Hey, We Survived Homeschooling Through Construction!
Though we are having our basement worked on and there is noise, interruptions, dust, and chaos I still felt like we should try and get SOMETHING done for school. I had a raging headache most of the day; probably due to all the noise, interruptions, dust and chaos.
Maybe we would have been better off taking the time away from school but I do know it is possible to get schoolwork done during construction-- because we did and we survived!
Here's what we did today:
For Math: I decided to work with Evan on learning to multiply by 10 today. I figured he's mastered adding and subtracting by 10 so why not move onto multiplying and dividing by 10? If he didn't understand today's lesson than we would have moved on to more adding and subtracting. But I know Evan is quite capable of seeing the pattern in the 10 times table.
He's able to count by 10's and so I figured he'd have a pretty easy time of it. First I reviewed adding 10 and subtracting 10 really quickly and then we talked about having groups of 10. I piled a few grouping of beads and asked him to count how many there were.
We watched a cute video clip about multiplying by 10 and then we ended our lesson with a very basic worksheet.
He did amazing!
He seemed to know all the answers without even thinking about it. The other two boys worked in their math books. Ian added and subtracted fractions. He made sure to reduce them to their simplest form when needed. Alec picked two pages in his fourth grade math book and worked with congruent shapes and reading bar graphs.
For reading-- Ian read a chapter in Roscoe Riley and Alec read a few chapters in his Warriors Books. Evan quickly got two pages done in his phonics book and did am amazing job reading the sentences he wrote and decided to read Biscuit Wants to Play.
I asked all the boys to pick a third subject-- any subject that they wanted.
Alec copied his final draft of his postcard and we got them all ready to mail (as practice writing) and Ian chose to work on CAD again.
He drew a picture of a loader and an excavator trying to pick up a bulldozer that was stuck in a hole. He also made a screening plant and a monster truck with a dog theme. I just love the creativity! (art, math, technology, and life skills)
We all worked together to dust the house; which was a joke because we now have a thin layer of white Sheetrock dust over everything anyway.
The older two boys made lunch for everyone. Ian made macaroni and cheese while Alec made Ramen noodles. Evan helped set the table and we settled down to read Harry Potter. We also read a chapter in Lewis and Clark and Me. (life skills and reading)
The boys went down to check on the basement. We learned about the process involved in dry walling. The boys took note of the joint compound, the texture of it, why it is used and, Alec in particular, seemed interested in how it was applied.
They all watched the man walking around on stilts for a bit and noted the two different colors of the dry wall. We're putting green board on the bottom of the walls to protect them from moisture and mold since it is our basement. (life skills, science and engineering)
I soon found the boys all working on Lego sets. Alec was working in his room with his door shut content to be by himself while Ian and Evan worked together in Evan's room. They were all getting along and quiet and working so hard I didn't want to disturb them. (construction/ math, art)
Evan got a new Ranger Rick JR. magazine in and Alec offered to read it to him while we were driving. I love how much these two gravitate towards animals and nature but I do have to wonder where they get it from. (reading and science)
We headed to the pet store. Alec was beside himself with excitement to get his fish. Imagine his dismay when we learned that he hadn't been cycling his water long enough to get fish yet. We were also informed that he needed a heater in order to have any of the tropical freshwater fish. The ladies we met at PetCo. were great and talked directly to Alec about his aquarium, caring for fish, deciding what fish to put in the tank, how to tell when the tank is up to temperature and ready for fish, how to add fish in so they're more likely to survive and even how many fish he could have in his tank without overcrowding it. They advised him to go home and read up on fish and fish tanks for the next few days while the heater went to work and asked us to bring in sample of water the next time we came. All three boys were listening intently and asking questions about the various fish. (science)
A wonderful day of learning through a home construction project.
Maybe we would have been better off taking the time away from school but I do know it is possible to get schoolwork done during construction-- because we did and we survived!
Here's what we did today:
For Math: I decided to work with Evan on learning to multiply by 10 today. I figured he's mastered adding and subtracting by 10 so why not move onto multiplying and dividing by 10? If he didn't understand today's lesson than we would have moved on to more adding and subtracting. But I know Evan is quite capable of seeing the pattern in the 10 times table.
He's able to count by 10's and so I figured he'd have a pretty easy time of it. First I reviewed adding 10 and subtracting 10 really quickly and then we talked about having groups of 10. I piled a few grouping of beads and asked him to count how many there were.
We watched a cute video clip about multiplying by 10 and then we ended our lesson with a very basic worksheet.
He did amazing!
He seemed to know all the answers without even thinking about it. The other two boys worked in their math books. Ian added and subtracted fractions. He made sure to reduce them to their simplest form when needed. Alec picked two pages in his fourth grade math book and worked with congruent shapes and reading bar graphs.
For reading-- Ian read a chapter in Roscoe Riley and Alec read a few chapters in his Warriors Books. Evan quickly got two pages done in his phonics book and did am amazing job reading the sentences he wrote and decided to read Biscuit Wants to Play.
I asked all the boys to pick a third subject-- any subject that they wanted.
Alec copied his final draft of his postcard and we got them all ready to mail (as practice writing) and Ian chose to work on CAD again.
He drew a picture of a loader and an excavator trying to pick up a bulldozer that was stuck in a hole. He also made a screening plant and a monster truck with a dog theme. I just love the creativity! (art, math, technology, and life skills)
 |
| The bulldozer is facing front with the blade down and the other two trucks are attempting to lift it. |
 |
| His monster truck and screening plant |
The older two boys made lunch for everyone. Ian made macaroni and cheese while Alec made Ramen noodles. Evan helped set the table and we settled down to read Harry Potter. We also read a chapter in Lewis and Clark and Me. (life skills and reading)
The boys went down to check on the basement. We learned about the process involved in dry walling. The boys took note of the joint compound, the texture of it, why it is used and, Alec in particular, seemed interested in how it was applied.
They all watched the man walking around on stilts for a bit and noted the two different colors of the dry wall. We're putting green board on the bottom of the walls to protect them from moisture and mold since it is our basement. (life skills, science and engineering)
I soon found the boys all working on Lego sets. Alec was working in his room with his door shut content to be by himself while Ian and Evan worked together in Evan's room. They were all getting along and quiet and working so hard I didn't want to disturb them. (construction/ math, art)
 |
| Evan was so excited to his Mammoth Stomper half- finished |
We headed to the pet store. Alec was beside himself with excitement to get his fish. Imagine his dismay when we learned that he hadn't been cycling his water long enough to get fish yet. We were also informed that he needed a heater in order to have any of the tropical freshwater fish. The ladies we met at PetCo. were great and talked directly to Alec about his aquarium, caring for fish, deciding what fish to put in the tank, how to tell when the tank is up to temperature and ready for fish, how to add fish in so they're more likely to survive and even how many fish he could have in his tank without overcrowding it. They advised him to go home and read up on fish and fish tanks for the next few days while the heater went to work and asked us to bring in sample of water the next time we came. All three boys were listening intently and asking questions about the various fish. (science)
A wonderful day of learning through a home construction project.
Comments
Post a Comment