First posted September 2005. Lydia ("Crayons") was four at the time.
Today I invented a new reading game for Crayons. On the computer, I made a page with twelve boxes (using a table) and in each box I typed a reading word, in big letters. About half of them were new words. I printed out two copies, and on one of the copies I cut the words out, in squares that were a little smaller than the boxes.
The first thing we did was some matching. I put the individual words on the floor beside the sheet with the boxes, and asked Crayons to match the words with the ones on the sheet. I asked her which words she knew for sure, and she took those off and read them. I went over the new words with her, showing her which ones rhymed with a word she knew, and which one was the same as an old word plus an "s" (mat, mats). Then I took all the words in my hand, and asked Crayons to "pick a card, any card." Each word she picked, she read and then put in its matching box.
At this point Crayons decided to make the game more fun by bringing in an old rag doll who's acted as "assistant reading coach" for all the Squirrelings. Becky (the doll) is known both for her constant sneezing and for her fear of bees (both the flying kind and the alphabet kind, and she often can't keep the two straight). So that added a little suspense, since we knew that at any moment the word "bee" was going to come up, and that guaranteed a screech from Becky.
And that was the lesson. We'll use the same pieces again a couple of times (we don't do reading lessons every day). Then I'll probably take the individual words, print out a matching set (or cut up the master sheet) and paste them to half-index cards, to add to our card game (see below).
By the way, if you're curious, the old words were bee, mom, wee, dad, mat, and go. The new words were hat (she sort of knew that one), fat, meet, feet, mats, and tee (we did not define what kind of tee that is, the object here is to learn to sound words out and learn some sight words, rather than worrying about exceptions.)
Showing posts with label Crayons/Dollygirl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crayons/Dollygirl. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Three weeks until school starts, and the Squirrelings grow up
The Apprentice will be experiencing, for the first time in her memory, a September when she will NOT be starting school. (Except for the year Ponytails was born and we delayed school until Canadian Thanksgiving.)
Ponytails, whose first blog posts here looked like this, has a part-time job and is going into her last year of high school.
And Dollygirl (a.k.a. Crayons) is now a little bit taller than I am, and recently acquired an adult-sized bike. This week I gave away all the multiplication flash cards and our set of Monopoly Junior. (She wants to keep the Pirate Snakes and Ladders game, though.)
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Frugal finds and fixes (and family stuff) (Now with Photos)
You know those fancy, fur-trimmed, ear-flapping trapper hats that seem to be popping up in the knitting magazines and everywhere else? Dolllygirl found some on the weekend at the dollar store, for just a couple of dollars. She picked out one in houndstooth,
Dollygirl has been making a lot of small doll clothes from scraps, and crocheting scarves for the same small dolls.
Mr. Fixit turned an unrestorable radio into a guitar amp. (Actually you can still play the radio too.)
Dollygirl found a good sweatshirt tucked away that one of the older girls had worn.
The Apprentice showed us a free online site that teaches kids computer coding. She and Dollygirl did some work on it this weekend while she was home. We're also using free algebra lessons from TheMathPage.com.
Mr. Fixit scavenged a vintage kitchen table from the neighbour's curb. The top is ruined but that's okay, he wanted it for the workshop. Actually Mama Squirrel and the Apprentice were the ones who carried it across the street, after getting a phone call from Mr. Fixit who had seen it on his way past but couldn't stop to pick it up. We portaged it around the house and left it on the patio. By the time Mr. Fixit came back a short time later, it was covered with snow. The Apprentice was here for the weekend and was supposed to go back to university last night, but the roads last night were so bad that she drove a few blocks, gave up and came back. She left early this morning instead.
We went to three free lunchtime concerts this fall, and took bag lunches.
We borrowed several DVDs from the library. And listened to the radio a lot.
If you click on the "family keep out" Christmas page, you might get a hint of how Mama Squirrel is using some squirreled-away stuff. But my favourite found thing right now is the Dayrunner I got at a rummage sale a month ago. I got some extra pages and stuff for it when we were out shopping, and I now feel completely organized and purposeful. I stuck in a pocket to hold shopping lists and another one for church bulletins.
And Ponytails found a pomegranate-pink planner on the weekend, while we were grocery shopping. There, I got everybody in.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Today's News from the Treehouse
Weather: sloppy, snowy/rainy, wet, cold. (Did I mention dark?) Garbage cans blown over.
Dinner: spaghetti and meatballs, poppy seed cake. (For Remembrance Day.)
Where's the Apprentice been lately? Mostly at university, finished midterms but heading into finals soon too.
What's Ponytails been doing? A project for film class, plus her hairstyling class is up to cuts now.
What's Dollygirl doing? Making Rainbow Loom bracelets. Practicing the Cup Song with her friends. She's also trying to film a doll version. She has swimming tonight, wet sloppy snow or not.
What's Mr. Fixit been doing? Fewer radios and more cameras...the market for vintage stuff has shifted recently. He's even back to doing some darkroom work--something I never expected to see.
Anything else you wanted to know?
Dinner: spaghetti and meatballs, poppy seed cake. (For Remembrance Day.)
Where's the Apprentice been lately? Mostly at university, finished midterms but heading into finals soon too.
What's Ponytails been doing? A project for film class, plus her hairstyling class is up to cuts now.
What's Dollygirl doing? Making Rainbow Loom bracelets. Practicing the Cup Song with her friends. She's also trying to film a doll version. She has swimming tonight, wet sloppy snow or not.
What's Mr. Fixit been doing? Fewer radios and more cameras...the market for vintage stuff has shifted recently. He's even back to doing some darkroom work--something I never expected to see.
Anything else you wanted to know?
Monday, November 04, 2013
Dollygirl's Grade Seven: We start Week 9
Plans for Monday's School:
Copywork, from the same chapter.
Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus, Lesson 8 from the Ambleside Online notes. Our question to think about: if Coriolanus was offered his "old job back" at this point (i.e. the opportunity to return to Rome), would he take it?--or would he rather stay with his new friends, the Volsces, who now say they will have no other captain?
Easy Grammar Plus: one page on past participles.
Natural History: Discussion of the idea that many nature notebooks weren't all art-based, that they often contained a larger proportion of written notes and simple observations (like Gilbert White's) about the local weather, what was ripening, what was nibbling in the garden. Read a section from A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard about mushrooms, including the Destroying Angel type (something you do not want to be eating!).
French: a short grammar lesson with Mom, then review one of the conversations in the Powerglide Ultimate Adventure.
The Sword and the Circle: begin the story of Lancelot and Elaine. Written narration.
Book of the Centuries, special daily work this week: beginning some ink drawings of "artifacts" and things from different periods, on the blank side of the century pages.
Beat Algebra Before It Beats You, by Hal Torrance.
Sewing time: Dollygirl has a special doll-outfit pattern she found online and wants to try.
Reenactment photo from The Fell Pony Museum website. (Real cool, go see.)
Geography: In Search of England, chapter 9, part 1: we read together about Hadrian's wall, and about Mr. Morton's imaginary conversation with a wet, sneezing Roman soldier from the original wall-guarding troops.Copywork, from the same chapter.
Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus, Lesson 8 from the Ambleside Online notes. Our question to think about: if Coriolanus was offered his "old job back" at this point (i.e. the opportunity to return to Rome), would he take it?--or would he rather stay with his new friends, the Volsces, who now say they will have no other captain?
Easy Grammar Plus: one page on past participles.
Natural History: Discussion of the idea that many nature notebooks weren't all art-based, that they often contained a larger proportion of written notes and simple observations (like Gilbert White's) about the local weather, what was ripening, what was nibbling in the garden. Read a section from A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard about mushrooms, including the Destroying Angel type (something you do not want to be eating!).
French: a short grammar lesson with Mom, then review one of the conversations in the Powerglide Ultimate Adventure.
The Sword and the Circle: begin the story of Lancelot and Elaine. Written narration.
Book of the Centuries, special daily work this week: beginning some ink drawings of "artifacts" and things from different periods, on the blank side of the century pages.
Beat Algebra Before It Beats You, by Hal Torrance.
Sewing time: Dollygirl has a special doll-outfit pattern she found online and wants to try.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Dollygirl's Grade Seven: A Very Short Week (last update)
Tuesday, what actually happened
Hymns: Mennonite Hymnal #28, O God We Praise Thee, to the tune of Tallis' Ordinal
Discovering Mathematical Thought: "Estimation can provide the structure necessary before you even begin the process of trying to use computation to solve a math problem. Consider the following problem. A horse owner...[wants] to select a water tank that is adequate for the needs of the horses. In warm, but not hot conditions a horse may consume up to forty quarts of water per day. So a herd of five horses will need access to a minimum of about how many total gallons per day per day?" And what if water tanks only come in 50-, 100-, and 200-gallon sizes--what size would you buy? (Work through some of the followup problems as well.)
Unexpected Nature Study By Nose: The SPCA came to rescue an injured skunk stuck in a window well of the house next door. What always happens, happened. You could smell it even in our house with the windows closed. [UPDATE: the skunk thing got way more complicated than expected...let's just say that the rescue mission was ultimately not successful.]
Church Volunteer Project: Dollygirl and Mama Squirrel were not at all unhappy to leave the house for the rest of the morning to help with a library project at church.
Easy Grammar Plus: we worked line-by-line on two pages as a preview of tomorrow's test
English Literature: The Search for King Arthur, by Christopher Hibbert. Section about the Round Table fad that started in the early thirteenth century.
Apologia General Science: Started Module 3, about experimental variables.
Unexpected need for chewing gum: Five minutes into Module 3, Dollygirl realized we were lacking a vital ingredient for the experiments in that chapter. Since Mr. Fixit was on his way out the door to drop off a package at the post office/pharmacy and then to pick up Ponytails from high school, she grabbed her jacket and the science book, promising to read the rest of it in the van.
Wednesday Plans
The Bronze Bow
Memory work
Balance Benders
Architecture Shown to the Children, Chapter IV, "Romanesque Architecture," postponed from Tuesday
French
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
Grammar: test on prepositions
Poems
The Sword and the Circle: start "The Kitchen Knight"
Crafts time
Thursday Plans
The Bronze Bow
Ourselves: "Courage"
Memory work
Math--continue work on estimation
Science: continue Module 3
Architecture
Grammar
Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus
Poems and readalouds
Crafts time
Friday Plans for when Mom's Away:
The Accidental Voyage: finish chapter 4
Science: continue Module 3
Work on geography project.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Exam responses: Bilbo's Party
Book studied: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
1. Write about Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday party!
Everyone in the Shire was going to come; it was going to be one of the biggest celebrations in years! Everybody loved Bilbo’s birthday parties; he always had the best games, decorations, food, and PRESENTS! And so, the day of the party came, all of the hundreds of guests were there (they wouldn’t miss it for the world), and they had lined up outside of Bilbo’s cozy little Hobbit hole. Bilbo came outside, and started distributing the presents. Several Hobbits kept coming back for more and more presents! And then the feasting started. And Bilbo stood up to make his speech. He said a few kind words, and then he said “Well, you were nice to know, bye!” and vanished! What he had really done was slipped on his ring with his “Bye!”, but everybody was chattering about it the whole evening!
1. Write about Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday party!
Everyone in the Shire was going to come; it was going to be one of the biggest celebrations in years! Everybody loved Bilbo’s birthday parties; he always had the best games, decorations, food, and PRESENTS! And so, the day of the party came, all of the hundreds of guests were there (they wouldn’t miss it for the world), and they had lined up outside of Bilbo’s cozy little Hobbit hole. Bilbo came outside, and started distributing the presents. Several Hobbits kept coming back for more and more presents! And then the feasting started. And Bilbo stood up to make his speech. He said a few kind words, and then he said “Well, you were nice to know, bye!” and vanished! What he had really done was slipped on his ring with his “Bye!”, but everybody was chattering about it the whole evening!
Exam responses: Archimedes' War Machines
Book studied: Archimedes and the Door of Science, by Jeanne Bendick
1. Tell all you know about Archimedes’ war machines.
Archimedes liked using science for nice purposes. He hated war. So when the king asked him to make war machines, he said he wouldn’t. Eventually they wore him down though. So Archimedes made war machines, and he taught men how to use them for several years. Then finally one day came when they were attacked. There was great pandemonium throughout the city. So Archimedes set up his machines, and put them to use. There was a claw that picked ships up and shook them around like they were toys, and so many more. So in that way the enemy retreated and the Syracusens were safe.
1. Tell all you know about Archimedes’ war machines.
Archimedes liked using science for nice purposes. He hated war. So when the king asked him to make war machines, he said he wouldn’t. Eventually they wore him down though. So Archimedes made war machines, and he taught men how to use them for several years. Then finally one day came when they were attacked. There was great pandemonium throughout the city. So Archimedes set up his machines, and put them to use. There was a claw that picked ships up and shook them around like they were toys, and so many more. So in that way the enemy retreated and the Syracusens were safe.
Exam responses: Antony, Cleopatra, and Herod
From Dollygirl's spring exams (as written, uncorrected). Book studied: Augustus Caesar's World, by Genevieve Foster.
1. Tell the story of Antony’s meeting with Cleopatra.
One day Cleopatra sailed over to see Antony. She invited him to dinner. So he came sailing over, and found that she had prepared a feast for him! So after he had come over a couple times he came one night and found a feast like no other! During that feast Cleopatra took a pearl off of her necklace and dropped it in her golden goblet of wine. It melted, and Antony and all of the other guests stared at her. Antony thought it was amazing that she could be so rich!
2. Tell what you know of Herod.
When Antony left, Herod came rushing into Cleopatra house, “I must see Antony!” he cried. “What is the matter?” Cleopatra asked, “Antony’s gone!” Herod was very upset. So he told Cleopatra his story. His land had been invaded and the high priest’s ear had been cut off. He had to see Antony! So finally after much traveling he came running into where Antony was staying. “Herod, what in the world are you doing here?” asked Antony in bewilderment. Herod hurriedly told Antony his situation. Antony finally told him that he could rule over Judea.
1. Tell the story of Antony’s meeting with Cleopatra.
One day Cleopatra sailed over to see Antony. She invited him to dinner. So he came sailing over, and found that she had prepared a feast for him! So after he had come over a couple times he came one night and found a feast like no other! During that feast Cleopatra took a pearl off of her necklace and dropped it in her golden goblet of wine. It melted, and Antony and all of the other guests stared at her. Antony thought it was amazing that she could be so rich!
2. Tell what you know of Herod.
When Antony left, Herod came rushing into Cleopatra house, “I must see Antony!” he cried. “What is the matter?” Cleopatra asked, “Antony’s gone!” Herod was very upset. So he told Cleopatra his story. His land had been invaded and the high priest’s ear had been cut off. He had to see Antony! So finally after much traveling he came running into where Antony was staying. “Herod, what in the world are you doing here?” asked Antony in bewilderment. Herod hurriedly told Antony his situation. Antony finally told him that he could rule over Judea.
Up in a tree: Dollygirl's exam response
Friday, March 08, 2013
Tools of an old homeschool mom: "Key To" Math and more
Tomorrow night is our homeschool support group's annual curriculum show-and-tell; parents talk about new (or old) materials they're using, or just put it out on tables for others to look at. It's kind of a lead-in to spring conference-and-catalogue season.
Remember how a couple of years ago I was wearing my "dinosaur t-shirt" over the discovery that Cuisenaire Rods were no longer such a hot curriculum item? Well, tomorrow night I'll be wearing it again, I guess: I'm doing a five-minute talk on Miquon Math's big brother, the Key-To series, which has been around, seemingly unchanged, since 1971. I heard about these worktexts when we started homeschooling, but we got into other post-Miquon math programs and didn't have a use for them until about three years ago, when Ponytails got to middle-school age and Mr. Fixit was teaching her math. Since then I've also used parts of Key To Fractions and Key to Decimals with Dollygirl, and I'm thinking of ordering Key to Percents--one of the only ones we don't have.
So for show-and-tell night...other years I've brought the materials for a typical year of Ambleside Online (whatever year(s) we were doing at the time), or things we received during the year we were on the Review Crew. This year I was thinking of bringing some stuff to celebrate our "veteran" status...this may also have something to do with the fact that I have a birthday sometime soon, and although it's not a particularly significant one, it's still edging me closer to that big double-digit.
What would you bring to prove that you were homeschooling during the '90's...or the '80's? What are the dead giveaways?
1. Your set of Calculadders is not via download, not on CD-Rom, but stored in a file folder (unless you still have the cardboard box, like Carol). (I plead guilty, although I have to say that we've only used them off-and-on.)
2. Your Timetables of History goes up to only 1990. (Guilty as well...but that's because I bought ours at Goodwill.)
3. Your Timechart History of the World goes up to only 1998. (And when I bought that one, it was new.)
4. Your Saxon math books are all hardcovers. (We have just one: Algebra 1/2).
5. You have a set of Powerglide French stashed away...all on cassettes. (Yes. We do. We got it used, The Apprentice used it, and I let her write right in the workbooks since I got such a good deal on it. Now, of course...I can't get any more of them.)
6. When you started buying books at friends-of-the-library sales, they were still clearing out books from the '50's and '60's (or even before). (This is true...although I didn't have kids yet.)
7. You still have some of those books.
8. You still use some of those books.
9. Your copy of For the Children's Sake looks like this:
10. Or maybe like this.
How about you?
Linked from the Carnival of Homeschooling.
Remember how a couple of years ago I was wearing my "dinosaur t-shirt" over the discovery that Cuisenaire Rods were no longer such a hot curriculum item? Well, tomorrow night I'll be wearing it again, I guess: I'm doing a five-minute talk on Miquon Math's big brother, the Key-To series, which has been around, seemingly unchanged, since 1971. I heard about these worktexts when we started homeschooling, but we got into other post-Miquon math programs and didn't have a use for them until about three years ago, when Ponytails got to middle-school age and Mr. Fixit was teaching her math. Since then I've also used parts of Key To Fractions and Key to Decimals with Dollygirl, and I'm thinking of ordering Key to Percents--one of the only ones we don't have.
So for show-and-tell night...other years I've brought the materials for a typical year of Ambleside Online (whatever year(s) we were doing at the time), or things we received during the year we were on the Review Crew. This year I was thinking of bringing some stuff to celebrate our "veteran" status...this may also have something to do with the fact that I have a birthday sometime soon, and although it's not a particularly significant one, it's still edging me closer to that big double-digit.
What would you bring to prove that you were homeschooling during the '90's...or the '80's? What are the dead giveaways?
1. Your set of Calculadders is not via download, not on CD-Rom, but stored in a file folder (unless you still have the cardboard box, like Carol). (I plead guilty, although I have to say that we've only used them off-and-on.)
3. Your Timechart History of the World goes up to only 1998. (And when I bought that one, it was new.)
4. Your Saxon math books are all hardcovers. (We have just one: Algebra 1/2).
5. You have a set of Powerglide French stashed away...all on cassettes. (Yes. We do. We got it used, The Apprentice used it, and I let her write right in the workbooks since I got such a good deal on it. Now, of course...I can't get any more of them.)
6. When you started buying books at friends-of-the-library sales, they were still clearing out books from the '50's and '60's (or even before). (This is true...although I didn't have kids yet.)
7. You still have some of those books.
8. You still use some of those books.
9. Your copy of For the Children's Sake looks like this:
Linked from the Carnival of Homeschooling.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Eclectic
Overheard in the doll corner: "We are dolls! We do all kinds of things! We go sailing, we go through tesseracts, and then we dress up and have tea parties."
Monday, February 25, 2013
Dollygirl's Grade Six: School plans for Term Two, Week Eight
Week Eight (Feb. 25-Mar. 1): this week's rough plan
God’s Smuggler pp 218-225, maybe 226-234 "I asked through the [Chinese] interpreter if mice were not a problem. The old man laughed. 'We have mice,' he said, 'but now we do not mind because there is enough for us and them too. It wasn't like that Before.'"
Uncle Eric, Chapter 21, “A Model Born of Desperation.” “The only reliable model for achieving substantial wealth and security is to own a healthy business.”
Augustus Caesar's World: Herod and Mariamne; Triumph and Peace (end of part 2)
We might get to: Augustus Caesar’s World: Augustus Caesar; The Druids; Tales of the Wild Northwest; A Wedding
Story of Greece chapters 69-78, or as far as we get, beginning with "Alcibiades the Favourite of Athens."
Archimedes and the Door of Science, chapter 9: Archimedes and Numbers
Extra reading: The Fellowship of the Ring
Uncle Eric, Chapter 21, “A Model Born of Desperation.” “The only reliable model for achieving substantial wealth and security is to own a healthy business.”
Augustus Caesar's World: Herod and Mariamne; Triumph and Peace (end of part 2)
We might get to: Augustus Caesar’s World: Augustus Caesar; The Druids; Tales of the Wild Northwest; A Wedding
Story of Greece chapters 69-78, or as far as we get, beginning with "Alcibiades the Favourite of Athens."
Archimedes and the Door of Science, chapter 9: Archimedes and Numbers
Extra reading: The Fellowship of the Ring
Monday, February 18, 2013
Dollygirl's Grade Six: Plans for this week
Week Seven (Feb. 18-22, we have Monday off in Ontario for Family Day; also The Apprentice will be around for part of the week, so we will be spending time with her. Also, Dolllygirl and Mr. Fixit have been spending a lot of time in the workshop, so sometimes we don't get done all the readings we had planned. But learning to solder is a good life skill.)
Readalouds this week: Children of the Fox (last third of the book, about the exile of Themistocles); The Fellowship of the Ring
Tuesday
Bible
Story of Greece, chapter 55, "Themistocles is Ostracized." "'O king,' answered the exile, 'I am Themistocles the Athenian, drven into banishment by the Greeks. I come with a mind suited to my present calamities; prepared alike for favours and for anger. if you save me you will save your suppliant; if otherwise, you will destroy an enemy of the Greeks.'"
French
Bird guide
Uncle Eric, Chapter 18: "What is Success?" "What is the best model for earning money and for keeping it? In my next several letters I will write about earning it, then in my final letters about keeping it." Uncle Eric feels that having "a big income" (his phrase) can be a positive thing if it's earned honestly and used well. What are the drawbacks he points out? How does this agree or disagree with what the Bible teaches about money and wealth?
Math
Readalouds
Reading homework: Greek Culture: Temple on a Hill, by Anne Rockwell, pages 45-66
Wednesday
Bible
Story of Greece: Chapters 56 & 57, about Pericles.
French
Uncle Eric: Chapter 19, "A Short History of Models for Success." "Originally there were two models. One was to work for the king...the government...The other model for success was to own a business....in most cases, a farm....but suddenly, in the 20th century, after all the thousands of years of human history, it was possible to be financially successful and comfortable by working for someone else--by being an employee." Make a list of ten adult characters from books you have read, especially those who lived in times past. What did they do for a living?
Math
Readalouds
(Volunteer afternoon)
Thursday
God’s Smuggler, chapter 20: Brother Andrew visits China.
Music
Augustus Caesar's World: A Turning Point; The Love Story Ends.
French
Bird guide
Archimedes: work on chapters 7 & 8
Readalouds
Reading homework: Greek Culture: Temple on a Hill, by Anne Rockwell, pages 66-84
Friday
Bible
Augustus Caesar's World: Herod and Mariamne; Triumph and Peace (end of Part II).
French
Story of Greece, chapter 58, "The City of Athens." "In 479 B.C. the Persians had reduced Athens to ruins. Fifty years later she had been built anew and adorned with temples and statues that made her the wonder of the world." Writing assignment: you are visiting Athens in about 430 B.C., when all this building had been completed. Write home and describe what you have seen. (Illustrate your letter if you want.)
Music
Archimedes: work on chapters 7 & 8
Readalouds
Timeline work
Readalouds this week: Children of the Fox (last third of the book, about the exile of Themistocles); The Fellowship of the Ring
Tuesday
Bible
Story of Greece, chapter 55, "Themistocles is Ostracized." "'O king,' answered the exile, 'I am Themistocles the Athenian, drven into banishment by the Greeks. I come with a mind suited to my present calamities; prepared alike for favours and for anger. if you save me you will save your suppliant; if otherwise, you will destroy an enemy of the Greeks.'"
French
Bird guide
Uncle Eric, Chapter 18: "What is Success?" "What is the best model for earning money and for keeping it? In my next several letters I will write about earning it, then in my final letters about keeping it." Uncle Eric feels that having "a big income" (his phrase) can be a positive thing if it's earned honestly and used well. What are the drawbacks he points out? How does this agree or disagree with what the Bible teaches about money and wealth?
Math
Readalouds
Reading homework: Greek Culture: Temple on a Hill, by Anne Rockwell, pages 45-66
Wednesday
Bible
Story of Greece: Chapters 56 & 57, about Pericles.
French
Uncle Eric: Chapter 19, "A Short History of Models for Success." "Originally there were two models. One was to work for the king...the government...The other model for success was to own a business....in most cases, a farm....but suddenly, in the 20th century, after all the thousands of years of human history, it was possible to be financially successful and comfortable by working for someone else--by being an employee." Make a list of ten adult characters from books you have read, especially those who lived in times past. What did they do for a living?
Math
Readalouds
(Volunteer afternoon)
Thursday
God’s Smuggler, chapter 20: Brother Andrew visits China.
Music
Augustus Caesar's World: A Turning Point; The Love Story Ends.
French
Bird guide
Archimedes: work on chapters 7 & 8
Readalouds
Reading homework: Greek Culture: Temple on a Hill, by Anne Rockwell, pages 66-84
Friday
Bible
Augustus Caesar's World: Herod and Mariamne; Triumph and Peace (end of Part II).
French
Story of Greece, chapter 58, "The City of Athens." "In 479 B.C. the Persians had reduced Athens to ruins. Fifty years later she had been built anew and adorned with temples and statues that made her the wonder of the world." Writing assignment: you are visiting Athens in about 430 B.C., when all this building had been completed. Write home and describe what you have seen. (Illustrate your letter if you want.)
Music
Archimedes: work on chapters 7 & 8
Readalouds
Timeline work
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Dollygirl's Grade Six: School for Wednesday
Dollygirl did the basketball-scores page and a page about batting averages in Key to Decimals.
We read the first chapter of Crystal Mountain, by Belle Dorman Rugh. I read this out loud a few years ago, but Dollygirl doesn't remember it, so we're starting it again.
The Story of Greece: Chapter 40, "Darius Demands Earth and Water," Chapter 41, "The Battle of Marathon," and whatever Chapter 42 is called, about the events after the battle, the strange last days of General Miltiades, and the death of king Darius. I wrote all the people and place names on an old blackboard we have, and starred the really important ones. I also printed out a map of the battlefield that showed where the left, right and centre parts of the Greek army were headed; since this (particularly the problem of them being short-handed in the centre) was mentioned during the story, it helped to be able to show it on a very simply drawn map. I think Charlotte Mason might have approved of that one.
Highlight of reading about Marathon? You might think it would be the collapse of Philippides, but I think Dollygirl found more interest in the idea of the Greeks crashing down the hill, hardly able to stop, and more or less smashing into the Persians. We have a fair-sized hill in our back yard, and Dollygirl has done her fair share of crashing down it (on foot or sled).
We read the first chapter of Crystal Mountain, by Belle Dorman Rugh. I read this out loud a few years ago, but Dollygirl doesn't remember it, so we're starting it again.
The Story of Greece: Chapter 40, "Darius Demands Earth and Water," Chapter 41, "The Battle of Marathon," and whatever Chapter 42 is called, about the events after the battle, the strange last days of General Miltiades, and the death of king Darius. I wrote all the people and place names on an old blackboard we have, and starred the really important ones. I also printed out a map of the battlefield that showed where the left, right and centre parts of the Greek army were headed; since this (particularly the problem of them being short-handed in the centre) was mentioned during the story, it helped to be able to show it on a very simply drawn map. I think Charlotte Mason might have approved of that one.
Highlight of reading about Marathon? You might think it would be the collapse of Philippides, but I think Dollygirl found more interest in the idea of the Greeks crashing down the hill, hardly able to stop, and more or less smashing into the Persians. We have a fair-sized hill in our back yard, and Dollygirl has done her fair share of crashing down it (on foot or sled).
So, to this day, when friend meets friend, the word of salute
Is still “Rejoice!” his word which brought rejoicing indeed. So is Pheidippides happy forever, the noble strong man Who could race like a god, bear the face of a god, whom a god loved so well, He saw the land saved he had helped to save, and was suffered to tell
Such tidings, yet never decline, but, gloriously as he began,
So to end gloriously, once to shout, thereafter be mute:
“Athens is saved!” Pheidippides dies in the shout for his meed. -- Robert Browning
Is still “Rejoice!” his word which brought rejoicing indeed. So is Pheidippides happy forever, the noble strong man Who could race like a god, bear the face of a god, whom a god loved so well, He saw the land saved he had helped to save, and was suffered to tell
Such tidings, yet never decline, but, gloriously as he began,
So to end gloriously, once to shout, thereafter be mute:
“Athens is saved!” Pheidippides dies in the shout for his meed. -- Robert Browning
Monday, January 28, 2013
What's on the school menu? Voles and pukak snow
It's a snow day in this part of the world. Elementary school buses aren't running, end-of-semester high school exams are postponed by a day (giving Ponytails an extra day to study), and Dollygirl's best friend in the neighbourhood has the day off from her private school. It isn't a beautiful, sunny snow day either; it's kind of a messy, wicked-looking, might have freezing rain kind of snow day. But it's okay for playing inside...or not having exams.
So what's up for school today? This morning we read a chapter of Walking with Bilbo; a couple of chapters of The Pushcart War; and Dollygirl is doing two pages about rounding off in Key to Decimals. Then she's going over to her friend's house to play until lunch.
After lunch, we'll have chapters 38 and 39 from The Story of Greece, about the destruction of Sardis and the death of Histiaeus.
So what's up for school today? This morning we read a chapter of Walking with Bilbo; a couple of chapters of The Pushcart War; and Dollygirl is doing two pages about rounding off in Key to Decimals. Then she's going over to her friend's house to play until lunch.
After lunch, we'll have chapters 38 and 39 from The Story of Greece, about the destruction of Sardis and the death of Histiaeus.
When Aristagoras reached Sparta he tried to tempt the king to help the Ionians by telling him of the wealth he might gain for himself. After Artaphernes was conquered at Sardis it would, he said, be an easy matter to go to Susa and seize the treasures of the great king. He then showed Cleomenes a thing he had never seen before—a map engraved in bronze. Aristagoras pointed out to him all the countries he might make his own if he would aid the Ionians in their revolt.For Natural History: a section from Jamie Bastedo's Falling for Snow. I will probably assign some of the section as copywork or dictation.
The king listened and looked, then he dismissed the Greek, promising to think over the matter. In three days he sent for Aristagoras and asked him how long it took to journey from Ionia to Susa.
"Three months," answered the messenger.
"O stranger," then said Cleomenes, "depart from Sparta before the sun goes down; thou art no friend to the Lacedaemonians when thou seekest to lead them three months' journey from the sea."
Whether living on the shoulder of Alaska's Mount McKinley or in an engineered forest in Bavaria, small mammals dwelling under the snow depend on pukak, that warm, moist, loose layer of crystals that hugs the earth. If the snowcover is deep enough, they may be virtually immune to predation by foxes, owls, or weasels. Thus ensconced all winter, a vole, lemming, mouse, or shrew can effortlessly maneuver through its maze of corridors, stopping at a food cache for a nibble of berries, checking its many sentry posts at the edge of its territory, or visiting a nest chamber to groom its fur and steal a quick nap. Never mind the bitter winds and cold snaps and predators that trouble surface-dwellers. For these furry little critters, life is good down under.And, I think, maybe a craft or art project for the rest of the day.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I think that would be a "no."
Dollygirl, doing copywork: "Albert Einstein says that imagination is more important than knowledge. So during math time I'm just going to doodle in my notebook. Okay?"
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Homeschool things to do for Thursday
Today's schedule seems kind of long, but we'll see how it goes.
Morning:
Opening: prayer, hymn, Mensa puzzle cards. Robert Frost: America's Poet, chapters 1 & 2 (they're short). "Going for Water," by Robert Frost.
Bible: Basic Bible Studies, continue Study 1. (Verses showing that there is more than one person of the Trinity.) Sing "The Lord Our God is One" from Judy Rogers' Why Can't I See God?
Citizenship: Uncle Eric Talks about Personal, Career, and Financial Security, chapters 1 & 2 (they're short).
School year discussions: Introduce The People Notebook Project. This is an alternative I came up with to a formal Book of the Centuries or timeline, for this year. Historical, literary, and other people and/or characters each have a page with a few key questions, such as "best known for," "hardest times," and "beliefs about God." There is also room for pictures--hand-drawn or pasted in. The choice of which people to include is going to be up to Dollygirl, but I will give her a minimum for the term.
Math: see schedule.
Copywork: choose an Albert Einstein quotation.
History: we finished the chapter in Story of the World Volume 4, about the rise of Stalin. This is of personal interest to us since the famine in Russia in the early 1920's led to the creation of the Mennonite Central Committee, and the conditions there also brought many Russian Mennonite immigrants to Canada--some of whom we know.
Lunchtime activities: helped drill a hole in the wall for one of Mr. Fixit's new clocks. Helped make lemon poppyseed muffins, mini-size, for our hobbit teatime (a tribute to the hobbit's "seed cakes").
Afternoon:
Albert Einstein biography--read chapter 1 and narrate.
Crafts and skills: sewing a peasant blouse for a doll. (Note: it's an old Tripod site with pop-ups, so be warned.)
(French: lesson 2--I think we'll leave this until tomorrow.)
English: begin first unit (see previous post about English).
Teatime: "An Unexpected Party." Dwarves are invited (come in your cloaks).
Morning:
Opening: prayer, hymn, Mensa puzzle cards. Robert Frost: America's Poet, chapters 1 & 2 (they're short). "Going for Water," by Robert Frost.
Bible: Basic Bible Studies, continue Study 1. (Verses showing that there is more than one person of the Trinity.) Sing "The Lord Our God is One" from Judy Rogers' Why Can't I See God?
Citizenship: Uncle Eric Talks about Personal, Career, and Financial Security, chapters 1 & 2 (they're short).
School year discussions: Introduce The People Notebook Project. This is an alternative I came up with to a formal Book of the Centuries or timeline, for this year. Historical, literary, and other people and/or characters each have a page with a few key questions, such as "best known for," "hardest times," and "beliefs about God." There is also room for pictures--hand-drawn or pasted in. The choice of which people to include is going to be up to Dollygirl, but I will give her a minimum for the term.
Math: see schedule.
Copywork: choose an Albert Einstein quotation.
History: we finished the chapter in Story of the World Volume 4, about the rise of Stalin. This is of personal interest to us since the famine in Russia in the early 1920's led to the creation of the Mennonite Central Committee, and the conditions there also brought many Russian Mennonite immigrants to Canada--some of whom we know.
Lunchtime activities: helped drill a hole in the wall for one of Mr. Fixit's new clocks. Helped make lemon poppyseed muffins, mini-size, for our hobbit teatime (a tribute to the hobbit's "seed cakes").
Afternoon:
Albert Einstein biography--read chapter 1 and narrate.
Crafts and skills: sewing a peasant blouse for a doll. (Note: it's an old Tripod site with pop-ups, so be warned.)
(French: lesson 2--I think we'll leave this until tomorrow.)
English: begin first unit (see previous post about English).
Teatime: "An Unexpected Party." Dwarves are invited (come in your cloaks).
Homeschool things to do for Wednesday
Opening time: Favourite hymn, prayer, Mensa for Kids puzzle cards.
Getting-started-with-school discussions: 1. Going over the full schedule. 2. Talking about how Dollygirl can keep track of assignments like "please finish reading this book by Friday." 3. A suggested "term project": since we are studying the twentieth century this term in history, and since Dollygirl loves the 18-inch historical dolls, I am proposing that she do a sort of "creative narration" by designing a new doll (and accoutrements), for a 20th-century decade that has not yet been done. (That would be just the 1920's, '50's, '60's, '80's, and beyond.) It might seem out of focus to have a Canadian girl do an American doll project, but the Canadian doll equivalents mostly don't come in historical flavours. So we'll see what Dollygirl thinks about it.
(Solution to #2: an assignment notebook.)
Bible Study (together): I am planning on introducing Francis Schaeffer's Basic Bible Studies by reading a few pages from Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's How To Be Your Own Selfish Pig. On pages 15 through 17, she describes her own "rebellion" at age eleven, why she suddenly felt that she didn't know what she believed about God, and how her father responded. The connection, as I see it, is that the principles he wrote into Basic Bible Studies are probably the same sorts of things that he discussed with Susan, and obviously with adults who did the written studies or came to L'Abri for teaching. We will read through the first three or four points of the first study.
French: we will start to work through the play.
Math: see previous schedule.
History (together today): Story of the World Volume 4, about the aftermath of World War I.
Poetry: one of Robert Frost's poems.
Inserted by demand: another part of the first chapter of The Hobbit.
Free computer time and lunch. (Lunchtime activity: helping Mr. Fixit put together a new chair for his workshop, that came unassembled.)
Literature: Retelling of The Aeneid. Before reading, look up the following words in the dictionary: stratagem, roisterers, refuse (the noun), effigy, sacrilege, impious. After reading, do a written narration (keep writing for 10 minutes).
Music: new folk songs
Science: The Great Motion Mission. Today we are just going to be reading from the new book. Oral narration to father or big sister (on the phone).
Getting-started-with-school discussions: 1. Going over the full schedule. 2. Talking about how Dollygirl can keep track of assignments like "please finish reading this book by Friday." 3. A suggested "term project": since we are studying the twentieth century this term in history, and since Dollygirl loves the 18-inch historical dolls, I am proposing that she do a sort of "creative narration" by designing a new doll (and accoutrements), for a 20th-century decade that has not yet been done. (That would be just the 1920's, '50's, '60's, '80's, and beyond.) It might seem out of focus to have a Canadian girl do an American doll project, but the Canadian doll equivalents mostly don't come in historical flavours. So we'll see what Dollygirl thinks about it.
(Solution to #2: an assignment notebook.)
French: we will start to work through the play.
Math: see previous schedule.
History (together today): Story of the World Volume 4, about the aftermath of World War I.
Poetry: one of Robert Frost's poems.
Inserted by demand: another part of the first chapter of The Hobbit.
Free computer time and lunch. (Lunchtime activity: helping Mr. Fixit put together a new chair for his workshop, that came unassembled.)
Literature: Retelling of The Aeneid. Before reading, look up the following words in the dictionary: stratagem, roisterers, refuse (the noun), effigy, sacrilege, impious. After reading, do a written narration (keep writing for 10 minutes).
Music: new folk songs
Science: The Great Motion Mission. Today we are just going to be reading from the new book. Oral narration to father or big sister (on the phone).
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