Teaching Tuesdays - I've lost track of the week #.

We hit school full force this week.  We are making great progress but this time of year I feel like I'm dragging my feet a little.  I'm not thrilled with the Math Book Josh is going through but we are still pushing through it for the year and I've already picked out what I think will be a better fit for the boys next year.  Our Phoics/Reading curriculum I LOVE but I think I need to push Josh a little more on it so we get a little more done each day.  I'm beginning to realize that it may be more of a two year curriculum than just a K-5 curriculum - which is ok :-)

 Nate absolutely loves mazes. I just bought him a new book called My Book of Mazes: Animals - he was so excited to find it in his daily drawer on Monday. 

 This past week in Math, we worked on some basic measurements.  Josh used 1 cm blocks to both measure and also to estimate the size of various things in his book.  We also talked about Handspan, Paces, and using our feet to measure things.  One of the reaons I'm not thrilled with this book is because it is meant more for the classroom - there are only one or two problems on each page and there is tons and tons of discussion.  At home, hands on activities are much better - things that the student can lead themselves once they understand the concept.

We've been working on some supplimental worksheets related to Pirates this past week as I am planning to take the boys on a field trip to see a Pirate exhibit at our local museum.  I found this great Pirate pack over at Homeschool Creations

Nate and I have been reading lots of books lately.  One of our favorites and, quite honestly, one of the most fun kids books I've come across, is "Pout Pout Fish".

 And then another book we are enjoying is "Stream Train, Dream Train."  Nate loves to list all of the train cars and try to remember what order they come in throughout the book.

Finally, Nate is "reading" to us as well.  He can read, from memory, the entire book "If Everybody Did."  He reads it almost every night at bedtime. 

 This makes me smile.  Nate has decided that he likes to display ALL of his work.  So, when he remembers, he tapes every single item on the wall.  He loves seeing the display. 

This little gem is my new pencil sharpener.  It is not electric but works fabulous.  It came with great reviews from Amazon.  I will admit I do kinda need to watch a youtube video because I don't have it masters and almost every review said . . .watch the video :-)



This week we are working on Valentines and will get a field trip in as well :-)