TGIF! We pulled out lots of toys and items from around the house in connection with each lesson today to keep things feeling fresh.

9-9.30: ELA. After a workbook page on animal rhyming words (dog/log, cat/hat), Travis designed a “habitat” for a few stuffed animal friends.

This led to lots of stuffed animal play early in the morning, but I was happy to pause and go at a slower pace. He also did a page on the letter Z, and about 10 minutes on Lexia. (Little sister was busy, meanwhile, with bottles and lids).

9.30-10: Math. Travis’s workbook page had him skip counting by 10’s to 100, using pictures of dimes. That meant we pulled out his old collection of foreign coins!

Both kids loved looking at all the different types, colors, and shapes of currency. Travis was fascinated finding the year on the oldest ones. Veronika simply loved the fine motor challenge of fitting them in the slot of the piggy bank! A big win for everybody.

10-10.30: Snack/recess.

10.30-11: Author Spotlight. We dabbled back into the suggested Mo Willems curriculum for the week. Travis watched the story Waiting is Hard, but then protested about writing about it after (character, setting, etc.). He did record a message to his teacher saying his favorite story this week had been Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

We finished with a STEAM extension: Elephant and Piggie puppets! Lacking the suggested paper bags, we glued the templates to paper plates instead, with craft sticks for a handle.

We then acted out a story on the back patio!

11-11.30: Science. Travis learned about how pollination works through this hands-on activity from Highlights magazine. Bury a wrapped candy (we used lollipops) in one bowl and cover with a cheesy puff snack (like Hippies).

Place a second wrapped candy in a second bowl, and cover with apple slices. I invited Travis to dig for the lollipop, and he eagerly began searching down through the puffs.

When he lifted his hands, they were covered in cheese dust – pollen!

Now he dug for the second lollipop and we saw how the apple slices we covered in the “pollen”, just as pollinators like bees and butterflies transfer it from plant to plant. Of course then it was time for a lollipop.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Board Game. We played a favorite game with one caveat… Mommy got to go first! The idea was to reinforce the lesson of waiting from the earlier Mo Willems’ story. Travis was thrilled to take this pause together while baby sister was sleeping, insisting on two rounds.

It was an early start to the weekend after that, getting outside to the playground. One week to go!

We deviated from the curriculum today, with Travis losing interest in Mo Willems-themed activities. Luckily I was able to engage him with the following:

9-9.30: ELA. After a page on the letter Y in his workbook, y as in yellow prompted us to redo an old color wheel activity, which of course turned into messy water and food coloring play. So a good way to start the day! He also did about 10 minutes on Lexia.

9.30-10: Telling time. Travis filled out a summer workbook page with clocks showing the time at :00 and :30 intervals.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. This may have involved walking on pillows.

10.30-11: Art. Upon learning it was Corn on the Cob Day, we made a quick art project! Travis made a big blob of glue roughly in the shape of an ear of corn, then loved dropping in unpopped corn kernels.

We added marker for brown silk strands on top and green husks. We continued the fun late day by shucking and roasting real ears of corn!

11-11.30: Math. Travis only wanted to do Star Wars addition problems. I encouraged him to write a “math story sentence” to go with one problem, to much protest, so we switched over to…

11.30-12: Music. Travis’s teacher posted a wonderful sing-along of Lift Every Voice and Sing in solidarity with those demonstrating across the country right now. I spoke to Travis about the protests in an age-appropriate way, and asked him what the song meant to him. This was a little tough for him to grasp, and we zeroed in on the concepts of fairness and love.

I was proud of his heart to share with his music teacher.

12-2: Lunch/free play. And social time with a friend on Zoom!

2-2.30: His teacher asked the kids to think about summer goals, a great prompt! Travis settled on learning to ride a bike, and then wrote a sentence for it and drew a picture.

2.30-3.30: Outside. We finished the day with a gorgeous walk to count critters! And then enjoyed that roasted corn of course.

We crammed a lot into a busy morning, then got to enjoy more leisure time in the afternoon. All in all, a successful home school day as we near the finish line.

9-9.30: Author spotlight. Travis’s class exploration of Mo Willems continued, this time with The Duckling Gets a Cookie. Travis thought this story was particularly funny! Next he invented his own cookie on a provided worksheet (he told me it was an orange M&M spice cookie featuring turmeric and paprika; I almost want to try that!), and drew himself saying NO to the pigeon.

We extended the play with play dough cookies and then printed out pigeon and duckling finger puppets.

Note the puppet fly-by from a cute little toddler.

9.30-10: Math. Travis filled out a summer workbook page on taller/shorter, and we did a quick hunt for things in the house that fit each category. He also made a graph of Mo Willem characters, continuing with the week’s theme.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. We were getting wet outside with chalkboards and volcanoes, oh my!

10.30-11: Science. Travis colored savanna animals on his summer workbook page, so it was then fun to check out video clips about each. I highly recommend Nat Geo Kids’ Amazing Animals series, with facts, jokes, and funny voices crammed into only a minute or two.

11-11.30: ELA. Travis did 15 minutes on Lexia.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Class Zoom. Travis grows more comfortable with the format each time.

2-3: Outside. There was a Zoom for his Gym class today, but it was optional and Travis did indeed opt out (I was not surprised, as this was his least favorite special all year). Instead, we played a quick round of sock basketball to get moving, and got in some exercise rolling down hills!

We had a quick half-day today, mostly focusing on Travis’s author spotlight assignments from the teacher.

9-9.30: Author Spotlight. Today’s Mo Willem story was Should I Share My Ice Cream? Travis watched a read-aloud, then filled in his own version: Should he share his… Legos!

He also created his own Elephant and Piggie cartoon, somewhat reluctantly, and then we tested out dance moves based on Elephants Can’t Dance. (Meanwhile my toddler was busy with pots and cups).

9.30-10: ELA. Travis did workbook pages on letters X and Y, and then great sight reading on Lexia.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. Baby sister had her gym class online.

10.30-11: Math. Just some quick Star Wars addition problems today. (Baby sister was learning shapes).

11-11.30: Library. We finished with a rhyming activity from Travis’s library teacher, including making up silly rhymes like a pony eating macaroni.

Then there was lots of time to play outside at the town playground after that! Hoping to squeeze in some more STEM activities tomorrow.