Two Weeks Left...And a Few Days

We are gearing down for the end of the year...only two weeks left and three days of review!

Last week we studied several new topics.  In Math, our focus was on measurements, including studying volumes.  Fortunately for the kids, they help Daddy with a lot of projects, so they've had quite a bit of practice measuring various items.  We practiced measuring body parts, things we use daily (pencils, crayons, ect), and random items around the house.

For Grammar and Writing we were working on the writing process, and the kids are learning how to put the stories inside their heads down on paper. This is difficult for Asher, because he thinks so quickly that his writing can't keep up, and when I go over the story with him, he often adds/explains quite a bit more than what he has written down.  Savannah on the other hand, has an image in her head, but doesn't want to write "too much" so if she starts reaching a point where she thinks the story is supposed to be done (usually around 2 pages double spaced), she quickly ends her story.

In Reading last week we learned about synonyms, homonyms, and antonyms and this lesson will carry over into this week. The kids have synonyms and antonyms down fairly well, since it's a favorite car/store game we play.  I think they will do pretty well with the homonyms. They already know a few of them from our spelling lessons, so I'm curious to see which ones they will remember and what ones they might just know from reading books and Hooked on Phonics.

Our focus in Social Studies last week was Communication. The kids are doing a really good job making advertisements and discussing the different forms of communication.  One of their assignments was to design a product and advertise it.  Asher designed a snake cage.  His slogan was "Afraid of Snakes? Git Snake be Gone! It holds one snake." His illustration to go with the ad, was the image of a barred cage with a green snake inside, and a person outside the cage with a BIG smile on his face.  Savannah's advertisement was for "Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Craisins because they're healthy and delicious!"  Her illustration was a group of girls going gaga while eating her CPBPC, which she made from construction paper. The girls have comment bubbles above their heads with exclamations of how great the snack tastes.

In science last week and this next week the kids are learning about Electricity.  Daddy skipped into our class on Monday and taught a short lesson on circuits, and then we tried a few experiments throughout the rest of the week. We used static electricity to "unpepper" the salt, which was a lot of fun. Using a comb, brush, and balloon, we were able to remove pepper that we'd stirred into salt.  The kids really enjoyed this experiment, especially since they got to make their hair wild from static electricity.

As we are ending the school year, writing our pen pals has, unfortunately, slowed down. We will respond to all our accumulated letters before our last day of school and continue to write throughout the summer, though our response time may slow down over the summer. The kids have really been enjoying writing all their friends and family and look forward to the letters in the mail, so thank you to everyone that has been participating in their pen-pal activities.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks as we start looking at our progress and comparing our skills and knowledge from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. I am really impressed with the kids and how wonderful this year has gone.