The week of virtual learning is over and I look forward to being back in our little cabin without walls in the beauty of the forest beginning Monday. I got thermal underwear for Christmas (too much info??) and a new longer down jacket, so that when I sit down I’m sitting on the jacket. Please help your child make wise decisions about what to wear to school. It is possible that it will rain Monday and Tuesday, so please help them double check to make sure they have a rain poncho and waterproof shoes in addition to another pair of shoes and socks. This would probably be a good time to restart bringing one thermos of hot beverage and one thermos of water. And a warm throw.
We began our first block of math this week, with a focus on long multiplication and long division. We didn’t actually get to long division. They have a worksheet of problems that should be completed and ready to turn in when they arrive Monday morning. The grid paper is especially useful when they are computing these problems in that it is a visual cue for place value. This will become even more important in our next math block, which will be an introduction to decimals.
Our Form Drawing has improved by leaps and bounds as they draw geometric figures without the use of tools. And the Caught-ya sentences continue to help them discover grammar, punctuation, homophones, sentence structure, and other language arts nuggets.
Spelling has been resumed this semester. There will be a list of words each week related to the subject matter we are exploring in Main Lesson, plus some new words that will broaden the scope of their vocabulary. This list will accumulate through the week, and they will look up the definitions in their dictionary and write a sentence with the word. This week they had 5 words. On Tuesdays we will have a spelling quiz that will require them to know how to use the word (verb, noun, adjective, etc.) and spell it right. I will begin to grade these (gently) and the expectation is that they will be able to spell, define, and use these words with 80% accuracy.
Any work that isn’t completed during the school day will be assigned as homework. I am working this weekend on gathering supplies for them to start their own BuJo (Bullet Journal) so that lists of assignments, deadlines for assignments, etc. plus daily journal entries from prompts will all be in one place. If you have supplies you would be willing to donate - washi tape, sticky notes, fine tipped markers - we will accept them gratefully.
Our students have become much more tech savvy, possibly because of their increased exposure during our virtual sessions. I want to introduce them to the right way to use the internet, and we will have one session each week this semester to talk about etiquette, pitfalls, accuracy of information, and, most importantly, the kinds of sites to stay away from. I have some concerns about things I have heard during snack time conversations. Please stay on top of their online usage, and encourage them to use the web for good, and not necessarily for pleasure. Perhaps you and your child can keep a log of computer time.
The right fractions workbooks have arrived (so sorry), and there will be daily assignments in these books. I will be using Classroom to track these assignments.
And last but not least we will be returning to the ukulele this semester. Please make sure the ukulele is in their hands to bring to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Have a great week.
Blessings,
Kathee