Last Official Week of the School Year

This was a very hodge podgy kind of week.  It was sort of a review week as well as an introduction into a few new concepts.   Hayden read a new book, and both boys got to pick out new books from Barnes & Noble for reading a total of 10 books.  Hayden also had his last list of spelling words, and he finally got 100% correct on the test at the end of the week!  Sawyer reviewed letters (as did Hayden) and they worked in their workbooks a lot.

Reading:
Hayden's book this week was Dear Dragon's A is for Apple by Margaret Hillert.  He has done really well with these books this year, and I think I'm ready for him to move on to something new now.  I haven't figured out what we will do next year yet, but I have several curricula that I'm looking into that will hopefully save me some time with all the planning and preparations, etc.

ABC Magazine book

Magazine ABC Book again.  He picks out pictures from magazines and
puts them on the right page.  Then I write the word below or next to the
picture.

Lacing Cards for the letters A-E.  I made these out of foam sheets that I bought
at the Dollar Tree.  A-E was as far as I got.  I'd like to do the whole alphabet and
also lowercase letters as well for Sawyer (and eventually Riley).  This should
also help him with his pincer grasp.

Hayden just finishing an ABC dot-to-dot.  

We played a Super Why! ABC Board Game one day for reading.  

Writing:

Writing was a lot of workbook review stuff.  Hayden also worked on spelling words as well.

Math:
Nothing but review this week in math.  And of course, I didn't get nearly the amount of pictures that I should have.  Sawyer did a lot of patterning while Hayden worked on addition facts and geoboard activities.

A review on shapes and colors.  Sawyer would identify the shape and color,
trace the shape with the correct color, then try to draw it on his own.

Making his own patterns.  

Learning how to make shapes on the geoboard.

More geoboard activities.

Other:

We had an impromptu art project this week that was a lot of fun for the boys.  In fact, it was completely initiated by Sawyer (who, by the way, ALWAYS balks at the thought of doing art).  So, when he asked to paint the miniature birdhouses leftover from their birthday party way back when, I was all for it.  They both were so serious about the colors they picked and what type of birdhouse they were making, etc.  It was great.  One of the easiest and most fun art projects all year! 

Hayden's birdhouse

Sawyer working intently on his birdhouse.

Sawyer's "Vampire Birdhouse".  Black for night, red for blood,
and blood comes from the heart.
Of course.  Geez.
Where does he learn this stuff from???

And last, but not least, Sawyer's coolest chalkboard drawing all year:
"Monster Pirates"
You gotta love this kid.

Let's Go to the Circus!

Okay, so we didn't actually get to go to the circus, which was really a bummer, because there were too many events already scheduled in for the weekends that it would've been possible for us to go.  However, we did have a fun two weeks of a circus themed unit.  We'll get to the real thing eventually.

Reading:
Hayden's main book to read was It's Circus Time, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hillert.  For the second week, he read Circus Fun, also by Margaret Hillert.  Sawyer did a good job putting a couple more BOB books under his belt.  I love it when he cooperates and performs well in school.  It's always hit-or-miss with that guy!  Anyway, his books were Jig and Mag and Muff and Ruff.  I think he's memorizing the books and not actually reading them, but hey.  It's a good start.  This just means that over this school year, he has managed to memorize 11 books.  That's freaking awesome!

Other books we read these two weeks were:
Moris and Boris at the Circus by B. Wiseman
The Circus Baby by Maud and Miska Petersham
Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss
Circus! by Peter Spier

Most of the pictures from our reading are going to be of Sawyer.  I found a fun circus preschool pack from Homeschool Creations that Sawyer really enjoyed.  Hayden's lessons were more oral these two weeks, and we used his books to find verbs, nouns, adjectives, and made up circus similes (i.e. "The elephant was as big as a house.").

Making a mini book of colors with cotton candy.

Circling the one that is different

Finding the beginning letter sound of each picture

Hooked on Phonics

Finding sight words in the story and circling them

Making our names out of tickets

Popcorn Word Families

Matching numbered tickets to the number word

Magazine ABC book that used to be Hayden's and now is shared by Sawyer.
He picks out a magazine picture and finds the page it should go on.  Then he
glues it on and I write the word under the picture.

Writing:
I'm trying to work with Sawyer more on strengthening his pencil grip.  He just does not want to hold his pencil or crayons the right way because it's too hard.  I can't remember when this switch happened with Hayden.  With Sawyer, I'm trying not to force it on him, but I don't want him to develop a bad habit by me letting him use an incorrect grip?  So, I'm in the process of finding some fun activities to help him develop stronger hand muscles.

Hayden did some journal writing, spelling word activities, and copy work that were circus related.

Moving pompoms from one box to another using tongs.

Journal writing

Making steps with his spelling words

Writing an acrostic poem.

Tracing a clown face (maybe I should make him use tiny broken crayons?)

Drawing butterflies and the letter B

Math:

Sawyer's math was circus themed.  Most came from the same preschool pack mentioned earlier.  Hayden worked on telling time more, and we touched on money some as well.

Cutting out pictures to sort

Matching digital time to clock faces

Time Memory

Learning Five Minutes on the Clock

Circus puzzle by number

Timed Addition Facts

Animal Cracker Sorting

Adding Dimes, Nickels, and Pennies

Popcorn Addition (a favorite for sure!)

Other:

We did a few other circus related fun activities - some science, art, snacks, etc.  The boys really had a lot of fun with this theme.  

Our science was blowing up a balloon using vinegar and baking soda.  The boys got a big kick out of that.  It was almost as cool as making your own volcano.

The materials

And for the fun stuff:

Walking a "tight rope".

Salted pretzel snacks!