Grandma School

This week Grandma and Grandpa were the school teachers.

Here's school according to Grandma:

Things look a little different when Grandma and Grandpa homeschool. 

On Monday:

 J read for so many hours that her tablet got down to 20%. She later helped Grandma decorate with cute butterflies. She made friends with the cats. Hazelnut loves her.

A1 read a new Minecraft book.

K spent hours on his new Lego set. 

A2 successfully put her grandma down for a nap and then ran off to play. She loves her new unicorn toy.

On Tuesday:

J and A2 did air dry clay. J made a fruit bowl and A2 made a bird's nest. J also read and did a challenging activity called Zen Color.

A1 was sick so he was allowed to just read.

K did Legos and Lexia. He also did the Zen color activity. It was very difficult for him but he was determined and refused help.

 

Everyone helped scrub baseboards since they are too hard for grandma to get down and do. They were rewarded.

On Wednesday, we found the homeschool list of daily assignments. Oops.

We all went grocery shopping together. Grandma was so amazed at how polite A1 was to the cashier and bagger. As we left he said, "Have a great rest of your day!"

They all spent time reading and writing. 

A1 and K got haircuts. They were very polite to the woman cutting their hair. K talked her ear off.

The children asked about how Grandma's chickens' sleep. They all made their guesses.

J: In a cat tree

A1: Where they sleep, how they sleep

K: Standing up

A2: In flowers

 That evening they got to see how chickens really sleep. None of them guessed right.

J and K did more Zen color.

No outside play as it was a rainy day.

On Thursday:

A2 drew pictures of rainbows as she loved the rainbows she saw the day before.

A2 noticed rainbows on the floor. The kids figured out where the rainbow was coming from. Grandma taught a lesson on prisms.

We had a lesson about chickens, how they eat, sleep, lay eggs, how roosters will protect their hens (we don't have any roosters), how hens will protect their chicks, etc. Reports written about chickens.

Of course, more reading, writing and Lexia. K and J did Zen color again.

We tried something new called a "Friendship Walk".  We went on a walk in the neighborhood and their assignment was to be friendly to anyone they saw. It was neat to see how kind they are to others. They met an elderly couple that were working on rock tumbling. They explained to the children how it works. They were told to come back on Monday to get a partially polished rock to take home.

Grandpa did a lesson on Japan, consisting of Japan history, flag etc.

On Friday:

Writing, reading and Lexia again.

They watched the new Wild Kratts about moose and plankton.

They scrubbed walls and were rewarded. 

We went on another daily friendship walk.

On Saturday:

K read to A2.

A2 sorted colored pens and counted each group.  There were one to five in each group. The numbers were written down and K added the numbers in his head.

Grandpa gave a lesson on Thailand, but we ate Chinese food.

We went on a Friendship Walk but instead ended up walking to an underpass where the children could have multiple cars and semi-trucks on the freeway "drive over" the top of them.  They had fun playing under the viaduct that has very little traffic.

On Sunday:

Lots of reading and writing during the two-hour long Stake Conference meeting that was geared for adults.

During our Friendship Walk they met an older couple that invited us in for cookies. A1 showed a great interest in their display of pottery. The neighbor explained that he made them many years ago and told how he made them. 

On Monday (8th day):

Reading and writing.

The children visited the couple with the rock tumbler. The woman explained how it works. She showed them the grit used in the process. She showed them the tumbler and told them that they would be in the tumbler for a month to get all polished and shiny.  I believe this woman is a retired school teacher and knew how to teach the children. She let them all pick out two rocks to take home. 

The children all willingly helped scrub walls, chairs etc. and even asked for more cleaning jobs.  Amazing what they will do for popsicles! 

(When I asked the kids what their favorite part about staying at Grandma's was, they all said cleaning. Apparently, it's way more fun at her house.)

Thanks, Mom, for being an amazing teacher.