Tolle Lege Christian Academy

Our Week-Weekly Report Week 3

This week was a little lighter than the past two because one of JB's aunts was in town and they spent some nice time together!   (Thanks Aunt R!)   We did continue on with our eye openers, math and reading and we finished Sew What Betsy Ross? for history.    JB also completed some history notebook pages related to Betsy Ross and the American flag.

We went to a wonderful science program at our public library!  There were some great demonstrations and we learned some new terms/concepts and also started a list of what we'd like to look up and learn more about from what was shared.  JB's favorite demonstrations had to do with polymers, dry ice (sublimation) and Bernoulli's Principle (which she remembers as how the blower made a girl's hair go way up and how it kept a ball in the air too  :-)  ).  She loves science and several times during the program she stated how much fun she was having.  It was a very nice time.

This week also ended the first full year of ballet for JB.  Her studio began a  year round schedule and so next week she moves up to Ballet/Tap II.  She has really enjoyed her year of dance and I have felt so thankful for her wonderful teacher/studio owner and for the other sweet girls in her class. 

Until next time.......

First Grade Weekly Report-Week 2

We had another good week this week!  We are continuing with the basics mentioned in our last report and adding in some other new things.  We'll keep adding a bit here and there throughout the summer until we're settled into somewhat of a routine for the rest of the year. 

This week we added in natural history (James Herriot's Treasury for Children) and literature (Aesop and fairy tale) readings from Ambleside Online Year 1.  JB completed her first two "official" (as in required) narrations* of two of Aesop's fables.  She did a wonderful job!  I will most likely transcribe some of her narrations this year, and I'll post some when I do.  She tends to narrate naturally when she really enjoys a story (anything NARNIA!  :-)  ) at various times, but I want to focus on the readings for lessons in history, literature and nature study/science, and make it a habit to narrate from all of these areas by the end of the year.   

We also began reading and listening to fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson.  We listened to Thumbelina in the car and JB liked it so much she sat down later that day and wrote a complete story all by herself called "The Girl and the Bird".  Later in the week, we read The Little Mermaid (different in many ways from the Disney version) and she has now started on another story inspired by that called "The Mysterious Mermaid".   

We added in our first "Tea Time" of the year.  The picture above shows two new tea cups that I received for Mother's Day this year, sitting out and ready to go!  :-)  Quite awhile ago, we were in the habit of having tea time on a regular basis at least several times a week; but we got away from it in the hustle and bustle of moving and settling in afterward.  This year, I'm planning for us to have at least one tea time a week (hopefully two) and to incorporate our artist and composer study then.  We'll also take turns reading scripture and poetry to each other.  Here is a picture of some of our resources for this first block of study:

We will be learning about Mary Cassat and Mozart and using the Free and Treadwell readers (from Yesterdays Classics) for JB's poetry reading (and other reading throughout the week).  I'm selecting poems to read from The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse.   JB enjoyed reading the works by Mother Goose in the First Reader so much, that she read two to her Dad when he got home and flipped through the whole book to find them all after tea time.   It is a treat to hear words like "doth", "master", "sire" and such coming from her.  We've read Mother Goose quite a bit over the years, but not this particular version.

JB also composed a couple of poems this week that she would like to share:

Friends
by JB

Friends are fun
They're fun to see
Be joyful when together

and

Pets
by JB

Pets are fun,
        and funny too.
They make you smile,
        and laugh too.
Take good care of pets.

Until next time......

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*I'm working on a  short informational post about "narration" as defined by Charlotte Mason.  I hope to post it soon.

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If you like to read Weekly Reports from others, be sure to visit Trivium Academy, the home of the Weekly Report. 

First Grade Weekly Report Kick Off!

Welcome to the first edition of our First Grade Weekly Report.

We had a great first (full) week "back to school", and JB seems to be enjoying her new first grade materials.  One new routine is the addition of a daily "eye opener" using Evan Moor's Daily Math Practice and Daily Language Review.    We used Daily Word Problems (First Grade) some last year, but after awhile I decided to put it aside and save for this year to give her the practice of fully reading the problems herself as well (she was able to solve them, but not read all of them on her own), so we have started back up with that book as part of our "eye opener" also. 

I like these books because the "lessons" are very short and different skills are reviewed over time, so even if she comes across something brand new, it is very simple for me to teach her about it and practice it with her until a she is able to complete the same type of activity on her own.  I think it is a good introduction to many different areas of language arts in particular; and I like for her to see math ideas presented in different ways, so the math work will complement our regular series (Horizons Math). The author of these books suggests that these activities can be completed orally if desired, so even less time can be taken than if you asked your student to write out answers.  I think the return on the time invested is worth it to cover many basic skills in a gentle way. 

I've noticed that several math curricula in particular that are geared toward homeschoolers cover concepts in a different sequence than predominately public school math programs.   It is not mandatory for homeschoolers to give standardized tests in our state, but for anyone who must, these  books  might be a good resource for introducing and practicing traditionally assessed skills at a particular grade level.  I just enjoy the short, varied approach to thinking about basic skills.  (My disclaimer:  Not very Charlotte Mason in approach, I know.  :-)  )

A big hit so far is the start of School Song Latin!  She asks for this when she doesn't see it on her schedule.  :-)  She loves to sing and so this program is a perfect fit for her.  The workbook has just the right amount of writing (at least in my opinion) to help with some practice of the new vocabulary without being overwhelming.  It's also fun to say the words she is learning in Latin in Spanish and so we mix those in during the week.

We are continuing on with Horizons Math  this year; and the start of the book is review, so that has been an easy transition for JB.

We started a science unit on the human body with some friends, but we will be finishing it on our own.  JB did a great job reading booklets on muscles and bones this week (from yet another Evan Moore book) and she was able to complete questions, label diagrams and read on her own.  Even though we didn't complete this brain cap this week, I thought I'd go ahead and show the picture.  The symbols are to represent the different areas of the brain that control different functions. This activity is from Body (Make It Work) by Andrew Haslam, and I think the book has lots of great ideas for hands on projects.

We are continuing with the Bible Reader and Bible notebook from My Father's World first grade program.  We basically used the phonics portion of the program last year until JB's reading took off and then we just read, read, read.  So now we are going back and completing a few  notebook pages a week because I know it will make a wonderful keepsake for her.  Here are two of her entries from this week:

Notice Noah's feet beneath his work table, and the hammer-like tool and ruler-like tool in his hands.
:-)

This entry was related to the Tower of Babel story.  The lines coming down to the people represent God changing their languages. (I really enjoy the descriptions she gives of everything in her pictures.)

For history we started reading The Mighty Works of God by Ruth Smith and we also began Sew What Betsy Ross? in honor of Flag Day and National Flag Week.  We also completed a booklet about the American Flag from EnchantedLearning.com.

As far as reading goes, this week I've been reading Winnie the Pooh by A.A.Milne to JB during the day and her father has been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia series with her at night.  They just finished The Magician's Nephew having read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first, followed by Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  To say that she is enjoying these books is an understatement!   I love hearing all the details from what they are reading. 

These are some of the books she read to me (we'll continue with Owl at Home next week):

We started a brief daily devotion time where she reads quietly to herself while I read my Bible beside her.  For this she is reading from My Very First Devotional Bible and at night she continues to read to us from Blessings Every Day.

And there you have a sampling of some of the things we've been up to this week!  I don't expect that most reports will be this long, but I wanted to introduce some of our new resources.  :-)  Until next time.....

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If you like to read Weekly Reports from others, be sure to visit Trivium Academy, the home of the Weekly Report. 

Daily Organizer

I finally found a pocket chart that is just perfect for helping to organize our day.  JB likes knowing what we will work on each day, and it is very helpful to me to change over the cards each night and think through what we will be doing each morning.  I have also listed her chores so she knows what to do for the day and she is able do them independently.  She was very excited about her organizer, and so far it has been a big help!  (I had been looking at various types of chore organizers online, but never found something that seemed just right for us.)

We use the three columns for "Morning", "Afternoon" and "Night".   JB flips over the cards as she finishes each one.  There are pockets at the bottom of each column to store extra cards and the top actually has a pocket big enough to hold two 8 1/2 x 11 pages side by side.  There we have a monthly calendar with special days and appointments labeled so we can see what is coming up for the month. 

Here is a link to the product if you are interested in seeing more about it.  I can imagine several uses for a pocket chart of this size and type and when we outgrow it for its current use, I know we'll be able to keep using it for other things. 

Art Work

I am going to start a new photo album (which will  soon appear in the side bar of the blog) to display pictures of JB's art work this year.  She has really been enjoying using drawing books that show step by step directions of how to draw certain things and these are two of her recent pictures.

She drew roots going down from the apple tree to get water.

I love the way she draws faces and smiles!  (The rainbow is a sticker.)

The colors are not coming through nearly as bright and crisp as they are on paper.  I can attest to the advice given in many art books......high quality art supplies make a difference.  JB has her own art box that we are adding to over time and she now has her very own small set of PrismaColor colored pencils which are so much easier to use than the pencils we have used in the past and the colors are excellent.  (I have used these colored pencils in my own art projects, but these drawings are really the first JB has done using them.)

All of these drawings were done with the use of Watch Me Draw:  Things Girls Love.  (Of course she said, "Mom, do girls love bees?" as soon as she saw the bee page.  LOL  :-)   She's not too sure about even liking most insects.  :-)  She IS really enjoying this book. 

JB's Famous Pizza Shop

As I entered our kitchen tonight, I was greeted by a smiling JB and a sign on the door:  "JB's Famous Pizza Shop:  Good Food by JB and Dad:  Pizza Special"

JB decided a couple of nights ago that she wanted to make dinner for me as a sort of mom/teacher appreciation night.  We have been known to have surprise "Daddy Appreciation" dinners from time to time, and tonight it was my turn.  :-)  She was so sweet.  She said that she was glad that I was her teacher and that she wanted me to know, but that she didn't want to tell me with words (her way of saying she that wanted to do something to "show" me). 

So------she DID show me with her sweet smile, her twinkling eyes, her excited hugs to Daddy as she watched me, and with a most delicious pizza------just how I requested.  Lots of mushrooms and lots of cheese (with a little sausage and pepperoni).  She did all of the pizza topping work on her own.

What a special treat!  And I hope that I can always remember sitting across from her and her big smiles tonight.   They were priceless!

First Grade Fun

We have officially begun FIRST GRADE!   I know I haven't updated the blog in awhile and there is no mention of the end of kindergarten-----but we are off and running in our new "year"!  (We did have an excellent end to kindergarten!)

JB picked a start date of June 6th----because she is 6 of course!  :-)  I was debating starting in June or July, and she eagerly wanted to start in June.  We took less than two weeks completely off from school work, and she just wanted to go, go, go our first day back (which we did  :-)  ).   

She was completely decked out in her favorite color and packed her backpack as well just for the joy of it!  (We surprised her with new school supplies:  daily work notebook, pencils, erasers, folders-----mostly in her favorite color as well.)

Here are some of the things that we did:

• Started to work on this year's Memory Book.
• Did a fun graphing activity for math (then we did two math book lessons later since she asked to do her math book work and also two pages from her logic book):

   

• Completed a page in her Bible notebook
• Read together
• Began our study of Latin with Song School Latin (I think I was called "magistra" over 30 times today between JB and her daddy----she taught him the word when got home!  :-)  )

We also went out to lunch together and discussed some of the topics that we will be studying this year.

We had a great day and are looking forward to the year!

National Day of Prayer

Tomorrow is our National Day of Prayer.  I thought you might enjoy reading a short history of the day here.

May God bless America as we pray for our nation and its leaders.

Home Education Week-Show and Tell

Today's Prompt: 
Show off those talents. Share a story, a special moment, a piece of artwork. Any accomplishment, great or small, is fair game.

Here's a little something from both JB and me.  :-)

JB's first two art projects using the Atelier art program (level one):

(Emphasis on coloring mixing.)

(Emphasis on types of line.)

I love the personality in the caterpillar's face!

And continuing on the art theme, here is a piece I did in the last few years.  I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've worked on any projects.  I was taking lessons from a local artist and this was a project from class.

And though this is just a quick sketch during a portrait class, it is one of my favorite things I've done.....I think because I was having so much fun:

I have always liked portraits, though I have only done a few.  In class I discovered a great love of pastels, and and here is a piece that I completed outside of class----but still over two years ago now.

I think I will make it a goal of mine to set back to working on portraits at least once a month (I tend to be a work on something until it's as finished as I can make it in a short period of time sort of gal).  JB might soon be old enough to sit still enough for a quick sketch.  I also learned from class that I can get a much better likeness of someone when working from a model versus a photograph.  (At least I think so.)  So I am looking forward to the day when she can sit for an even longer period of time.  Meanwhile, I shall try working from some recent photographs as well.

Thanks for visiting our "show and tell"!  :-)

Home Education Week is sponsored by Dana at Principled Discovery.  If you'd like to see more "Show and Tell" entries, please visit here. 

Home Education Week - A Recipe

Today's writing prompt:
It is also National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day! So share a recipe…figuratively, as in two parts love, one part creativity, or literally, as in a super quick, nutritious meal your kids scarf up. Think about what you do in the day, what helps keep it organized and you sane (or how you got past that need for organization and saneness!), and curriculum materials you find effective.

I'll share a food recipe today.  It is super easy and quick----and though I just made it recently, I do think it will go into the regular rotation of meals we enjoy.  It is a variation of a recipe I found on http://www.fatfreevegan.com

Pasta and Beans (4 servings)

16 ounces canned tomatoes (your choice of type---I used diced)
19 ounces canned cannellini beans -- rinsed and drained
4 cups cooked pasta

Place the tomatoes and beans in a skillet to heat and simmer with added herbs (either Italian seasoning mix or basil or whatever you prefer).  Add in pasta to heat and serve.

Viola!

You can top it with parmesean cheese if you'd like.  You could also add in any type of vegetable.  I think that the next time I make it I will use two cans of beans and also a can of crushed tomatoes.  My dd picked out all of her beans and wanted more.  (She ate the pasta too, but just wanted more beans.)

Home Education Week is sponsored by Dana at Principled Discovery.  To read more recipes, please visit here.