Preschool Week of 9/24

This was another fun filled, educational, nearly academics -free week, it seems.

Social Studies (is that still what it's called?):We started the week by going to vote in the primaries. I think it's really important for children to see their parents participate in the political process, and we talked a lot about what voting is, and how important it is.

Science/Nature: We went kayaking for the first time. Crumpet LOVED this. It drizzled, and it was sunny. A typical Hawaii day...

We went to the Waikiki Aquarium. (You can read my Field Trip Friday post about the aqauarium here.) When I told Crumpet where we were headed, he shouted "Oh, I've always wanted to go there!" And he truly loved it.
I was amazed at how much he already knew about the animals at the aquarium, and here he is listening to the audio tour so he could teach me even more:
Theatre: We have several wonderful theatres here that put on great children's plays. This week, we saw an adaptation of the book Tiqri the Little Snow Fox. It snowed in the theatre, and the kids all got to wear bear masks and act like bears during parts of the show. Lots of fun. The theatre is in Chinatown, so afterward, we went out and tried some Chinese baked goods. Yummy cultural experience!

Socialization/P.E.: We went swimming at the pool with some new friends and Crumpet learned to SWIM! Hurray - I was really hoping he'd learn while we were out here because he'll be able to snorkel with us, and enjoy the beach even more!

Co-op Preschool: Crumpet is slowly starting to feel comfortable enough to play with some of the other kids, and to participate in class activities. He is also feeling comfortable enough to make a huge scene when I do something that doesn't please him. Sigh...

As for academics:
Reading is going very well. We finished another Progressive Phonics book and moved on to the soft vowel "O".
Math: We're working with the geoboard for McRuffy math right now, and Crumpet is finding some of the designs pretty complicated. I think it's starting to make sense to him though. I love that this curriculum goes in a spiral format, so we'll leave this subject soon and come back to it in a while after it's had time to marinate in Crumpet's brain. I think he'll do better next time.
Science: We finished our McRuffy colors unit. I'm still not sure that Crumpet could tell you what primary colors to mix in order to make secondary colors, even though we've worked on this topic many times. When I ask, he says "Let's just see" and goes ahead and mixes the colors. He's the same way about making a hypothesis for any subject - he doesn't like to be wrong about something so he just won't hazard a guess... We did do a really fun color wheel art project that I found at the great art blog Deep Space Sparkle here.

We found out yesterday that my husband leaves for a few months on deployment next week. So right now, we're spending time together, and trying to get everything prepped for his absence. We're unlikely to do much school over the next week, but we'll have lots of time for that during the next few months...
For more preschool posts, head on over to Homeschool Creations! Have a great week!