We did some fun things and some serious things. I obviously didn't document every single thing we did because I want to be engaged in this process, but I thought it might be fun to share some.
Isaac decided to create his own instructions and then follow them to build a tower:
He practiced writing:
This is a neat program. It's called Handwriting Without Tears. First, we "build" the capital letters using big lines, little lines, big curves, and little curves. Then, we follow the "wet, dry, try" method. I write the letter on the chalk board. Isaac traces over it with a wet cloth, then again with a dry cloth, and then finally he draws it himself. He *really* liked this method when we tried it this week.
I'm glad he's enjoying some of the process.
Then we practice again by writing it in his workbook. He's less thrilled about having to write the letters so much smaller, but he's working on it. He's such a perfectionist that he tends to get upset if it isn't just like he wants, so I'm thankful for erasers!
Meanwhile, not to be left behind:
For history, we're reading a fun book called Living Long Ago. This week we discussed different modes of transportation. There were boats called coracles that had animal skins wrapped around a wooden frame and then were coated in tar to make them waterproof. We made our own version of this using a plastic bag and pipe cleaners. I was ecstatic that it didn't immediately sink!
The other history lessons come from the Usborne Children's Encyclopedia. I can't possibly say enough good things about this book. It has QR codes (those little square boxes on nearly every package of everything that you can scan for more marketing materials). We scanned several of them and got to see videos on cloud formation and hurricanes (for science) and then saw a neat video about how the first farmers settled down in the Fertile Crescent. Clicking additional links while we talked about Ancient Egypt took us to a *phenomenal* site from a children's museum in Birmingham, UK. We got to take a 360* tour of a pyramid - inside and out as well as learning lots of new info about mummies via an interactive page. I was so fascinated! Isaac put up with me. LOL!
We also have a fun science book we're using, but it's British, so they talk about fun experiments we can do using radiators. I had to laugh. Even if we had radiators in Texas, we certainly wouldn't be using them during school hours in early September! So we tried to use the heat from the road. This would have worked better a few weeks ago when the temps exceeded 100*, but we tried.
For P.E., Isaac learned something new (and not my favorite) this week.
Unrelated to homeschool, Laine has started ballet and tap classes this week and she's very excited about it. It was exceptionally cute to watch her and her new friends.
Finally, marginally related to homeschool, I now need glasses so I can keep up with our literature-based curriculum. I pick them up in 2 weeks, but here's the preview:
Anyway, Isaac is on his way!
