Week Six

Wow!  It worked... I published my first post.

Thank you to all the parents who were there last Monday to help to keep the class a very good learning environment. Thank you so much for your support.

I can't believe we've finish the first quarter already.  Time really does fly.  I've enjoyed the time I had with your children and I am very proud of what they have accomplished thus far.  
Here are some of the files I've used from CC Connected...

Science - Songs: NoGreaterJoy5 (AJT)
I've used some of the hand motions from the user KnoxFamily.

English - Songs: NoGreaterJoy5 (AJT)
I've used some of the hand motions from the user KnoxFamily.

Latin - Songs: CC
I've found some files online for pictures to remember the memory work from www.solagratiamom.blogspot.com and this is the link...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/502el1hwmkrff0i/Cycle%202%20Latin%20ALL%20WEEKS%20.pdf
CC connected also have pictures from the user amandanease
Dawn and I made up hints to remember which tense is which...
  Present tense begins with o (oh! a present)
  Imperfect tense begins with bam (when we do something wrong - imperfect, then we say bam)
  Future tense begins with bo (we want to go to the future we use a bow and an arrow, this is also what we will use for future perfect tense which begins with ero)  *Guess what... I saw something online too and was so surprise that we have almost the same idea.  here is the link...
http://halfahundredacrewood.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/hhaw-latin-memory-aid-verb-tenses.pdf

Math - Songs: CC
For extra work at home I have a 1 to 230 chart and I make Dawn color the number as she skip counts.  Just found this online and I think I'll use it at home... like it a lot
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2012/07/skip-counting-mazes.html 

History - Songs: CC
If I do use hand motions I try to do the same hand motions we have on our timeline song (makes it easier for them to correlate history and timeline).

Timeline - we just review what we learn from the opening ceremony.

Geography - Songs: NoGreaterJoy5 (refer to my previous post please)
Mostly, we say and point where the places are.  For at home review CC Connected has a good fill in blanks sheet from the user heathergwyn

Fine Arts (Drawing) - In my previous post, I shared two links and I used them for the first four weeks work OiLS, Mirror image, Upside down drawing and abstract art.  I will send a picture of what Dawn did in my next post as an additional resource for abstract art. For perspective art I used two books I borrowed from the library and for the review, I focused on OiLS by doing a before and after pictures ( I might post some of their work next time) and I also borrowed books from the library.  Here is the list of books in case you are interested...
    Perspective Drawing
       Mastering Art  DRAWING (Basics:Perspective Chapter) by Anthony Hodge
       Art for Kids  Drawing (Chapter 5:  Perspective) by Kathryn Temple
    Drawing Step by Step
       1-2-3 Draw Cartoon Animals by Steve Barr (he has different topics eg. sea creatures, 
         cartoon people, etc.)
       How to Draw 101 Animals by by Dan Green
       I Can Draw Animals
       1-2-3 Draw Knights, Castles and Dragons by Freddie Levin
I personally love the 1-2-3 Draw Series (there's lots of them).

Okay, I better stop here or I might not have anything else to say on my next post.  Hopefully the next post would not be as long as this one.

Have fun!  Don't forget your tin whistle next week.

Me,
Zabrina

Hello everyone,

We are back to the swing of things and I believe it is time for me to update this blog site since we've already finished one quarter of CC. For starter, I would like to re-post the first email I sent to all of you including all the links.

Here goes...

To all,

Welcome to CC 2013-1014.  This letter is due last week and I never did get the chance to send it, but here it is.

It has been an exciting two weeks working with all of you - children and parents alike. I am very happy and honored to be the tutor of your children and from the look of it this is going to be an exciting year. During our first day at CC, I told your children my expectations of them - (1) To be respectful to the person talking in front. (2) To be respectful and considerate with their fellow students, and (3) To enjoy the ride along the way.  With only two and a half hours and a lot of memory work and other things to cover every week, I want them to make the most of their CC year and really have fun doing it.  I also hope that the parents in the class can join in our activities and enjoy the whole year with us. If you have any question about my leadership, content or my method for covering the content during the weekly time together, please feel free to approach me at lunch, but not during class time. And I would appreciate it if you do this face-to-face and not over email or phone to ensure clearer communication.  Plus I don't check and reply to my email as often as I should which will be very frustrating for you.  Thank you very much.

For memory work, I used a lot of songs because I find it makes retention better and with catchy tunes the children enjoy their memory work better. Here are the list of songs for your reference:

1. For Timeline, Presidents, History, Latin and Math Week 1-11, I will be using the songs on the Foundations Audio CD

2. For Science, English and Math Week 12 -24, I will be using Amy Joy Tofte's (AJT) music on CC connected (if you are a CC Connected member, in the at home sharing page, search for cycle 2, select mp3 downloaded by NoGreaterJoy, and you'll find the songs there make sure you check out those that say 2013 as there may be slight differences due to curriculum change) I made a CD for my daughter but unfortunately, I cannot distribute it due to copyright laws.

N.B.  Music for English, I will definitely use all of them, as most have different tune for every topic.  Science, I will use some of them but maybe not all depending on topic... AJT made it in such a way that all the same topic have the same tune e.g. Ecology for Week 1-6 has the same tune but different words, Astronomy for Week 7-12 has the same tune but different words and so on.  But I would still encourage you to let them listen to it at home as it helps with retention a lot (Based on my own experience).

3. For Geography, I still will let them listen to the AJT music even if we won't use it in class because as I mentioned above, even if the tunes are all the same, it still helps with retention of memory work.

I'd like to share the site where I found AJT's songs (I believe this is based on the old curriculum, some of it may not be the same) for English and Science, if you are not a member of CC Connected.  The video is actually very helpful as well, especially for visual learners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-YaRR3p7as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M3_1hGwtOQ&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL746E667B3183DDF0

For the seven continents and four oceans this is the song that I used (remove Southern for oceans).  The words go like this... North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, Africa, Antartica, these are the continents.  Indian, Arctic and the Atlantic and the Pacific are the oceans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W05xku0pTWc

And as I mentioned in class last Monday, if you want them to do more drawings, go to http://donnayoung.org/art/index.htm for more resources.  For mirror images, you can go to 

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/CompletetheDrawingPages.htm

I will try my best to keep in touch with all of you as often as I can.  If I stumble into some resources that will be helpful, I will make sure to share it with you. And if you find any other resources, be sure to let me know, as I am excited to learn from you as well.  This is going to be an interesting year for all of us, I pray that our time together will enrich our lives and character and also our academics.  Happy Learning!

In His Service,

Zabrina Ong

P.S.  I will be away on vacation this next two weeks(Week 3 & 4). Marsha Alekel will take over the class.  Have fun with her and remind the kids of respect and consideration...