September 10, 2011

It is weird having school on Saturday. Last year we really only did school four days a week, but this year I'm determined to really do a full five days a week. Since we take Monday as our day of rest, our school week is Tuesday through Saturday. So in the spirit of Saturdays as a traditional "down" day, I have tried to schedule more hands-on activities and less seatwork and reading selections.

This is what we did today:

Reading Selections:

Genesis 22:1-8

"God's World" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Jenny Wren Arrives" from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess

Nature Study Videos:

Several videos on YouTube about House Wrens. We saw some really great footage and one in particular had a very clear recording of the wren's call. We also saw a mother wren feeding her babies. It was super cool!

Spanish:

The Sword in the Stone in Spanish. The girls got such a kick out of watching a movie for school. Ah, I'm so tricky....

Copywork and Phonics:

Brisa did some corrections on her work from the week, and practiced writing question marks.

Kahmylia started the next Scripture verse in her copywork book, but did not complete it. She will finish it next week.

Both girls read Alpha Phonics Lesson 21-words with -th.

Reading Practice:

Brisa finished her story, "The Old Woman and the Pig" from Harriette Taylor Treadwell's Primer.

Kahmylia read two more Mother Goose poems from Harriette Taylor Treadwell's First Reader.

Math:

The girls completed a 60 piece puzzle of the Fifty States.

Narration:

I let the girls choose a favorite story of the week to narrate.

Brisa chose "Jenny Wren Arrives," the story we read today.

Kahmylia narrated "The Monkey and the Camel."

They are still missing chunks of the story, but I imagine that their skills will increase with practice. They are able to tell a coherent story most of the time. I never tell them they are wrong or make them repeat their efforts. I mainly use this for myself to gauge their reading comprehension.

The jury is still out on whether or not we will get to the art activity....