Had an entirely different plan, but this is what we actually did...
Monday- Holiday (played with Murphy boys), Piano lesson - Eighth notes, writing song
Read to him first book in Magic Tree House series (in one sitting! "more mom, more!"). He can read the words but didn't want to. I think its because he's impatient and wants to get to the info faster. For now I'm just going to read to him and let him learn to enjoy reading. I'll have him fill in and take turns as we go. He doesn't need to track with his finger very often and he can read silently. I'm not going to make him or push him to read. I'm confident that one day he'll decide me reading aloud is slowing him down and he'll carry on without me.
The book was about Dinosaurs. Matty got excited about dinosaurs (never seemed interested before) and wanted to learn more. okay... scrap my plan and go with dinos.
Researched resources online and read all the dinosaur picture books we had. He decided it wasn't enough 'real' stuff and determined we'd hit the library asap.
Practiced riding bike at the park with friends. Getting much faster and able to turn corners and get unstuck sometimes without getting off. (training wheels still on) Katie got frustrated with her scooter and just ran instead. Also getting much faster!
Printed out a dinosaur color by number sheet with math (1+3+4+2) facts on it for Matty to do so he'd feel like he had school. (He'll get the idea of active learning soon enough- but funny and sad that school to him equals coloring page.)
Wednesday-
Memorized first article of faith. (forgets Eternal Father part)
Has been doing "s" backwards so we Practiced handwriting "s" and "s" words. Much better shape now. (Need to do b, d, p, next)
Introduced Matty to Lapbooking. (How we will be keeping track of the information we learn.)
He wrote a fact list like 'Jack' in Magic Tree House book of things we learned. (I'm allowing invented spelling for now.)
We went to the Library and got 6 books on dinosaurs. Learned where the "REAL" dino books are at the library. Katie and Ally got to attend singing and story time while Matty chose books. Katie loved the nursery rhymes- we'll need to do more of that at home. I forgot I hadn't done much of that with her yet. Oops.
Went to playgroup and played with friends and shared his new dino info with anyone who'd listen. ("Did you know a stegosaurus has a brain the size of a walnut?")
Read SUE, colossal fossil and learned a ton about paleontology and T-rex's. Matty said, "After I'm done being an astronaut, I'd like to be a paleontologist."
Ally is almost crawling!!
Thursday-
Had Matty sort and classify dinosaur flash cards into herbivore, omnivore and carnivore. He made deductions and predictions about what body parts influenced diet. (All the four legged were herbivores. Most two legged's were carnivore, etc.) Resorted after Katie helped sort them too. She likes the winged ones best and the herbivores.
Practiced reading facts on the back of the cards.
Ally CRAWLED!! And ate our dinosaur diet paper and a flash card. ;)
Matty chased Katie around growling like a dinosaur. Katie got too scared and cried.
Got Lapbooks for this month laminated and he decorated them and began compiling information in his dinosaur one.
Made the connection that skip counting 2,4,6,8 is same as adding 2+2+2 and 3, 6, 9 is 3+3+3+ etc. Now uses the skill to figure out math problems and skip count sequences he hasn't learned yet.
Friday-
Modeled writing, while Matty dictated his own creative story about a run in with dinos using some of his new vocabulary, (cretaceous, paleontologist, etc). He re-read and re-told.
Went to Dinosaur Museum at mall. Noticed new things about dinos from the bones. Learned more about fossils. Did a sort with all the plastic dinos they had there. Did a lifesize dig with Isaac and Katie in the tar pit. Happily played tag and hide and go seek with Katie at the Tree House. (Golden moment to see them laughing together without help from a parent).
Brought home a kit to excavate his own dinosaur from a sandstone brick. Worked on it diligently for the rest of the night - and first thing when he woke up this morning.
Saturday-
Made me read the rest of SUE ("The most complete Tyrannosaurus skeleton ever found!") in the car even though I told him it was my day off. :) Still out there right now with his friends working on finding plastic bones in a brick - Best $12 I ever spent!