Over view of what we did for week of March 3,2014

Usually I blog about things that are on my mind or having to do with a certain topic we are learning but I thought my blog would also be a great place to just jot down what we did each week.

Week of March 3,2014

This week has been all about learning in non-traditional ways. That means no textbooks. We did cover some math and grammar through our online programs which are Aha Math, Mobymax, and Study Ladder. Since Marine Life is Alyssa's interest at this moment we have been working our way through the BBC series Blue Planet- Sea of Live watching an episode or two a day. We also have been reading 3-4 books a day about Marine Life. We created clay sculptures of starfish and whales. Meverick is interested in Dinosaurs so we created fossils using clay and fake bugs for him. I also read 2-3 books a day on his topic of interest. So really both kids are covering two topics together. Instead of textbooks and worksheets Alyssa practices her multiplication by playing a dice game. Maverick usually played on Abcmouse for about and hr. a day. I have started using more educational games in our day because it is a fun way to cover basic skills and it also helps Maverick with his fine motor skills. This week we played Sum swamp, Grasping Grammar , Pay day, Clue,Synonyms( which is a board game from Lindergraff company),and Funglish. We created stories using our story cubes. I continue to allow free time playing Minecraft because I have seen the things they are learning from it like rocks and minerals, math, shapes, spelling, and plants and animals. They enjoy the game so I think we will continue with that. Alyssa has taking to spending more time reading right now it is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books so usually you will find her first thing in the morning curled up reading. We did a good bit of cooking with her reading the instructions and measuring out everything. Learning to do it all on her own including the clean up process. We went through everyone's room to get rid of items we don't use any longer. It was a good learning experience and a great way to teach needs, wants, and materialistic mind sets. This took us into a discussion about our carbon foot print and how living a simple minimalistic life style helps the environment. We also watched Cyber Chase which is a math teaching cartoon Alyssa is into right now. If you haven't seen it you should check it out on Netflix. I introduced Alyssa to some basic algebra problems which became a fun game for her because she also got to learn about using a calculator which she has never done before. I def. think we will do that again next week seeing she enjoyed it so much. Our trip this week was to a resale store. This one is a bit different than a thrift store it has a mix of antiques and handmade items using old items. I think we spent two hrs in there looking at and talking about some of the older stuff like a 1950's t.v and an old iron that you have to heat with no electricity. We came across a entire section of Asian inspired furniture which really got Alyssa excited so I think we will start a Chine unit soon.