Homeschool - 1/12/2015

Munchkin began working on a map for his lapbook showing where different kinds of dinosaurs have been discovered.

Language Arts
Nouns - Munchkin sorted noun linking cubes into different categories (person, place, thing, or idea) and then had to create sentences and picture using them.  He decided to create just one sentence using three different types! 

 He always enjoys coming up with three number sentences for the date. Today was obviously the 14th.  I am most impressed with 70-56 which he figured out the answer for very quickly.

Math:
Then we worked on exchanging dimes for pennies.  To do this we went shopping for dinosaurs.  I made up the prices (to go along with the Saxon lesson we were basing this activity off of) and then Munchkin meticulously chose which dinosaur went with which price (which he told me was based off of which he liked the most, cost the most, and so on).

 

Then we moved onto comparing the weight of dinosaurs and comparing dinosaurs (and other objects) to color cubes.

 

Munchkin absolutely loved this because he had never used a balance before!

After we were done, I let him explore the balance and choose whatever he liked to weigh.  He ended up recording his finding on a sheet.

We finally cracked open our egg (he has been waiting so patiently).

 Then we made imprints of the different dinosaurs and their parts.  Munchkin was so good at this! Here are his final products (that are now spread throughout the house)!

Friday:
To conclude our week, I thought it would be fun to turn Munchkin into a paleontologist for the day so I ordered a  Smithsonian Diggin' Up Dinosaurs T-Rex

 Reading:
After opening and before starting his excavation, I had him read Digging Up Dinosaurs by Aliki. He thoroughly enjoyed it and I think it helped him really get into what he was about to do.

 

 The sand block he's going to excavate.

He begins...and then we realized it was going to be way to messy so...

...we moved outside! (He's so excited!)

I love the way he used the brush appropriately!

 

After much hard work (and many false alarms), he finally discovered bone!

 

Portion of spine extracted! Working on getting more!

He began trying to assemble the T-rex right away!

 But then decided to wait till he was done and wash it, then put it together!

The finished product!

Now, he is constantly saying that he wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up!  Wouldn't that be wonderful!  I also planned on watching The Land Before Time but couldn't find a copy...so we will be watching that this weekend.

In addition to these activities, this week, Munchkin also:

• Monday
• Made a Life Cycle of a Dinosaur booklet for his lapbook
• Tuesday
• Made a Wright Brothers lapbook (at school)
• Wednesday
• Read a beautiful story called "The Star Dipper" (a tale about how the Big Dipper came to be), verbally answered comprehension questions, and completed a "y" as a vowel worksheet (which was very challenging for him - he had to find 8 words that used "y" as a vowel)
• Worked on spelling his months of the year (on dinosaur shaped pages)
• Wrote a chapter about dinosaurs living in China
• Reviewed his Latin
• Thursday
• Read a book about Henry Ford and then made a "creative car" (at school)
• Learned that a magnet has two poles and that the earth is a giant magnet (at school)
• Friday
• Completed word problems
• Reviewed adding 3s and 4s using Hooked on Math
• Completed Lesson 15 in AAR about idioms
• Wrote more chapters in his book about dinosaurs living in China
• Reviewed more latin
• Practiced writing dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and fun in cursive

All of this including finishing How to Break a Dragon's Heart (book 8 in the How to Train Your Dragon series).  Fun and busy week!

Homeschool Week: 1/5/2015

This week began our Dinosaur Adventures

Math:
To start Munchkin worked on measuring our toy dinosaurs with a ruler

He loved this!

Reading:
Then we moved on to What Is It? Cards.  Munchkin had to guess what dinosaur was being referenced by reading 3 clues.

After he finished this, Munchkin matched up our toy dinosaurs with the descriptions to double check his answers.

 Spelling:
Dinosaur terms for spelling and then he used the index in the dinosaur encyclopedia (which he read in its entirety) to correct his spelling.

Wednesday:
Math:
Munchkin worked on place value by matching dinosaur halves 

Finished!

Arts and Crafts:
We started our major craft - paper mache dinosaur egg.

So messy but so fun and such a great finished product! (to be seen in next weeks post)

Math:
The dinosaur skeletons I ordered arrived just in time.  So without looking at the names on the bottom, Munchkin had to match each skeleton to the dinosaur.

Then he did a pattern block design of a dinosaur.

And, of course, he had to add his own special touch to it (he said it was missing the tale)!

 And then he invented his own.
Reading:
Finishing up the Childcraft Dinosaur Encyclopedia

Friday:
Language Arts:
Working on plural word endings -es or -s

Math:
Subtraction 

Love his "searching" face!

 

Counting on his fingers. He only missed two but we need to practice so much more. He should already be doing multiplication.

 Language Arts:
Counting the syllables in dinosaur names

And then, of course, he wanted time to explore the materials!

 Arts and Crafts:
Applying our second layer of paper mache

So messy!

Waiting to dry.

Working on the cover to his dinosaur lapbook.

First insert - "A diplodicus is as long as three buses."

We probably did a few other activities I forgot to take pictures of but if I don't take a picture, I often forget.  That's why my goal is to make sure to capture his work. Well, until next week!