101 Things to do with your Halloween Candy

............Besides eating it that it. Andrew is on an allergen free diet. And even if you aren't, all that candy is BAD for you! OK this list isn't 101 ways. Feel free to add some ideas in the comments. I'll gladly add them to the list.

Estimate how many pieces of candy
Estimate how many types of candy
Estimate how many 'm&ms' or 'nerds' are in a box
Read the wrappers
Tell jokes from the Laffy Taffy wrappers
Build a Candy City
Pretend Jumba and Lilo (or whoever) are eating them.
Talk about what they 'look like': ie: a tootsie roll looks like an eraser, or it could be used as playdough....
Practice fine motor unwrapping the candy
Smush the tootsie rolls before you practice your handwriting (then throw them away.)
Play 'nerd' (or M&M) tic-tac-toe
skip count using candy
graph who got what and figure out percentages
graph candy type and figure out percentages
weigh all the candy (again - could do percentages)
weigh each type (and percentages)
compare the heaviest amount of candy to the actual 'amount' of candy
Empty out the skittle/MMs and use them as 10s and 1s to practice regrouping.

Wordless Wednesday... with a few captions

This could not be done at the beginning of the summer.


This either....





Want a french fry Mr. Bear....


MAD PEACOCK WANTING FRENCH FRIES!!!!!!

Second Semester 2009-2010

note: I lost half this post but want to put it out there and just make my own handwritten notes as it has been a work in progress for a week. I hate it when that happens!

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I decided this year to do our plan in quarter increments. This achieves several things for me the first being self esteem...mine. And Andrews. When I plan out the whole year, things change, Andrew does some things way ahead of schedule but some far behind. By doing it quarterly, I can tailor each term to his needs more specifically.

One big change is that we will be starting RDI or Relationship Development Intervention. I hesitate to even plan our academic term because that will be a large chunk of our time but I don't feel that our current plan is all that aggressive and I am a planner by nature.




Science
Last term this was a loosely planed subject. Andrew took an interest in the planets so I dusted off Appologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy. I learned quite a bit in the first few chapters myself. We are reading it at our own pace and I have yet to do any experiments- in this book or any others. I dislike experiments. I must break out of my mold.

I love librarything and my effort is paying off. I can go there and see what other books I have on the subject of Astronomy. By no means do I have all our books cataloged, but there are enough, and they are in various specific locations though the house, so within five minutes or so I can typically find a book I need. (Those of you that have seen my house do not believe this do you??) I plan to read When is a Planet Not a Planet? by Elaine Scott. I have several other books listed under Creation Science in my librarything and a few more in Earth Sciences. I think I will do some 'crossover' poetry activities with The Earth is Painted Green.

I am not an 'unschooler' but I love going with Andrew's interest in the area of science. It makes life so much more enjoyable.

Math
We are working (aka stuck) on regrouping which, I have been told, is a difficult concept. I was toying around with moving toward multiplication but after finding some online help, including this youtube, I have decided to continue working on this but in new ways. I think the manipulatives will lend themselves to some guided participation.

I do also plan some living math books but have not found any specific this topic. A living math website has this list list for possible subtraction books. I found several on my librarything that I will try and read. In addition I want to do more math games. Oh..and Halloween is coming up which will lend itself to 101 Things To Do With Your Halloween Candy.

Social Studies and Handwriting

This is where I lost most of my post. For social studies we are continuing to do Hero Tales. I will blog all we have done on that at a later date. We continue to work our way through the alphabet lower case for handwriting using Smart Start paper.

Bible
We are reading from the Egermeier Story Bible. It is written as a story (go figure) and we are both thinking about Scripture in a new way. We are reading our way through the new testament to focus on Jesus love instead of the heavy hand of God that seems to jump out at Andrew in the old testament. I considered taking his Bibles to Kinkos and having them re-bound into New and Old Testaments and hiding the Old. For now we will just work on reading together.

Reading
On a recent trip to the library I picked up several audio books including two Hank Zipzer books. I want to get back to books on CD with the book in hand. I want to work on Andrew listening to new and varied voices. Andrew reads almost all day every day that he isn't drawing or doing other school.

Art etc...
I still want to do art, poetry, hymns and other 'electives' but I think these will wait for formal study. He draws every day and I do wish to find him a teacher to eventually take him to the next level. He is already beyond me in technique and perspectives (although that doesn't take much.) He enjoys doing his own thing here and so I am not sure I should mess with it too much.

Fall 2009 Report Card

I asked Andrew if he would like a report card and he said yes. I thought I would relay it here with a few additional resources (and notes) listed. The blue italics show what Andrew saw on his 'report card.' I remain ONLY positive in his report card. He struggles with self esteem issues. Even the one 'A-' was met with resistance. I, of course, have more 'critical' reviews written elsewhere. But it is all about progress. Although this is academic primarily in nature, 80% of what we do in the house is character development. We will be formally starting RDI and I look forward to our consultant helping us roll everything into one big package.

You can see our for the first semester of 2009 plan here.

Subject: Math
Grade: A

Andrew has made great progress in this area. He has memorized his addition facts and is working toward the subtraction facts. He can add and regroup very well. He has a working knowledge of weight and length. He continues to work on the subject of time. Andrew needs to continue to build his confidence in the area of math knowing his mommy will guide him.

We spent the term doing most of what I intended. We used Miquon Math for facts, Primary Math for practical subjects and made up our own games as we went along. Andrew does not do well loosing and so the games we played were cooperative. We do work on 'losing' but the time to do so is not during a high stress subject like math. I did not do any living books which was my intention. There is always next term. Andrew does not like math at all but I still feel we need to press on. We do VERY short sessions several times a day.

Subject: Handwriting
Grade: A

Andrew continues to improve on his copywork of lower case letters; especially those that fall below the line such as g, y and j. His attention to the detail of what is presented in his copywork has improved tremendously.

This is another 'non choice' activity for Andrew and I am most proud that he just comes to the table and does it with my guidance. That is worth way more than the actual output of the letters.I did purchase Start Write to help me prepare but have not used it yet. I really figure out on the fly what we will do for copywork. We will be reading the Bible or another book and find a sentence or two to copy. He also likes to see me draw the letters and then do them one by one. Eventually I am sure I will find that software useful.

Subject: Reading
Grade: A

We continue to improve in the area of narration using both fiction (science and social studies) and non-fiction. Andrew has improved in attention, narration, and reading aloud. He has also picked up his books on his own accord to see what happens next.

My favorite book of the term was Teddy's Button. We read the abridged illustrated version. Currently we are reading The Box Car Children. We are working our way through Hero Tales and starting Apologia's Creation book. We also daily read the Egermeier's Story Bible I have actually had some new 'thoughts' about certain Bible passages since starting this version.

Subject: Social Studies and Geography
Grade: A

We are reading Hero Tales to learn about the world around us and those in need. Andrew has voiced some wonderful questions during our lessons.

Andrew has some problems processing these stories. Many of the missionaries will give up everything for Jesus. Since starting allowance for Andrew, he has been a bit too tied to money and he wonders how these people will make a living. We talk about God providing but he also knows that people have to WORK for money. I think it is a tough thought process for a kid!

Subject: Science
Grade: A
Andrew is narrating well the science books we are reading which include books about pants and creation. Next term we plan to do additional experiments.

Subject: Bible
Grade: A+
Andrew knows his Bible well and has an open heart to learn move about God's love. I love Andrew's evangelical spirit.

Subject: Physical Education
Grade: A+
Andrew has learned to ride a scooter and a bike with training wheels. He is improving on asking for help instead of getting frustrated.

We are working with a wonderful PT once a week on Andrew's 'wheel skills.' He is up and down in the 'frustration' department and we have come up against some sensory issues that were not there before. For example, just this week he didn't want to ride his scooter because the handle bars felt funny. In the past they have been just fine. These are real sensory needs and I just don't know what exactly is 'up' in this department. Considering additional biomed treatments last night I went and heard a new biomed doc speak and even he admitted it is like shooting darts at the dartboard. (How's that for comforting...)

Subject: Typing
Grade: A
Andrew is progressing well in Type to Learn. Mom is still three times as fast and this provides incentive to improve.

Subject: Living Skills
Grade: A
Andrew is a master laundry sorter. He hauls heavy loads through the house. He is learning how to organize and has made decisions on areas he wishes to not organize while understanding the consequences.

Andrew's desk is a MESS. We have tried cleaning it on a regular basis but I have to say that I UNDERSTAND. When I clean my desk I can't find anything! So I told him he could do what he wanted and I would help him when requested. We are trying to get into the habit of a clean room but that is a tough one too.

Subject: Social Skills
Grade: A-
Andrew spends two hours in class weekly at homeschool co-op in an extremely challenging listening environment. He is improving on his class participation skills.

(A on this part.) We also spent a week traveling to Ohio which falls into the category of social skills, social studies, science math, listening practice and others. Andrew had a wonderful time learning about Creation at the Creation Museum. We spent two nights in a hotel where we had to become flexible in a variety of situations.