Daily Report: A Engine and The White House

Ken and DJ are begining to focus on one work at a time. For most of our school days they have been having a race with each other to see who could do more "works". I was grateful that they were staying busy. I also was concerned about how much of the work that they were doing was actually sticking. Many times it was work on the same concepts so that lessened my concerns. For the past two days they have been focused mainly on one specific work at a time. About an hour into our work period they still have chosen different works, then all of a sudden I find them engrossed into something very specific. I don't know if this has to do with that finally the work that has been offered is a perfect match for their skill and interest, or they have now been" deschooled" DJ while in public school really was proud that he was always the first one finished in his class with no mistakes. Ken in public school was almost always the last one finished. Their races against each other have always been healthy, but I think they are coming to the conclusion that there isn't a race here at home. We are all working on our own time table, there is no first or last. I think they are enjoying this mentality and today they really, really enjoyed working at their own pace, learning about things that interest them, and not being interrupted while they were at work.

DJ made it to the chapter in Vacation under the Volcanoe where Pompeii was going to be destroyed. This lead him to want to know exactly where Pompeii was to have been. It also inspired some work with the Europe puzzle map.

The Lifecycle of the frog. This is a work that I am glad that was avaliable to him. I assumed that he already knew this lifecycle, but he didn't. This work came from Montessori Print Shop. DJ particularly liked this work because it showed all of the stages of growth like the lifecycle objects he worked with.

Ken enjoyed putting words that were related to the three branches of government in abc order.

The Geometric Cabinet Command cards are a favorite for her. What I like about them is most of the command cards invite the children to use the Geometric Cabinet in many ways that connect to other areas in the enviroment, like above Ken was doing creative writing while learning how to manipulate the shapes to make a picture. The cards were also purchased at Montessori Print Shop.

Building a 4 cylinder model engine is what is keeping DJ busy today. He is still working on this fours hours later. DJ said this is exactly what he been looking forward to doing since he was born:) There are 41 steps to complete this project, he was excited about this!

Here is my tortoise, Ken has spent about two hours on this before this picture was taking. Looks like she hasn't done much if your looking at the product. Yes, she has done a lot!! She has built and taken apart, built and taken apart over and over. Refused help! Ken says this is one project she is going to finish all by herself!!

Week Of March 5, 2012: Wrap Up

This week went by so fast for us! We enjoyed a few days of great Sping weather, and then of course a little snow. Here are some photos of our week.

                          Language
Ken is finishing up her book Meet Cecile. DJ is on chapter 13 in Holes and this week we discussed identifying conflicts in stories.

Using the moveable alphabet to practice syllabication.

Diagraming sentences. They are now ready for more advanced work in this area:)

Matching sentences to picture, the point of interest is reading cursive.

Working on wrting paragraphs, this is a begining work for DJ.

                           Geography

Land and Water Forms three part cards.

Placing Children From Around The World on the appropiate continent.

                                                    Africa Continent box.

Labeling Africa. DJ also worked on labeling the North America map puzzle.

                   Geometry/Mathematics

                                                    Labeling a triangle.

More rounds of basketball while practing math facts.

                                                        Study of lines.

                                                          Types of triangles.

                                          Substraction using the beads.

                                             Division bead board.

Division story problems with the Stamp Game.

                             Sciences

                                            Bird definition set.

                                                      Making lip balm.

Oobleck! DJ did this experiment until the box of cornstarch was gone:)

Planting cat grass for dioramas.

Learning about Mohs' Hardness Scale.

Experimenting with ways to make the best volcanoe eruptions.

Identifying human body parts.

                    Our Classroom Outdoors

Checking temperatures at different locations.

                                                Discovering Natures' Wonders.

                                                 Feeding the ducks.

                        Links To Share
I really enjoyed reading "B" is for "Being Fun" at Journey To Excellence lets just say this momma knows how to bring excitement into their homeschool days, I especially like all of Dawson' science experiments. If your looking for a hands on way to get your preschool aged kids reading and writing check out Two Language Works at What Did We Do All Day? Looking for a boredom buster? Try this science experiment using household materials Germ Experiment-Where Do Germs Grow in Your House? at The Homeschool Den. For those who have younger learners, I would like to encourage you to pop over and see what the preschoolers have been up to on my other blog The Work Plan . Interested in the Montessori Method ? Want to know more about what inspires us here? Visit Living Montessori Now and check out all the archives!!

Last but not least if you want to take a peek into other homeschoolers' week visit The Weekly Wrap-Ups hosted by Weird, Unsocalized Homeschoolers.

Daily Report: Spending Time Outside

We did reading and the kids went straight to work.

Ken making jewelry for the school store.

Labeling the Africa map puzzle.

More eruptions. Let me share with you, the eruptions are getting better this one was real entertaining. Now DJ is writing down his measurements of baking soda, and vinegar to make this happen again.

Reading about the human body, and some anatomy.

Number puzzles.

Substraction while regrouping with beads.

They prepared a special snack for my assistant and me.

Sharing and enjoying the weather.

Making "poison".

Feeding the ducks.