Our First Week

It feels right! We all learned a lot. After breakfast, etc., our start to the day is calendar, place value (Math, using base ten blocks), devotion, prayer and read (our scripture and then books).

We read a lot! The reading/phonics is falling into place. I'm going back to the basics (just to make sure there aren't any holes). We reviewed the letters A (short),B,C, & D - what they look like, what they sound like, & how to write them (capital and lower case). He looked at me like I was crazy - but that's kindergarten curriculum. So, I told him "There will be different levels of things we do. Some will be super easy, some you'll know and be very confident, some a little unsure, and some things will be challenging." We pulled words and letters out of books, but our favorite was when we used our "theme" words to review our letters. ARMOR, BATTLE, CATAPULT, DRAGON, CASTLE, ...

Math is similar with starting simple, but then we expand it as fit for the moment. We've been able to fit in several games (war - card game; using greater than, equal to, and less than), Paint by Number (set from Nana & Papa Joe for his birthday), Qwirkle (game from Kauffmans - color & shape attributes/characteristics; using thinking skills to gain more points) - he enjoys keeping score & writing the numbers.

Our science experiments were

• measuring ingredients for & making homemade playdough (then we made things with Lilly the next day)
• inventing a basic catapult (plastic spoon & marshmallow) and adjusting our position to hit our target

Our highlight was the field trip to the Arizona Science Center for their LEGO CASTLE exhibit. It was marvelous!!! We went with one of Micah's best buddies and we all had a blast! See pictures at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AatWrFi5ctW1u

I could go on and on and on. It feels so natural!
Lilly joined us for some things and played on her own some during some. She & I have some one-on-one time during Micah's independent work and/or stations that don't involve us or Lilly shouldn't do. :)