Year in Review

READING 

This has been a fun year and I have learned a lot, especially about animals.

I learn about them by reading and then I go outside and look for them and watch them. I found baby ladybugs this way coming out of their coccoons. My dad had never seen a baby lady bug, but he was excited when I showed him all of them on our bushes.

Besides animal books I have also read a lot of other fun books.

I read all the Nate the Great books. He really is smart and he really likes pancakes.

I also read Curious George. I love how he is always exploring and trying things even when he gets into trouble. That's a lot like me.

Now I'm starting to read about Jack and Annie in the Magic Tree house series.

I like how they go to different times and places. I just read about when they went to Australia and had to help a very cute baby Kangaroo find its mother.

Dingoes chased them, but they escaped and made it home safe.

GEOGRAPHY

I am still learning about the different parts of the world. Mostly I know a lot about Brazil because my dad used to live there and I really want to go there because of the Amazon rainforest with all the amazing animals.
I would love to catch a red-eyed tree frog and have it for a pet with my other tree frogs.

I also know about Europe a little bit because my mom and grandparents are from there.

Here in America I went to California this year to see where my family used to live and we got to visit the Wild Animal park and see lions and giraffes and lots of other animals.

MUSIC

I like all sorts of music, but especially dance music and I love to dance with my mom and have everyone watch.
I also really like singing and this year I sang a Bulgarian songon the stage at the Firehouse in Newburyport for a poetry show.

GYMNASTICS

My dad is teaching me gymnastics. I can already to 3 pull ups and I can do a hold where you sit on the ground with your legs straight in front of you and lift yourself off the ground.
My brothers can't do that hold yet. I never knew how to do a cartwheel before but after an hour I learned how to do one and I keep practicing to get better. Now I want to learn how to do a handspring and stand on my hands.


MATH

This year I learned how to count really well and I have been practicing my addition and subtraction.

My brothers help me with Khan Academy and I have done a lot of math there, but I like Arcademics math because you get to race.

Here is a list of some of the things I have worked on this year.

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION

+ 7

Skill

Level

Questions

Addition within 5

Mastered

35

2

Subtraction within 5

Mastered

-

-

Addition within 20

Mastered

5

3

Subtraction within 20

Mastered

2

1

Addition within 100

Mastered

4

5

Addition within 1000

Mastered

1

2

Subtraction within 100

Mastered

3

3

MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION

+ 1

Skill

Level

Questions

Number line 1

Mastered

1

2

Multiplying 1-digit numbers

Level Two

-

-

Basic division

Practiced

-

-

1-digit division

Practiced

-

-

Multiply by tens

Level One

1

7

TELLING TIME

+ 2

Skill

Level

Questions

Telling time with a labeled clock

Mastered

1

1

Telling time without labels

Mastered

1

2

APPLYING MATHEMATICAL REASONING

+ 1

Skill

Level

Questions

Reading pictographs 1

Practiced

-

-

Reading bar charts 1

Practiced

-

-

Creating bar charts

Practiced

-

-

Comparing whole numbers

Mastered

2

1

ANGLES AND INTERSECTING LINES

Skill

Level

Questions

Angle types

Level One

-

-

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

+ 15

Skill

Level

Questions

Count to 100

Mastered

8

4

Count from any number

Mastered

8

2

One more, one less

Mastered

8

3

Numbers to 120

Practiced

10

8

Counting objects

Needs Practice

2

-

Counting in scenes

Practiced

5

4

How many objects 1

Practiced

5

3

How many objects 2

Level One

8

5

Counting out 1-20 objects

Level One

6

3

Compare groups through 10

Practiced

5

5

Comparing numbers through 10

Mastered

8

3

Teen numbers 1

Mastered

9

5

Teen numbers 2

Practiced

6

4

Groups of tens

Level Two

7

10

Subtract tens

Needs Practice

1

2

Put together

Mastered

8

14

Take apart

Mastered

8

9

Making five

Mastered

5

1

Addition word problems within 10

Level One

6

3

Subtraction word problems within 10

Level Two

12

12

Addition and subtraction word problems within 20: Level 2

Practiced

1

4

Comparing size

Mastered

-

-

Measuring lengths 1

Mastered

8

3

Comparing lengths

Practiced

1

2

Solving problems with bar graphs 1

Mastered

8

12

Solving problems with bar graphs 2

Needs Practice

6

16

Creating line plots, bar graphs, and picture graphs

Level Two

7

17

Naming shapes

Mastered

8

2

Naming shapes 2

Mastered

-

-

Comparing shapes

Mastered

9

2

Attributes of shapes

Level One

13

5

Recognizing shapes

Level One

14

9

Composing shapes

Needs Practice

1

1

Halves and fourths

Mastered

8

2

Filling rectangles with same-sized squares

Practiced

5

2

Equal parts of circles and rectangles

Level One

20

9

Axis of symmetry

Practiced

-

-

a tour through plants

A plants life starts form a seed. The first thing that you see out of the flower is leaves and sometimes for veggies they dont have flowers. But tomotos have flowers. They are beautiful. Blackrasberries have flowers too. Zuccini starts out as a seed that grows into a flower. Sometimes the bugs can be harming the crops or produce you can use ladybugs to eat the afids to help them save the plants. Some people use chemicals to spray their plants. Plants need light to live.  WHen the light hits the leaf the leaf is absorbiing his food from the light. Also when it rains the roots absorb the water and it goes through a tunnel and it leads to the stem of the plant and the leaves get its food.

Sometimes flowers can be very beatiful and smell good. But sometimes flower that look very pretty can smell horrible. Lilak is a nice smelling tree/bush flower. The monarck butterfly drinks sweet nectar from the milk weed plant then the plant grabs her. Without the butterfly knowing the milk weed plants nectar on the butterflys body and then after she flys away without knowing she goes to another flower and pollinates it.

Caterpillars and Butterflies

I looked the other day and found a cocoon in nature. I watched it go through metamorphosis and now it is a butterfly and has scaly wings which are still drying. If you look close with a microscope you can see the scales which are smaller and drier than goldfish scales. It's easier to see the goldfish scale, but the powdery wings of the butterfly are also scales. I'm not sure why they have scales but it is interesting. I think you shouldn't catch a butterfly with your hands because it can take the scales off of their wings and if you do catch one release it after a few minutes of watching and looking at it, instead of keeping it in a jar.You don't want a butterfly to die in your tank after all.

I love butterflies because they are so beautiful to look at and then letting them go and watching them fly. Butterflies like to land on flowers to eat and that's a good place to observe them. The other day I found a green caterpillar in my garden who was eating my parsley. I took him off the parsley and learned that will be black swallowtail butterfly.

I love monarch butterflies too. They are so amazing to look at.

Butterflies can come in all sorts of colors, yellow, black, blue, brown, orange and white. I have never seen a pink butterfly. I wonder if they exist. Mostly in my yard I find only white butterflies. If you look super close with a magnifying glass you can see little poky things on their feet. It's fun to see a butterfly transform from a caterpillar to a cocoon to a chrysalis to a butterfly.

A monarch butterfly is especially amazing. She flies far away and then when the milkweed comes she lays her eggs. When the caterpillars hatch they don't have any color. They get their color from eating leaves. Some of them get eaten by insects like spiders and praying mantises. I usually try and save them but if they are dead I leave them for lunch for the insects.

My Pet Animals

I have I think 52 animals for pets. Each day it takes about 60 minutes to take care of them all. I feed them each morning and turn their lights on and mist them. Then at night I put them to bed and turn off their lights.

Many of them are fish, guppies and tadpoles.

I have two cute guinea pigs that I only feed a little each day so that they don't get fat. I try and make sure they always have a clean cage and clean it once a week. I also take my guinea pigs outside and they love to eat grass which is their favorite food.

I have two beta fish too. One of them is huge so I only feed her two pellets. I feed the other one more pellets so she can get bigger.

I have an aquatic frog named Daisy who loves to eat beetles. I go outside to find beetles and she eats them right away.

I have 7 other frogs and they are a lot of fun to play with, although I don't handle them too often. I have one green tree frogs, one gray tree frog, two fire-bellied toads and 3 American toads. They have to always keep there skin wet so I spray them a lot.


I have a lizard who is an anole. Her name is Alexandra. She does bite so I don't handle her that often. I have to mist her often so she doesn't dry out. Sometimes my lizard escapes and climbs on the walls and tries to run away. That's why I don't ever take her outside.

I have two turtles. One is a Eastern painted and one is a Western painted. They aren't too big, just middle size. My turtles like to eat worms, turtle pellets, shrimp and one secret ingredient (crickets). Both are aquatic turtles and live mostly in the water, but some time they like to get out and bask on the log.

I love my animals because they are lot of fun to play with. Sophie my dog is my favorite. I love playing with her and throwing her stick. The thing is she never drops her stick, she always runs and plays chase until she is too tired, but then she won't run and she just comes to the door. When she comes in she loves to sleep on her favorite chair

I have 7 chickens which like to peck a lot. I try and be careful not to get pecked. They are bigger now and will lay eggs in about a month. My favorite chicken is Gustavus who is a Polish hen with a funny hairstyle.

Goldfish

Taking care of your goldfish

First you want about a 10 gallon tank. Never put a Goldfish in a tank that is too small with other fish. Make sure your goldfish has the right food. Also your goldfish tank needs to be clean. If your tank has real plants it will help your goldfish breath. Giving to much goldfish food to your goldfish will make its tank dirty. Only give your goldfish goldfish food night and day, Only a pinch of goldfish food. If you see any bruises on your goldfishes skin call the vet. Your goldfish needs hiding places to hide. Buy your goldfish from a good pet store. If you see an active goldfish with fins pointing strait up that is a good one to pick. A goldfish you win as a prize may not be healthy. You need a filter in your tank to filter the water. When you get a goldfish in a bag put the bag in the tank for around 20 minutes to make the water temperature the same in the bag  as the temperature in the tank. Then you can free your goldfish. Only remove your goldfish with a net never with your hands. Their scales will become less smooth and the fish will not be able to swim. Clean your tank once a week.


Goldfish
 Goldfish eggs are like little jelly balls. A goldfish can live up to 25 years. a mother goldfish can lay 1000's of eggs. The different parts of the goldfish are: Tail for swimming, Smooth body for swimming, scaly skin for protection, Eyes for seeing, Fins for steering,Breaking and balancing, Gills for breathing the oxygen in the water, Mouth for tasting ,eating and drinking. 




Source: A pets life: Goldfish

Pocahontas

Pocahontas
Pocahontas was an American Indian. Her real name was Matoaka which means little snow feather. Pocahontas means playful child. She liked to play and have fun so her nickname was Pocahontas. She was a member of the Powhatan group of tribes. She was the daughter of chief Powhatan who was the leader of the whole group of tribes. When the pilgrims came she helped them get along with the Indians and learn to grow food for the winter.