Week 3

To learn more about fingerprints, check this site. Fingerprinting is in Unit 2.  This particular site is focused on Crime Scene Investigation, but the fingerprinting basics has excellent powerpoints and worksheets.

New Grammar
History - Song: CC CD
If you want to read more about the Boston Tea Party, check this out.

Science - Song: CCC NoGreaterJoy5
To learn more about the types of muscles. Check this out.

Geography - Song: CC CD
Continue to practice drawing the states by memory. Keep up the good work!

Math
Keep on practicing the multiplication table. The goal is to be able to answer the problem without having to skip count.

Fine Arts
Upside Down Drawing... why are we doing this? To train the right side of the brain.  Check this article out to learn more on why we are doing this.  If you want the kids to keep on working at home.  I suggest that you make them listen to something while they are drawing so they can be focus on the listening while drawing with just looking at the lines and not thinking about it. For this project, I gave the kids a an upside down picture inside an envelope, they have to pull the picture slowly as they draw. Below is the sample of their work (If you observe the drawings closely, you'll see that while they were starting to draw, not knowing what it was, they did really well following the lines.  When they found out what they were drawing, they just drew what they know without following the lines). I hope they can continue practicing at home.

I hope you enjoyed your week with Mrs. Johansen.  Thank you very much, Phoebe.

Zabrina

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  

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.