A Day of Late Learning
I've been trying to let learning happen more naturally lately. While I might ask the boys to complete a bit of schoolwork most mornings that isn't really when the bulk of our learning takes place.
Evan worked on two phonics/ alphabet pages and one math page in his Star Wars workbooks.
Alec had already finished reading a Greek mythology book and started reading The Sassafras Science Adventures book: Zoology. He also chose to work on a Draw Right Now page and learned how to draw a bison. We got a new book in the series from our local library & he's working on copying those pages that are about animals out of it before it's due back.
Ian chose to work on another 4th grade math worksheet. When he finally finished his worksheet he decided to go up to his room and read another picture book. Today he chose to read The Hidden Forest about a boy who fishes and gets pulled into a kelp forest.
I offered to read him a chapter in the book we've been reading together; Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable. Evan and Alec both ended up coming to sit in the living room and listening in on Ian's story too. Since all the boys were already gathered around me I offered to read another chapter in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when I finished with Ian's chapter. We paused mid-way through the Harry Potter to get lunch ready and I finished reading it while we ate.
With school all finished for the day, Ian went to his room to work on his Lego double decker RV he's been working on these past few days and Alec and Evan went to play outside. Ian finished the first floor and the staircase up to the second level. He added a bump out dining room area and it's coming out really nicely!
Ian was getting bored so he wanted to play a game. He ended up pulling out The Scrambled States of America game. Alec wanted to join in and we played two rounds. Evan decided to watch us all play and kept reminding us that Tennessee has the most neighboring states of any of the states.
Alec won the first game and Ian won the second game so they were both happy.
I'm amazed at how much they've learned playing this game. They can quickly find states on the map and know a few of the neighbors of most states without even looking. They've also learned random facts like California and it's capital Sacramento both have 10 letters. It's such a fun game.
The boys went outside for a silly string fight. And then we came inside and read another chapter in Harry Potter.
We got ready for karate and listened to Percy Jackson in the car. Evan brought a lot of books with him that he wanted me to read to him to help keep him occupied. I made him read as often as I could too.
We read Dangerous!
Again!
This is a Moose
Fox Forgets
Just How Long Can a Long String Be?
Galapagos George
About Hummingbirds
Moo!
We really enjoyed all the books but Moo! was by far his favorite. He read it three times and giggled through the whole thing. The only words are Moo and Baa but he was able to read it with lots of expression.
He also read many of the labels found in the book Dangerous! It's a story about a mole who likes to label everything he sees and encounters an alligator that eventually becomes his friend. I also had Evan read the word Fox in the title of Fox Forgets and he read the word Again! each times it showed up in the book Again! (which was a LOT of times).
We both had lots of fun sharing all these stories together. We learned all about the Galapagos islands, looked at them on the map, read about turtles, evolution, Charles Darwin, and hummingbirds.
We finished our books just in time to watch the two older boys take turns using blowguns. Alec had wanted to try the throwing stars again since he really loves to master any skill he's introduced to but blue and green belts were asked to stay inside today and so he contented himself with trying to master a new skill.
His first few blow darts were a bit off target, but by the last few he was just tenths of an inch off of hitting the tickets they could win if they hit a bull's-eye. He was aiming quite carefully and taking his time. He was so bummed he got so close and ultimately ended up missing but he was still smiling and quite proud of himself!
Ian was at the end of the line so he only got one turn (whereas Alec had two turns) and didn't have an opportunity to earn any extra tickets with accuracy but he still was trying really hard to hit the bull's-eye. He came pretty close a few times but tended to overcompensate when trying to correct his aim. Their teacher talked to them about trajectory, gravity and the fact that the air is pushing against the dart making it slow down the further away the target is. Who knew you could learn and apply science to a karate class? It was great.
We hurried home after karate to make dinner. The boys aunt and uncle were coming over tonight and we were having a cook out. I offered to let the boys go swimming but I warned them the water might be cold since it had rained a few times over the past few days. They swam, had water gun fights, played chicken, jumped off their uncle's back and had a ball, only coming out of the water long enough to eat dinner. They swam right up until bedtime!
Once everyone was ready for bed, Evan asked if everyone could gather in Ian's room and listen to him read Moo! He warned his brothers that HE was reading it and NO ONE could help him or try to read it over him or else he's start again. Evan did a great job and all the boys were giggling at the story by the end. Evan was quite proud of himself and wanted to read it again. He just loves that story!
I love seeing all my boys reading, laughing, and enjoying time together.
Evan worked on two phonics/ alphabet pages and one math page in his Star Wars workbooks.
Alec had already finished reading a Greek mythology book and started reading The Sassafras Science Adventures book: Zoology. He also chose to work on a Draw Right Now page and learned how to draw a bison. We got a new book in the series from our local library & he's working on copying those pages that are about animals out of it before it's due back.
Ian chose to work on another 4th grade math worksheet. When he finally finished his worksheet he decided to go up to his room and read another picture book. Today he chose to read The Hidden Forest about a boy who fishes and gets pulled into a kelp forest.
I offered to read him a chapter in the book we've been reading together; Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable. Evan and Alec both ended up coming to sit in the living room and listening in on Ian's story too. Since all the boys were already gathered around me I offered to read another chapter in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when I finished with Ian's chapter. We paused mid-way through the Harry Potter to get lunch ready and I finished reading it while we ate.
With school all finished for the day, Ian went to his room to work on his Lego double decker RV he's been working on these past few days and Alec and Evan went to play outside. Ian finished the first floor and the staircase up to the second level. He added a bump out dining room area and it's coming out really nicely!
Ian was getting bored so he wanted to play a game. He ended up pulling out The Scrambled States of America game. Alec wanted to join in and we played two rounds. Evan decided to watch us all play and kept reminding us that Tennessee has the most neighboring states of any of the states.
Alec won the first game and Ian won the second game so they were both happy.
I'm amazed at how much they've learned playing this game. They can quickly find states on the map and know a few of the neighbors of most states without even looking. They've also learned random facts like California and it's capital Sacramento both have 10 letters. It's such a fun game.
The boys went outside for a silly string fight. And then we came inside and read another chapter in Harry Potter.
We got ready for karate and listened to Percy Jackson in the car. Evan brought a lot of books with him that he wanted me to read to him to help keep him occupied. I made him read as often as I could too.
We read Dangerous!
Again!
Fox Forgets
Just How Long Can a Long String Be?
Galapagos George
About Hummingbirds
Moo!
We really enjoyed all the books but Moo! was by far his favorite. He read it three times and giggled through the whole thing. The only words are Moo and Baa but he was able to read it with lots of expression.
He also read many of the labels found in the book Dangerous! It's a story about a mole who likes to label everything he sees and encounters an alligator that eventually becomes his friend. I also had Evan read the word Fox in the title of Fox Forgets and he read the word Again! each times it showed up in the book Again! (which was a LOT of times).
We both had lots of fun sharing all these stories together. We learned all about the Galapagos islands, looked at them on the map, read about turtles, evolution, Charles Darwin, and hummingbirds.
We finished our books just in time to watch the two older boys take turns using blowguns. Alec had wanted to try the throwing stars again since he really loves to master any skill he's introduced to but blue and green belts were asked to stay inside today and so he contented himself with trying to master a new skill.
His first few blow darts were a bit off target, but by the last few he was just tenths of an inch off of hitting the tickets they could win if they hit a bull's-eye. He was aiming quite carefully and taking his time. He was so bummed he got so close and ultimately ended up missing but he was still smiling and quite proud of himself!
Ian was at the end of the line so he only got one turn (whereas Alec had two turns) and didn't have an opportunity to earn any extra tickets with accuracy but he still was trying really hard to hit the bull's-eye. He came pretty close a few times but tended to overcompensate when trying to correct his aim. Their teacher talked to them about trajectory, gravity and the fact that the air is pushing against the dart making it slow down the further away the target is. Who knew you could learn and apply science to a karate class? It was great.
We hurried home after karate to make dinner. The boys aunt and uncle were coming over tonight and we were having a cook out. I offered to let the boys go swimming but I warned them the water might be cold since it had rained a few times over the past few days. They swam, had water gun fights, played chicken, jumped off their uncle's back and had a ball, only coming out of the water long enough to eat dinner. They swam right up until bedtime!
Once everyone was ready for bed, Evan asked if everyone could gather in Ian's room and listen to him read Moo! He warned his brothers that HE was reading it and NO ONE could help him or try to read it over him or else he's start again. Evan did a great job and all the boys were giggling at the story by the end. Evan was quite proud of himself and wanted to read it again. He just loves that story!
I love seeing all my boys reading, laughing, and enjoying time together.
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