Progress Review for April - May

Language Arts...She is really starting to read! Finally! She is reading Dick and Jane faster now (we have just started the second and harder book), and is doing Explode the Code book 1 and 2 with little or no help in most cases. She is starting to read random things like the word "mushroom" by herself. She is also starting to write by herself and not just dictate which has been the method of choice for most of the year.

Math...
We are still working on graphs, and doing some simple geometry. We haven't done much more with place value as our books have not come back to it, but I still plan on spending a few days at the end of the year firming up that knowledge.

Science...
Our caterpillars turned into butterflies yesterday. She is a very proud butterfly mama. :) We have been reading about different kinds of butterflies, and have also been reading about natural instincts of dogs, as well as how to behave around them, etc. Her garden is growing well and starting to flower. We are talking about pollination daily right now, and she is starting to understand the 'flower into fruit' concept as she watches her strawberry plants turn so well that she is telling the neighbor kids.

Social Studies...We had a family move in next door that has an 8 year old little girl. Cyan and she have been close to inseparable. We are still doing our bi-weekly story time and PE play dates with our homeschool group.

PE/Health...
We have been talking more about food lately. We pulled out our place mats with the food pyramid on them and have been talking about organics vs non organics and what they do to our bodies, etc. She is still going to PE play day with the homeschool group, and learning about water safety.

Fine Arts...
We still draw every day. She has started to draw things that are far beyond her level (like hidden pictures in line drawings, etc). She is practicing her handwriting all the time, and really getting the hang of her fancy letters, although cursive gives her more of a hard time than the 'princess' letters, which could be due to interest.

Technology...
She has started using "Starfall" about twice a week to reinforce her language arts studies. With that she is learning how to use the mouse for the first time.