Grammy arrived late Thu night and was here when the kids woke up extra bright and early (not realizing that we are three hours ahead of Grammy already). Ah, what grandparents won't do.
Friday was less than productive on the 3Rs, but we did have fun painting birdhouses, counting marbles (specifically finding the elusive "beeeg marml" according to Bugs, and reading stories ... lots of stories... and playing Animal Yatzi.
But, to step back for a moment to the lessons we studied before Grammy arrived.
MFW is beautifully and deeply intertwined with the Bible. It is not a separate subject of study. It is not an afterthought. It is the heart of this program. The curriculum is complete with a Biblical worldview. It fits our family perfectly and we've loved MFW for K and now for first.
This week (and a couple days from the week prior), we moved from learning about Joseph and his place in Egypt to seeing Israel's time in Egypt on our timeline to the birth of Moses. Oh, one of the most bittersweet stories in the Old Testament. My girls were riveted to the story of Moses in the basket, of his mother's heart, of his sister Miriam, and of the compassion of the princess. Sugar has begun summarizing the Bible story into one sentence, with my help at first. This is a tremendous skill to refine and she is well on her way.
Her Bible notebook is her favorite part of the day. She selects all different art media to play with and experience ... crayons, soy rocks, tissue paper, oil pastels, watercolors, tempura, watercolor pencils, glitter, pencil, beeswax crayons ... this is our adventure while Bugsy naps each afternoon. We play Beethoven in the background and the girls get lost in art.
Sugar's reading is really blossoming. I am an advocate of waiting for formal reading instruction until the children are older, ala Charlotte Mason, and I never have once regretted my path. Her phonics is systematic and amazingly organized in her little brain. She has no need for sight words because nearly all sight words are phonetic anyway, so she pulls her phonics rules out of her mind effortlessly and reads not only well but with comprehension and inflection.
Sugar memorizes one Proverb per week, writes it in her best hand, and we find ways to apply it and to talk about it daily. Sparkler helps with the application of the Proverb, too!
We are now working in Singapore 1A currently, for math, after completing Miquon Orange through subtraction. Before moving to multiplication with Miquon, which I adore, I decided to drill our math facts with Calculadder and work through Sing 1A & 1B. I don't think we will continue with Miquon as our core ... rather, it is an excellent supplement to our Singapore studies.
Despite our location in one of the most historically and culturally rich parts of the country, our library is mediocre, at best. Before we moved to our present house, our library was truly phenomenal. Then, we moved. Sigh -- guess that's what happens in a town of less than a few hundred year-round residents. Well, we do our best with what we have for our book basket.
At the moment, I've taken to filling the basket with readers for Sugar and Sparkler. Sugar reads them to Sparkler and Bugsy and the littles love to look at the pictures and pretend read.
Sparkler and Bugsy are always involved with preschool and all things toddler. Here are a few pictures of them loving "school" too.
Thanks for reading for so long ... I'll whittle down my reflections on our week with time.
Because of Him.
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