Counting to 100

We play lots of math learning games with Luke. He participates with Elijah on a lot of his Saxon 1 lessons, but I know he has gaps in some of his math skills due to jumping ahead with Elijah. I've been trying to fill those gaps and one approach that I take with him (and with all the boys for that matter) is to challenge them to "beat" mom or steal all my pieces, cards, etc. away from me by getting the correct answer.

On this particular day, I was using our Abeka Numbers Flashcards (0-200). I gave Luke the cards in sets of 10 and scrambled them to see if he could place them back in the correct order. Then we recited the numbers together as we gathered them up to put away. At first he was reluctant, but after the first few sets and my overly dramatic response to him correctly ordering the numbers, he was hooked. I very much enjoyed his somewhat fake sounding, loud laughter as he watched me check his work with disbelief and shock on my face. I also love the fact that he covers his mouth and starts giggling as I started heading toward him. What a sweet (and very smart) boy!!!

Set

The boys received a new game for Christmas - Set: The Family Game of Visual Perception. The object of the game is to identify a "set" of 3 cards from 12 cards laid out on the table. Each card has four features which vary as follows:

(A) Symbols: ovals, squiggles, diamonds
(B) Colors: red, green, purple
(C) Number: one, two or three symbols
(D) Shading: filled in, outlined, striped

A "set" consists of 3 cards in which each of the card's features, looked at one-by-one, are the same on each card, or, are different on each card. All of the features must separately satisfy this rule. In other words, shape must be either the same on the 3 cards, or different on each of the 3; color must be either the same on the 3 cards, or different on each of the 3; etc. (game explanation taken from instruction guide)

Do you spot any sets???

Elijah LOVES this game!

Scrabble Spelling

Every once in a while we pull out our Scrabble board and spell random words, whatever the boys think of (and that we have enough tiles for spelling...). We don't actually play the game by the rules, but here's what they came up with yesterday...mostly Elijah's words. This is what makes learning and schooling fun and exciting!

Chunky Notebooks

Traveling to Iowa was a pleasant experience overall. We listened to several stories on tape, read all our books - many several times over - the boys never tire of the Berenstain Bears, colored lots of pages, drew many pictures, watched lots of TV and ate, ate, ate. I was pleased that the boys really enjoyed their geography folders and hopefully learned some things along the way. It was neat to see Elijah pick out the individual states we were traveling through on his own.

The funny thing was that everyone's favorite activity didn't happen until the end of our first travel day on the way home. It started by Eli asking me to draw a picture for him in his chunky notebook, which I did, but then told him I'd write a secret note as well. Sneaking in some reading and writing time - he, he! There really was no rhyme or reason to the types of things I was writing, but challenging enough that Eli needed to think a bit. Here's a sampling of some of my favorite notes and (Eli's responses). "I do not know if I have a favorite color. Do you have a favorite color?" (blue) "I am thirty-one years old. How old are you?" (five and 5) "I have three or four favorite friends. Do you have a best friend?" (Luke Farwell). "I like to eat and drink lots of food. What things do you like best?" (milk and blue bares aka blueberries) "I miss our home. What do you miss most about our home?" (my bed). I mostly drew pictures for Luke and Isaac in their own chunky notebooks. The second morning of travel toward home, Elijah was practically begging me to sit in the back with them to write notes! I love chunky notebooks! I'm so thankful for fun and pleasant memories!

Isaac enjoys listening to kiddo music and The Berenstain Bears audio stories. He much preferred to hold the headphones rather than rest them on his head. Dirty Dog obviously enjoyed the stories, too!

Elijah working hard!

Luke searching for hidden objects in his Highlights Search and Find coloring book.