week #2, block #2 (school year week #6)

My three guys taking on new persona's at the Foster Farm during our visit there this week.

I felt like we really started getting into the groove with our Math Block this week. The kids are really making some good connections to the numerals we're working on, both with the stories we are using to introduce the numbers, and with the significance of each number in their own lives. I felt like my approach and adjustments were right on target for my guys, and everything seemed to click along just right. We worked with the numbers "Three", "Four" and "Five" this week, and continued bringing those concepts into our Pumpkin Patch Adventure Circle. Our nature story for the week, "Apple Tree", covered both our work for number "Five" and our science story for the week. We also took a leaf walk to support last week's science work.

We continued working on handwriting, using one handwriting sheet (one letter) per night. We've just finished a sheet for each consonant we did during our first block, and we'll repeat that practice work during the rest of this block and next. For reading practice, Zoo Boy read "Apples and Pumpkins" by Anne Rockwell, and J read "Detective Dinosaur" by James Skofield. This was the first time Zoo Boy's reading book was something he wasn't already familiar with, and I think he surprised himself with how well he did with it.

Monday was a day off from Monday Homeschool Classes, due to the Columbus Day holiday, so we used our "free" afternoon to create some apple prints (no photos, sorry!) from cutting an apple core in half to reveal the "star" and dipping it in paint, then using it as a "stamp" on paper. (It made some interesting patterns, but the "star" shape wasn't particularly evident in any of them.) Tuesday both boys had museum classes about making masks. Wednesday we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and play outdoors all afternoon. Thursday we made leaf rubbings from leaves gathered on our earlier leaf walk. Friday we baked pumpkin cookies to enjoy by the fireside while we read our nature story on Friday evening. Saturday we visited (and mastered!) the Foster Farm Corn Mazes. On Sunday Zoo Boy and I were nursing colds, so while The Map Man too J to his chorus practice, The Boy and I snuggled under the quilts and watched football.


J staged an entire production of his chorus show, with his Matreska dolls playing the starring roles, and his magnadoodle and hand-made paper scenery providing the backdrop. He even cut up a bunch of little pieces of paper so that it could "snow" on the set. Those Matreskas are a talented group of thespians -- not a single one of them forgot their lines! (This is the ice-fishing scene.)

(J working on an independent project, building a cave out of a shoe box.)

Story Time stories for this week included Leaves, Leaves, Leaves, by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace; In the Leaves, by Huy Voun Lee; and Pumpkins, by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Barry Root. We finished up Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater, and started in on Farley Mowat's "Owls in the Family" which has already captivated the boys despite only being a couple chapters in. The timing is ideal, with the boys enrolled in a museum Owl program next week.