How To Hold Your Pencil - September 10, 2010

I've struggled with teaching Jade how to hold her pencil correctly. I do not hold mine correctly although I try to when I know she's watching me. We have a couple grips, one that I really like, but I would prefer she learn to do it without the grip. Today she surprised me by holding it correctly all on her own. No reminders! She still finds it "easier" to hold it wrong but it's big progress that she knows how to hold it without help and that she was so proud of herself. Tonight we read The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and practiced her reading words.

Apple Spice Cookies - September 9, 2010

After breakfast Jade worked on two worksheets. A maze and a worksheet about classification. Then it was time to make Apple Spice Cookies. They ended up a little burnt on the bottom because I got distracted with Colton but they still tasted yummy and the house smelled so good! I wanted to take a picture of them but they did not last long enough! We read "My Apple Book" and practiced her reading words. At our Bible Meeting tonight Jade gave a comment. She said "He used the Bible". This was the fourth meeting in a row she's commented and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. I hope this means she's over her fear of the microphone.

My Apple Book Completed - September 8, 2010

Today Jade completed colouring the pictures for "My Apple Book". She did a really good job of drawing the emotions the apples were feeling. For each page I asked her what made her happy, sad, sleepy and angry. She told me I make her angry. But she also told me I make her happy so I guess it evens out! Her favourite part was cutting up one of the apple pictures. She glued the pictures in with a little help (she didn't want her hands to get sticky) and afterward she read the book to me with no help.

Before bed she practiced her reading words and we read How to Make An Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. Jade used her globe to find the countries mentioned in the book. As much as I am not a fan of Bratz, I really do like this globe. I'm impressed with all the information it gives. And since we found it for a few dollars at the thrift store - even better! She was excited to find Madagascar on her own (her favourite Leapster Explorer game is The Penguins of Madagascar) and when she found Turkey she thought the name was hilarious!

My Apple Book - September 7, 2010

Today we started working on a book to fit our theme for September - Apples! I'm hoping we can do a book each month that fits our monthly theme. We started by reading the words in the book. Jade could already read most of them. She coloured four apples for the book and we discussed the names of the different parts of the apples as well as what colour she thought they should be. She practiced her reading words today and worked on a really cute addition and subtraction Math Puzzle. She read the equation of each little puzzle after it was completed. I was impressed that she had the attention span to do all 20 puzzles. lol

Apple Tasting - September 6. 2010

Today we taste-tested the 5 different types of apples that we examined on Friday. We cut the red delicious apples in half and counted the seeds and examine the star pattern. We recorded how the apples tasted on a chart using the apples pictures Jade coloured last week. Jade thought three of the apples tasted sweet and two tasted sour. She liked all of them. I tried to include Colt but he was only interested in eating three of the apples. Then he was off to play trucks. After supper we walked to the park to play. Love this weather for being outside. Before bed we practiced Jade's reading words.

School Starts - September 3, 2010

We decided to start school a little early this year. Regular school starts on the 7th but since we are homeschooling for J/K we can start when we want. Our theme for this month is Apples. So we will try to mix in some apple activities.

We started today by examining 5 types of apples: Granny Smith, Ida Red, Crispen, Red Delicious, and Yellow Delicious. We discussed the differences and similarities in their shapes and colours. Jade coloured pictures of apples to match the 5 we examined. Also practiced her reading words. Before bed we read the book "Apples by Gail Gibbons"