On the Dusty Trails.....

Ying on Guitar

Hulk Banging the Drums

Ying trying her best to hang with some older kids in the outdoor chess match. She did her best.

     Oh yeah! We've finished our "Going West" lap books!!!!!!!!! Both girls were excited and proud of the final products. Took us three weeks to finish but it was a nice bridge thorough the last few weeks of Adventures. This week we finished up the CA gold rush and talking about the three majors trails heading west.
     We concentrated MFW into 3 days this week between our field trip and Co-op. One day we spent on our  CA Gold rush paragraphs. Ying has really had a huge break through on the last two assignments with the post it "notes." She seems to do so much better with taking notes auditoryily ( is this a word?) , and then being able to arrange the noted into the order she wants. She also understanding for of the need to connect the facts for the reader.
      Still searching for the method that is the breakthrough for Yang. She still does very well with a concept map but she must read the facts to be able to process them. She's a much better book note taker, and uses a concept web most times. She is still producing great 2nd grade work (IMO).
     Our other 2 days we finished up talking about the difference between the Trails, and completed our lapbooks.
   

Ying's finished product.

Yang's finished product.

Science this week covered the states of matter. We watched Bill Nye explain the concepts on You Tube. Read some great graphic novels on the topic. The girls highly recommend Werewolves and states of Matter and Max Axiom. Friday we did a quick hands on expire kent with a hot frying pan and ice.

Field Trip!!!!!! Monday we made the trip back to Creative Discovery for their latest exhibit called Healthy Fun on the the Run.

The girl wish they could add something like this in the backyard to aid their fort building.

Yang singing her heart out.

     Math this week we have continued our subtraction and addition review with worksheets for Mathworksheets4kids.com. Ying is still having a huge mental block with regrouping. So we are trying to  give her as much practice as possible before moving on. Yang has it down but "hates" math so she is happy to keep doing something she has mastered for a bit.
     Reading the girls are continuing the Tales from the Odyssey series by Mary Pope Osborne. Read aloud just didn't get done this week and by group vote we are done the the lapbook that goes with On the Banks of Plum Creek. Its just making the book drag and taking the fun out of it for the girls. Its been nice to see that they do remember a lot of what i read aloud to them but even I am sooooooo over this book and lapbook.
      Coop science this week focused on the Respiratory system. The girls found it fascinating to learn that their lungs hold as much air as a basketball. They came home full of fun facts and balloons trying to teach anyone who would listen about their lungs. In Lego they built cars and raced them down inclines. Words of the week were "friction," "drag," "inertia," and "aerodynamic." In play production they continued to work toward next weeks performance of "Trouble on the Farm."