It has really been great to just pick up where we left off last year. I feel really good about the coming year. The students and I are working as a team, and we accomplished a lot this week.
We began reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. The goal is to read a chapter a day. So by Tuesday morning, they should have read through Chapter Nine. I will give a short comprehension quiz Tuesday morning.
They drew a SIeve of Erosthanes this week. I will be laminating it over the weekend, and this will serve to help them memorize the prime numbers between 2 and 110, and because they color coded the multiples, will be a subtle way to check multiplication tables.
I did not give a spelling list this week. They will get one on Monday. We are reviewing the form drawing for cursive exercises so that their cursive writing gets a boost. I will be issuing fountain pens in a couple of weeks, and they will begin to use them for writing in their main lesson book pages. We will be reviewing the parts of speech, grammar, and punctuation. The students wrote their first summary on Friday. The topic was the creation story of the Norse Myths. We will continue to add more to the story next week by learning about the personalities, magical powers, and interactions of the gods and goddesses of Norse mythology. They did a beautiful drawing this week of the world in the beginning of time as described by the ancients using their new watercolor pencils.
In conjunction with this block, I am reading them Book 1 of the Magnus Chase trilogy: Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer. Rick Riordan, the author, is a master at bringing mythology alive in a humorous and informative way by setting the stories in contemporary times through creating children and teenagers who are the children/grandchildren of gods and goddesses. Their other parent is human, making the main characters demi-gods. Thus far, Magnus, who is 16 and homeless, has found the sword of his father (who is a god), fought a giant, been killed, and retrieved by a Valkyrie to go to Valhalla.
Being outside seems to be a good thing for all of us. It is not unusual for a student to say, "Hey, look at the turtles," or for me to get them very quiet and still to listen to the echoes of cicadas in two different trees, or to hear leaves falling. We have been lucky not to have rain. It is in the forecast for next week, so please make sure there is a poncho in your child's backpack, rain shoes, a change of clothes, dry shoes, and socks, and a wet bag. Unless the wind is blowing the rain into our covered space or there is lightning within 5 miles we plan to stay outside.
This will be our first full week of school. May all be well, and may the good times continue.
Blessings,
Kathee
