Thank you very much for everyone's participation in class. It has been an amazing journey for me to be part of CC these past three years and even more amazing to part of this class. I am so encourage with each and everyone of you - children and parents alike. Allow me to thank all of you for the support, the love and encouragement over these past months. Really glad to be part of this class. I still stand by my words - #bestparentsever
Thank you Mrs. Herson for introducing us to the orchestra - the period/era, the instruments and fun. Wasn't Zoey amazing... I can't believe, I was able to sit down for at least 5 minutes and just listen to Chopin... I really need those times...
Presentation was fun and exciting. I am so proud of the kids and how confident they are. We learned how to make airplanes, fruit pockets, clove-hitch knot and Japanese ball and play a story game (I was actually impressed to hear their stories with the three pictures they have). Good job everyone. I was so rushed I forgot to announce next week's presentation. Here it is... "Humorous Interpretation" - share a funny story, poem or narrative joke. Have fun.
New Grammar
Timeline: Song- CC CD
We sang through the song and did the hand motions done during the opening ceremony.
History: Song - CC CD
I told them briefly about the story of Linda Brown. We even talked about the 14th amendment. We sang through the song a lot of times and did the following hand motion...
Brown - B-hand
versus - knuckles of both A-hands comes together
Education - both O-hands make small circles on both sides of the forehead
Supreme - both B-hand move upward in a repeated motion
court (rule) - both F-hands moves up and down (I believe I taught this sign incorrectly, I think I said forward and back instead of up and down, my apologies)
segregation - both A-hands start at the center in front of the body and separate
race (color and skin)- 5-hand in front of face slightly pinching the chin with index and middle finger and then move down to pinch left hand skin with thumb and index finger.
unconstitutional (not and constitution) - right thumb moves under and away from chin then right C-hand move from open palm left hand down to the elbow
Math: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy
We sang through the song over and over again. We were also able to review the other formulas for Geometry. This is the end of Geometry, we move on to the Laws starting next week. If you are interested in how the formula for Circumference is derived, you can go to this site. I forgot to let them walk around in circle... when Dawn was learning perimeter, I will make her walk around whatever shape we are learning, so she will remember that perimeter is only the outside of the side (as opposed to area, where you measure everything inside). I also forgot to tell them that the perimeter of a circle is the Circumference. I'll let you do that. Thank you.
Science: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy
We learned about the theory of evolution. I decided to let them recite the sentence instead of singing. Use the song at home, it helped me get through the sentence. I did some hand motions but I did not emphasize for them to learn. If you want to learn the hand motions, you can always come see me. There is a book that Dawn and I are reading which I highly recommend, "It Couldn't Just Happen" (see below).
Latin: Song - Opening Ceremony Song
We continue with our verse and we learned first part of verse 6. The hand motions we used are there was, man, sent, from, God. Refer to previous post for all hand motion or come see me. The only word that we did not learn before is from (right pointer finger goes over left pointer finger, which stays in position)
English: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy
We learned about phrase and clauses. The memory work is very wordy, singing the song sort of helped. We went through it a lot of times and I am sure you will be elaborating more about the phrase and the clauses at home. I hope the worksheets will help.
Geography: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy
We learned about the canals (pronounced as kuh-nal, for my benefit), I did mention that the canals are constructed waterway that connects larger bodies of water. Knowing where the Ohio River and Lake Erie helped with learning where the canals are. Keep on practicing at home (I get frustrated because I try to learn where the places are but the maps we are learning from at home and in class is very different, so please forgive my uncertainty when we are in class... I will try to make sure to learn the class map as well). Thank you to all the parents who were there to help.
Note for New Grammar - we are in Week 20 already and we have 4 more weeks. I would encourage you to let the children start listening to the song for the Presidents (I know almost all of them know this already). I would also encourage you to let them listen to History Week 23 (Preamble) and 24 (Bill of Rights), as they are long and may need more than one week to learn and English Week 24 (Sentence Patterns) As I've told you before, I am an AJT (NoGreaterJoy) fan, the song I picked for our memory work for this is done by her. I know in Foundations we only need to know subject/verb; subject/verb/direct object, etc. If you listen to the song it starts with subject/verb - intransitive, subject/verb - transitive/direct object, etc. I believe it would be wise to teach them the latter as most of them are moving on to Essentials soon. So, I am thinking of teaching them the latter (I am open for any feedback on this. I want to know your thoughts on this matter). If I am not mistaken, Mrs. Thompson has a song for the Sentence patterns as well, the Essentials students use her song for this (Maybe she can share it with us).
Science experiment was interestingly fun... We learned about possibilities... How many possible combinations can we make with three toppings and two kinds of crust? The parents who were in class were trying to figure out the formula on possibilities... I told the kids that once the parents find out the formula, they will teach us how to compute for the possibilities. If you want to know more about possibilities (possible outcome), combinations and permutations, go to this or this site. Have fun! Thank you very much to all the parents who were there to help with the experiment.
Review game was short... as always, they did well, I am amazed with what they can remember (especially the trails in geography)... keep on practicing the memory work especially if you are doing memory masters... as mentioned before, you have to be saying the answers without any coaching or hint. And a quick reminder, if you missed one week in class, please do memory work with them at home. Keep learning fun... as we always tell Dawn, "Learning is lifelong", might as well have fun.
Book Recommendations:
Some books available at the local library...
Brown vs. Board of Education by Daine Good
Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh (we borrowed the audio CD)
Phrases, Clauses and Conjunctions by Ann Riggs
Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander
Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter by Cindy Neuschwander
Life on earth The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins
It Couldn't Just Happen Knowing the Truth About God's Creation by Lawrence O. Richards (I own a copy of this, I highly recommend this book especially as we are learning the different theories of origin)
Have a wonderful week everyone!
Miss Zabrina
