Week 13, January 24-28
Mondays, I think, will always be a little hectic. I have to be in studio first thing in the morning and don't arrive home again until around 11:30. Today was no different.
I haven't prepared a weekly plan ahead of time as I usually like to do, but have spent much of my time over the weekend trying to prepare for a field trip this Tuesday to the Chicago Institute of Art. We are just entering about 600AD in history and when a friend of mine invited us to accompany her and her children to view their collection of Medieval Arms and Armor there I jumped on it. Only problem is, when I went online to preview the collection, I discovered that most of the collection from this time period is "Currently Not on Display." Oh well. I am sure this will still be a very fun experience, regardless. One thing I did learn was the handy online feature that I like is the ability to create a "My Collection" list. This feature allows you to easily plan for a very informative self-guided tour of the museum before going.
This week:
History:
Major points: The fall of Rome, Barbarians, The Huns, Justinian, the arrival of silk in Europe, the beginning of the Middle Ages. I've also noticed that somehow, since last term the favorite topic has switched from math to history.
Mara is very interested in understanding more about silk worms. With her previous interest in bugs, this comes as no surprise. We will try to make a trip to the library this Wednesday and we'll have to see about checking out a few book on this topic for her to read independently.
Additionally we began reading Harold the Herold as an informal precursor for our trip to the museum this week. This book has also sparked a great interest in creating her own coat of arms, as well as borrowing a few more books to help with the symbolism of Heraldry.
Science:
I think we are ready to move on to Kingdom Animalia. I originally wanted to spend a bit more time with Planta, only because there are so many wonderful activities that can be done to assist in the learning and exploration of the topic. But I think I'm going to cut it short here and just move forward, because I know that we will have every opportunity to learn about new green growth in the Spring. I am considering tying in her silkworm exploration to a project about invertebrates. Last year I had her sort animals according to type, i.e. mammal, reptile, etc.; this time around the focus will be more on Invertebrate/Vertebrate.
Writing:
We are still plugging away at Thank you notes, although the excitement is wearing thin. We can begin to mix other writing assignments in our day, including on-topic journal writing, such as new Latin vocabulary, or science pages.
Mathematics:
We begin a new Unit this week on Time and Money. The time should be all review, with analog time-telling on the hour and half-hour. The money will be more involved by finally putting all the coins together. I have some fun manipulatives to pull out for this Unit. We'll see where this leads.
Reading:
Independent reading: Benjamin Franklin, Pilgrim's Progress (though with this book, she is reading independently, then we take the time to sit down together while she listens to me read aloud.)
Read Aloud: The Silver Chair, Weekly poetry
Latin:
9 new Latin nouns this week. These are to be entered in journal and illustrated. By Thursday we should be able to get to the end of Chapter 10, which is a continuation of the 'state of being' verb, but using it in more complex sentences.
Library Search Terms for this week and what we've found:
Silkworms
Heraldry
Benjamin Franklin
Middle ages
I haven't prepared a weekly plan ahead of time as I usually like to do, but have spent much of my time over the weekend trying to prepare for a field trip this Tuesday to the Chicago Institute of Art. We are just entering about 600AD in history and when a friend of mine invited us to accompany her and her children to view their collection of Medieval Arms and Armor there I jumped on it. Only problem is, when I went online to preview the collection, I discovered that most of the collection from this time period is "Currently Not on Display." Oh well. I am sure this will still be a very fun experience, regardless. One thing I did learn was the handy online feature that I like is the ability to create a "My Collection" list. This feature allows you to easily plan for a very informative self-guided tour of the museum before going.
This week:
History:
Major points: The fall of Rome, Barbarians, The Huns, Justinian, the arrival of silk in Europe, the beginning of the Middle Ages. I've also noticed that somehow, since last term the favorite topic has switched from math to history.
Mara is very interested in understanding more about silk worms. With her previous interest in bugs, this comes as no surprise. We will try to make a trip to the library this Wednesday and we'll have to see about checking out a few book on this topic for her to read independently.
Additionally we began reading Harold the Herold as an informal precursor for our trip to the museum this week. This book has also sparked a great interest in creating her own coat of arms, as well as borrowing a few more books to help with the symbolism of Heraldry.
Science:
I think we are ready to move on to Kingdom Animalia. I originally wanted to spend a bit more time with Planta, only because there are so many wonderful activities that can be done to assist in the learning and exploration of the topic. But I think I'm going to cut it short here and just move forward, because I know that we will have every opportunity to learn about new green growth in the Spring. I am considering tying in her silkworm exploration to a project about invertebrates. Last year I had her sort animals according to type, i.e. mammal, reptile, etc.; this time around the focus will be more on Invertebrate/Vertebrate.
Writing:
We are still plugging away at Thank you notes, although the excitement is wearing thin. We can begin to mix other writing assignments in our day, including on-topic journal writing, such as new Latin vocabulary, or science pages.
Mathematics:
We begin a new Unit this week on Time and Money. The time should be all review, with analog time-telling on the hour and half-hour. The money will be more involved by finally putting all the coins together. I have some fun manipulatives to pull out for this Unit. We'll see where this leads.
Reading:
Independent reading: Benjamin Franklin, Pilgrim's Progress (though with this book, she is reading independently, then we take the time to sit down together while she listens to me read aloud.)
Read Aloud: The Silver Chair, Weekly poetry
Latin:
9 new Latin nouns this week. These are to be entered in journal and illustrated. By Thursday we should be able to get to the end of Chapter 10, which is a continuation of the 'state of being' verb, but using it in more complex sentences.
Library Search Terms for this week and what we've found:
Silkworms
 |
| Red Butterfly |
 |
| Silkworms |
Heraldry
 |
| Coat of Arms |
 |
| Coat of Arms |
Benjamin Franklin
 |
| Benjamin Franklin |
 |
| Benjamin Franklin |
Middle ages
 |
| Charlemagne |
 |
| Books, Banks, Buttons |
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