This week our memory verse came from Ecclesiastes 12:1a that states “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”
We continued our studies on space with a special focus on the sun this week and of course our rotation around it being responsible for our seasons and weather.
Mieke learned a little song to memorize the names of the planets in our solar system and learned about how all the planets rotate around the sun, how they form 2 groups (inner and outer planets) divided by an asteroid belt and how we’ll never be able to land on the outer planets since they’re mostly made of gas and doesn’t have a rocky core like the inner planets. Pluto was demoted and is no longer recognized as a planet but we still learned about it, not too much since this week’s study was just an introduction and we’ll really get into it the following week. She also learned how our rotation around the sun causes our seasons and that during some times of the year the north pole has only daytime and some other times only night time.
We also learned how the sun benefits us with it’s warmth and light and how God placed it just the right distance from us to really be perfect. Light breaks up into colors (rainbow) and we even decorated Mieke’s bedroom ceiling with some constellations and she’s keeping a weather diary for the rest of the month.
In Math this week we focused on subtraction using four digit numbers. She’s really getting good at this, even though I have to sometimes remind her to pay special attention to the sign (+ or -). On Friday, much to my surprise, she scored 100% on the test.
In LLATL this week the spelling words were: bark, made, mind and same. We also finished the Success in Spelling this week and I’m so thrilled about it. Now we can focus all our spelling attention on the sequential spelling. We still practice daily and it’s really a wonderful program. I can recommend it to anyone looking for a great spelling program. The best part is that she doesn’t have to study for it and she willingly participates every day...without much complaining :-) as long as I tell her ahead of time what the first and last words are.
We also did some vocabulary study this week. I’m also working on getting this done but I don’t want to do more than one lesson a week. The curriculum calls for 3 days a week and completing 1 lesson over a 2 week period but I find that that’s just ridiculously slow and unnecessary. It’s a little overkill since the words are very easy and in most lessons Mieke only learns about 1 new word out of the 10 we cover. This week’s lesson was about welcome wheels and was about a boy and his dad who goes to the opening of their town’s new bicycle trail at the park.
We went to the Boys and Girls club for some swimming on Tuesday but when we got there they had a sign up saying the swimming pool was closed (life guard not on duty = no swimming) so we had an extra hour of gym time. It was good and the kids actually started all playing together unlike other times where they usually team up and play by themselves. They invented some games and enjoyed it. The exercise is good too :-)
Oops, forgot to mention earlier that the spelling words for the last 4 SIS tests were.
Spelling test # 14 (2nd grade level): end, even, here, home, land, large, men, move, must, need, put & read.
Spelling test #15 : such, try, turn, us, well, went, why, again, air,
Spelling test #16 : away, change, found, hand, high, house, kind, learn, letter, mother, off & page.
Last test #17: picture, play, point, should, spell, still, study, world, (first name)(last name)(city of residence)(street name). The last four I just added because the test had fewer words than the other tests and I thought it would be great for her to practice her first & last name and other important information that she knows by heart and may not know how to spell. Turns out I was wrong :-) She scored 100% on each of the 4 tests the first time she wrote them. We did one test a day starting on Monday and by Thursday we were done. There’s a certain amount of emotion going with the completion of each subject area. A job well done. It’s a great feeling. We only have about 2 more months of the school year left since we started a little ahead of the gang we are going to end up ahead of them too, but it works out perfectly since it would correlate with her birthday month too and it’s always nice to have vacation around your birthday. We’re taking her birthday week off too. It’s still a little while since then but I like to think about it :-) I’m practically counting the weeks and days until then.
On Monday at MAFA they reviewed the artists, composers and historical figures they learned about and then discussed homes and chores in the colonies during the classical era. I have to start searching for a shoe box since they’ll be making dioramas (making a mental note right now!) In art they learned about quilts. There’s a lot more to it than what it sounds like. The patterns actually have some real meaning behind it. They’re also working on making their own quilts. “but you can only see it at the end of the year” according to Mieke :-) Quite frankly, I can hardly wait for the end of the year because I know they’ve been working on a lot of great projects. In music they listened to fiddle and banjo music of the period and learned a common group dance....haha, wished I was there to witness that!!
In drama they’ve been working hard on the play, making a full run-through, reviewing blocking, stage position and projection. Mieke knows both her lines. “It’s not against the law to burn tea, Captain” and “Ladies, we are gathered here today to speak against the tea tax!” – yep, you guessed it...the