Japan
Last week our book was A Pair of Red Clogs, by Masako Matsuno. This is the story about a Japanese girl who learns a valuable lesson about honesty and responsibility. We enjoyed this story, Gwendolyn especially liked the sound the clogs made. That bit of repetition in the story held her interest. We enjoyed learning about Japan. 
Anastasia's Vocabulary words: lacquer, suspecting, perfectly. We also learned about tense, and noted the present and past tense verbs used in the story. We began discussing what makes a poem last week while reading Madeline. Continuing with that theme this week I introduced the children to Haiku. A Japanese form of poetry with special rules. Ana only learned about what is a syllable. Tristan composed a "what is it" Haiku about an animal. Tristan and I continue lessons in First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, Level 1, by Jessie Wise.
Anastasia learned about small medium and large and learned to measure with 3 sizes of measuring cups. She also counted clogs in the story and drew a graph of the number of different colored clogs mentioned in the story. She is learning to form numbers shapes and we worked with play-doh snakes to make the numbers. Tristan and I are working through Saxon Math Level 1.
In social studies we learned about Japan. Anastasia colored the flag of Japan; by weeks end, Tristan made a beautiful, illustrated word diagram about Japan. Tristan and I finished the book Native Americans' Pennsylvania, by Daniel K. Richter. He is working on a Pennsylvania Coloring book. He colors a page while I read aloud. I printed the coloring book off of the PA Capitol buildings website teacher's tools.
In Science we learned about weather. This essentially became a week long discussion about water which led to some questions about freezing point of other liquids. We performed an experiment to see if cooking oils freeze solid in the freezer like water. Interesting results and a great opportunity to take the questions the children have and work in the scientific method. Anastasia made juice pops by freezing her favorite juices.
Art Appreciation: we enjoyed the print by Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
We are still trying to maintain our Latin vocabulary and look forward to Latin lessons at Co-op starting again soon. This week we learned a few words in Japanese. Konichi wa!
It is so much fun seeing each child connect with the material at a different level and I enjoy learning from them.
Other books we read this week:
Water as a Solid, Helen Frost
Weather Report, Ted O'Hare
Follow That Map! Scot Ritchie (Cute beginning map skills)
A Story For Bear, Dennis Haseley (I love this story.)
My First Japanese Phrases, Jill Kalz
Shipwrecked!, Rhoda Blumberg (Highly recommend this true story about Manjiro, John Mung, the first Japanese person to visit America)
Spotlight on Japan, Bobbie Kalman
Japan, Gina DeAngelis
Where We Live: Japan, Donna Bailey
I finished the book I was reading, Lafayette, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. It was really enjoyable. I have so much more insight into the history behind a few of my favorite novels, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens, and The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas. It was a good biography for me to read.
Anastasia's Vocabulary words: lacquer, suspecting, perfectly. We also learned about tense, and noted the present and past tense verbs used in the story. We began discussing what makes a poem last week while reading Madeline. Continuing with that theme this week I introduced the children to Haiku. A Japanese form of poetry with special rules. Ana only learned about what is a syllable. Tristan composed a "what is it" Haiku about an animal. Tristan and I continue lessons in First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, Level 1, by Jessie Wise.
Anastasia learned about small medium and large and learned to measure with 3 sizes of measuring cups. She also counted clogs in the story and drew a graph of the number of different colored clogs mentioned in the story. She is learning to form numbers shapes and we worked with play-doh snakes to make the numbers. Tristan and I are working through Saxon Math Level 1.
In social studies we learned about Japan. Anastasia colored the flag of Japan; by weeks end, Tristan made a beautiful, illustrated word diagram about Japan. Tristan and I finished the book Native Americans' Pennsylvania, by Daniel K. Richter. He is working on a Pennsylvania Coloring book. He colors a page while I read aloud. I printed the coloring book off of the PA Capitol buildings website teacher's tools.
In Science we learned about weather. This essentially became a week long discussion about water which led to some questions about freezing point of other liquids. We performed an experiment to see if cooking oils freeze solid in the freezer like water. Interesting results and a great opportunity to take the questions the children have and work in the scientific method. Anastasia made juice pops by freezing her favorite juices.
Art Appreciation: we enjoyed the print by Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
We are still trying to maintain our Latin vocabulary and look forward to Latin lessons at Co-op starting again soon. This week we learned a few words in Japanese. Konichi wa!
It is so much fun seeing each child connect with the material at a different level and I enjoy learning from them.
Other books we read this week:
Water as a Solid, Helen Frost
Weather Report, Ted O'Hare
Follow That Map! Scot Ritchie (Cute beginning map skills)
A Story For Bear, Dennis Haseley (I love this story.)
My First Japanese Phrases, Jill Kalz
Shipwrecked!, Rhoda Blumberg (Highly recommend this true story about Manjiro, John Mung, the first Japanese person to visit America)
Spotlight on Japan, Bobbie Kalman
Japan, Gina DeAngelis
Where We Live: Japan, Donna Bailey
I finished the book I was reading, Lafayette, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. It was really enjoyable. I have so much more insight into the history behind a few of my favorite novels, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens, and The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas. It was a good biography for me to read.
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