Category: "This Week in School"
Happy June School News
June 1st, 2009Warning: Declaration of categories_plugin::SkinTag($params) should be compatible with Plugin::SkinTag(&$params) in /home/scher3/public_html/blogs/plugins/_categories.plugin.php on line 0
JUNE
The sun is rich,
And gladly pays
In golden hours,
Silver days,
And long green weeks
That never end.
School's out. The time
Is ours to spend.
The playground calls,
The ice-cream man,
And, after supper,
Kick-the-Can.
The live-long light
Is like a dream,
And freckles come
Like flies to cream.
from A CHILD'S CALENDAR by John Updike
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Well, school is not quite out yet--but we are enjoying the sunshine, playground, and the "live-long light." (Sun rising before 5:00 AM and not setting until after 9:00 PM.)
Liam has a firm grasp of upper and lower case letters, can tell you the sound each letter makes, and in most cases, distinguishes the initial sound when listening to a given word. He is currently all about spelling words and printing the entire alphabet from memory. Formation looks excellent--easily recognizable. He enjoys writing cat, dog, the, cow, and several other 3 letter words with some assistance in breaking up the phonemes. We are very proud of him, but most pleased that he enjoys learning and tries to read words wherever he goes. He continues to be an avid "reader," also enjoys drilling his little sister on the alphabet.
Liam enjoys exploring shapes, measurement, counting, and a variety of other math-related topics. Lately, he has become quite fond of printing numbers neatly on drawing paper, when not filling the sheet with figures from his favorite books, movies, or imagination. He is anxious to begin his Kindergarten year in the Fall.
Aine is also an avid "reader"--spending hours at a time with a pile of books. Since we brought home some Italian children's picture books from our recent trip to Italy, her interest in learning Italian along with Liam and Momma has increased greatly--learning the color words is her current favorite! Aine is identifying a good many upper and lower--case letters, as well as several of the sounds to go with them. Yesterday, as she put on her tights and was saying the word over and over again while she worked, she proudly announced to me that "T starts with tights!" (Smile!) That's right, my girl. Tights begins with the letter T! She's getting it, but enjoys a much more relaxed pace than her studious brother. (He sets such lofty goals for himself!) Aine will continue the Preschool curriculum begun this Spring. She can be observed counting her toys and looking for shapes everywhere! Though a delightfully different individual than Liam, she is ever as much a joy to teach as her brother continues to be.
Time to prepare for Liam's Swim lesson, so more another time.
Happy First of June!
And The Days Go March-ing By...
April 2nd, 2009One of the benefits we enjoy as a homeschooling family is that on those rare and special occasions when family or friends come to visit, we are able to schedule our "breaks" to coincide. This flexibility served us well this past month of March when Auntie Erinn came to visit for three weeks! :)
This means that during that time we did not follow the "plans," yet the beauty is that since educational opportunities abound while traveling, creating artwork, listening to music, and playing--we really never took a break from "school" itself. However, since we did not follow our "plans," I will not be reporting on our little students' March progress and activities.
April is off to a great beginning here--inside and out. Today we savored the unusual delight of a day with the temperature at sixty degrees Fahrenheit! We rarely saw that temperature all of last SUMMER season, so it was a WELCOME TREAT! The daffodils are in their glory right now--gazillions of them everywhere, chasing the crocuses, and ushering in the beautiful blooming season. The sun arose in our sky at 6:30 AM and set at 7:30 PM. This alone is enough to put a dreamy smile on one's face--no really, after the "dark" months with the sun up at 8:00 AM and setting by 3:50 PM this REALLY puts a smile on one's face. I'm sure we will not have any more nice, warm days for a while, but I am thankful for THIS one.
1000 Gifts List 2009
13.) dew glistening on green, Spring grass
14.) symphonic birdsong
15.) sunlight
16.) spontaneous hugs and kisses from busy little loves
17.) Spring air
18.) the ability to capture moments of joy in memory--a picture saved in one's heart
Farewell January!
February 2nd, 2009January
The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.
Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor.
Milk bottles burst
Outside the door.
The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees of lace.
The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.
by John Updike, A Child's Calendar
Although it would not appear so from my lack of entries regarding school over the past couple of months, our little school/house has been busy through this Autumn and Winter. For anyone interested, here is a brief account of what has been engaging our time of learning.
LIAM:
Readiness/Phonological Awareness/Phonics
hand-to-eye coordination, same/different, alike/different, scissor skills, visual discrimination, following two and three-stage directions, identifies rhyming and non-rhyming words, generates rhyming words when given a word, word awareness skills, identifying/printing/recognizing the corresponding sounds for first half of alphabet, fine-tuning the printing of his name.
Math
Concluded unit on shapes, which included a variety of hands-on activities for making and identifying shapes, and are now in a new unit focused on sizes, including big/small, smaller/larger, largest, fit, sorting by size, size comparison.
Bible, etc.
Halfway through memorizing a verse to correspond with each letter of the alphabet, continuing to work on catechism, completed learning of the Fruit of the Spirit, now studying the Ten Commandments.
Social Studies
Completed unit on Community Helpers of various sorts, Christmas traditions around the world, memorization and study of meaning of The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Science
Completed unit on kitchen science focusing on sound reflection/absorption, absorption of liquids, taste buds, etc.
Italian
Concluded unit on rooms of the home, hello, and continuing onto common household items.
Sign Language
Handsigns some of alphabet, water, pretty, boat, great, snake, grandma, grandpa, daddy, mommy, baby, kiss, cereal, and some animal words.
Art/Music/Physical Education
Continues to explore various art media, tempo, fast/slow, plays "Hot Cross Buns" on mini-piano, playing rhythm instruments, beat. Liam has begun swimming lessons and really HAS taken to them like a "fish to water!" ;) He continues to ask to do school everyday, as we continue with Pre-School 2, so I am in the process of determining the curriculum for Kindergarten for next year.
AINE:
Aine has just in the past few weeks demonstrated a new interest in letters, wanting to spell her name, etc. I was waiting to see how much interest she showed on her own before deciding whether to begin my Pre-School 1 curriculum with her next year. Liam began early because he was so interested in it, but if Aine wasn't really inclined yet, I had planned on waiting another year. However, it seems that she will also be looking for that challenge and would seem to be ready for the level at which it begins, so she will start Pre-School 1 in the Fall! :)
This Month in School...September
September 30th, 2008September
The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel--
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive
Well-honeyed, hums,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.
by John Updike, from A Child's Calendar
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I open, here, with the poem that I have read each day of this fine month of September, to which we bid adieu this evening. :) Now, on to our first installment of This Month in School!
This month Liam has worked diligently at the following skills:
* fine-motor, through tracing, cutting, and pasting
* fine motor, through printing his first name
* visual perception
* eye-hand coordination
* safety rules
* shapes through multi-sensory exploration
* phonological awareness (fancy term meaning, awareness of sounds
in spoken words), i.e., rhyming
* same/different
* patterns
* left to right progression in reading and writing
* top/bottom
* categorization by physical attribute and function
* sorting by attribute
* short a sound
* memorizing (and dramatizing) Nursery Rhymes, i.e., Little Bo Peep, Humpty Dumpty, and Little Jack Horner
Liam also learned a new Memory Verse, "A soft answer turns away wrath." (Proverbs 15:1) He has also been learning several of the Fruit of the Spirit, namely, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience.
Both children have really enjoyed reading some new books, such as:
Chicken Soup with Rice
Louella Mae, She's Run Away
Down By the Bay
Mouse's First Fall
Apples
This month, Aine has mastered the following:
* color recognition, i.e., red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange, pink, black, white, and brown
* shape recognition, i.e., circle, crescent, oval, rectangle, star, heart
* participating in Story Time at the library
* counting independently from 1 to 11
* letter identification
* animal identification
We hope everyone is enjoying their week and we will try to keep you posted next month on what's new at school for our little ones!
Sharpen Your Pencils...
August 28th, 2008I thought this might present a good opportunity to update regarding progress they each made during this past year in our new home. (As the five of you who read this blog are aware, I began last year with the best of intentions in updating the blog weekly with Liam's activities and progress. Well...let's just say I became so busy living life that it left no time for writing about it. This time around, I will try to update once a month to put less pressure on myself and see how that goes.) Here is an overview of the growth Liam has made this past year:
---recognizes all 26 capital letters; recognizes 23-26 lower-case letters (occasionally, there is still some confusion between b & d & p, which is to be expected)
---counts independently to 29 (with the exception that he frequently omits 15)
---tells how to spell his first name and prints the L and i (he verbally explains how to form the a and m, but is dissatisfied with how his turn out, so he usually wants someone else to make those two for him)
---confidently answers first 14 questions of the catechism.
---sings about 15 Scripture memory songs from memory.
---enjoys "reading" easy read books from memory, but is very interested in learning to read this coming year (He loves to watch Blues Clues on VHS and is fascinated by sounding out words.)
---especially loved the units we did on the "Five Senses" and "Growing Seeds" and will tell you lots about it if you ask him.
---identifies 8 main colors
---identifies 9 main shapes (crescent is his favorite and he frequently goes on his own "shape hunt" to see what we have in a given room)
Furthermore, last year's "pre-school" curriculum fueled his desire to learn, which was our main goal, since he was only 2.5 when we started last year and didn't REALLY need to start yet.
The following is the progress Aine made during last school year:
---spends up to two hours at a time "reading" stories to herself (she is as much of a book worm as Liam ever was!)
---sings alphabet song (& many others)
---counts independently to 11
---answers questions 1 & 2 of the catechism
---identifies circle, star, and crescent shapes
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NOW FOR THIS YEAR'S PLANS for Liam:
Liam will begin using this curriculum this year. We have decided to follow a Classical approach to education and this curriculum looks to be a good fit for us at this point. We will, of course, not know for sure until we use it this year. I liked it because I was already familiar with a great many of the books from my days of teaching Kindergarten. It is also from a Reformed theology worldview, which is also a perfect fit for us. Let the adventure begin!
Liam will continue to be learning the Scripture, Fruit of the Spirit, 10 commandments, Lord's Prayer, the catechism, Apostles' Creed, Italian and Sign Language; he will begin to learn to play the recorder at mid-year; and our social studies, science, art, music, and physical education will be more formal and focused than before. Being as it is still Pre-school and he is only 3.5, however, "more formal and focused" should not be taken to mean he will spend hours of every day sitting at a table completing work! It will be more formal and focused in comparison to last year, but still in accordance with his age and appropriate developmental level. There will still be much time for games, puzzles, and playing, playing, playing! :)
Aine will continue to glean what she will from being around Liam's schooling and we will purposefully add a time most days for her to complete alphabet puzzles, number games, A to Z Zoo, exploring a variety of media used for art to develop fine motor skills. By mid-year, if she seems inclined and interested, I may begin the Pre-school curriculum I compiled/developed last year with Liam. We will see. :) Oh, and Aine is potty-training, too.
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Enjoy your week!
