Thursday, September 2, 2010

Wrapping it Up - Week 3

We've had a roller coaster of a week this week.  All of our friends went back to school Tuesday.  This is the first year we didn't join them so I had a very emotional 9 year old on my hands (Michael couldn't have cared less).  We made it through though and celebrated not having to get up early and run out the door by making homemade chocolate chip waffles for breakfast and staying in our PJ's all day today!


In math we continued to review as well as began to introduce some new ideas like basic algebraic equations. (n+15=42)  Shawn also taught Michael the Associative Property of Addition and explained to him that he already knew the Communicative and Identity Properties but just didn't know that that's what they were called.

In LA we learned about adjectives and adverbs, started a new list of spelling and vocabulary words, practiced our reading comprehension, and worked on our writing skills by summarizing short stories.

Shawn has almost finished reading them  The Magician's Nephew and will start on The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe sometime next week.

In history we continued our study of Ancient Egypt, learning about the Pyramids and the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.  We built our own pyramids out of sugar cubes and made scented oil like the egyptians used in the mummy making process.  We were also very excited to see grass beginning to grow on the banks of our Nile river!!



In science we learned about Newton's first and second laws of motion and conducted experiments to prove them.

At Shawn's suggestion we also started Home Ec lessons.  Our task this week was learning how to make a cake from scratch. (this was a first for me too!)




Everybody got a turn, even Allie
One very important thing that my amazingly brilliant husband pointed out to me this week is that we don't have to do everything for every subject everyday.  While I realize that this is just basic common sense for some reason it was eluding me and I was stressing about not getting enough done.  I can't tell you what a relief this realization has been to me.  I am now able to be happy with the things we did accomplish rather than worrying about the ones we didn't.  

Finally I wanted to show off my new words of wisdom that came in the mail this week.  :)  This is one of my favorite sayings and I love having it by our bookshelf.
We are taking a much needed day off tomorrow to enjoy the start of the holiday weekend.  It is my last Friday to work and then we are headed to MamMom & Granddaddy's for an afternoon of relaxing and swimming before the weather turns cool.  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

For more ideas and inspiration check out more weekly wrapups at one of my favorite sites!  :)


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

What's on Our Bookshelf - Ancient Egypt Version

As we venture through our year I thought I'd put up a booklist from time to time of what we're reading.  I'm hoping this will be especially helpful to those of you doing Story of the World 1 with older kids.  Most of these are books the kids are reading on their own during their free reading time.  I've included links but be sure to check you're local library first!

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile - Tommy DePaola
History News: The Egyptian News -Scott Steedman
Kat and the Secrets of the Nile - Emma Bradford
The Lost Diary of Tutankhamun's Mummy - Clive Dickinson
Mummies in the Morning - Mary Pope Osborne
You Wouldn't Want to be an Egyptian Mummy! - David Stewart
Mysteries of the Pyramids - Anne Millard
Mummies Unwrapped: The Science of Mummy Making - Grace
Tut's Mummy Lost and Found - Judy Donnelly
Egyptian Myths - Gary Jeffrey
You Wouldn't Want to Be A Pyramid Builder! - Jacqueline Morley
Amazing Facts about Ancient Egypt - James Putnam & Jeremy Pemberton
Egyptian Tombs - Jeanne Bendick
The Egyptians: Investigate and Understand Ancient Egypt - Neil Grant
Ancient Egyptian Culture - Sarah Halliwell
The Mystery of the Ancient Pyramid - Carole Marsh
Technology in the Time of Ancient Egypt - Judith Crosher
Ancient Egypt Revealed - Peter Chrisp
Secrets of the Mummies - Harriet Griffey

Wordless Wednesday - Soccer