It’s the end of another quarter, but it seems to have gone by much faster than before.  I thought that we hadn’t accomplished as much as usual.  Fortunately, this review pointed out that we’ve covered a lot of material, and Alex is learning and growing by leaps and bounds!

Quarter Beginning and Ending Dates: 1/26/08 – 3/21/08

Number of Hours of Instruction This Quarter: 225 Hours

Number of Days Present: 45 Days

Grade or Evaluation (O- Outstanding; V- Very Good; G- Good; N- Needs Improvement)

Language Arts:

Reading - O

A wide variety of reading material that includes:

  • The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop.
  • Lock by Paul Zindel.
  • Alice in Wonderland with pop-up illustrations by Robert Sabuda.
  • Bunnicula, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, and Howliday Inn by James and Deborah Howe.
  • Book Club: Discussed and compared book vs. movie version of the Spiderwick Chronicles.
  • Various non-fiction materials for Science and Social Studies.
  • Alex is working through Reading Skills Grade 3 (Spark Publishing) to develop test-taking skills. So far, he has completed the units on Facts, Sequence, and Context.
  • Alex loves to read, and enjoys a wide variety of books. We’re working on encouraging him to discuss elements of the books he reads. Also, he is learning how to pull information from readings.
    Writing - G

  • Blog Posts that include book reviews and journal entries.
  • Frequent entries in his writer’s notebook.
  • Story Unit project on Bunnicula that encouraged plot summarization.
  • Several reading response paragraphs.
  • I’ve been encouraging Alex to handwrite his paragraphs. As a result, his current writing is not as articulate as his previous dictations, but he is improving.

Mathematics - V

  • Completed Singapore Mathematics 2A Unit 6 (Multiplication Tables of 2 and 3.) Currently working on Singapore Primary Mathematics 2B Unit 1 (Mental Addition and Mental Subtraction.) Also, we’re using flash cards and worksheet drills to build speed with math facts (single digit addition, subtraction, and x2, x3)
  • Alex tries to avoid the “boring” math drills, but he is gaining speed and accuracy.

Science – O

  • Life Science (Biomes, Food Web, Naturalists, Owl Pellet Dissection.
  • Space Colonies (Gifted Kids Network): Extremophiles, Atmosphere, Water Cycle, Earth Layers.
  • Virgin Islands Vacation: Explored Coral World Ocean Park; Observed UVI “love bug” experiment.
  • Other: Chemistry Kit & Videos, Zoo Tycoon, Forces of Nature IMAX movie, various science TV programs.
  • Alex loves to learn about science and he often initiates creative projects where he develops and tests a hypothesis. He also likes to observe the natural world, but doesn’t have the patience for lengthy observation such as what was required for Project Feederwatch. We’ll try again next year.
    Social Studies – O

Focus on Mesopotamia:

  • SOW Chapters on The First Sumerian Dictator and The Jewish People
  • Read Find Out About Mesopotamia: What life was like in ancient Sumer, Babylon and Assyria – precursors of modern Iraq (Lorna Oakes, Annes Publishing, 2003) and tackled several art projects.
  • Other: Horrible History DVDs; United Nations Tour; Discussion of International Relations and Politics inspired by Stargate SG-1.

Technology – O

  • Type To Learn 3 - Continued Progress.
  • Alex has started typing his own blog posts and is now using kid-safe search engines (bookmarked on his browser) to research topics. He is also taking an online course through the Gifted Kids Network that is requiring him to communicate in an online forum. All in all, he is making great strides in learning how to communicate online.

Music – V

  • Weekly piano lessons with Lucy McCaffrey.
  • Alex has progressed up to Level 1 in the Bastien series.

    • Visual and Performing Arts – G

  • Visited the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Medieval Armor sections of The Met.
  • Attended Dream, an interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
  • Pop-up art inspired by R. Sabuda.
  • Arts & crafts from Mesopotamia.
    Physical Education – V
    Alex skied 1-2 times per week and was attempting Black Diamond runs by the end of the season. Less frequently, he also swam, hiked, and ice skated.

Confirm that we have covered at least 80% planned material for this quarter. Yes XXX No____

Signature of Instructor:

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