Friday, June 24, 2011

WUTW :: Animals & Tests ~ 6/24/2011


Books 'n Such:  Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach

Dead by Midnight

Around the House:  We were a bit off schedule this week due to testing, see below.  The weather has been rainy, with more rain due today, hopefully we can tidy up the house and catch up on laundry before the weekend.

Bob and I finished up week 3 of Thrive90 at Fit Marriage.  Next week we retake our fitness test.

Around the Kitchen:  We have been enjoying our CSA each week.  The kids love going to the farm to pick it up, and last week we even got honey.

Education:  This week Jacob sat for a standardized test.  Three mornings we had to get up and out the door to get him to our parish where the testing was being held.  Glad I don't have to do that every morning!  I think he was happy with the way the test went.  It was a good experience for him.  We did some of the practice tests and there was material we have not yet covered.  At 4th/5th grade I am not too concerned about what the results might be - at least that's what I keep telling myself!

Jonah, on the other hand, has been out catching things.  I'm not quite sure what the first creature is, a hedgehog? ground hog?  We were just getting ready to go on a bike ride when he spotted this thing.


We were coming home from the library and he {somehow!} spotted this in the grass.  I was sure it was just a piece of wood, but Bob stopped so he could go check it out and sure enough is was a snapping turtle.

 {I only had my iPhone with me!}

Even though our curriculum for next year has some nature/habitat lessons included, I'm thinking I will pull together some sort of science notebook for him to work on.  A wild animal focus, obviously.  I just bought a nifty little binder thing that Robin recommended in her planning the year post.  I'm sure I can find some animal notebooking pages.

Next week, on Thursday June 30th, I will post my wrapping up the year linky.  I'd love to have you join in.  We are looking forward to wrapping up our year!








23 comments:

Robin said...

I'm anxious to see how accurate you feel the test results are. I have yet to do any sort of formal testing formal testing, but have been strongly considering it. It would be nice to have a benchmark year over year to show progress, ours and theirs.

Child Talk said...

Wow...that's two more creatures than I'd be happy to see my son holding. ;) Just kidding, it would be pretty fun to find them along the way.

Thanks for the comment on Child Talk...it's always so nice to hear from parents that I'm capturing things well. I really appreciate it. Hope all continue to go well for you!

I think I've said this before, but the picture at the top of your blog makes my heart smile every time I see it. :)

Becca

Kim Covert said...

What kind of test did Jonah take? I love the idea of a science notebook, but not sure about those critters. I am just getting comfortable with bugs! Thanks as always for the great ideas!

brainintrainin said...

Um yeah, so you said you weren't the camping type....how in the world do you stand it to let him pick up all those creatures? I think I'm more of an "observer" when it comes to those things!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

I know! The first photo I had to keep telling him not to get too close to me! In the second instance, it was because Dad was driving the car and told him to go and check it out. I'm always telling him not to touch things and to go wash his hands!!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Kim, Jacob took the Stanford Achievement test. I'm not crazy about the animals either!!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Becca - he loves creatures!!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Robin - the benchmark will be nice. I will keep you posted!

Jessy Gaffen said...

Great animals, Jonah! I bet he would love keeping a nature journal where he can draw his favorite and FOUND animals! Add some library books and labels/notes around the drawings and voila - a cool Science notebook! My kids pulled a HUGE snapper out of our brook a couple of summers ago! I didn't think they got that big! I'm glad they're just catching wood, pickerel and peeper frogs now! LOL

mnewell0293 said...

I would say that you are right on with thinking about incorporating some sort of nature into your son's life for school! He seems to LOVE the animals! Thanks for linking up to NOBH..have a blessed weekend!

reasonsforchocolate said...

That boy sure does have a keen eye for the wild!! And no fear!! I just ordered Dr. Meg Meeker's new book on moms. I'm hoping to read it on vacation. Hope your weather clears up. My BIL and nieces just biked across Michigan with the PALM program. One niece said it rained most of the time but came home very enthusiastic none the less.

reasonsforchocolate said...

P.S. I guess I'm on a hiatus till the end of summer. I'll start linking up again when our school starts if that's okay.

Jen4Ever4Always said...

I downloaded the book for my Kindle, I am looking forward to starting it after I finish some library books. It has rained here all week!! I just found some mammal notebooking pages that I think he is going to like working on.

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Next week will be my last linky until summer is over :) Link up whenever your ready!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Great suggestions Jessy!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

I found mammal notebooking pages today :)

mistysmornings said...

I love the idea of the week in review post. I will try to link up next week - my first and your last! :)

lori said...

I am thinking that is a hedgehog and I can't believe he picked that thing up!! And the turtle! You definitely have a nature lover on your hands. I have been reading "Handbook of Nature Study" blog while gearing up to do more nature studies next year too. I can see how, especially for my newly teen son, this will be a good fit. He needs to be outdoors!

Hope the testing went well. It is tough to not want to “teach to the test” once you have formal results, but I tried to look at it as an opportunity to see things that we might need to work on. Some information is more useful than other- like one of my daughters tested low in a certain area of grammar. Easy enough to pull out some worksheets and work on that concept. Other than that, I tried not to stress too much. Some years were better than others. In the end, it all evens out.

Look forward to linking up next week. I am not sure I will break completely from wrap-ups for the summer, but I will probably downsize. ;)

Erika Drain said...

oh. my. goodness! wow...brave boy...lol...love the pictures. How are you liking DisqUs? cool huh?

Jen4Ever4Always said...

I really like Disqus! It makes responding to comments so easy. Thanks for your comment :)

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Great, I'd love to have you!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Lori, I like that blog too! I ordered the Summer Evenings e-book from her, but we have done any of the activities yet. I'm hoping we do soon!

Tifflynene said...

I try to tell myself the same things with standardized tests but inevitable end up "caring" too much! LOL Uh oh, I think our summer took over before I could wrap up our school year...better get busy before next year rolls around a little too soon:) yikes! Great job on your Fit Marriage!

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