Finding the right balance of assignments and minimizing screen time are two things that I have thought a lot about over the course of the last 6 weeks. I have heard from some of you that this week your child wanted more work. I have also heard from some of you that your child is struggling with the number of assignments. Please know that I will continue to find that balance and adjust assignments in the next three weeks to fit your child's individual needs.
This week's story was from Denmark. It was a rags to riches story of a young peasant who went out into the world to find work and ended up being a prince or an emperor. There are three more stories that I have for this block. I will go ahead and post the stories and the drawings today, and you can introduce them as you please. The rhythm of our classwork for stories goes as follows:
I tell the story on day 1
The class retells the story orally on day 2. We make a list of keywords, and we put them in sequence on the blackboard. Using those words, each child begins to write a recapituation of the story in their own words. As they finish, I edit, helping them with punctuation, spelling, capitalization, etc.
At this point, I introduce the drawing that will go in their main lesson book. Most of our students prefer to practice their drawings before they actually draw it on main lesson paper. When the drawing is finished, they copy their recap. We've been using cursive and either pen or colored pencils this year. Some of the students do better if I draw very faint lines for them to write on.
During the school year, this whole process usually takes two days, using Main Lesson time and Extra Main Lesson time. This week I stretched out the assignment, and they are currently submitting keywords to me.
Going forward it would be ideal if you can work with your child to find a rhythm of each story's assignments. I will gladly edit their recaps at any point that they are finished, or, if it works best for you to do the editing, that will be fine too. ( I am remembering my children when they entered this stage. My attempts to help edit usually did not end in happy times!)
The final block of the year will be the 2nd block of Human and Animal. That will begin on May 4.
I have received positive feedback from my Monday visits, so I will continue to bring them. This week I would like to pick up all of the main lesson work and book reports that your child has completed. (I forgot to ask last Monday.) At Tea Time today, the students wanted more comics, so here's what we decided to do since I don't have 5 new comics. I will give Adrianna a new comic. She will give me the comic she had this week. We will continue to "pass them on" at each stop. There is a certain amount of practice work that each child should be doing each week; however, I am not a fan of "busy work," so I will choose wisely what I am giving them to do. Each worksheet has a purpose - to either introduce them to a new concept or to reinforce what they already know.
Some of their skills can be developed by playing board games, especially those that require counting, reading, or forming words. My shelf includes Scrabble, Parchesi, Rummicube, Ticket to Ride, cards - Rummy, Gin, Wisp, and there are many new board games that I'm sure some of you have on your shelves. Another way to help with recapitulations is to encourage your child to stage a play or puppet show about one of the stories. And, in my opinion, the one most beneficial activity for your children right is to snuggle up and read together. If you have run out of books, the library has a lot of downloadable books.
Have a great week. If you haven't signed up to feed the animals yet, please do that and take your children with you so they can play in our woods.
Blessings,
Kathee