Summer School Week 6

Week 6 Field Notes

Bird Call:  Blue Jay

Classical Music: Vivaldi Fall Allegro and Winter - To help differentiate the four seasons, we've been talking about parts of the songs that remind us of things to do with that season.  Sometimes I'll tell a story about Ez and June running around the backyard playing in the snow shivering like the music.

Picture Study:  Monet, Venice Twilight

Animal: Cows

Insect: Ant - A very good book by David Suzuki called, Looking at Insects, gave us cool ideas for science projects related to different bugs.  For ants he tells you how to make your own ant farm in a jar. 

Flower: Lily

We celebrated the lily by filling one with whipped cream and eating it.  It doesn't taste like much of anything, but it was a great means of eating whipped cream.

Tree: Birch

Fungi: Morel

Rocks: Granite

Constellation: Cygnus, the Swan 

Dinosaur: Ankylosaurus

American Sign Language: Reviewed ABCs

Sea Life:  Tuna - Did you know that tuna fish can grow indefinitely?  One video we watched talked about tuna fish bigger than dolphins!!  

Biography: Louis Braille

Fiction Summer Must Reads: James Herriot's Treasury for Children - still lovin' it!

Summer School Week 5

Week 5 Field Notes
At the start of the week I make this list out here on my blog and spend a few minutes looking up fun things on-line to do.  Then throughout the week when we need something fun to do (read: When the kids want to watch TV or play video games and I don't want them to), I get on-line with them and we pull up the post for this week.  Then I'm not searching for good videos with them right there begging to watch ones I don't want to waste our time with.   At the end of the week I go through and add notes about what we actually did and didn't do for record keeping.  Then it gets published.  So, I'm using this blog for my own strange on-line record keeping and organizational purposes.

Bird Call:  Mourning Dove

Classical Music: Vivaldi Spring and  Summer Presto

Picture Study:  Monet, "Madame Monet and her Son"

Animal: Horse - Here's a video from Nat'l Geo. on them

Insect: Praying Mantis - Three Nat'l Geo. vids on this bug: The bug, what they eat, and reproduction

Flower: Lilac - A coloring page

Tree: Buckeye Tree - Nice informational page

Fungi: Green Spored Lepiota - 

Rocks: Gabbro

Constellation: Canis Major - I'm so happy I found this treasure!  It's ready to print constellation flashcards!!  

Dinosaur: Velociraptor - Read a book from the library

American Sign Language: W-Z

Sea Life: Clam - This was the best video we found:  giant clams.  Also, this guy is too funny, had to include his video on how to hunt for clams in Florida.  Printed out our on-line colored clams!  

Biography: Daniel Boone

Fiction Summer Must Reads: James Herriot's, "A Children's Treasury" - WE LOVE THIS!