Science : Make a Boat

Aleli was learning to make paper boats. She made boats of different materials. She tried to make it float in water. She observed which boat could float and which one did not. This is a great scientific activity to do.

Aleli can Subtract By 4

March 29 Art Activity

Aleli worked on Coloring, Drawing, Cutting and Pasting. She was creative and did some art activities.

March 29 Completed Math Work Sheet

Using Money - Math

Guided Reading - March 29, 2011

* Junie B. Books
* Science - Animals Magazines

March 28 Science Activity

MATH Sorting

We sorted  RING POPS. We sorted by flavor and color. We had STAWBERRY , CHERRY, WATERMELON etc. We looked at the words and saw the labels. She then counted the ring pops .She looked at how many she had in the box and how many are left after eating one.

Junie B., First Grader- Cheater Pants

* Started Reading the book Junie B. , First Grader - Cheater Pants to Aleli. Read up to Chapter 6
* We talked about how cheating is not right
* We talked about what Junie B do differently.....

Learning Through Cuisine : Pizza

Aleli enjoyed Pizza. She enjoyed Cheese Pizza. We discussed where Cheese comes from and about how Pizza came from Italy.

Ranger Rick - Wild Life Magazines

Aleli looked at these at the Library and brought them home. We looked over these at home.

Guided Reading: Junie B -Barbara Parks Series

I read to Aleli - Junie B., First Grader Boo and I MEAN It !
                        Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch
                        Junie B. Jones Is Captain  Field Day
                        Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy

Guided Reading - ( MATH/Money)

The Big Buck Adventure By: Shelley Gill

Guided Reading : Junie B. - by : Barbara Parks

Wen 3/23/2011 Completed Worksheets

Aleli completed three worksheets on : Who Is It? -Details/Picture Clues
                                                           Cookie Sale- Using a Bar Graph to Solve Story Problems

                                                           Find a Rhyme! -Rhyming Words

Learning through Cuisine - Healthy Snacking

She learned today about eating healthier by adding fruits to her snacks. Drinking  lots of fluids like water, juice or gatorade. She snacked on bananas and learned about the vitamins related with this nutrional snack. So snacking on bananas or apples can be very healthy.

Smithonian Zoo- National Zoo Virtual Trip

Aleli looked at the webcams for the animals. The animal webcams she looked at were related to the PANDA, Lion Cubs and other animals at the zoo. She figured out they came from many habitats from around the world. She saw a sleeping Panda at the Zoo.  Then she saw the Penguins of Madagascar on Nickeolodeon were they explore the life of penguins at the Zoo. Both these experiences are opening Aleli to learn about animals,habitats and about diverse places in the world. On the Zoo she also got to see te Amazonian River fishes in their Zoo habitat.

Bilingual Storytime

Read 2 books in English & Spanish to Aleli. El Cucuy !  - Also a book about a Girl from Chile who becomes a writer and teacher. She really enjoyed these books.

Writing & Photography

Aleli will start her photojournal blog. She will take pictures and post on her online photo blog. She will make up the title of the post and learn about putting together an online photo blog. She called her blog - Aleli's Photo Journal

http://alelicardoclarens.blogspot.com/

Guided Reading: Justin Bieber His World

Subtraction Math Worksheet Completed

Completed Math Worksheets -Subtraction

Pixie Bingo - Math

She played Pixie Bingo- With Tinker Bell. She did the numbers in English and Spanish.

Spring Science : Gardening

Aleli learned about planting red beans, tomatoes, Cuban pumpkins and replanting strawberries. I also showed her how you can plant sprouting potatoes from the refrigerator into the soil too. This was planted today. Then it was labeled. She also saw one of our hens had given us a "fresh" egg today. Placed that in the refrigerator.

Spring: Guided Reading - The Fairy Chronicles by: J.H SWEET

We started Spring with the story or theme of Fairies. We started the book - The Fairy Chronicles - Marigold and the Feather of Hope,the Journey Begins. We read all of Chapter 1 and started Chapter 2. Marigold Fairy. The writer J.H Sweet has "always looked for magic in the everyday" -according to her book. Aleli loved hearing this story being told.....

We also finished reading Aloha- Junie B., First Grader by Barbara Park. Aleli likes the idea of making a photo journal/ blog . Junie B. had explored nature and gone on a nature hike .....

These are wonderful themes to explore today on the first day of Spring..........

Sunday Bedtime Reading

I started reading the Junie B First Grader book about Junie's Hawaii trip. Will continue on Sunday night reading to Aleli all about the Hawaii trip.

Sunday Guided Reading-3/20/2011

I read several pages from the Read & Grow Picture Bible to Aleli. I read the stories about Adam & Eve, Abraham and the Covenant , Abraham's Search for the Wife of Issac.  The book is like a comic book with Bible stories.

Bed Time Saturday Story: Rainbows, Hawaii and Junie B

We read the book on Rainbows. The book is called -Over the Rainbow . We listened to the CD song by Judy Collins. This is the best story.  Best line from the story is : "Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the deams that you dare to dream really come true."

I started reading to Aleli - Junie B., First Grader -Aloha. We talked about how Junie B is photo journalist for her 1st grade class going to Hawaii. She has a photojournal. Aleli liked the idea of starting her own photojournal blog online and taking pictures of places here - in her day trips.

We looked at pictures of Hawaii in a book about Hawaii. We talked about how there are other islands like in the Pacific like JAPAN. We talked about how CUBA is an island in the Caribean. We also talked about "PARADISE" like Junie B. talked in her class.

We also compared this book to a real event in Aleli's life. Her trip to Florida last year .The airplane ride and train ride.

* We talked about the seasons and how Spring arrives tomorrow. That she can capture Spring's images in a photo journal.

Science Weekend Activity: Spring & Sprouting Plant

We noticed the first sign of the plant sprouting. We had gotten seeds from the Danoninos - Dannon Yogurt . THey were seeds of Chives. They are now sprouting. We also started an experiment - we placed water in a cup. Then we placed a red kidney been. So we can study what happens to red kidney bean seed in the water.

2nd Grade Science Projects -Rainbows & Clouds

We are using and reading - The Big Second Grade WorkBook.  We looked at the CLOUDS and RAINBOWS.... We tried the experiments in the book. To create a RAINBOW.....

Introduction to Fairy Tales

Aleli watched The Secret of Anastasia and she related to the stories of Snow White . She related to other books I have read. She is looking at th difference between Reality and Fantasy.  She also watched Toy Story 2 as part of seeing the difference between Fantasy and Reality.

March 2011 Homeschool Resources

Music -  Over the Rainbow Performed By: Judy Collins with a CD

This is a perfect book and CD to read as we approach the Spring Season and right after Irish holiday of St. Patricks Day.

The Fairy Chronicle J.H Sweet - Marigold and the Feather of Hope - Perfect Guided Reading for Spring.

DVD's : Phonics I & II - ROCK N LEARN
             Hola Amigos -Spanish Made Easy for Children  Volume 2 -

Friday Field Trip: Library Trip 3/18/2011

Field Trip -Aleli picked several books. She picked Bilingual Books, Nature Books/Animal Books. She wants to continue with the Junie B. Jones series. She also picked some DVD's. She is learning to go to the library and pick books.

Presidents by: DK Eyewitness Books

I read the book PRESIDENTS to Aleli. We looked at all the presidents from Washington to Clinton. However, she was focused on Reagan. She thought it was cool that he was an actor before reaching President.

Writing Activity : Shopping List

Writing Activity - Making a List for Groceries. Aleli made the list by drawing a picture and making a word to associate it. Then she went to the store and read her list. So it reinforced writing and reading skills. She also counted the items she was buying. She also kept "adding" the items.

Aleli's Independent Reading: A Merry Fair -The Backyardigans

The Merry Fair- The Backyardigans was the book Aleli read this morning as part of her morning work. She really enjoyed reading through this.

Documentary: Cuba- Sueno de La Libertad

She saw a short piece of this documentary. It talks about - the "Balseros". How they came from Cuba to the U.S . It showed a Boat Car made by Balseros.  Aleli saw this and we talked about how her grandparents on her father side and father came from Cuba as "Balseros". We also talked that our other relatives came from Cuba in the Freedom Flights in the 70's.
We also looked at the book Cuba- Enchantment of the World -Scholastic-Wright

Cuisine - We talked about the meals that are common in our Cuban-American home like Beans, Rice and sweets like flan

Weekend Educational Activities

Aleli watched Mickey's Reading & Math Fun DVD. It focuses on spelling, reading,math  - story comprehension. She did this activity on Sunday March 13. She also did guided reading with me. We read a group of Holiday inspired books. We did Easter, Valentine and Christmas inspired books. 

Monday March-14-2011 Morning Work

MATH PLAY TIME- She Plays "Teacher" and ask MATH problems. She reviewed addition like 100+100 or 200+200 . This is a math game.

Worksheets- Subtraction from the Math Books

- Guided Reading 3/13/011 -Zoo Books

I read all the Zoo Book Magazines to Aleli. We discussed the creatures in the magazine. We explored :

*Elephants
*Parrots
*Sea Otters ( Pacific Ocean)
*Bears
*Gorillas * Old World Monkey - Concept of Primate
*Nocturnal Animals
*Hummingbirds

ZooBichos

Aleli saw this show from Argentina . The show - Zoo Bichos shows animals in the Zoo (in Buenos Aires) and it showed a lizard . She enjoyed watching this show. Its in Spanish. So she also hears also the language as well.  They give this show on Telefe -International on Direct TV. This show is great to watch and learn about "Bichos" or "creatures".

Saturday: Japan,Tsunami -Current Events

We discussed the events happening in Japan. We saw the pictures in the news stations. We saw coverage in English and Spanish. We discussed the Weather, Earthquakes and Tsunami's.We prayed for Japan. We talked about Japan and how its an island. We talked about the Shift in the Earth's Axis according to scientist. I tried to show her a webpage about this science. We talked about Japan and other islands ( Cuba, Hawaii, Puerto Rico). We will be reading books about these islands. She will learn more about Islands. We discussed what can be done to help Japan . 

We discussed that Japan had moved. That it had a new location due to the Tsunami. We will keep watching all the stuff on Japan. Learn about its history and see the future Japan will create after this Tsunami.

Saturday Bed Time /Story Time Reading 3-13-2011

I read a couple of books to Aleli. The books are :

Jan Brett -Gingerbread Baby
Jan Brett-The Easter Egg
Steven Kroll- The Big Bunny and the Easter Eggs

Aleli read this book independently.  P.D Eastman - Go Dog Go

BedTime Story: The Sadle Club- Western Star

We started reading this story about friendship and horses. The story is called Western Star and its By: Bonnie Bryant.  We had also seen a DVD on Sadle Club - Horse of a Different Color. Its about friendship, horses and its a great way to tie the reading to the movie.

Homeschooling Resources 3/11-2011

Library Books :
Social Studies/ Geography

Islands -
Cuba-Enchantment of the World -Scholastic -Wright
Hawaii -America The Beautiful -Kent
Puerto Rico -America The Beautiful - DarleneStille

DK Eyewitness Books - Presidents - Discover the presidents who have shaped American history,from the Founding Fathers to today's leaders -Dorling Kindersley

Reading/ Phonics / Independent Reading

Sound Box Books -Jane Belk Moncure -


Guided Reading
Marigold And The Feather Of Hope - The Fairy Chronicles 

DVD -
Mickey's Reading & Math Fun -Mickey & The Beanstalk
Way Cool Science -StormChasers- Make Your Own Weather Station

Guided Reading & Library Field Trip

The Bat , Fox & Tree Books . These books  relate the Life Cycles of  Trees, Bats and foxes. I read these book as a guided reading in our car trip to the Library. We looked at the pictures and enjoyed it.  We went to the library to get another group of books to explore and DVD.
* The Saddle Club - Western Star
* The Saddle Club DVD - Horse of a Different Color

We picked these as the book for tonight's Bedtime Guided Reading - Story Time
We picked the DVD to watch before Bedtime Story Time.

Today's Theme: Horses
Goals:  Listen to a Story. Follow a Plot . Learn about Horse Clubs. See it on a DVD and experience a visual representation to the stories being read. 

- Bath Tub Chemistry

Fizzy Tub Colors By Sesame Street . I used this to make Colors change in the Bath Tub. She saw the color mixing changes the water.

Social Studies: Learning about Lent & Roman Catholic Calendar

Social Studies: Vatican, Lent & Ashe Wen

Aleli went to mass today and experienced Ashe Wen at the local Catholic Church. Today in the Catholic Faith - Lent begins. She got a book from Church with reflections on Lent.  She learned how in Italy in the Vatican this celebration is being done ( via EWTN) . She also experienced the customs at the local Catholic Church. She saw how mass is done, how the Ashes are given. She received them and the blessing of the Priest. She learned about this Roman Catholic tradition and how its still alive now. She learned about the Easter Lent Calendar.

Bed Time Stories: Halloween Theme

We will be reading tonight - 2 Books ( guided reading). The book's themes is Halloween. The books are :

I Double Dare You More Stories to Scare You - Hello Reader Grades 1&2 By. Keeler
Creepy Crawly Critters An I Can Read Book - By Nola Buck

Homeschool Resources

A great collection of books to use for Homeschool Resources. These books can be a great supplement in giving lessons at home or supplementing other projects. I picked up these books to use with Aleli this month.

Reading -  English

Go Dog Go! By. P.D Eastman
Super Fly Guy ! Ted Arnold
Dog and Cat -My First Reader By Paul Fehlner
Creepy Crawly Critters and other Halloween Tongue Twisters by Nola Buck- An I Can Read Book
I Double Dare You More Stories to Scare You - Keeler
The Bears' Christmas by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The First Cat by: Esther Averill

(Guided Reading Activity - suggested)

Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day- Barbara Park
Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy
Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch

The Saddle Club Super Edition #3  Western Star ( Horses) By. Bonnie Bryant

The Red Fairy Book Edited By Andrew Lang


These are great DVD's to see and help teach . I will be using with Aleli this month.

Read Along  Stories - Rock'n Learn -
Language Tree Spanish for Kids Beg. Level 1 - Volume 1
National Geographic-Really Wild Animals - Deep Sea Dive
Puppy Power Dora the Explorer -Spanish

Cinderella II Dreams Come True  ( Theme Fairy Tales)

Nature/Science Books

Zoobooks - Elephants, Bears,Gorillas,Parrots
Life Cycle Books- Foxes, Trees, Bats
Weather -Learnng Ladders

Science & Nature Guides - Butterflies ,Mammals,Birds ( World Book)
Why do the Seasons Change? By: Dr. Philip Whitfield
Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects
Easy Activities for Young Children By: Janice VanCleave's

Art Project- Tuesday 3/8-2011

Tuesday Guided Reading: Halloween Theme

I DOUBLE DARE YOU -More Stories to Scare You By: Kathleen Keeler 

I read this story book twice to Aleli. The book is at the Grade 1 & 2 Level.  - Hello Reader

Spanish Flashcards & Sight Words

Spanish Flashcards & Sight Words - Aleli reviewed all the sight words in this flashcard. The cards review everyday phrases and objects. There are 55 Cards - Aleli reviewed.

Tuesday Science Activity

Book: Birds- Science & Nature -World Book,Inc

We discussed this book. We looked at birds in the guide. She spotted the "Crow" in the yard. She watched it as it was flying. She looked at the picture in the book. I read the information about the bird. We also looked at the Cardinal since its also a bird you can spot in North Carolina.
This Science & Nature Guide from World Book can be a great resource to help kids learn about Science and Nature in a fun way. The goal with this activity was for Aleli to identify birds and see more about it in the Field Guide. We will put corn out for the Crow. I also explained to her all about how Crows and Ravens can look similar too. We also talked about different Habitats and how some birds can be part of each habitat. This is an excellent book to look with the kids.

Independent Reading Activities - Go Dog Go By: P.D Eastman

Aleli read a book to me. She read Go Dog Go By. P.D Eastman.
She read all 59 pages.

I read to Aleli - Super Fly Guy! By Ted Arnold. We discussed the author, tittle, plot and characters of the story.

Science, Plants & Chives Experiment

http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/growingchives.html

We started planting our Spring Garden. We planted Chives seeds in a cup with soil. Aleli got them from the Dan-o-nino's Yogurts . We are studying plants and its cycle. This is part of the homeschool project. We are going to be reading the Tree Life Cycle book too. That book discusses oaks and its growth.

National Geographic Documentary: Really Wild Animals -

Aleli saw this documentary today. The documentary was about the "Deep Sea ".

Science :Why do the seasons change? -By Dr. Philip Whitfield

This great book lets kids get answers to questions they seek. They get answers to questions like :

How old is the Earth? Why does the moon change shape? What is the sun made of?

*I spent about an hour reading this book to Aleli and exploring the answers to these questions.

Field Trip : Library

We went to the library. She picked out books and returned books. We came out with several books that explore Science/ Nature. Some Junie B. Books and Fly Guy Book Series by Arnold. She is learning all about the way things are in a library.

Juggling Math & Counting

We got some plastic easter eggs and counted them as I juggled them. We counted and Aleli tried to learn to juggle them. She practiced counting.

Independent Reading -Aleli Read

Sunday Reading Activities : Guided Reading

I read to Aleli a Junie B. Jones Book. She read a paragraph in the book to me. I also read a book -It's not the Stork by: Robie H. Harris to Aleli as well.

Spanish: TVE-Television Espanola

Aleli enjoyed watching  a nature/environment documentary in Spanish about the species in Spain. She saw their habitats and all about their Spring activities in the Iberian peninsula. She also watched the Lunis and other Spanish programming for kids. She has also been practicing her Conversational Spanish skills.

Saturday Art

Aleli has kept working with Art -Modeling Clay. Making figures and shapes. She has enjoyed looking, sorting out the clay.

CrazArt Project : Modeling Clay Art

Aleli enjoyed working with modeling clay to make figures . She enjoyed the modeling clay . She sorted it in several colors. This can be an activity done weekly.

Cupcake Math Pizza & Real Life Math

We did Cupcake Math. We counted all the cupcakes and then subtracted from the cupcakes. So we counted how much cupcakes were left. We also discussed fractions or equal parts of a whole with a Pizza. We have counted the pizza slices. Then seen that all of it make a Whole Pizza. So we eat a fraction of the pizza.  What is needed to do these activities : Pizza & Cupcakes

Library Field Trip

We went to the library . Got several books. The books for this weekend are :


Reading/Language Arts
Barbara Park's Junie B. Books -  Junie B. First Grader : Dumb Bunny
* Teaches about Politeness
*Teaches about "name-calling" as  not correct
* Teaches about Easter / Easter Egg Hunts
* Teaches about 1st Grade and Writing Journals

( Guided Reading - Friday 3-4-2011 - Read & Discussed Book with Aleli)

Tedd Arnold's Book  Fly Guy Books
* Hi! Fly Guy
* There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy
* Teaches Action Words * Sequences /Plot

( Guided Reading -Firday 3/4/2011 Read * Discussed Books with Aleli)



Health/Anatomy
It's Not the Stork-Robie H. Harris - Read & Discussed Book with Aleli
* A book about Girls, Boys ,Babies,Bodies,Families, and Friends

Spanish

Aleli is practicing her Spanish language skills daily at home. She is listening to Spanish and practicing to Speak it daily. She is learning new vocabulary in Spanish.

Thursday Homeschool Projects

* We are still working on the lady bug observation project.
* We are starting to plant herbs -Romero in the Garden - She is learning about the Spring Season
*Art Projects: Play-doh / Coloring

Project: Writing Sentences

Math: Money WS

Time4 Learning Projects - Language Arts

Writing Assignment - When I grow up

Completed : Am/PM Time Worksheet

Completed Art Project

Completed Assignments -

Completed Work - Big First Grade Workbook

Aleli has done several work from the book : Big First Grade Workbook.

Writing Assignment Completed

Aleli wrote sentences. She practiced writing.

More- Lady Bugs

http://www.ladybuglady.com/ScienceFair.htm

30 Days of March - Easter Egg Count

We will count down Spring Days with Easter Eggs. Each egg will have a prize . Like a gum or treat. Aleli will get an egg a day.  So she will have a total of 30 by the end of the month. We also hid them today and looked for them. She counted up to 30.

Art Project: Picnic Bucket Activity

Aleli will work on this Art Project. She will do the Picnic Bucket Activity using Play-doh. This will be an activity to explore colors,shapes and use her imagination skills.

Lady Bug Habitat Project -Day 1

Resources: Lady Bug Science Projects

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/ladybug-science-projects/a/1503/

There are interesting questions to pose about Lady Bugs. What about the life cycle of a lady bug?

Lady Bug Observaion-Science Exploration

She will continue observing Lady Bugs and make observations about their behavior.  Ask questions about them and we will read online about Lady Bugs.

Field Trip : Bank -Math & Money Lessons

Taking an ordinary trip to the Bank can create a real opportunity for kids to learn about banking, saving and math. She will learn in this field trip all about how people can deposit and take out money from a Bank. She will use her coin skills to deposit 50 Cents or $1.00 in a Savings Account. Learning to count 1.00 worth of pennies . This is another way for her to learn about money ,adding and counting. A real life approach. So we will take a trip to the Bank. Explore the concept Budgets. How much for food, clothing ,toys etc. Will give her a $5.00 Reward. She will have to budget those $5.00 at the store. See how much will go for Wants/Needs based on the Social Studies lesson from Time4Learning.