Week 2

Another late post... Oh well... We had a fun-filled morning last Monday.

Thank you Mr. Herson for a wonderful lesson on lenses.  Just looking at one part of our body, the eye, made us realize how fearfully and wonderfully we are made. We were able to differentiate concave and convex lenses.  To learn more, you might want to check this out. 

The kids did amazingly with their Presentation focused on Narration.  It is exciting to see how creative they can be in presenting a Bible story/lesson (Sunday School teachers in the making).  In the end, I told them to use the Bible as their main text when preparing for a Bible story.  Next week's Presentation: Expository Speech - Expose your favorite family vacation and include details such as who went with you, what you did, where and when did you go, and why you like the trip.  Feel free to bring pictures and souvenirs with you. Focus skill - eye contact.  For those who already shared their vacation, I told them to choose another vacation or do something else as long as the focus is still "exposition."

New Grammar and Review
Since we only have two weeks of materials to review, I sort of combined the New Grammar and Review Time, so we can have enough time to practice our memorization through drawing of the states we learned so far.

History - Song: CC CD
We briefly discussed where the Puritans came from and how they ended up in Massachusetts instead of Virginia. We also had a brief introduction to the Mayflower Compact.  If you want to learn more, you can check this out.  We were fortunate to have teh opportunity to visit Plimouth Plantation in Massachusetts a couple of years ago.  Below is a photo of the Mayflower.

English - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
We learned about the present participle verb form and differentiated it with an infinitive.

Science - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
I showed them a picture of the skeleton.  Our body contains 206 bones. We learned about the axial skeleton and I mentioned the other major group is the appendicular skeleton (appendages).

Latin - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
We learned a few of the Latin conjunctions.  In Latin, English and Sign Language.

Timeline - Song: CC CD
We reviewed the signs learned in our opening ceremony. Another marker date this week is 200 BC. We were able to also play the game "What happened before..."

Math
We worked on Tables 3 & 4.  I am encouraging the kids to not skip count. To keep practicing the tables by memorizing.  Keep on working on the tables.  We've only started; we have more to work on.

Geography -  Song: CC CD
We continued tracing while memorizing the five states.  As part of the review, we are memorizing the states through drawing.  I hope they can continue to work on drawing the states at home.

Fine Arts
We reviewed mirror images by partners (glad we are even). They drew something on one side and their partner drew the mirror image of their drawing.  It was fun.  For our main project, we drew the Liberty Bell.  We had a discussion this discussion - Would you still consider the bell a mirror image even if it had a crack?  Why or Why not?  I said, "I still would consider it a mirror image because the bell is still symmetrical."  Try discussing it with them at home.  It was fun to hear their side why it is not.  Below are pictures of their work.

I am indeed honored to be learning along side your kids. I look forward to an amazing journey ahead.

I will not be there on Monday as I am away. Mrs. Johansen will take over the class. Please remind the kids to be at their best behavior. See you in two weeks.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Zabrina

Week 1

This is a very late post for our first week, my apologies.  I hope the Welcome post (which is also late) allowed me to share my plan with you for the year. We missed you, Ruthie.

We started with Science Experiments with Mr. Herson.  Persistence of vision... what animation is all about. If you want to learn more, check this out.

I started the presentation with an object lesson.  I gave the kids a tube of toothpaste and asked them to squirt it out on a plate. When they finished taking turns squirting, I asked them to put all the toothpaste back in. They tried different techniques, but (as expected) were unsuccessful.  Then I said, "I hope you'll remember this plate of toothpaste for the rest of the year (or your life).  Your words is like the toothpaste inside the tube.  You will have the opportunity to use your words to hurt, demean, and wound others.  You will also have the opportunity to encourage, inspire, and heal others.  Just like this toothpaste, once the words leave your mouth, you can't take them back anymore.  The choice is yours.  I pray that we all will make the right choice in using ours words to encourage, inspire and heal others."
It was an interesting time getting to know the kids during their presentation through interview and some kids who prepared something stood up and shared their presentation. I look forward to getting to know them better through their presentation.  Next week's presentation -  Narration:  Narrate or act out a favorite Bible story using pictures or props.

New Grammar
Most of the kids are going through this cycle the second (some third) time.  They know the materials really well and we reviewed most of them. We also had some interesting discussions along the way (Welcome dialectic stage).

History - Song: CC CD
I briefly introduced Columbus and we had a little trivia about the three ships.  If you want to learn more about it, check this out.

English - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
We chanted through the definition of an infinitive.

Science - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
I briefly defined the different types of tissue. If you want a more detailed information about the different types, check this  out.

Latin - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
I intentionally picked the song from NoGreaterJoy5 because it helps us review the definition of the part of speech and then learn the Latin words and English words at the same time. I taught them the sign language for the words.  By the end of the year, they will be able to recite John 1:1-7 in Latin, English and sign language (Three languages at once). The kids should know the signs for the words, if you need to clarify, come see me during the lunch hour.

Timeline - Song: CC CD
We reviewed the Timeline taught during the Opening Ceremony. I told the kids to remember the dates as well so that they will have some sort of marker (especially when there will be lots of information later in the year).  We were also able to recite the Timeline backwards. Hooray!

Math
The kids are 10 years old and up, so we are memorizing the multiplication table.  Tables 1 & 2 are easy, but I told them to still work hard (especially with what is coming ahead 13, 14, 15).  I told them that their goal should be to answer the question quickly (without skip counting) any equation given to them. Start working on the more difficult tables at home.

Geography - Song: CC CD
Since most of the kids are moving on to Challenge next year, my goal for them is to be able to draw the United States by free hand.  For the new grammar part, I gave them a map with a tracing paper.  We will trace five states every week, by the end of the year, we will have the map of the US with all the physical features for their portfolio.

Fine Arts
The basic of drawing was reintroduced to the kids - OiLS.  They have been doing it for years, so we moved right on to drawing the Mayflower.  Since we learned about animation (persistence of vision), I taught them how to draw Mickey Mouse as well. See their drawings below.

Review
We reviewed Week 1's memory work and since we have enough time, we worked on Geography - Memorization Through Drawing... the kids drew Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut a minimum of five times, by the sixth time, they were able to draw it freehand. You can check out CCC user Amanda Predmore for suggestion practice at home.

Again, my apology for a very late post.  I will see you on Monday.

Sincerely,
Zabrina 

Welcome to CC 2017-1018

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a new year of CC. "Good morning everyone, welcome to class. I am Miss Zabrina (Mrs. Ong) and I can be very strict."  How is that for an introduction? Hahaha!  Yes, I can be strict, but our class always have fun.  When class started, I gave the children three rules for class (my expectation of them). (1.) To be respectful to the person talking in front, whoever that may be. (How would you feel if you are talking and no one is listening?) (2.) To be kind and considerate with their fellow students and develop a good relationship. (3.) To make the most of the two and a half hours we have every week and have fun doing it. I also hope the parents in class can participate in the class activities and enjoy the year with us.  I will try my best to update this blog to let you know what happened in class since most of the parents of the kids in this class have responsibilities during Foundations.  If you, as a parent, have any questions about my leadership, content, or 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 clear communication.  Thank you very much for your understanding.

For our memory work, I use a lot of songs (not necessarily in class) because, in my limited experience, I find that songs make retention better.
Here are the list of song for your reference:
1. For Timeline, Presidents, History, Math (Weeks 1-11, if skip counting), and Geography (Weeks 1-10), I will be using the songs on the Foundations Audio CD.
2. For Science, English, Geography (Week 11-24), Math (Week 12-24), and Latin (Week 1-11), I will be using Amy Joy Tofte's music on CC Connected (If you are a CCC subscriber, go to file sharing page and search for file downloaded by NoGreaterJoy5).
3. For Latin (Week 12-24), I will be using the same song we will be using during our Opening Ceremony.

I will try my best to communicate with you as often as I can.  If I find additional resources that is helpful, I will share the link with you on the blog.  Feel free to share any resources with the class as well (you can send me an email and I will include it in my blog).  I pray our time together will be encouraging and enriching.  Happy Learning!

Sincerely,
Zabrina