Week in Review: Alligators, scavenger hunts and a few loose screws!

It took a couple of weeks, but it seems like we are back in the swing of things!  We had a great week of school last week.  I think it was partly because I realized that I was trying to do too much, trying to pack too much into our day.  In the process I was stressing the kids out, stressing myself out and no one was enjoying school.  I tend to be a "check all the boxes, scheduled person" and while that is a good thing I am also learning to be more flexible and spontaneous in my approach to homeschooling.
I cut back on some of the individual work for each child and focused more on group activities which I could adapt for each child's ability.  We covered everything I wanted to cover and the kids enjoyed learning... a win/win in my book!!  Here's a look at some of the things we did through the week:

Reading

We finished reading The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill for our group time reading.  It was a great story about a young boy who decides that he would make and sell his own toothpaste because the brand named toothpaste was too expensive.  By selling his for less he ends up making a million dollars.  Some of the themes in the book were over the kids heads but they did enjoy it.  It opened up discussion about economics, discrimination and entrepreneurship which I look forward to revisiting when we read it again in the future.

Micaiah completed Praire School by Avi and Keep the Lights Burning, Abby by Peter & Connie Roop.  Eli is moving quickly through his All About Reading Readers and looking forward to moving on to "harder" books. 


Mathematics
The kids are loving the Mathtacular DVD's we bought to supplement/ reinforce their math programs.  The quirky clips use real life examples of mathematics so they can see how math is practical and necessary.

We played a few math games this week including "Hungry Alligator"  to help Eli with the concept of greater than and less than.   Micaiah and Eden each had a stack of cards (regular playing cards using just the number cards) face down.  The flipped over cards one at a time and Eli had to use the correct alligator  to show less than or greater than. I printed the alligators from here.

We also played a few rounds of parking lot using our Education Cubes to help Eden with number recognition.

History
This week we covered the the life of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt so I drew out the map of Egypt, Canaan, the Red Sea on a big board and we used Playmobile figures and other props to tell the story of the 10 plagues and the crossing through the Red Sea.

Practical Life

Eli who loves anything to do with tools had fun taking apart our broken steam cleaner.  He spent over an hour exploring the different wires and parts of the motor.

I had to go to the grocery store on Friday.. I NEVER take all 4 kids with me unless it is for 2 or 3 things and even then I try to avoid it!  BUT it was unavoidable this week.. not only did I have to take all 4, I also had to do a full week's shopping!!!! In order for it not to be a nightmare I decided to put together a little grocery store scavenger hunt for each child.  Eden's was a picture one, she had to mark off the picture when she came across it the in the store.  Eli's was along the line of "find something yellow, find something that begins with T, find something sweet..." For Micaiah I stepped it up a bit.  He had things like, "find something that is about 8 oz, a brand of cereal with less than 9 grams of sugar, something that costs around $4".  They rule was that they had to stay with me.. they couldn't run around the store trying to find everything.  Apart from Marcus trying to jump out of the cart every 5 minutes, the shopping experience was actually pretty enjoyable!

So that was our week!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pin it Do it: Something yummy!

I am back with another Pin it Do it Challenge! (sorry for all those who came by for the last two weeks looking for the challenge.. we were on vacation!)

The pin I used this week was from my recipe board which I originally found here. It was a recipe for Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf. Remember,  I have a love of Italian food so this one sounded right up my alley! And it was. I followed the directions exactly and if I made it again there is nothing I would change. It was the right blend of seasoning, a great texture and SOOOO easy to make! You can even make it ahead, freeze it and then bake it when you need it. It got 5 out of 6 thumbs up from the family so that means it makes it into our regular rotation.

from "What's Cooking Chicago"

We'll I have to go... I'm in the midst of changing over wardrobes for all four kids... ugh!

Link up below and show us all the great ways you brought Pinterest into real life this week! Happy Pinning!

A Great Week!

If you stopped by here over the last couple of weeks you know that we were on vacation. We had an amazing time! You know the saying " all good things are worth waiting for" ? After waiting almost 5 years for a family vacation, our trip definitely proved that saying right! The kids who had been begging for a chance to fly in an airplane (none of them could really remember ever being on one) were beyond thrilled when we told them we were going to Florida. You can see the reaction here...


We spent a week in Orlando, Florida and had a great time visiting Sea World, the Orlando Science Center and just enjoying some family time. Here's a quick look at some of my favourite pictures:

AIMS Getting into Geometry (A Review)

AIMS Educational foundation is dedicated to helping teachers give students a solid conceptual understanding of math and science. They are a non-profit foundation, driven by passion to produce exceptional math and science experiences for children. They provide hands-on activities which are captivating, motivating and downright fun! (adapted from their website).

I had never heard of AIMS until I was asked to review one of their activity books.  We were sent a downloadable e-book called Getting into Geometry.  It is basically a teacher's guide to over 40 activities to help students learn basic Geometry.  Some of the topics covered are 2-D shapes, 3-D solids, symmetry, and spatial relationships.  The e-book included all of the printables necessary to do the activities. In addition to the printables, other items needed all seemed easy enough to find around the house (drinking straws, scarves, chalk, pipe cleaners).

I was going to go through the book and randomly choose a few activities to do for the purpose of this review but as I flipped through the book I was so impressed at the quality and the types of activities, I decided it was best to start at the beginning and work our way through.  Hence this review is written having only been through the first seven activities in the book.  The book stated that it was for K to 1st grade but these first lessons I used very easily with Eden who is in PreK.  Eli, my first grader loved the activities and even though they were not very challenging for him, they were great to reinforce what he has already learned.  Having read ahead,  I am sure as I go through to the end of the book Eli will be provided with more of a challenge and Eden may or may not be ready for some of the concepts covered.

fun with chalk shapes on the driveway

making shapes with clay and straws

Each lesson is laid out similarly in the book.  It describes the topic covered, a key question, the learning goal, materials needed, the procedure and questions to guide learning. The material is definitely written to be used in a classroom but most of the activities can be adjusted very easily to be used at home with one or two kids.

The activities in Getting into Geometry are great for kinesthetic learners, engaging both gross and fine motor skills.  The activities are short and precise, easy to do and don't require a lot of prep. 

The company also  have many other math and science activity books for all levels between K and grade 9 covering topics such as:

Fractions
Addition and Subtraction
Engineering
Botany
Money
Biology
Earth Science
Electricity
Density
Gravity
Time
Magnets
Weather
Problem Solving
Statistics

...and lots more!!

The books are available as bound books or downloadable e-books and cost around $20 to $25 dollars for either version.  The bound books come with a CD containing all of the printables needed for the activities.  The company also sells math manipulatives and lab kits for one stop shopping!

We will definitely continue to use Getting into Geometry and I have also started looking at several of the other titles which look like they would be a good fit for us.  Go over and take a look and see if you can find something for your kids!  You can also check out some other reviews over at The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew.

*Disclaimer -As a member of  TOS Homeschool Crew (Review Team) I was provided one downloadable e-book for the purpose of this review.  I was required to provide my honest, (positive or otherwise) opinion in exchange for this book.