I thought we'd get more ahead this week ... we're still a week behind ... but, alas, nope. I expect that we'll be back on schedule over the next two weeks. We're taking the week after Easter off (I wish I could say that it's for a relaxing family vacation, but, again, nope. Sparkler is having surgery. Boo.), so I would like to come back to lessons on May 2 fresh and ready to completely live the last 7 1/2 weeks of school with a very healthy little girl.
Bible
Sugar is a whiz at memorizing the books of the Bible. This week took us all the way through I Thessalonians. My TG gives a very brief, one-sentence description of the book, but I read the introduction from the Kid's Quest Bible. It gives a little more shine to the purpose and authorship of the book.
We began this week with the story of the unyielding friendship of Naomi and Ruth. Ruth is one of my favorite books. I love the message, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay" (1:16).
Sugar has really taken to the translation from the Jerusalem Bible. It has a sing-song quality to the language that I think appeals to her age. The version we have includes beautiful devotions, so I have found this to be a sweet Bible to read from at Bug's naptime, just to the girls. Bugs listens in on The Child's Story Bible (not that he follows along, but I like for him to hear the stories nonetheless).
We met Samson this week, as well, and briefly encountered King Saul. The story of Samson was captivating for the girls ... may have been the part about his eyes being poked out ... or his sacrificial end. I am again awed by the marrying of reading, phonics, and Bible history. Well done, MFW.
Sugar is amazing me with her narration & dictation skills. For her Bible notebook (above), I read the story of Samson from The Child's Story Bible (then again from The Jerusalem Bible later in the day ... or maybe it was the next day), and then we worked on her reading workbook. Sugar then reads the same story from her reader and narrates what she read. Now, the hard part ... she pulls all of that information together into two sentences that not only summarize the story, but that also speak to her heart. I write down the two sentences and then dictate them to her for her to write in her notebook. I helped her with "belonged" and "Philistines" and with reminding her that when we start a new line, within the same sentence, we do not need a period and capital ... she wants to put a period after "very" and capitalize "strong" since it feels to her like a new sentence begins on each new line. We worked on this concept and she's got it now. She's very literal. Like me.
Sparkler is diligently working on Bible and thinking/motor skills with Rod & Staff. I try to align the girls' Bible lessons ... this week she wanted to continue coloring her Samuel page ... so we have yet to meet up with Ruth or Samson, or Saul. Did I mention that much of what we are working on with Sparkler is attention and confidence? Another reason that MFWK will be a perfect fit for her in the fall.
Our Proverb for copywork this week resonated with me, especially. It fills my heart and keeps my mind in the right place ... we are sometimes so blindsided by the things some people say and do, it's painful. That's another story for another time. It is another teaching tool I can keep close to keep my children on Christ's path ... faithful witnesses.
We are moving right along in Reading and Sugar is stealing away in her closet (it's huge and lighted and even has radiant heat) and reads and reads and reads. I think we're slowly turning that corner from learning to read to desiring to read. We spent some time seeing singular and plural in print, which is exactly the method to grammar that I have chosen to take until we reach the dialectical stage. Gentle, oral grammar with a sprinkling of written to cement the concept is best at this stage of development ... next year we'll move to more formal, yet oral grammar with Primary Language Lessons and then to Intermediate Language Lessons, some oral some written. For now, Sugar is adept at many grammatical rules, though we've never had a lesson in grammar. Thank you, Charlotte Mason, again.
[caption id="attachment_348" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="We needed a little lowercase "d" and "s" encouragement, too. "]
[/caption]
Sugar is still a math devotee. Goodness the child loves math and science (which I'll post about later ... we have that scheduled with daddy on Sunday). This was a much-needed week of review with Singapore. We're nearing the close of 1A and as such, spent all week reviewing number bonds, addition and subtraction with numbers through 20, and ordinal numbers. Even for my mathy child, some concepts necessitate several ways of teaching the same idea. Another reason that MFW has set her up well for these times ... we pulled out our beans for place value and number cards to show, clearly and visually, how 10+5=15, without ever having to "add." We're heading to the library on Sunday to find books to solidify what she's learned with math in her first 50 Singapore 1A lessons. Some living books to the mix.
I am beginning to compile Sugar's state portfolio assessment and as I was reading through my TG again I flagged activities that we never got to, but that I don't want the girls to miss. One was about pressing flowers. While at the market this week I saw a bunch of edible flowers, and since upper New England is short on garden flowers this time of year, I bought a bunch to dry and press. I think we'll make bookmarks with contact paper when they are ready. More to come ...
Oh ... Sugar's shepherd's bag came out beautifully. Obviously, David would not have woven potholders together to craft a bag for his lunch, but this little project gave her a good dose of the mechanics of weaving and a few snacks fit in the bag and she is enamored with carrying it everywhere.
This week we will have our shepherd lunch ... figs, olives, raisins, cheese, and bread. It is supposed to be SEVENTY degrees on Tuesday, so that calls for an outdoor picnic in honor of David.
Another beautiful, sometimes blurry week in My Father's World. Life at the pace of life. I tell my husband every.single.day how thankful I am for the privilege to home school our children.
I encourage you to stop over to A Heart Like Water for this week's MFW Homeschool Highlights.
Because of Him.
Bible
Sugar is a whiz at memorizing the books of the Bible. This week took us all the way through I Thessalonians. My TG gives a very brief, one-sentence description of the book, but I read the introduction from the Kid's Quest Bible. It gives a little more shine to the purpose and authorship of the book.
We began this week with the story of the unyielding friendship of Naomi and Ruth. Ruth is one of my favorite books. I love the message, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay" (1:16).
Sugar has really taken to the translation from the Jerusalem Bible. It has a sing-song quality to the language that I think appeals to her age. The version we have includes beautiful devotions, so I have found this to be a sweet Bible to read from at Bug's naptime, just to the girls. Bugs listens in on The Child's Story Bible (not that he follows along, but I like for him to hear the stories nonetheless).
We met Samson this week, as well, and briefly encountered King Saul. The story of Samson was captivating for the girls ... may have been the part about his eyes being poked out ... or his sacrificial end. I am again awed by the marrying of reading, phonics, and Bible history. Well done, MFW.
Sugar is amazing me with her narration & dictation skills. For her Bible notebook (above), I read the story of Samson from The Child's Story Bible (then again from The Jerusalem Bible later in the day ... or maybe it was the next day), and then we worked on her reading workbook. Sugar then reads the same story from her reader and narrates what she read. Now, the hard part ... she pulls all of that information together into two sentences that not only summarize the story, but that also speak to her heart. I write down the two sentences and then dictate them to her for her to write in her notebook. I helped her with "belonged" and "Philistines" and with reminding her that when we start a new line, within the same sentence, we do not need a period and capital ... she wants to put a period after "very" and capitalize "strong" since it feels to her like a new sentence begins on each new line. We worked on this concept and she's got it now. She's very literal. Like me.
Sparkler is diligently working on Bible and thinking/motor skills with Rod & Staff. I try to align the girls' Bible lessons ... this week she wanted to continue coloring her Samuel page ... so we have yet to meet up with Ruth or Samson, or Saul. Did I mention that much of what we are working on with Sparkler is attention and confidence? Another reason that MFWK will be a perfect fit for her in the fall.
Our Proverb for copywork this week resonated with me, especially. It fills my heart and keeps my mind in the right place ... we are sometimes so blindsided by the things some people say and do, it's painful. That's another story for another time. It is another teaching tool I can keep close to keep my children on Christ's path ... faithful witnesses.
We are moving right along in Reading and Sugar is stealing away in her closet (it's huge and lighted and even has radiant heat) and reads and reads and reads. I think we're slowly turning that corner from learning to read to desiring to read. We spent some time seeing singular and plural in print, which is exactly the method to grammar that I have chosen to take until we reach the dialectical stage. Gentle, oral grammar with a sprinkling of written to cement the concept is best at this stage of development ... next year we'll move to more formal, yet oral grammar with Primary Language Lessons and then to Intermediate Language Lessons, some oral some written. For now, Sugar is adept at many grammatical rules, though we've never had a lesson in grammar. Thank you, Charlotte Mason, again.
[caption id="attachment_348" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="We needed a little lowercase "d" and "s" encouragement, too. "]
[/caption]The sounds we've covered ... ooh, we are so close to completing the chart.
Sugar is still a math devotee. Goodness the child loves math and science (which I'll post about later ... we have that scheduled with daddy on Sunday). This was a much-needed week of review with Singapore. We're nearing the close of 1A and as such, spent all week reviewing number bonds, addition and subtraction with numbers through 20, and ordinal numbers. Even for my mathy child, some concepts necessitate several ways of teaching the same idea. Another reason that MFW has set her up well for these times ... we pulled out our beans for place value and number cards to show, clearly and visually, how 10+5=15, without ever having to "add." We're heading to the library on Sunday to find books to solidify what she's learned with math in her first 50 Singapore 1A lessons. Some living books to the mix.
I am beginning to compile Sugar's state portfolio assessment and as I was reading through my TG again I flagged activities that we never got to, but that I don't want the girls to miss. One was about pressing flowers. While at the market this week I saw a bunch of edible flowers, and since upper New England is short on garden flowers this time of year, I bought a bunch to dry and press. I think we'll make bookmarks with contact paper when they are ready. More to come ...
Oh ... Sugar's shepherd's bag came out beautifully. Obviously, David would not have woven potholders together to craft a bag for his lunch, but this little project gave her a good dose of the mechanics of weaving and a few snacks fit in the bag and she is enamored with carrying it everywhere.
This week we will have our shepherd lunch ... figs, olives, raisins, cheese, and bread. It is supposed to be SEVENTY degrees on Tuesday, so that calls for an outdoor picnic in honor of David.
Another beautiful, sometimes blurry week in My Father's World. Life at the pace of life. I tell my husband every.single.day how thankful I am for the privilege to home school our children.
I encourage you to stop over to A Heart Like Water for this week's MFW Homeschool Highlights.
Because of Him.
Hey Erin Kate! I love the way you did the shepherd's bag! I never thought to do it out of potholders! And I so, so, *SO* love the way you try to find the stories worded in just the right way to capture your children's minds and speak to their hearts. You do a phenomenal job as a homeschool mama! (And I think I'm going to follow your lead and incorporate The Child's Story Bible when we do 1st in two years with my youngest.) Blessings to you for a great rest of the week! :)
ReplyDeleteErin, I just love this one! Felt like I had been in your "school" this week, shared the triumphs and enjoyed the fun blessings. I remember when reading became a desire vs. a task... such a creative and wonderful world it opens... especially for girls I think. The bookmarks are a great idea!
ReplyDeleteGod Bless.
Thank you, Jennifer! I seem to have a plethora of Bibles in every possible translation around here. :) My Grandma loved The Jerusalem Bible, and I find it beautiful and accessible, so I thought I'd give it a whirl with my girls. The Child's Story Bible is tremendous. I really encourage you to read from this with your kids. It is hard to find a better story Bible anywhere. Next year we will read through the NT, since MFW1 is light on that period. Blessings to you, as well!
ReplyDeleteI'll post about how the bookmarks turn out (or don't ... lol). Ells is learning to read, naturally, and it is SO cool to watch her become enamored with books and the world they open for her. Your turn is coming soon! :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteYour children are adorable! I also feel so blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids and to school them. I didn't think I was cut out for homeschooling, but it has been truely rewarding in many ways!
ReplyDeleteYour shepherd's bag is very cute! We also made bookmarks with dried flowers, it was fun!
Your blog journal is a testament to your absolute knack for homeschooling! We are planning on making our flower pressed bookmarks next week finally ... our Easter break. :) Will you move on to Adventures in the fall?
ReplyDelete