Monday, March 16, 2009

Thinking within The Box...

...well sort of. It's more like thinking about what will go IN the boxes! I still consider us OUT of the box homeschoolers!

Care for a peek at our Friday? We started the day with the lesson on explorers described below. In general I begin with our unit study because it gets everyone started on a level playing field and we have the most energy for maximum fun.

So, here we go...in no particular order.

R8 spent some time reading her silent read which she finished- The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

I-6 spent some time making silly sentences for his reading assignment- it was Friday after all. J3 joined him.

Can you read this one upside down? Gotta love Blogger messing with me again.
Seeing this in a box...

...led to this. Next week he starts learning chords. He's been learning the notes so far. Jars of Clay look out.
E10 started his required silent read Carry On Mr. Bowditch.

We pulled out the Global puzzle. This has launched a great interest in maps and the kids are printing their favorites and coloring them.

Later on this weekend...progress until Dan messed up one corner with is feet.

A little cursive practice for E10. The kids are also working on an adventure tale to be published by the end of the unit. They've done work on the planning part with story webs and E10 wrote his first chapter Friday. I can't wait to read the tale in its entirety. It's going to be a good one if the remaining chapters are as fun as the first one.

Two of J3's boxes. He never got to these so I've left them until Monday.

R8 works on her strawberry pin cushion for a bit each day. This was work she did on Thursday.

R8 finished her poster for her public speaking event on Saturday. She got a blue ribbon in case her fans want to know how things turned out! She has an absolute flair for public speaking- just like her mom!

Everyone did some nature study on raccoons because that was a fun study on the Handbook of Nature Study blog.

They checked out a few web sites and wrote two fun facts about raccoons.

I-6 worked on his raccoon later on in the day and it is official folks. This son of ours is absolutely colorblind. We have suspected for a long time because he mistakes green a lot. He loves the color gray and uses it a lot. He was delighted when I told him to go color his raccoon gray and black. This is what he came back with. I was like, seriously? Then I could tell he was very serious. I googled up the nearest test to find out once and for all.
I used this color blind test and it is pretty plain that I-6 is green color blind. If you follow the link, you'll see that green colored blind people see a 70 in the first sample. He was right on with 70.I mean he blurted it out lickety split and quite emphatically. Of course, the rest of us can't see it. Yikes. He can see red thankfully! Poor guy. There you go Dad. You have some company. And he guesses at green the same way you do! I-6, what color is this milk cap? Green- he says. Then I asked him what another object was that was gray. He answers- green? Then goes- I don't know I'm guessing. Oh my. Genetics. Sigh. It's all my fault.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just a quick question: Where do you get the blank, spiral-bound notebooks? Thanks!
Tory
tory_irene@yahoo.com

Heather said...

Hi Tory, you can get the spiral bound books at Walmart in their craft section. They are scrapbooks.

There are also books at Bare Books that come in different sizes.

http://www.barebooks.com/catalog.htm

Heather

Anonymous said...

Let me know how you like your global puzzle. Ours didn't go together very well since pieces don't interlock. I think next time we put it together we will put that waffle drawer liner that as a bit of tack to it to hold on to the pieces.

Shonda said...

You guys are jammin'!
My dh is red/green color blind, but none of my kids are, surprisingly. He is also left handed and my kids are all righties. Are your color blind people lefties? Just wondering.

Jennifer said...

That silly sentences game looks great! Is that matching game for your little guy a memory game or small puzzles?

Anonymous said...

Caitlin is also colorblind...
Kw

Anonymous said...

OOPs, I mean C17...
K50

Anonymous said...

I have a couple of color blind kids myself. I'm waiting on my box stuff here!

Dana Leeds said...

I'm glad you keep bringing up these boxes as I really want to learn more about them when I get back from Spring Break. I think it'll add to us doing more, and having more fun, every day!

Julie said...

What do you think about the guitar lesson book that you are using? What age student would you recommend it for? Thanks! I enjoyed looking through your blog today!

Heather said...

Julie we are using two series actually. Both of them can be found at www.rainbowresource.com

I like them both. I would start with the Alred series just because it is written specifically for kids. My son is 10, but I think it can be used with any child ready to go from about 6 on.

The other kids will be starting soon as well.

Brenda said...

Can you tell me more about that sewing book your daughter is using? It looks fun! My daughter LOVES to sew on her little machine, but I want her to do more simple handsewing projects b/c that is something she can handle without all of my help. Oh, plus she needs the practice. That's probably a better reason. :)