butter can remove it?

DJ has been doing a lot of writing due to starting his very own blog. I think he was able to do three blog post this week. This is awesome for he is a reluctant writer. I just look at the keyboard as his moveable alphabet, its working!!

Learning the U.S capital cities with cards from Montessori Print Shop.

Not the best photo to share, but I will anyway. Michelle had a science fair at her school. She received a honorable mention and motivation to not do a project three days before it is due. I must say her presentation was just awesome!!

They all have spent a lot of time in the dig site.

Lots of yard work was accomplished.

It was a very productive week. I must say this week there was a lot of learning going on that just couldn't be captured on camera. The conversations that we are having are amazing. We had our first real debate it was prompted by Ken asking me who was here on earth first, DJ says God, and Michelle chimes in alright I have been meaning to ask you Did the chicken come before the egg? Alrighty then. I felt like we may have leaned a little toward unschooling. There I said it:)