Valentines Day Party

Wouldn't want the homeschooled kids to miss out on the Valentine tradition of passing out cards, stickers, and having tons of sugar with class friends so...... we turned science club into Valentine headquarters for an hour thanks to some very generous grandparents.

Love these kids!

Novel reading with my 4th grader

Mackenzie and I decided to read something together, a novel. She reads like it's her job and half the time, I can't keep up with the latest paperback or series from the library that she has devoured. This was a little different. We decided to choose one together and to race read and discuss the book as we went along.
We chose Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh  by Robert C. O'Brien for this experiment.
This novel was published in 1971 and won the Newbery Medal in 1972. Good literature no doubt.

**Side note: I didn't realize that a chapter in the novel mentions belief in evolution as it relates to rat colonies of the past, their relatives being the prairie dogs who built elaborate underground civilizations. This is mentioned to show the reader the inspiration that the Rats of NIMH needed to build their own civilization and become less dependent on humans.

anywho....

back to Mackenzie and our reading project. Every other day or so, I made up a worksheet for her to work on new vocabulary and comprehension. We discussed the major themes of the novel and did a character studies as well.  I used some materials that I found online with a quick google search.

Now ...for the goods.
Mackenzie wrote this paragraph after reading about the relationship between Jeremy and Mrs Frisby.

"Mrs. Frisby rode on the back of Jeremy, crow, to get to the Owl's tree. Mrs. Frisby's home is going to be plowed and her son, Timothy has pneumonia and cannot get out of bed. Do you wonder why a crow is helping a mouse? Well, it is because Mrs. Frisby first helped Jeremy by freeing him when he was tangled in a string. This little act of kindness started a huge act of kindness in this story. " 


Here are samples of two comprehension worksheets that I made for this novel.
We will definitely repeat this adventure but I need a break from having to keep pace with my 4th grader while studying the text for new words and interesting plot points to quiz her on. Whew!
   
AND

 A Lesson in Reading / The Air Ducts / The Boniface Estate / Toy Tinker

Vocabulary

comradeship:

plaintive: 

dictate:

contour:

1)What supplies did the rats need to explore the ducts?

2)What was Jenner’s main concern about escaping?

3) How many mice made it out?

4)Why did ordinary rats stay away from the Rats of NIMH?

5)What was the most exciting thing about the Boniface estate?

6)What did Mrs. Frisby fear most about her mission?

7)What was the key piece of machinery that Nicodemus had invented?

8)What was THE PLAN?

9)Who in the history books inspired THE PLAN?

10)Why did the rats think to look for mountains for their new home?

11)Who was the Toy Tinker?  

Wanna play a game?

Hey Mom- do you? Right here, while you are making lunch? Yeah- right now!

Okay my son, go get it set up and I'll play with you.

BoardGame +6 yr old boy= smiles like this one.

This is a common conversation in our house when our schoolwork is finished for the day. In those early afternoon hours before any of the neighborhood children come crashing knocking and before the TV is allowed to be turned on.  It's game time!

This is called Skippity.

 Everett is contemplating his next jumping move.

Piano Recital

After a month of practicing and a busy morning playing an AYSO soccer game, the girls participated in their second recital.  They both did well. I could tell the nerves had affected Harper a little more than big sister, Mackenzie. That surprised me b/c little sister is usually grabbing the spotlight whenever she can.

They were by far the youngest ones to perform in this recital. Everett promised that he would be up there next time.......

We'll see.  

SO proud of the my girls. 

So glad we get to move on to new songs. "The Entertainer" still haunts my sleep.