Outdoor Discoveries, Trusten's Reading and Writing Prep

I'd saved where I'd worked on my last post, and the way I'd left it gave me trouble with adding more, so I just published it, and now I'm starting a new post.

Some other highlights of the last few months:

A Slight Flood...

Jade and Liv at top, then all three below after the water greatly increased

Nature Discoveries...

Butterflies loving my lilac bush

Jade with a tiger swallowtail butterfly, a salamander, inspecting caterpillar nest, climbing deer stand

More butterflies in our yard; Nathan holding a grass snake rescued from the cats

Some of Jaden's Latest Projects...

Jaden took apart the iron that stopped working.  He always enjoys taking apart things, trying to diagnose the problem(s), and keeping things he thinks he might can use for other applications.  He also sets aside recyclable things and adds them to our stuff to take to be recycled.

We read about ancient Egypt and clay-and-straw bricks.  He loves working with clay and so enjoyed making another clay and grass brick, but he left it in an unwise location, so on two separate occasions Trust and Liv (different one each time) messed with his brick.  I took a picture of it the way it was before it was completely ruined.  As for the hole in the center, that was intentional by Jaden, because he said he wanted a brick that he could fill with mortar. 

I was very pleased that he finished making a compost box for me.  He's so sweet!  He used materials Nathan let him have, left over from his own projects.  Some of that is just paneling that was left over from when Nathan put new paneling up in parts of the house.  Considering, I think Jade did a great job!  He started to paint it, but he said that Nathan told him he was afraid he wouldn't have enough paint left to finish painting the storage building if he painted the compost box.  Jade also hauled it himself beyond the yard to where I normally throw out scraps.

Trusten's Prep to Read and Write...

 Trusten has started the books preparing him for Explode the Code.  I used Explode the Code with William and loved it, but he did not do the Get Ready, Get Set, and Go books (A, B, and C) that I bought for Trusten.  Trusten is on the first book, book A, right now.  It works on phonics and letter-writing.

Well, believe it or not, Trusten doesn't always make faces like the one above.  As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure why it looks as if he's angry in that picture, because he seemed content.  He'd just finished making the 'f' sound and saying the name of the picture he is pictured circling.  Sometimes, though, he really does get mad about his work.  He does a good job sounding things out, circling the right pictures, etc., but he is frustrated about writing most letters.  


No Child Left Behind...

Olivia naturally wants to do what the boys are doing.  She has scribbled countless times in Jaden's workbooks he's left lying open unattended. When it's time for Trusten to do his work, I  normally give her a piece of paper and a pencil so that she can free-scribble, but on this day she wanted to cut.

Well, I'll probably leave my catch-up updating at this.  I'll try better to keep up with it now.  

Until next time...