We watched our butterflies hatch! This was such a cool experience. We spent time diagramming the parts of a butterfly and making a few butterfly crafts in anticipation of their hatching. We read books and books about butterflies and watched a time lapse butterfly hatching on Youtube. When they finally made their appearance, they were hesitant to fly away immediately. So we got to hold them and watch them for as long as we liked. Definitely a favorite.
We also checked out another human body experiment type of book. This one gave us a few great, simple experiments to do regarding sight. I need to get back on the human body bandwagon. I've been letting that really slip.
Art
My Mom and Dad were up in our neck of the woods briefly, and Mom always brings a few fun art projects for the kids to do. She teaches weekly art lessons to the St. George grandkids and I'm always so jealous that my kids can't participate. So I love it when the kids get a little taste of it.
Miles drew his first portrait the other day. He had Dad sit on the couch and hold a small figurine of Luke Skywalker, and told him to hold still. He sat on the coffee table and drew intently for quite a while. This is the first time he's drawn a face that's more realistic as opposed to 2 dots for eyes and a line for a smile. It made me happy.
Reading
I tried to get creative with their sight word practice, but it didn't go so well. I traced their sight words in glue and then covered them in salt. The idea is that you dab paint onto it after it dries, and the paint travels over the whole letter. Great idea, but the execution was lacking. :)
Whenever there is a lull and we're transitioning to a new thing, I love to whip out these word wheels and have the kids practice. They are cute and fun, so the kids don't even realize they are learning. Score!
BFG party!! Dad and the kids finished reading Rhode Dahl's "The BFG", one that I loved reading as a kid. To celebrate we had all the foods they ate at the Queen's feast. Sausages, biscuts, and "snozcumbers" and "fizzy pop". The kids thought it was hilarious that I bought some flarp and there were tooting noises all throughout dinner, just like in the book. Definite win.
Math
I had made an "adding machine" on the white board a while back. I improved the idea by making a portable, more permanent one in an old doughnut box. It's always a big hit.
Honestly, the kids have gone through the entire Saxon Kindergarten curriculum as of about a month ago, so I'm just kind of winging it at this point. Filling in the gaps as I see fit.
Field Trips
Gwen's joy school group took us to the fire station in May. They were learning about community helpers, and the fire station is so close, it was a perfect match.
Other
The weather has been so nice lately. We've loved having school outside on a blanket in the shade. Lindy is occupied by walking around the yard, and when she is occupied, it makes life so much easier for the rest of us. We read books as we look at clouds, and practice our graphing skills on a chalk graph with things we've found in the yard. It's so fantastic.
Homeschool Party
We got together with our group to have a barbecue and celebrate our first year as homeschoolers. It was so fun to get together with everyone, husbands included. We showcased a little of what we had learned, ate good food, and chatted it up. It's truly a great group to be apart of.
