Math:
Big A will work through Jump Math book 1 and we will see how it goes.
Big A will also be working on some Ipad math games.
Big A will also be working on addition, and subtraction questions to keep this skill fresh as things are so easily lost when not working on them.
Big A is working through her Jump Math workbook.
Math games on the ipad. Sept 11th - worked on addition and subtraction math games.
last session on DreamBox was on October 27, 2014, when she played for 68 minutes.
last session on DreamBox was on October 30, 2014, when she played for 68 minutes.
last session on DreamBox was on November 06, 2014, when she played for 106 minutes.
she was adding or subtracting multiples of ten.
She learned this strategy by completing a series of lessons using the special DreamBox tool, Compensation BucketsTM. For example, when shown the problem 29 + 64, she turned it into 30 + 63. Towards the end of this unit, she was adding 3-digit numbers with sums up to 200!
Sept 25th -
Big A's brothers birthday is on Saturday and her sisters birthday is next week.
So today we went on a shopping date.
She took her gift money and we went to Walmart and the Dollar Tree.
She was able to add up what she could spend ($20)and look for gifts that they would enjoy within her budget.
She found Little A 2 movies (under $10 total), and for her brother - a $5.00 puzzle of his favorite TV show.
Mommy caved this time and bought the wrapping paper(since she did such a great job deciding on gifts). She decided she would save money by making her own birthday cards for her siblings. She did a great job staying within her limit and purchasing something that they would really enjoy! Great job Big A!!
Then she came home and wrapped them up herself. She is having fun becoming more independent - and mommy is learning to just let her do it - even if its not the way mommy would do it ;)
It was a nice change from math books and all the fighting.
Reading: This term Big A is Reading The first book in the Little House Series.
Little House in the Big Woods. *** BOOK FINISHED on NOV 3rd*** great job Big A !! you worked really hard!!!
Some of the books she has read Term 1:
*Aarons Hair. by Robert Munsch
*Mortimer. by Robert Munsch
*Angelas Airplane. by Rober Munsch
*The Papaer Bag Princess. by Robert Munsch
*Good Families Don't. by Robert Munsch
*Something Good. by Robert Munsch
*Love you Forever. by Robert Munsch
Writing:
Read - Christmas in the Big Woods. She did a book report on it.
Big A wrote a letter to her Bio grandma
Big A wrote a letter to her Bio mom
Explode The Code work book:
Sept 15th - Big A finished Explode the Code - workbook 3.5
Workbook: Writing Grade 3:
Page2 (17 spelling word practice)
Page 3 (17 spelling word practice)
Page 4 (15 words from spelling lists to unscramble)
Page 5 (Spelling word word search)
Page 6 (Alphabetical order) *This one was difficult for Big A - I need to find her more practise pages on this*
Page 7 (Synonyms) * she did very well on this page - all 10 questions correct
Page 8 (Antonyms) *She did great with matching the antonyms
Page 9 (Homophones) * She did well on this one too - she asked about beat and beet - but the rest of the words she got all right.
Spelling:
We are working through 20 spelling words - we will be working on these until she knows them a little better... i find it interesting that she knows some words for the morning test and then different ones for the afternoon test. I have been working on them 2x a day - very interesting.
We are continuing to work on the same 20 spelling words 2x day - and she has been getting all 20 correct - so it may be time to start another 20 words! Love it!
TV Show - Super Why. Solving problems and spelling words. (Sept 15th)
Socials: Big A is doing a Pioneer Unit. She is working through a workbook called:
(grade 2 - 4) In Pioneer Days.
The book works on reading comprehension, writing, creativity & critical thinking.
Lesson 1: Who were the Early Pioneers
Lesson 2: Clearing the Land
Lesson 3: Early Pioneer Homes. (read 2 pages on Early Pioneer Homes and answered 12 questions about what she read.)
Lesson 4: Inside a Pioneers Home (this lesson seems to be much harder for Big A - she has been trying for 2 days. getting frustrated - getting support - taking breaks - getting frustrated - over reacting - taking breaks...
Worksheet: Pioneer Life Vocabulary (finding the right words to match the definition)
Worksheet: Pioneer Life Word Search ...words like log cabin, pioneer, blacksmith, whittle...
Little House on the Prairie DVD - Season 1
*disc 1
Color Canada Flag
Science: Big A is doing a Plant Unit.
3 D under the sea creation. she used a box from the recycle bag, drew fish and sharks, hung them up with string and tape. drew on sea weed, and took shells from the shell bucket and tapes them on to the bottom of the box. she wanted to used red paper on the bottom as she could not find yellow and she remembered me talking about red sand in PEI. (SEA WEED - PLANT LIFE UNDER WATER)
We watched Magic School Bus - Seed / Plant episode.
Worksheet: Plant Word Search. (words like: compost, flower, grow, oxygen, roots, seed, soil...)
We walked around Mill Lake collecting as many different leaves as we could - variety & color.
Field Trip - Pumpkin Patch
Animals
Farm Hayride Tour
talked about apples, corn, pumpkins
Fine Arts:
Art:
1) Big A will be doing a class at 4 Cats. They are studying: Artist Focus Georgia O"O'Keeffe & Marcel Duchamp
Sept 9th 1 hour (started painting canvas, did a spiral graph painting, started learning about Marcel Duchamp
Sept 16th 1 hour , Sept 23rd 1 hour , Sept 30th 1 hour
Oct 7th 1 hour, Oct 14th 1 hour, Oct 21st 1 hour
Oct 27th 1 hour,
2) Big A is working on a cross stitch project - this is for Art as well as fine motor development and our Pioneer Unit.
Dance:
Big A is in a dance class Wed afternoons. It is a praise and worship dance class with devotional time and they are learning about women in the Bible.
Sept 24th (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Oct 1 (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Oct 8 (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Oct 15 (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Oct 22 - mini concert #1 & (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Oct 28 (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Nov 5 (hour and half dance class / bible study)
Drama
The girls put on little mini plays that they created together.
Music:
Sept 10 - Ukrainian Concert - Aliyah went to the KYIV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS (A Canada - Ukraine Friendship Tour). It was a little over 2 hours long. She LOVED it!
Sept 11th - Played music games on the Ipad.
Big A has now been signed up for choir / musical. 1 hour practise per week from now till Dec with 3 or 4 performances in Dec.
Wed Sept 17th (1 hour). - Big A had her first rehearsal today and is SO excited!! I am glad we finally decided to sign her up for it again this year. She has also decided to audition for one of the acting roles... we will see.
Wed Sept 24th (1 hour) - Wed Oct 1 - (1 hour) - Wed Oct 8 (1 hour)
Wed Oct 15 (1 hour) - Wed Oct 22 (1 hour)
PE:
1hour 30 mins Play Abby hour and half. Climbing, jumping, running, sliding & social interactions with other home schooled and non home schooled children.
25 mins Did a walk around Mill Lake with S.E.A
3 hours at least of climbing, sliding, running , throwing, aiming, and jumping at our church Fall Fair - HUGE climbing slides / bouncy blowup things, bean bag toss, water bottle shooting game... :)
40 mins of neighbourhood walks
nice long walk around Mill Lake as well as a game of throwing and catching
30 mins neighbourhood walk, balancing, working on walking heel/ toe
30 mins neighbourhood walk, balancing, working on walking heel/ toe
2 hours free gym play (balls, running, catch, hula hoop, tag, parachute...)
3 hours 30 mins Mill Lake - spray park & playground
20 min neighborhood walk
20 min neighborhood walk
25 min neighborhood walk & 10 mins stair climbing
2 hours - free play in church gym. (hula hoops, balls (throwing / kicking), running, riding on scooters (lots of leg use)
90 mins - Mill Lake playground. Trying the monkey bars (apparently unable to do them now), swings, teeter totter, climbing, sliding , running, pushing sister on swing, playing with other children.
2 hours - free play in church gym. (hula hoops, balls (throwing / kicking), running, riding on scooters (lots of leg use)
Oct:
1 hour Dance Class
3 hours playing at Grant Park. (slides, swings, monkey bars, climbing , running...
1 hour physio apt - lots of balancing games (take puzzle piece across bar to puzzle (crab walk, skip, walk on heels, walk heel / toe, crab walk backwards...), Wii balance game, balance ball, feet / leg stretches
2 hours - free play in church gym. (hula hoops, balls (throwing / kicking), running, riding on scooters (lots of leg use), interacting with other children
2 hours Mill Lake playground (swinging, monkey bars, running )& walk around the lake collecting leaves.
(there was a part today at the park that broke mommy's heart. there was a group of girls from the choir that she is in together... Big A was very excited to see them - ran up to them, said hi, and asked if she could play with them. They all gave each other a look and walked away from her. She tried to hold a brave face - but was talked about it later - and she was well aware of the fact that they were rude and didn't want to be with her.)
1 hour dance class
30 min neighbourhood walk
3 hour walk to and from & play at mill lake with friends.
1 hour dance class
2 hours Play Abby
1 hour Mill Lake Park
30 min neighborhood walk
1 hour dance class
1 hour Mill Lake Park
30 min neighborhood walk
30 min neighborhood walk
15 min stretches
15 min dance break
30 min neighborhood walk
IEP:
FINE MOTOR:
Sept 22nd - Big A did 3x 100 piece puzzles. We have decided these are now to easy and are going to gift them to a friend for her birthday, and look into getting some 200 / 300 piece puzzles.
Big A has been working a lot on her cross stitch project. She is doing great!
OTHER / LIFE SKILLS / HEALTH & CAREER :
Friday Sept 5th - Big A attended her first funeral of someone she was close to. It has been a learning week about death. Many great questions have been asked this week. Many tears have been shed. A grandma figure in Big A's life passed away.
Saturday Sept 6th - We had a garage sale. Big A helped collect items to sell, helped set them up, helped to price them, helped to sell them, and helped to clean up afterwards. She worked very hard! Some of the proceeds will go towards a new lego set for the girls for helping to work so hard.
Big A and Little A were also able to spend some time with 2 friends (that lived at the hosting home of the garage sale). They were a little older then my girls so they did very well. Big A did great behaviour wise - no meltdowns or crashes. I was not worried about the girls leaving / disappearing as there were several adults watching as well as the friends - and they were having a great time helping with the sale
Sunday , Sept 14th -
Big A was a very big help today in Children's church.
She assisted the 3-5 year olds in their craft time, and helping to teach them the rules...sit cross legged, hands in lap, listening ears and watching eyes. She also assisted the children in playing properly with the new sensory bins. (the bean bin, the saw dust farm animal bin, and the pom pom ice cream parlour bin.)
She was a very big help today and the teachers were both very much appreciative of her help and support!
Monday, Sept 15th -
Oh what a terribly horrific day for all 3 girls (yes that means mommy too)... so much defiance, and chaos, the word "NO" spoken to mommy wayyyy to many times, and so much screaming and crying...felt like it was from wake up time to sleeping time :( Thankful that tomorrow is a new day! Looking forward to having our "Family Coach or BI" come out on Wed!!!! We miss her terribly. We also miss our TA. Hope she is having an amazing time in Germany. Not to sure how we are going to cope with 2 weeks on our own...
Tuesday, Sept 16th -
Today is a day filled with real life experiences. Folding laundry, putting it away, vaccuuming, clearing & cleaning dishes.
Saturday , Sept 20th -
Big A has been complaining last few days about not being able to eat as her tooth is sore... after today's dentist trip...I understand why it was "sore"... infection, abscess & a mouth full of cavities... (she again showed us that in some areas her pain tolerance level is HUGE!!! Monday she will go to have the tooth removed and a few cavities filled...more xrays (as they only did 4 tooth xray)...and who knows what else...
Monday, Sept 22nd -
Today was supposed to be the big day of getting tooth pulled and fillings in... it was a VERY stressful day - Big A's anxiety was THROUGH THE ROOF!!! She was moody, emotional, uncontrollable, inconsolable, rude, bossy (at least that is how the anxiety / fear plays out... This apt was cancelled by the dentist 30 mins before apt (5pm)... postponed to Friday... I am praying that this does not = week from hell... After the call - Big A had another meltdown as now she has a week to wait... I took her to the park for hour and a half to cool down and get rid of some frustrations and emotions... came home and gave her a bath - apparently she was still revved up and gave her sister a huge cut down her chin, and a scrape to the eye and hurt the other eye too :( she is getting sneaky & aggressive. NOT GOOD...
Tuesday - Sept 23rd -
Anxiety and frustration levels are still high. All 3 girls had a nap today. Mommy is listening to comforting music, and reading.
I am learning that Little A is learning and copying behaviour from Big A... not liking it one bit! Tantrums and meltdowns x2 in this house. Big A is starting to slam doors in my face now too... Doors are a privilege...she may lose it.
Thursday - Sept 25th -
Today we are taking both girls to a new dentist. Trying out one that has been highly recommended to us by families of children with special needs. hopefully it will be a much better experience.
Thursday - Sept 25th -
Shoe shopping... My least favorite thing to do is take the girls shoe shopping. I took Big A - and we actually had a successful trip. She found a pair that I approved (style and budget). The only thing is that they had laces and she does not yet know how to tie...but I remembered that we had curly laces from OT that we bought a year ago waiting for this day.
Oct 5th -
I told Big A about her apt tomorrow... I think we got about 3-4 hours of sleep due to the anxiety.
Monday - Oct 6th
Dentist day.
Today was the day that Big A went to the dentist. She took meds and gas to make her fall asleep for the procedure. She did such a great job that they pulled 2 teeth, Sealed 4, and filled 1 cavity.
Then the rest of the day she had to stick to me like glue in case of fainting / falling / biting / bleeding... So it was a quiet tv / movie day filled with popsicles, smoothies, ice cream...
Wednesday - Oct 8th
Today Big A learned how to make Nachos. She filled the pan with chips, grated the cheese, put it on the chips, and mommy put them in and out of the oven.
Thank you Big A for making such a yummy supper!
Thursday, Oct 9th
Today Big A is learning how to wash dishes.
Oct 13th: Big A washed dishes again today!
Oct 15 - 22nd Grandma K was here. The girls had a great time with her.
Oct 21,22, 23... - Grandma L is in the hospital - undergoing many tests. we have no idea what is going on at the moment and if she is going to be ok.
Oct 23,
Folding Laundry, Putting Laundry away.
Create a get well card to mail to Grandma L.
Oct 27th -
Finally got organized enough to start Big A on computer games :)
RAZ kids, Reading Eggs & Dream Box.
We would love to add one more - (always icecream - educational games for girls, including Bible games).
Oct 30th -
Big A played dream box and reading eggs today.
Nov 3rd -
Today was the day that Big A recieved her new leg braces.
By the end of the week the goal is that she is wearing them full time.
Today they were worn a total of 4 hours (spit into 2 separate 2 hour time frames).
Nov 4th - Brace (11am-3pm)
Nov 5th - Brace (8am - 1230pm) & (130pm - 5pm)
Nov 6th - Brace (9am - 530pm)
Nov 7th - Brace (9am -
MOMMY:
I am feeling frazzled and overwhelmed. Stretched and Stressed beyond my capacity. Not sure how / what to change.
1)Mommy has decided to teach Big A how to make a few easy meals.
2)Mommy has decided to teach Big A how to wash dishes.
3)Big A is continuing with her vaccuming job
4)Mommy has started phoning people and backing out of commitments as well as learning to say.. no... when people ask for help or time.
There is so much yelling and fighting going on in this house. I need a break. Daddy needs a break. The kids need a break. I wish so much we could afford a sitter or qualify for respite. I feel like we are barely hangin on. Just surviving. I want to enjoy my kids again. I don't right now.
5)Mommy put a lock on her bedroom door - so she can have a "break"...even thought that break entails children banging on the other side of the door...
I have started a new blog page to track Little A. It will also be the sight of her homeschooling tacking as well in the future.
