What should have been week 3...

Well, Sunday evening, instead of reviewing teaching notes and info for the upcoming school week (week 33 of CC), I was lying in bed watching Hurricane Isaac slowly veering our direction.  By this point, a mandatory evacuation was issued for our parish and so we began to gather our belongings to head out the next day.  My in-laws offered to have us and we took them up on that offer.  While it normally takes us 3 hours to get there, we were expected the worse - evacuation traffic.  We would pleasantly find out the next day that traffic wasn't an issue.

Thankfully, I had organized our filing cabinet during the summer and so getting all our important papers together was easy.  I emptied my courier cabinet hoping my china would be safe on my table cushioned with blankets.

Next, school books.  I know we would possibly be going for no less than 4 days.  No doubt, we were going to do school.  I wanted to keep a little normalcy for my kids.  I loaded up my Utility Tote with books, art supplies, maps, and binders.  It was quite the load:)

Since we weren't going to have CC that week I focused more on her reading, writing, and math; although, we briefly talked about Ancient Greece.  There favorite thing to do for History/Lit was listen, watch, and re-enact Aesop's Fable 'The Tortoise and the Hare'.

We were ready to be home by the following Sat.  Thankfully we had power in our house that day so we headed home.  We are thankful that house only had minor damage to the corner of the house as a result of a fallen tree limb.  No leakage so that was good.

Week 2

We had a great second week of school.  I am amazed at how much information Doc has memorized.  She loves the songs and motions.  Even Superhero likes the fact that he knows his timeline from Creation to China's Shang Dynasty.  It's kinda cute.

So here are some pictures of what we did this week:

The letter of the week was 'B'.  I decide what letter based on which section Doc is in her book, Get Ready for the Code.  There are about 10 pages per letter so it works well.  Here are some things we did to reinforce that letter:

B is for Batman

B is for Boy holding a Broom

B is for Boy in a Boat

Here are the books we read.  The bottom left is 'Boy of the Pyramids'.  I actually read this one, not the kids.  I think it will be a great book for them when they're a little older.  I enjoyed it.  Their favorite was 'The Day of Ahmed's Secret' - great story.  They really enjoyed the books about Ancient Egypt as well.

History

Doc finished her 10 Commandments craft and reviewed all of them.  I then used the week to study Ancient Egypt.  The kids had a blast.

She loved working on her lapbook

Where in the world was Ancient Egypt?

I also let them watch this video.  They were very interested and had lots of questions.

Science

She colored a 5 Kingdoms coloring page.

Math

She is loving these skip counting mazes.  I just let her mark up to x12.

Meanwhile in Tot School...

What do I do with my 3 year old?

A friend asked me recently for some ideas on how to teach her 3 year old without having to use a ton of worksheets.  This is a great question because while I think that worksheets are great, 3 year olds learn a lot more from hands on experiences/play.  So, here are some things that we've done in the past and things we hope to do this year.  *NOTE* I am not claiming any of these ideas as my own.  I've gathered them from reading other blogs and Pinterest.

Letters:

One thing both my kids really enjoy is homework.  I know, why do I give my kids homework when they have a home-centered education?  Well, it's not the kind of homework you would normally see.  No worksheets.  Since we have a letter each week, the kids at the end of the week have to bring me their designated container with things that they've encountered throughout the week that begins with that letter.  Then, they have a 'show-and-tell' to tell us what they've found.  They LOVE it.

They also like making the letters with playdoh.

Why Superhero does NO MORE than 3 worksheets a week (does not include art)?  Worksheets are a great tool for teaching your child to sit still, concentrate, and practice fine motor skills (hold pencil/crayon properly); any more than that and he's bored and pulls the 'I can't do it'.  I use worksheets for letters.  I usually have sheets with the letter of the week.  Here are some examples (the last one even has cutting skills):

Beginning sounds
I got this from the Target $1.00 section

http://www.4shared.com/file/220185360/20d8fe62/amagnet.html

first school

Numbers:  

I don't usually have worksheets for numbers.  I'd much rather teach them using manipulatives (cheerios in egg cartons, toys, blocks, pom poms, snap cubes, counting bears, etc are some examples).  I also like these cards for number recognition and games (place in order; place in reverse order; match number with pictures, etc)

Eric Carle Flashcards

Shapes and Colors:

We practice shapes and colors by playing the classic 'I Spy' game.  We'll snuggle on the couch (sometimes with a snack) and take turns saying eg. "I spy something that is shaped like a square" OR "I spy something that is blue".  We also use manipulatives (playdoh, etc.)  In fact, Superhero likes to take markers/crayons and make shapes out of them.

I can't stress enough how reading is so vital in exposing kids to information and practice of the above categories.  Some of our favorites for Superhero are:

My m book

My one book

He also gets to pick whatever books he wants (as long as I can carry them;))  I usually read them the books so they know what's going on then when I let them 'read' them on their own (I can get stuff done or spend time with the baby during this time).  It's rather cute hearing them try to read by themselves.

Apps

So, we love our iPad.  It's been a nice addition for school.  There are so many great educations apps out there (ipad, iPod and android).  Here are some of his favorites:

Wee sing ABC

Friendly shapes

Toca Robot

Superhero matching

As I think/find other ideas that he enjoys, I'll post them.