Week 24
We made it through the end. Hooray! Congratulations to everyone for a job well done. It has been an honor and privilege working along side all of you as we encourage the love for learning to our kids. Thank you very much for all your support and encouragement throughout the year.
Thank you, Mrs. Asimos for the review on the orchestra and the composers. Hans Christian Andersen once said, "Where words fail, music speaks." It has been great learning about the different composers in the Classical and Romantic Period.
New Grammar
History: Song - CC CD
I briefly discussed what Apartheid meant and how difficult life was for the non-whites in South Africa during that time. We also talked a little bit about Nelson Mandela. This is a good site to check out to learn more about apartheid.
English: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
The kids know what an interjection is, so I ask them to give examples of interjections. Wow!
Science: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
I had an illustration on my board (see photo below) on the different units used to measure electricity. I used flow of water as an analogy for electric current. If you want to read more about the subject, check out this site.
Math: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
The kids did not have a problem with this law.
Latin: Song - CC CD
Review of the Future Perfect Tense. I just reminded them to be very careful with their pronunciation of words especially "erunt", "erant", and "erint".
Presidents: Song - CC CD
Thank you for letting the kids listen to the sog ahead of time. It made it easier for them to remember all 45 presidents. If you want to read a little bit more about the presidents, check this out.
Geography: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy
We went over the five countries for South Africa. The kids were getting their tongue twisted with Namibia and Botswana. Just keep reviewing.
Thank Mr. Herson for the testing of the egg protectors. It was so cold outside when we were testing the egg protectors, I was not sure if that is a big factor why the egg did not break. The kids did a wonderful job. Congratulations, Caroline.
Review
Thank you very much to all the parents who were there to help with the review. We were able to cover all subjects from Week 13 to 24. In my email, I mentioned all the things that we've observed during the review. I hope it will help you as you prepare them for Memory Masters next week.
Auction
Thank you for bringing in gifts for the kids. They had a wonderful time and I was glad to see them happy with what they have accomplished. I was even happier to see how they learned to share their gifts with their classmates. What a blessing to see!
Verse
Congratulations to the six children and three parents who memorized the whole Chapter 6 of Ephesians. I am hoping the parents are going to match the six (we are half way there). It has been an exciting journey doing the whole chapter with all of you. One verse a week and here we are in Week 24 and we've memorized the whole chapter. After MM, Dawn and I will start memorizing the Book of James, our goal is to memorize one chapter a month. We are hoping to be done by the end of September (5 months, 5 chapters). If anyone is interested to join us, let me know. We will be each other's cheerleader. Thank you for helping reach our goal!
I enjoyed the time I've spent with your kids, and I feel like they are all mine. Thank you for sharing your kids. See you all next week for MM!
Sincerely,
Zabrina
Week 23
Hooray! We are really close to the end. Everyone has been doing marvelously.
Thank you Mrs. Kershner for introducing us to Antonin Dvorak with everyone participating. It was exciting to see the life of Dvorak as performed by the whole campus. We were able to listen to the Fourth Movement of Serenade of Strings. If you want to read more about Dvorak, this is an interesting site.
It has been wonderful getting to know your kids through their presentations. I was glad to have enjoyed their final presentation on their favorite memory of CC. I sure hope when they are older, they can look back to these wonderful memories.
Most of the kids finished their Science project. Come and see how their protectors work next time we meet. For those who brought their egg protector to finish at home, please make sure they bring it next time for the egg drop challenge.
New Grammar
History: Song - CC CD
I briefly discussed the Gulf War and how it became the precursor for the Iraq War in 2003. To learn more about the Persian Gulf War and the Iraqi War, check this and this .
English: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
The kids know their quality adjectives, so we are good to go. I did asked them if they know the meaning of modify, most of them did. I believe it is important for them to understand what they are memorizing at this stage in their life.
Science: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
I briefly explained the three types of heat transfer, and I believe the kids had a very good grasp on how heat flow. To read more about heat flow, check this out. This has detailed description and cute graphics on heat transfer. Enjoy!
Math: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
The distributive law can be tricky, but I think they understood the concept. Aside from memorizing the law, we substituted the letters with numbers and solved the equations. Keep up the good work.
Latin: Song - CC CD
Review of first conjugation Future Perfect Tense. While reviewing, I reminded the kids about being very careful with the vowel sounds of the conjugations. We focused on 3rd person plural "erunt" (Present Perfect Tense), "erant" (Pluperfect Tense), and "erint" (Future Perfect Tense). And as before, for the Latin Challenge, "to be" future perfect active indicative, all you have to do is just add "fu". Keep practicing Personal Pronoun "I" and "We", and you will be able to do the Latin Challenge. Go for it!
Timeline: Song - CC CD
We finished the whole Timeline. Hooray! We practiced the Timeline by dividing it into years - 3000 B.C., 2000 B.C., 1000 B.C., etc., and then knowing the ages/eras - Age of Exploration, Age of Absolute Monarchs, etc. It made it easier to remember and not be confusing. Continue listening to the President's Song in preparation for Week 24.
Geography: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
Stan in Western Asia - the names of these five countries are very challenging. We had to repeat it over and over again for the kids to remember the names. These five countries used to be part of the USSR until 1991.
Verse
We are at the end. This week's verse is short, next week's verse is even shorter. We have one more week to recite the verse. We were able to practice the whole of Ephesians 6 while Mrs. Rittenhouse was hiding eggs inside the classroom. The kids for sure know the first nine verses, and most of them know the armor of God, so it should not be a problem to finish the last few verses. I know they can do it, especially if their parents do it with them. Update: three kids and two parents memorized Ephesians 6 already, come on parents, we are lagging behind. I really hope to get everyone to recite them next time we meet. I am willing to skip lunch just to listen to everyone recite the chapter. It would be filling enough. Enjoy working on the verse!
Review Game
I did not realized that the kids still enjoy Easter egg hunting. It was really exciting to see them helping each other to find the eggs. The kids did a wonderful job with the review game. Keep on practicing the memory work for MM. Next week's review game - thank you very much to all the parents who responded and promised to be there to help (we have at least 5 parents, at most 6). Each child will be given a card with all the subjects, each parent is assigned a subject. Each child will be tested on one subject at a time. The kids will be tested on materials from Week 13-24, sort of like Mock MM testing. We will go over the finer details next time.
Week 24's final 30 minutes (or more) will be our auction time. You are welcome to bring in an item or two your kids would enjoy, but you are not required. I will probably have enough little things for the kids to bid on and enjoy.
Thank you very much for all you do in class and out of class. It has been an amazing experience to work alongside all of you.
Have a wonderful Easter everyone!
Sincerely,
Zabrina
Week 22
It is April already and we have two more weeks to go. For the kids doing MM, Parent proof is due next week. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Mrs. Bayley for introducing us to the Great Composer Brahms. We were able to learn a little bit more about Brahms. He is one of the 3Bs of classical music (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms). We were also introduced to two new vocab words - fortissimo and allegro giocoso, and the triangle. I was impressed on how the kids were able to sit quietly and listen to Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Third Movement. To learn more about Brahms, check this out.
Presentation has been fun. We've learned informal and formal table setting, a little bit of self-defense, how to play the violin, and make vanilla icing. Thank you so much for helping your children with all the presentation throughout the year. Next week's presentation will be our last (we are eliminating presentation on Week 24 to give way to our Auction). Since it is the last, the kids are requested to share their favorite CC memory for this school year. Parents are welcomed to share as well.
The last of our Science Experiment - the Egg Protector Construction Project. Thank you Mr. Herson for walking us through the materials and "how to" of the project. The kids have one more week to build their Egg protector. Testing of the protector will be done on Week 24. It sure is going to be exciting to see which protector will really protect eggs. There will be lots of clean-up as well. 😀
New Grammar
History: Song - CC CD
I briefly discussed how Mikhail Gorbachev, when he was elected General Secretary of the Soviet Union, decided to reform the economy and bring change to Russia. He did, and eventually Soviet Union dissolved, which led to a "domino effect of communist nations collapsing." To learn more about the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, check this out. This is also a good site to check out.
English: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
The kids should know the coordinating conjunctions already by this this. It was just fun to make them fold a fan and write FANBOYS on the paper fan.
Science: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
I briefly explained the three characteristics of light. The children seem to know it already. For more on light, you can visit this site. This site has a simpler explanation, and you can read more on spectrum here. Have fun.
Latin: Song - CC CD
Review of pluperfect first conjugation. Also review for Latin Challenge - "to be" pluperfect active indicative. We also had the opportunity to review Personal pronoun "we" and "I'. Keep on working on the Latin challenge. They can do it!
Timeline: Song - CC CD
We ended with the "Age of Industry" period. Next week we will move on to the last period - Age of Information and Globalization. Looking ahead - there are 45 presidents to remember and we have one week to memorize them, so start letting your kids listen to the Presidents' Song.
Math: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
The Commutative Law for Addition and Multiplication. The kids did not have problems with this. It is more the songs that they get confused with. Keep practicing.
Geography: Song - CCC NoGreaterJoy5
We continued with Central America and reviewed last week's lesson as well, so we can complete the acronym. BiGHEN Cooks in the Pan in Peru (Home of the Incas). Note: Peru is in South America and if they say Peru, they should also state Home of the Incas.
Verse
We reviewed last week's verse while learning this week's verse. Two more weeks and we should be able to memorize the whole of Ephesians 6. This is a wonderful accomplishment plus we are hiding God's word in our hearts. I am open and ready to listen to anybody prepared to recite the whole of Ephesians 6. A quick update: We have two students and two parents who recited the verse. We have seven parents and seven kids more to go. Remember, this is our class goal... we can do it! if I remember correctly, all the kids know the first nine verses already. So far, when we are reviewing the verse in class, they seem to know the verses. Please encourage them to do this. It would be a great accomplishment for the class. Allow me to thank you in advance.
Review Game
Darts and review... the kids did really well. They did find out that they need more practice. So, keep on reviewing. We will all finish strong. I told the kids I will do memory masters with them.
Two more weeks to go... Everyone has been doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good work!
Have a wonderful week!
In His service,
Zabrina
P.S. I am thinking of a review of the last 12 weeks of as many subjects as we can on week 24. I will only be able to achieve this if I have enough parents there. This is a wonderful preparation for memory masters. Can you let me know if you are able to be there (I know for sure that I will not have Janelle and Katie)? It would be at around 11:00 am on Week 24 (4/24). Auction would be at around 11:30 am.
