(lesson 51) She did six pages in Key to Algebra workbook 4. She read some in Elements of Language and did a composition activity. She took a misspelled words test and got a new spelling list. She read a speech by Brutus in Julius Caesar and we discussed it. She read some in her US History Book.

She did an activity page in her History and Geography Workbook. She read a section in Earth’s Changing Surface and we discussed it. She worked with some vocabulary words.

He did some in Critical Thinking on classification. He read the first story, How Things Started, in A Child’s History of the World and we discussed it. He completed the outline and did an enrichment activity in the CHOW workbook. He read some in his Science book and we discussed it. (lesson 2) He continued working on place value. He did a page of Calvert Math and a page in his math practice book. He did a lesson of Sequential Spelling I. He read a chapter of Niagara Falls, Or Does It?. He did typing copywork. He did a handwriting page. He went through his reading flashcards. He did 5 pages in Vocabulary Connections. He watched a BrainPop video on Geography Themes.

He did four pages in Maps Globes Graphs. He did a geography activity in Activity Pages. He did a unit in Grammar and Usage on sentences. He read 10 pages in his Science book and we discussed it. He did a science activity in Activity Pages.

He did a page in Calvert Speller. He watched a Discovery Streaming video on the American Revolution. He did an explore on American symbols in Explore Your World I. (math lessons 145 and 146) He learned about milliliters and liters and compared things to determine larger or smaller mass. He did two pages in Calvert Math and two pages in his math practice book. (core lesson 90) He broke words apart into sounds and told me how many sounds were in each. He looked through Jay’s Trip from Phonics Library and predicted what would happen in it. Then he read the story, we discussed it, and he decided if his predictions were correct or not. He went through his word wall words. We talked about the animals who live in the rain forest. He learned to write N, n, no, can, and I can see a [picture of a tree]. in Calvert Script. He took an -ay words spelling test (all correct including the bonus words). I read six pages in his Science book to him and we discussed it. He watched a BrainPop Jr. video on natural resources.

I read Falling Snow and The Snowman to him in Stories and Poems. He drew a snowman scene

He played the touch game. I touched things in a specific order and he repeated the order by touching each thing in turn.

(lesson 73) We talked about the temperature outside and about what you can do with snow. I read Snow in Stories and Poems and Snow-Flakes in the Read-to-Me Storybook to him. He did a Kindergarten Fun sheet.

We named things that are blue. He did a blue Fit-a-Space puzzle.

We played the Feather Blow game.

(lesson 48) She did 5 pages of Key to Algebra workbook 3. She read some in Elements of Language and did five grammar exercises. She read some more in Elements of Language and did a composition exercise.

She did a misspelled words test. She read King John and the Abbot of Canterbury in Stories in Verse and we discussed it. She watched a Discovery Streaming video on the Supreme Court and the Constitution. She read some in her US History book. She worked more on her activity page speech in her History and Geography Workbook. (lesson 49 and review 5) She did three pages of Key to Algebra workbook 3. She read some in Elements of Language and did a composition activity. She did a misspelled words test. She read about epics and then read Achilles’ Revenge, a selection from The Iliad, in Stories in Verse and we discussed it. She read some in her US History book. She finished her activity 33 speech and presented it to her grandmother and me.

Ani’s Congressional Term Limits Speech

She watched a BrainPop video on glaciers. She read a section of Earth’s Changing Surface and we discussed it. She reviewed the things she’s learned in the last few weeks.

I read Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe to him and he did a Discoveries in Reading worksheet about it. (lesson 158) He did some word problems. He did a page in Calvert Math and a page in his math practice book. He read two pages in his Science book and we discussed it. He went over the social studies lessons he has had recently. He did a lesson of Sequential Spelling I. He read half a chapter of Niagara Falls, Or Does It? He did typing copywork. He did a handwriting page. He went through his reading flash cards. (lesson 159) He went over things he’s done in math the last few weeks. He did two pages in Calvert Math and a page in his math practice book.

He reviewed for his final tests. (test 160) He took his final tests of 3rd grade. He got 81% in math, 89% in reading, 83% in science, and 95% in social studies.

He is now DONE with 3rd grade! He got A’s in language arts (91%), math (90%), social studies (92%), art (100%), and technology (97%) and a B in science (87%). That makes his final average for the year A’s in language arts (92%), social studies (91%), art (99%), and technology (90%) and B’s in math (87%) and science (88%).

He read Rain Day in Phonics Library and we discussed it. He dictated a summary of Life in a Rain Forest. He went over his word wall words. He worked on the letters Cc, Aa, and Tt and the word cat in Calvert Script. He did a page in Writing Fun. He got a new spelling list. He did a page in Calvert Speller. We talked about weathering. I read four pages in his Science book to him and we discussed it. He did a Science Activity page. (math review 14 and test 140) He did a page in Calvert Math. He took his 7th math test. He got everything correct on his test.

(core lesson 87) He took some words apart into sounds and counted the sounds. He got a new set of sight words: BEEN, GOES, EVENING, FAR, HUNGRY, NEAR, FOREST, SOON. He went over his word wall words. He did two pages of reading work pages. He went through some story words. He did another reading work page. He read Cub’s Long Day from Phonics Library. He read Red-Eyed Tree Frog in Surprises and we discussed it. He dictated a summary of EEK! There’s a Mouse in the House. He wrote the word cat in Calvert Script several times. He went over his spelling words and did a page in Calvert Speller. He watched a Discovery Streaming video on the flag of the United States. He did an explore activity in Explore Your World I on Betsy Ross. He did an on-line technology lesson about shapes and fills. (math lessons 141 and 142) He started learning about measurement. He did four pages in Calvert Math and three pages in his math practice book. He did two on-line math activities, The Longest Dinosaur I and II.

He separated words into sounds and told me how many sounds were in each. He reread Red-Eyed Tree Frog in Surprises and we discussed it. He did a reading work page. We went on a web field trip. He did another reading work page. He dictated a few sentences about red-eyed tree frogs. He did another reading work page. We talked about words that name one thing and words that name more than one thing. He did yet another reading work page. He went over his word wall words. We talked about what makes a sentence. He wrote I (eyes) a cat in Calvert Script. He took a spelling pre-test. He watched a BrainPop Jr. video on slow land changes. I read nine pages in his Science book to him and we discussed it. He did a science activity page and experiment. He poured water on a pile of sand to demonstrate erosion.
I read Two Little Kittens in Stories and Longer Verses to him.

I read To Market, to Market, to Buy a Fat Pig, See-Saw, Margery Daw, and Little Robin Redbreast in Stories and Poems to him. He did a Kindergarten Fun sheet. He identified the matching pictures.

He played with the Fit-a-Space puzzles.

We sang Hickory, Dickory Dock. (lesson 70) Ani did this lesson with him. He reviewed smelling and tasting. He smelled some things and tasted some things.

He played with the Fit-a-Space puzzles.

Ani read Georgey Porgey and Ding Dong Bell from Stories and Poems to him. He did a page in Road to Reading.

He did some fingerplays.

(lesson 71) We talked about calendars and the days of the week. I read Wonderful Willy in the Read-to-Me Storybook to him and we discussed it. He did a Road to Reading activity.

He listened to Mulberry Bush and acted out the things to do.

But I digress.

So, anyway, his box got here Wednesday, but we didn’t know it was here until too late to open. So Thursday was box day. He dragged it in still in the plastic bag they had put it on (oh, yeah, in addition to not knocking and just dropping it, they left it there in an unprotected location in the drizzly rain… can you tell I’m really not a FedEx fan?).

We opened up his box to check out his new stuff (yay, no more reading work pages… boo, still activity pages… yay, a real math textbook… boo, still have a math practice book… and so on).

Here’s his next year of school! He refused to smile because, apparently, smiling about school things is just not the thing to do when you are a 10 year old boy and would rather be playing outside between 8am and noon every day.

So what’s in the box? All sorts of exciting, awesome stuff. Well, at least it’s exciting and awesome according to me! Each year of Calvert is a different color. Fourth grade is yellow.

Lesson manuals – two for the core and one for math

Math – Calvert Math and Math Practice and Enrichment Workbook; fourth grade is the first year that the math textbook is a hardcover one that you don’t write in

Language Arts – Poetry Selections, Grammar workbook, Phonics workbook, Spelling workbook, Critical Thinking workbook, Vocabulary Connections workbook; we gave up on the phonics and critical thinking workbooks for 3rd grade, but Cameron has come a long way since then so we’re going to try and see how these workbooks go this year; spelling we will definitely not use since we use Sequential Spelling for him instead of Calvert’s spelling

Reading – Robinson Crusoe, Famous Legends, Mighty Men, and Island of the Blue Dolphins; fourth grade is the first year that all of the reading selections are “real” books rather than all or mostly reading textbooks with several shorter stories in them

Social Studies and Science – Science: A Closer Look, activity pages, A Child’s History of the World, A Child’s History of the World workbook, Maps Globes Graphs Level D; he had the choice between CHOW and a traditional social studies and geography textbook, he chose CHOW even though we’ve already been through it when we did Sonlight cores 1 and 2 because he doesn’t remember it at all

Miscellaneous Papers – two pads of lined paper, one pad of plain paper, a little composition book, and two sets of art cards

Miscellaneous Science Supplies – pencil box, ruler, cord, hand lens, graduated cylinder and base, spring scale, prism, four bar magnets, three thermometers, battery holder, funnel, spool of wire, eye dropper, red and purple litmus paper, and some sort of balance thing that I think might be part of the spring scale, but I am not quite sure

She did a misspelled words test. She read A Shot at Night in Stories in Verses and we discussed it. She read amendments 11 through 27 in her US History book. She continued working on her activity page in her History and Geography Workbook. She read a section of Earth’s Changing Surface and we discussed it. (lesson 45) She did 7 pages of Key to Algebra workbook 3. She read some in Elements of Language and did two grammar exercises. She took a misspelled words test and did a new spelling list. She read The Skater of Ghost Lake in Stories in Verse and we discussed it. She read a section of Earth’s Changing Surface and we discussed it.

She worked with some new vocabulary words. She learned the mountain states and their capitals. She did an activity page in her History and Geography Workbook. (lesson 46) She did five pages of Key to Algebra workbook 3. She made the final copy of her humorous poem, Out of Control. She did a misspelled words test and did a new spelling list. She read The Lady of Shallott in Stories in Verse and we discussed it. She read some in her US History book. She wrote the rough draft for her activity page in her History and Geography Workbook, a speech proposing a new law that is related in some way to the Constitution (she chose term limits for Congressmen).

She read some in Earth’s Changing Surface. She worked with some vocabulary words.