Week 18
Hello everyone!
We are officially three quarters done... welcome SPRING! Hopefully, we will not have additional snow days anymore. Sorry for the later post... we are away and I've been really sick. Anyway, hope to be better by Monday.
Presentation this week was very exciting. It was really nice to see what books the kids are reading and in the process get to know them a little bit more. Thanks for sharing. Next week's topic for presentation is "What is your favorite instrument?" This is the opening of our Fine Arts topic on the Orchestra and Great Composers.
Science experiment with simple machine was fun with Mr. Herson. Thank you very much, Sir!
New Grammar
History: Song - CC CD
We sang through the song a lot of times and I reminded them of the pictures we used last time for the leaders. I also mentioned that President, Prime Minister and Premier are the leaders' title for those particular countries.
Timeline: Song - CC CD
We sang through the song while doing the hand motion. We were able to review Timeline from Age of Industry.
Latin: Song - CC CD
We just reviewed what we learned last week. For the hint, see previous post.
Geography: More Central Europe
We outlined and say the names of the countries in Central Europe. I did mention that Czechoslovakia former is currently Czech Republic and Slovakia. We were able to review last week's material as well. So, we went over all of Central Europe. Miss Monika mentioned Benelux (an abbreviation for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) so we will remember the beginning countries of Central Europe.
English: Song - NoGreaterJoy
We sang through the song a lot of times and I used the left hand as a reminder for the usages of the noun. I have a drawing for this and will send it via email.
The left hand thumb if stretched out, sort of looks like the letter "S" (I know this is a stretch). So, the thumb is "Subject"
The pointer finger points or directs so it is the "Direct Object"
The middle finger resembles the letter "I" since it is the longest finger. So, the middle finger is "Indirect Object"
The ring finger on the left hand (that's why I used the left hand) is usually where the wedding ring is located. The ring is an object so the ring finger is the "Object of the Preposition"
The pinky is usually use to make promises. When you make a promise you own it, so the pinky is "Possessive"
Math: Song - NoGreaterJoy
We sang through the song a lot of times and the drawing I have for them to remember the area of a triangle will be sent to you via email.
Science: Song - NoGreaterJoy
We sang through the song a lot of times and I split them in pairs and positioned them as my picture (will send via email) even if this was not 100% matching the actual law. They got the content memorized quickly. I have hand motions for this which we did not use.
action - right hand form a fist and then open the fist facing the opposite direction
equal - left hand form a fist moving toward the open palm of the right hand
reaction - left hand opens and hit the right hand
Fine Arts
Great Artist is Morisot. I shared something about Morisot and we focused on texture painting. We used gauze and q-tips aside from paintbrush for painting and we mixed coffee grounds, cornmeal, salt and glitter with paint to create texture in painting. If you want to read more on Morisot, the link is below.
Berthe Morisot
Book Suggestions:
Global Organization The United Nations by Kirsten Bookmiller
Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion by Andrea Gianopoulos (This is a nice one... a graphic novel the kids might enjoy reading)
Isaac Newton by Kathleen Krull (Chapter Book... more for the parent or an older child)
Berthe Morisot by Anne Higonnet (More for the parent)
That's all for now. See you next week.
Miss Zabrina
Week 17
Almost three quarters through... Congratulations to everyone for their hard work. Keep on... We are also very honored to have grandparents and great-grandparents visiting with us...
Presentation was so much fun. The children are getting more and more comfortable sharing in front. We almost did not have time for snacks.
Thank you very much Mr. Herson for the wonderful experiment. We had so much fun with Kinetic and Potential Energy and Inertia. What was the formula again???
PE = mass of the object (kg) x gravity (9.8 m/sec2) x height object raised (m)
KE = 1/2 mass of the object (kg) x velocity (m/sec2)
Okay, we will put that aside for now... maybe we'll see that again in the future.
New Grammar
History: Song - CC CD
We sang through the song and because there are way too many names, I just made little pictures to remind them of the beginning of the names (I will take a picture of what my board looked like and send it to you by email). I also wrote the names in enumeration form.
Timeline: Song - CC CD
We sang through the song and did the hand motions. We also played arrange yourself according to the correct time.
Latin: Song - CC CD
This week's is a review. Hint: Think future (this is for both future tense and future perfect tense) it is far away so you use a "Bow" (Future) and "Arrow" (Future Perfect)
Science: Song - NoGreaterJoy
I drew something on the board (will send by email as well). We sang through the song a lot of times. This is the shortest memory work out of the three laws but it seems like they are having a hard time with the pronunciation of acceleration.
English: Song - NoGreaterJoy
We sang through the song a lot of times and put hand motions with it. I am not sure if they are just tired or they are at the stage where they don't like doing hand motions anymore but I sort of have to force them to do the hand motions and it is below.
noun - flip right hand up
person - pointer finger touch your shoulders
place - pointer finger point to the floor
thing - pointer finger points to one thing in the room
activity - make fist with both hands and pound one on the other three times
idea - pointer finger to your head
Math: Song - NoGreaterJoy
Again, similar to last week, I drew a square with the grid. Same as a rectangle, the area includes all little square inside not just the sides (the book Perimeter, Area and Volume [see below], has very good illustration of this). And I did say technically, the area of the square is also length x width, it just so happen that the length and width are the same that's why it is the side squared. We sang through the song a lot of times (feels like a hundred of times). They are having a hard time saying length of its side squared. Work with them on this.
Geography: Point and Say
We trace through the different countries of Central Europe. If you are using the Trivium, it may be a little bit challenging because of all the rivers and mountains that are in it. Luxembourg is a big name but a little country (almost look like a lake on the maps that we used). Switzerland is covered by the Alps and Germany has so many lines (rivers) you almost don't know where it begin and end. Do work with them on locating the countries. Thank you.
Fine Arts
Great Artist is Degas - For me Degas is synonymous to ballet, but preparing for this class, I found out that he has three major themes (dancers, horses and nude women). I shared something about Degas and showed them paintings of horses and dancers (don't worry, I did not show them paintings of nude women) and we focused on his love for movement. The art work that we did is on movement. If you want to try it at home again, make sure they remember to color heavier and mix a little bit more water to the tempera paint to make it a wash.
Here are some of my Book Recommendations
World War II Books are the same as last week
Groundbreakers Isaac Newton by Tony Allan (if you want to read more about Newton's masterpiece the Principia [gravity & motion], see pg. 32-33)
A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink What is a Noun? by Brian Cleary
If you were a Noun by Michael Dahl
Perimeter, Area and Volume by David Adler (Dawn enjoyed this a lot)
Mummy Adventure An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
Edgar Degas Dance Like a Butterfly by Angela Wenzel
So, that's all for now. Next week is Week 18, This is the week I will need at least five more parents to help for the review game, our review is from 11:30-12:00. Again, as I've said before, it is no big deal if you are unavailable; please let me know before the weekend if you can help for the last 30 minutes of class, so I can change the game if I don't have enough parents. Thank you!
Have a nice week!
Miss Zabrina
