Week 11, January 12-14

Finally having managed to put a beginning on our second term makes me feel a whole lot better. Today was our first official day getting back to the grind.

Mara is just finishing up Swallows and Amazons for her Christmas break read. She has about 7 chapters left so I still have yet to pick another chapter book to be read next. Perhaps another C.S. Lewis will be a good choice? Over the break I took Mara to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader, having read the book as part  of our class readings over the fall we both agreed that while the movie provided entertainment, the book was much better.

We took it fairly slow today, looking at a lot of review and talking about what the next few months would encompass. In Science, as just mentioned, we did a quick review of terms studied last fall as well as the key points of the first four Kingdoms. **Mara has an independent reading assignment this week to look at the pictures of each of the first 4 Kingdoms, and to read the next chapter in her book, Planta. We will wait to formally begin Planta next week.

In Writing I introduced letters A-I in script. Over our break I was fortunate enough to add a chalkboard to our classroom tools. Mara is very eager to have any chance to write on the chalkboard so I told her that any time she'd like she can use the chalk to practice her script letters. I also did an activity with her for her next journal page. The activity was to think of as many words as we could using only the letters A-I. Then we made silly sentences with the words using script. She will be copying over my handwriting in her journal for this exercise.

By the time we got this far into our day, Elinor was napping and I thought we ought to seize the opportunity to get out the scissors and crayons and the party treat bags for Mara's up and coming birthday party. The children will all be given a treasure box craft that they will be coloring and gluing together to take home, however Mara and I are doing all the pre-cutting to save time at the party. I also enlisted Mara's help to complete staining her treasure maps with tea bags. They look great! These will be given to all guests in order to find the "hidden treasure." How exciting! So in lieu on Mathematics, History or Grammar, we opted for Handicraft Wednesday afternoon. How CM. We also added a couple more goodies to the ever-growing treat bags. Good grief! I'll have to post pictures soon.

I still have to bring over the school desk from my parents house that Mara received for Christmas, but until we get rid of our love seat, I'm afraid we haven't the room. But I'm getting rid of that love seat SOON! or else. So anyway, so while it wasn't the most academic day, I'm still waiting to settle into my rhythm of this new semester-- I'm sure it's already there.

Day 2
   Another slow paced day as we build steam. We started our day with a continuation of yesterday's writing assignment. Mara did an excellent job of following the lines smooth and carefully. We then moved on to mathematics, where I quickly remembered that it was not actually money but number lines was actually where we left off. These have proved to be especially boring for Mara. But I have been diligent with the completion of these pages because I think they provide an excellent opportunity for practicing numbers in a meaningful way. I also have noticed how they help her in small verbal subtraction problems. We then worked more on her items for her birthday party, mostly list-checking and organizing the games and crafts. Mara then helped me in baking the birthday cake and we're just about to start a game of bingo.

 Day 3
    Today was our Co-op day. As usual, Mara was slow to open up, but once she felt a little comfort in her surroundings, her participation level began to improve. They have a toddler room this year, which is great for Elinor. Mara had an opportunity to be in the classroom setting without me while I helped to supervise the Toddler room. I did over hear one of the other children over lunch refer to Mara as "the girl who never talks to anyone," when describing her to his mother. So I'm hoping she comes out of her shell a little more with each session.

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