Still summer in Eastern Washington . . . we had a peaceful Labor Day weekend & school week.  Over the weekend we went geocaching for the first time since last year.  The boys love hunting and discovering treasures!  On Labor Day, we had a BBQ with all my co-workers and their families at my boss' house.  All the kids played together and ran throughout the orchards and gardens, having a blast.  The boys spent one day in Chewelah at Gina's studio and attended a kids' cooking class with their good friends Lexi and Lilly.  Here's a bit more of the fun and learning that went on this week:


In addition to practicing the letters he has learned so far, Smiley learned the letter F and drew a fish picture.  We read The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher from Beatrix Potter

Caleb finished the story he's been working on.  He needed to tell a story from his own life, and it had to be a linear story, not just random things about himself.  The cover of his book (first picture) shows our house at the top of Skeels Road, and the story tells how he came to live there.

 Smiley learned the number 4.  I drew pictures of the four seasons while we counted and talked about things that come in 4's.  For his book, Smiley wanted to draw the 4 elements.  One big swirl is air, red and orange are flames for fire, the green ball is earth, , and the blue is water and raindrops.  He definitely understands the concept of "4"!

Caleb learned how to round numbers to the nearest 10.  In preparation for adding multiple digit numbers, he used rounding to estimate addition problems and also learned how to add "magic squares" like in problem 5 in the second picture.

A lot of our reading is about nature-related stories and studying animals seems to overlap in much of what we do.  We played a board game which matches different animals with their proper habitat.  We also played a version in which we take turns explaining how each animal helps other animals or contributes to their environment.

We finished reading The Tale of Jolly Robin.  Caleb wrote down a poem we made up about the way Jolly Robin and other birds were always observing things (and often coming up with silly conclusions).

 

The boys also strung macaroni beads while making and identifying patterns, used a grain grinder and shook cream into butter at the cooking class, did drawing and coloring, exercised on the slides and trampolines at Greenwood, put together puzzles, used maps and the GPS to locate geocaches, read and sang together, and lots more!