Stone Soup & More

Just some of the materials we are using as our curriculum...

Stone Soup by Ann McGovern - A folk fairy tale about making soup from a stone. We have a special polished stone that we plop into the soup pot on occasion! Whomever gets the stone in their soup bowl gets (could be a prize, could be to do dishes, etc.). Puts a little fun into a bowl of soup.

Since we are dealing with a 4 & 6 year old, we do our Bible study time out of the NIV Adventure Bible published by Zonderkidz.It recommended for ages 9 - 12, but my girls don't have any trouble understanding it. This kid's Bible is set up in a jungle theme. It includes sections on "Life in Bible Times", "People in Bible Times", "Words to Treasure", and "Did You Know?". It also features book introductions for each Book, a dictionary/concordance, and color maps. This Bible leads your children on a fun, exciting journey through God's Word.

1st Grade Technology: 32 Lessons Every 1st Grader Can Accomplish On a Computer (we also use the Kindergarten edition). It's part of a 9-volume series. An "all-in-one" type lesson plans for your homeschool computer lab. Each book includes step-by-step directions to teach and prepare. Full of project samples, reproducibles, rubrics, and more. There are websites tied into the units. Also has wall posters for your classroom. It covers Common Core state standards and ISTE national standards. I liked the Kindergarten edition last year, which Kenna will be using this year, and Maddy has moved into the 1st Grade edition.

While looking for a good language arts curriculum, I run across a 1st Grade Language Arts Success book by Sylvan Learning. We all see the commercials about using Sylvan to give your child individualized tutoring services to help them "catch up, keep up, and get ahead". In all our years of homeschooling, I'd never seen where you could purchase just a Sylvan book. Thought we'd give it a try. This language arts book is actually 3 of Sylvan's techniques combined:  Reading Skills Builder (teaching kids to become detectives when reading), Spelling Games & Activities (including "Alphabet Soup"), and Vocabulary Puzzles. This book is full of activities, exercises, and tips.

Today, while Kenna was getting acquainted with the linking cubes during math, Maddy was using them to "measure" items. Here, Maddy was measuring the length of her pencil. It turned out to be 9 linking cubes long.

Story-Time included me reading Pinkalicious: The Pinkarific Slumber Party to the girls. Maddy read 7 pages of "Too Many Puppies" to me and Kenna. Then I read them the 2nd chapter of a book from the Unicorn Chronicles that Alayna had loaned them.

Science had us studying chemical reactions as we made homemade fabric softener: 1/2 cup Purex Crystals dissolved in 1 cup hot water. In separate large bowl, add 6 cups distilled vinegar then slowly add 1 cup baking soda to the vinegar; stir till dissolved. Add the dissolved crystals to the vinegar mixture and stir well. You can add essential oil if you'd like to, but we like the scent just the way it is. Pour into a jar or jug and cap loosely to avoid the lid from "exploding" off because of the vinegar and baking soda reaction. I actually let the vinegar and baking soda sit a few minutes after the "fizzing" has stopped, stirring often to help the solution "calm". I've not had any trouble with exploding lids. This makes about 1/2 gallon of fabric softener. Use 1/2 cup per load.

Today's lunch menu:  ham rolls (slice of ham spread with Laughing Cow wedges in Chipotle and Swiss flavors, rolled up, cut into bite-size pieces, eaten with toothpick), pickles, carrot sticks.