Week 20 - Friday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Y and Z
Theme of the week: Yikes and Zoinks! (Scooby Doo)



Arts & crafts:
Today we skipped arts & crafts to make time for our big end of year field trip to the circus!




Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Scooby Doo! And the Phony Fortune Teller by Gelsey - Chapters 7-9

Cooperative game:
Today we played a quiz show style game where I asked them Scooby Doo related trivia questions and they had to buzz in to answer. Boy do these kids ever know their Scooby Doo info!!

Science experiment:
As this is our final week of homeschooling, for science this week we will be revisiting each of the kids' favourite experiments and recreating them all over again! For her favourite experiment, Roxy chose the Earth's Orbit experiment from our Outer Space and Planets week. I first demonstrated how the earth orbits around the sun and how this produces the changing of the seasons. First we inflated a yellow balloon to use as the sun and placed it in the center of a hula hoop which represented the earth's orbit. Then we inflated a blue balloon to use as the earth and stuck a sticker in the upper half (northern hemisphere) to show where we live. Being sure to keep the balloon slightly tilted (since the earth's axis is at an angle) we moved our "earth" around the "sun" and saw how first one and then the other hemisphere tilt toward the sun. The hemisphere tipped toward the sun experiences summer and the hemisphere tipped away from the sun experiences winter.

Physical activity:
Gymnastics at Le Petit Gym.






Outing/social time:
Gymnastics at Le Petit Gym.

Worksheets:
Finding words that begin with Y and Z, finding pictures that begin with Y and Z, colouring Y and Z word pictures, filling in the missing Y and Z, writing letters U-Z upper and lowercase, Scooby Doo maze.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Various reading, spelling, number and matching games on the iPad.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders CD.


French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai hâte!" when they are looking forward to something and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 20 - Thursday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Y and Z
Theme of the week: Yikes and Zoinks! (Scooby Doo)

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made puzzle collages by colouring the pieces of a Scooby Doo gang picture that I had cut up and then gluing them back together.



Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post

Station 1: colouring Scooby Doo themed pictures, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (Dora & Boots, prince and princess)
Station 3: Mr Potato Head, lacing toys, Geoforme game
Station 4: free play with theme related toys: Scooby Doo puppets and masks from arts & crafts time, Scooby Doo jammies and bag for dress-up, Scooby Doo number cards
Station 5: Imaginarium wooden blocks
Station 6: basket of theme related books









Story time:
Scooby Doo! And the Phony Fortune Teller by Gelsey - Chapters 5 and 6

Cooperative game:
Trouble.

Science experiment:
None.

Physical activity:
Soccer and baseball.

Outing/social time:
Soccer and baseball.

Worksheets:
Coloring Y and Z word pictures, tracing and writing letters Y and Z, tracing Y and Z words, finding Scooby Doo imposter, Scooby Doo picture matching, cutting various shaped curved lines.

Hands on math:
Today we reviewed the concepts of even and odd numbers using a deck of numbered Scooby Doo cards.

Computers:
Various reading, spelling, number and matching games on the iPad.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders CD.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai hâte!" when they are looking forward to something and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 20 - Wednesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: Y and Z
Theme of the week: Yikes and Zoinks! (Scooby Doo)

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids glued together some Scooby Doo masks.





Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Scooby Doo! And the Phony Fortune Teller by Gelsey - Chapters 3-4

Cooperative game:
Go Fish.

Science experiment:
As this is our final week of homeschooling, for science this week we will be revisiting each of the kids' favourite experiments and recreating them all over again! For his favourite experiment, Gabe chose the Day & Night experiment from our Outer Space and Planets week. First I read the kids a Winnie the Pooh book called "Where Does the Sun Go at Night?" and then we all went into the closet for a quick and easy demonstration of how day turns into night and vice versa. First we stuck a sticker onto a balloon "earth" to show where we live. Then we turned on a flashlight to use as the sun. I demonstrated how when our part of the world faces the sun it is bright and daytime and then rotated the balloon around to show that when our part of the world faces away from the sun it is dark and nighttime. I also reminded them that it takes a full day of 24 hours for the earth to rotate completely around its axis and they all took turns manipulating both the balloon "earth" and the flashlight "sun".

Physical activity:
Running, climbing, sliding and playing with balls in the YMCA gym with me.

Outing/social time:
1 hour at the YMCA childcare.

Worksheets:
Coloring Y and Z word pictures, tracing letters Y and Z, tracing Y and Z words, Scooby Doo head matching game, Scooby Doo maze, cutting various shaped curved lines.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Various reading, spelling, number and matching games on the iPad.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders CD.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai hâte!" when they are looking forward to something and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 20 - Tuesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Y and Z
Theme of the week: Yikes and Zoinks! (Scooby Doo)

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made puppets of the whole Scooby Doo gang by colouring pictures of them and then gluing them to Popsicle sticks with masking tape.



Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post

Station 1: colouring Scooby Doo themed pictures, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (Dora & Boots, prince and princess)
Station 3: Mr Potato Head, lacing toys, Geoforme game
Station 4: free play with theme related toys: Scooby Doo puppets from arts & crafts time, Scooby Doo jammies and bag for dress-up, Scooby Doo number cards
Station 5: Imaginarium wooden blocks
Station 6: basket of theme related books


Story time:
Scooby Doo! And the Phony Fortune Teller by Gelsey - Chapters 1 and 2
Scooby Doo! The Haunted Road Trip by Herman/del Sur
Scooby Doo! Look n' Find by Animagination Inc/Caveman Productions

Cooperative game:
Mille Bornes (again).

Science experiment:
None.

Physical activity:
Outdoor play at the park, soccer and baseball.




Outing/social time:
Outdoor play at the park, soccer and baseball.

Worksheets:
Coloring Y and Z word pictures, tracing and writing letters Y and Z, tracing Y and Z words, finding Scooby Doo imposter, Scooby Doo shadow matching, cutting various shaped curved lines.

Hands on math:
Play with buttons - estimating, counting, sorting by shape, sorting by colour, easy addition and subtraction, patterns.


Computers:
Various reading, spelling, number and matching games on the iPad.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders CD.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai hâte!" when they are looking forward to something and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 20 - Monday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Y and Z
Theme of the week: Yikes and Zoinks! (Scooby Doo)

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made and decorated picture frames using craft foam and buttons of various colours, shapes and sizes. These frames will hold photos of them meeting Scrappy Doo during our vacation to The Great Escape Lodge.



Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Scooby Doo! Baseball Blackout by Guidone/del Sur

Cooperative game:
Mille Bornes.

Science experiment:
As this is our final week of homeschooling, for science this week we will be revisiting each of the kids' favourite experiments and recreating them all over again! For her favourite experiment, Nicki chose the Bouncing Light experiment from our L is for Light week. We therefore took our science activity into a dark closet and the kids experimented with bouncing light off a mirror. They made predictions about where the light would shine if they moved the mirror in various directions and also tried to move the mirror so that the light would shine on specific objects. Even though this was the second time around, they still got a big kick out of it!

Physical activity:
Outdoor play in the backyard.

Outing/social time:
Weekly library visit.
6 of our 15 selections were theme related books:

Scooby Doo! The Essential Guide by Dakin
Scooby Doo! And the Phony Fortune Teller by Gelsey
Scooby Doo! The Haunted Road Trip by Herman/del Sur
Chill Out Scooby Doo! by Massen/del Sur
Scooby Doo! And the Scary Snowman by Balaban/Massen/del Sur
Scooby Doo! Look n' Find by Animagination Inc/Caveman Productions

Worksheets:
Coloring Y and Z word pictures, tracing letters Y and Z, tracing Y and Z words, writing name, finding Scooby Doo imposter, Scooby Doo shadow matching, Scooby Doo maze, cutting various shaped curved lines.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Various reading, spelling, number and matching games on the iPad.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Scooby Doo and The Alien Invaders CD.


French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai hâte!" when they are looking forward to something and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 19 - Friday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: X
Theme of the week: X Marks the Spot


Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made telescopes using old paper towel tubes, construction paper and skull and cross bone stickers.



Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Franklin Says Sorry by Bourgeois/Clark
To the Rescue by Lee
Ahoy, Captain Feathersword by Warren/Nunn

Cooperative game:
Today we played a game which taught the kids the basics of reading a map by using a 6x6 grid with various images in each section. First I called out various coordinates and asked what was in that section and then I asked where specific images were and the kids had to give me the coordinates.

Science experiment:
Today we finished our big review of all of the concepts we covered so far this year. We did this in a quiz show format with the kids yelling "Arrrrrr!" like pirates to buzz in. Each correct answer earned them a "jewel" for the team and with 10 jewels they are able to buy one piece of a treasure map that I made and cut into 5 pieces. Today they earned the last of the treasure map pieces and went go on a hunt for the treasure that was hidden somewhere in the house. Turns out there was a treasure chest filled with Reece's Pieces in the cabinet under the bathroom sink!




Physical activity:
Outdoor play at the park and gymnastics class at Le Petit Gym.





Outing/social time:
Outdoor play at the park and gymnastics class at Le Petit Gym.

Worksheets:
Finding words that begin with X, finding pictures that begin with X, colouring X word pictures, filling in the missing X, pirate maze, tracing pirate theme related words, easy addition.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Pirate related games on the iPad: L'il Pirates, Treasure Story, My First Find the Differences Game: Pirates, Coin Pirates, Jewel Adventures, Pirate Treasure Hunt, Pirate Tales Books.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our X Marks the Spot theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "Arrête, je n'aime pas ça!" to tell someone to stop bothering them (one of the first sentences Nicki's kindergarten teacher taught the class!) and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 19 - Thursday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letter of the week: X
Theme of the week: X Marks the Spot

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made pirate hats using cardboard, feathers and Jolly Roger cutouts as well as eye patches using craft foam and elastic string.



Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post

Station 1: colouring pirate themed pictures, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (various Dora heart shaped puzzles, alphabet boat puzzle)
Station 3: Mr Potato Head, Play Doh, Geoforme game
Station 4: free play with theme related toys: pirate dress up items (swords, hats, eye patches, telescopes, bandanas), pirate ship, compass, play money & jewels for treasure
Station 5: Imaginarium wooden blocks and Lego
Station 6: basket of theme related books



Story time:
Pirates by Clarke/Parker/McKenna
Captain and Matey Set Sail by Laurence/Munoz
Peter Pan Disney Movie Storybook by The Walt Disney Company

Cooperative game:
Today we played a game called "Pirate, Pirate Where's Your Gold?" where one child leaves the room and then one of the remaining children hides a gold coin in his hands and all the kids say the chant. When the first child returns at the end of the chant he has to guess who is hiding the gold!

Science experiment:
Today we continued our big review of all of the concepts we covered so far this year. We did this in a quiz show format with the kids yelling "Arrrrrr!" like pirates to buzz in. Each correct answer earned them a "jewel" for the team and with 10 jewels they are able to buy one piece of a treasure map that I made and cut into 5 pieces. By Friday they will have earned all of the treasure map pieces and will go on a hunt for the treasure that is hidden somewhere in the house!

Physical activity:
Outdoor play in the backyard, soccer and baseball.

Outing/social time:
Soccer and baseball.

Worksheets:
Coloring X word pictures, tracing and writing letter X, tracing X words, counting and finding numeral, writing numbers 2 and 3, pirate dot to dot, cutting zigzag lines.

Hands on math:
The kids practiced counting their "booty" using play money, first by counting out how much was given to them and later by gathering the proper amount of bills and coins to total the amount they were asked to find.


Computers:
Pirate related games on the iPad: L'il Pirates, Treasure Story, My First Find the Differences Game: Pirates, Coin Pirates, Jewel Adventures, Pirate Treasure Hunt, Pirate Tales Books.

Music:
Danced and sang along to our X Marks the Spot theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "Arrête, je n'aime pas ça!" to tell someone to stop bothering them (one of the first sentences Nicki's kindergarten teacher taught the class!) and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.