A Writing Strands Sample

We've been working on the "write a story about a kitten raised by a duck" lesson in Writing Strands 3. Rabbit is 9, and we did one paragraph a day. The first 3, we worked together, but today, K took a lot longer than usual with Tigger and Pooh, so Rabbit went ahead and wrote the last paragraph by herself. Then, together we did a little editing. I'm really proud of her effort, so I told her I would type up her story and put it on my blog.

The Adventures of a Kitten Raised by a Duck

Once there was a kitten raised by a duck. The first time the other ducklings ate corn, the kitten tried to lap it up off the ground. The kitten got dirt and hay on her rough tongue. It was funny to watch her spit out the dirt. She then asked the cow for some milk.

The ducklings gracefully glided into the pond. Splash! In went the kitten, spraying all the ducklings. The kitten decided she wasn't meant for water adventures.

The mother duck lead her sleepy ducklings back to the barn for a nap, and the kitten followed along. Suddenly, the kitten eyed a pretty butterfly. She got sidetracked and began to follow the butterfly. the butterfly was a friend of mother duck, and lead the kitten back to the mother duck.

Just before they fell asleep the kitten eyed a mouse. As all kittens, she wanted to chase the mouse and so she did. Now this frightened the other ducklings and they began to squawk and run all over the barn and the hay loft. In and out of the stalls the kitten and the ducklings ran, until at last the chase was over. When the mouse escaped, the kitten and the ducklings were out of breath and went to sleep.

The End

Week 8 in CTG

Bible (and I suppose History) this week covered from Abraham offering Issac to Jacob's ladder. What a week of ups and downs! The faith shown by Abraham's servant to go and find Rebekah, and then the deception of Jacob and Rebekah. Yet, God is still sovereign and still has His way in His plans.

We looked at the projects for painting in Ancient Egypt and the Pyramids, but didn't do them. Rabbit did color the tomb painting notebook page. She also did a good job with her summary of Abraham and Isaac. I ended up having to make another copy for her as she got flustered with several mistakes on her page right from the start.

Science was a bit of a challenge this week. First, we went to the local hardware store and bought a piece of 1 inch x 1/4 inch x 8 foot strip of pine trim. Then I cut it down to 30 inches, as recommended for the Karate Kid experiment. We used 2 layers of newspaper over the stick, and Rabbit could still flip the stick off the coffee table. We also tried the kitchen island, as it had a smoother top, and still Rabbit could flip it off the counter. I noticed we had a real hard time pressing the newspaper around the stick and getting it to be really smooth. Remembering something I read over at the MFW message board, we tried a ruler instead. Since it was a 12 inch ruler, we had it stick out over the edge of the counter about 2.5 inches. Because the ruler was more rounded over the top, we were able to flatten the newspaper over it better. Plus, the newspaper was about 6 to 8 inches longer than the ruler (our newspaper was only about 1 or 2 inches longer than our 30 inch stick, which may have been part of the problem). Using the ruler and paper, Rabbit could not flip it off the counter. It bounced a little, but she definitely got the idea of air pressure.

The Straw Drinking Race was easy. Tigger and Pooh agreed to be the racers. Tigger had the straw with the holes, and it took him about 5 minutes to get all of the water out of the cup. The Old Updside-Down-Glass-Of-Water Trick was a bit different. We tried the clear disposable plastic cups that we got for last week's experiments, but the sides were too flimsy when we flipped the cup over. So we went ahead and tried a glass cup. Sure enough, it worked. Later on I tried with a hard plastic cup (to show my husband), and I could see the "vacuum" bubbles at the top of the cup. (My hard plastic cup was a yellow First Years cup that have the spout lids - not clear, but you can see into them.) We didn't try to do any larger cups or containers.

We finished another Math lesson this week, and started All About Spelling Level 3 for Spelling. Using Intermediate Language Lessons has been going well, although some of the lessons seemed a bit archaic (we don't know all that much about birds). We're writing "The Kitten Raised by a Duck" story in Writing Strands, basically doing a paragraph a day. Rabbit is actually kind of excited about it, and has been reading it to her brothers and dad as she finishes each paragraph. I've been trying to give her ideas to get her jump started, and it goes pretty well.

In God and the History of Art, one of the lessons was to do cross-hatching for shading. She did a pretty good job, be we talked about how hard it is and how much practice we need. We listened to "Autumn" from the Vivaldi CD, and she did the cross-hatching while we did that.

So far, Star of Light is an interesting story. The kids are asking a lot of questions about why the little girl, Kinza, was born blind. I've read ahead, so I know how the story ends. Oh, what good stuff is in this book! Don't skip it.

One interesting side note... I was cleaning up the school room, and found a paper Rabbit had written on. She basically summarized what she had learned about pyramids. Now, the spelling wasn't that great (pyramids was spelled "pearumids"), but I loved how she summarized. She got that the base of the pyramids were perfect squares, and the sides perfect triangles and that we really don't know exactly how they built them. Anyway, I never told her to write it, she just did. That is so encouraging to me that she is trying things on her own like that.

Week 7 in CTG

Boy, school is going so well so far. Yes, we have our ups and downs, but overall, things are going well.

Bible this week was about Abraham - from God making his Covenant with him to Hagar and Ishmael being sent away. One of the things that I thought was interesting about Hagar is she wasn't really seeking God - yet he found her twice. He sought her out. God seeks us out.

History was about writing and reading. It was quite interesting how they made paper from papyrus reeds. Rabbit made a Cartouche and hung it on her door.

Science had some fun experiments. Everyone joins in. I really worked hard at just guiding Rabbit, and only helping her when she was really doing it wrong. We bought those clear plastic cups that are like the Solo cups, only smaller for our experiments. We were able to do the experiments in the sink. (The bathtub is out of the question due to water restrictions. If anyone ever offers you an aquarium - accept it. They will come in handy for science experiments even if you never have any fish.) Rabbit was really surprised that you could keep paper in a cup dry if you put the cup in the water upside down. Even after doing the "pouring air" experiment, she did not expect that result at all. Seeing that air has weight (or mass) was another interesting experiment. Blowing up the balloon and watching our scale "tip" toward the air filled balloon was another surprise. Rabbit expected the balance to stay equal.

We've almost finished All-About-Spelling Level 2. It has been a good review for Rabbit, and I see some of her spelling getting better. She's starting to recognize when words "just don't look right." Now, that doesn't always mean she can fix them right, but she's learning.

Math is going well. We've finished Lesson 2 and began Lesson 3 in MUS's Delta. She's doing great with it. She really remembers the division facts faster than multiplication at this point. I think when she sees a product and one of the factors, she easily remembers the other factor that goes with it - kind of like a number bond. Just seeing the two factors doesn't always help her remember the product, though. However, she is getting faster with her multiplication facts. But, her addition and subtraction facts have gotten slower.

Art and Music continue to be fun. She didn't quite finish her picture for Vivaldi's "Summer," so no picture for the blog. The art lessons are good for her. They make her think and try new things. She gets a little frustrated, "because I'm not that good at it." But, I think the skills build on each other, and long term will make a difference.

The kids caught colds toward the end of the week, but we still managed school every day.

The boys are doing well with Abeka's K. We've done up to lesson 31 now. It is funny, Tigger sounds out each sound and then blends them together - he still gets the blends/words right, but he will say "/c/-/a/-/t/ cat." Pooh, on the other hand, blends each sound right from the beginning. He stretches the sounds out a little slower, but he still does it. Sometimes, though, he adds a sound onto the end of a blend that isn't there (most commonly /t/), but he is getting it. They love the silly games in Abeka. (Rabbit didn't really get into them all that much when she did this program.) One thing I did for "review" drills is opened a manila file folder and drew a race track, with spaces that are just the right size for a matchbox car. Then, each one picks their favorite car, and when the say the right sound/blend/whatever, they get to move their car one space. They LOVE this, and it was so easy to do.

Another thing I am doing for the boys is focusing on writing numbers for the next 2 weeks. I never did for Rabbit, we just plowed into Primer and she didn't really know how to write the numbers. We had got through lesson 5 in Primer with the boys, and I realized I hadn't taught them how to form their numbers. So, I made up some worksheets, and each day we practice one new number, and review the two previous. We'll do 0 - 4 this week, and 5-9 next week. Primer will have lots more practice for them, but I just really wanted to focus on forming those numbers correctly before we got too far into the year.

Abeka K5

Well, mostly my blog has been focusing on MFW's programs. This year, I am doing Abeka's K5 program with Pooh and Tigger. I used it with Rabbit, and still have all the games, flashcards, and other things I made to go with it, so I thought I might as well use it. Some people have said that you shouldn't teach your twins together. So far, though, it is going okay. Their desks are right next to each other, with a lamp in between.

We start out with phonics. Usually it is some game, or song, or review activity. Doing this together works pretty well. Sometimes it is a blend ladder (or ladders), and those I do one-on-one.

Next we do handwriting. If we are learning a new letter, I get out our Handwriting Without Tears hands-on activities and we do those together. But, when they practice writing the letter on their slate, I watch them each one at a time, to make sure they are doing correct formation. If it is a review of a letter, then I have a Rubbermaid container of sand that they each practice in. Usually, I sit with Pooh when they actually do their worksheets. (Tigger has much better fine motor skills.) I talk him through the letter formation. Now, we're using Abeka's manuscript pages for handwriting worksheets, but we do single-stroke formation instead of ball-stick. Most of the time, I've crossed out the arrows and numbers and put in the way I want them to do it. They think it is fun that we're breaking the rules. Tigger actually goes slower than Pooh when doing his handwriting worksheet. So, after I'm done with Pooh, I go assist Tigger. Usually, it is to keep him from getting upset over little mistakes.

After that, we do our Phonics Review time. Again, this is usually some kind of game, or song, or other fun activity. I do try to do these together, but make sure that both of them get a chance at all the flashcards. If it is blend ladders, though, we do those separately.

Then the boys do a math page from Math-U-See's Primer. (Though, the next two weeks, we're going to stop and focus on learning to write our numbers.) This usually takes 5 minutes, tops. It is funny to see how different they are. When Tigger is counting items on a page, he numbers each one so he doesn't lose track of where he is. Pooh just puts a mark through each one and counts as he goes.

Some days we add in the Cuisinare Rods Alphabet book. They enjoy doing these activities. I don't normally sit with them while they do these. I could, and have them do all the questions/suggestions on the pages, but they just prefer to build. It is still problem solving skills, so I'm okay with it. Most days that takes about 1 hour. Sometimes 1 1/2 hours.

The boys can get on each other's nerves playing with each other all day. I'm thinking about scheduling time for one of them to go play, while the other does an activity from our old preschool toys, and then switch off again. I'll probably really need to do this when we start reading the little Abeka books for K5 - I'll need some activity to keep one occupied while I work with the other. I realize that's what the "seatwork" is for, but I can see my boys finishing that stuff pretty quick.

We'll be on day 27 tomorrow, so I feel like were making good progress.

Thoughts on Science

Doing Science with my kids for home school has been a real struggle for me. You’d thing a Computer Science major with a Math minor would have no problems. I think I had a lot of negative experiences in school. I remember trying to do a “making crystals” experiment in elementary school. We never got any crystals to grow on our screw – we only got rust. Then, I remember doing dissections in 7th grade biology. I always got C’s or D’s. I could never really tell the animal’s body organs once we opened it up – they were never in the same place as the drawings in the textbooks. Experiments in Chemistry class were always hit or miss. I think the only class where most of the experiments actually worked was Physics. Even in college, I think I just got B’s in my Physics lab class.

So, when we’ve been doing our Science stuff for school, mostly I’ve been reading the book, and doing the experiments with Rabbit (and Pooh and Tigger as observers). And really, it is me doing the experiments. Now, some of that is because Rabbit is afraid of something “bad” happening (like she was scared of the sparks from squeezing the mints). But, the other part of it, I’m not sure.

Well, the other day, my friend mfwrocks posted some thoughts about doing science in the elementary years:

1. Let them read the material with you.
2. Ask them, “What do you think will happen?”
3. Then say, “Ok, let's find out.”
4. Have them try the experiments on their own, as much possible.
5. Let them go "cool" and "wow" and laugh at science nerd jokes.
6. Teach them to observe what is going on.
7. Make them clean it up and put it away.
8. Ask them, “What did happen? Is that what we expected? And why?”

Now the other observation that my dh made was that we need to teach the Scientific Method without being hung up on the teaching the terms and phrases of The Scientific Method. You just want the kids to be so comfortable with asking, “What will happen if I do this?” Set it up, observe and figure out why --- that it becomes how they think about science. And not a check box to say, "Ok. I covered scientific method in the curriculum and that's good, right?"

See, I’m the one doing the experiments. I should really be letting Rabbit try the experiments, and just being there as a guide or assistant. It is usually the other way around. Then I get frustrated when she doesn’t do anything but stand there or sit there. I also have a hard time with #7, as my kids aren’t really that good at cleaning up. But, that’s part of the training process and I just need to get over it and start training them.

Anyway, it was just such a timely post, and it really made me think about what I’m doing as a teacher that is either helping or hindering the kids.

Week 6 in CTG

I’ll start with Sukkoth. Ends up we didn’t even put up the tent. Rabbit was getting tired of the readings every day, and she doesn’t quite get the idea of the feasts. So, we basically read the readings as a part of our Bible time. Some of them were quite long, which was part of the issue. I tried to explain to her the connections between the feasts and how they were looking forward to the Messiah, but I don’t think it has sunk in yet. But, I learned a lot. I loved the connection between pouring out the water and God pouring out His Holy Spirit on us. The other thing I thought of was Jesus pouring out His blood for me.

Science has been more intense than last year. We’ve been doing pyramid and ancient Egypt science 3 or 4 days a week. It is tough for me to stay on top of that. (But, I better get prepared, as others have told me that Science steps up to 4 days a week next year.) We have tried the growing crystals experiment. We got some on our beaker, and a few on our string, but none on our paper clip. I thought about doing one with baking soda and another with dishwasher soap, but there are warnings all over the dishwasher soap box, and that scared Rabbit off from trying that.

It has been interesting reading about how all these ancient civilizations developed in History. Basically, they each developed by a fertile river valley. The river would flood each year, leaving silt deposits that were very fertile. The people would plant and harvest each season. Because they could grow so much food, not everyone needed to be farmers, so lots of people had time to develop other skills – like architecture, writing, metal work, pottery, etc. It was just neat that all these places developed separately from each other, but similarly.

In Bible we are going to be memorizing The Ten Commandments over the next ten weeks (on top of our regular readings that follow along with where we are studying in History). We have a box of packing paper that kids use to paint or do other large art projects on. So, I took a sheet, folded it in half, and then cut an arch at the top. Then I crumpled it up in a ball and then undid that and flattened it out. Now we have our stone tablets:

I used Photoshop Elements to type up the commandments, and then used some bevels and shadows to try to make the words look like they were carved. Probably more complex than what the teacher’s manual said to do, but it was more fun for me to make it this way.

We studied Job one day, and now we are reading about Abraham, or Abram as his name hasn’t been changed yet. I thought it was interesting that Hagar runs away, and she’s not even seeking God, yet He seeks her out. Isn’t that just like God? He seeks us out, even when we aren’t necessarily looking for Him.

This week, the curriculum added in copying the memory verse and dictation of the memory verse. So, on the days we do that I’m not going to have Rabbit do her Handwriting Without Tears book. Learning the Greek roots has been good. We now have enough words where we can start to see how other words are put together. What is really neat is when a root comes up in our Reading time.

English has been pretty good. We do most of it orally, or she dictates to me and I write it – especially on days where there has been a lot of writing already. Writing Strands has been more of a struggle. We got through the second lesson, but it was sure hard for her. I’ve been trying to explain that we don’t just write once and get done with it. But, she just doesn’t like writing. I need to get more consistent about teaching her typing.

This week we finished Step 22 in All About Spelling Book 2. If she can just keep her attitude good, we get through the lessons just fine. It’s when she has a bad attitude, or misses too many words during review time that she gets upset. I’ll need to be ordering Book 3 soon.

Rabbit pretty much likes God and the History of Art, but she said this week she wished it was more drawing and art lessons and less history. She had to draw a picture of her family for her AWANA section this week, and I see a lot of what she is learning from art carrying over.

We listened to Vivaldi’s “Summer” - what a wide range of musical style in one song. It was quite interesting. And Spanish is going well. I like that it is really low stress. And the stories are quaint.

We finished The Tanglewood's Secret. I read ahead in the book so I would know what was happening, and yet I cried again reading it out loud to the kids. They loved the book, and were always interested in what was coming next. I love how you could see everyone’s change of heart as they met Jesus, or re-established their relationship with Him. The book made the comparison of Jesus being the Good Shepherd so real. It was just an excellent book.

Week 5 in CTG

Another fabulous week of school. Monday, of course, was Labor Day, so we didn't do school then. But, that's okay, since Friday on the schedule is a feast day.

Bible has been working more on memorizing the Old Testament books. I love all the verses that they picked for us to read. Such encouraging verses.

History has been learning about Ancient Egypt. Our books didn't come in until Thursday, so now I have a bunch of books on Egypt when we're almost done. It was interesting to read about pyramids, why they built him, how we still don't know for sure how they built them, etc. Rabbit really likes it when the notebook pages are just coloring - one of them was this week. It was also very interesting to draw the map of the Middle East Today over our map of the Mediteranian area.

We're still in the Pyramids science book. One project this week was to build a step pyramid from sugar cubes. That was fun! Here is our final result:

We didn't do all the science activities, but one of the activities we're doing is to figure out how the mummification process prevents decay. So, we've got our sandwich bags set up and waiting for mold to start growing:

(Just an update on this experiment - we never got mold to grow on any of the bread. They were on the top of the fridge for several weeks.)

Rabbit enjoyed listening to Vivadi and creating a "Spring" picture this week:

In math, Rabbit decided she wanted to learn division, so we've switch back to Math-U-See's Delta. I know, probably not a good idea, but I figure if she wants to do it, then it will go easier. She finished lesson 1 in 3 days - including the quiz. She's also read some silly stories from the library about kids who have had trouble learning their math facts.

The rest of school is going well. We didn't get to Writing Strands or Spanish on our last day because of a doctor's appointment. Spanish I'm not worried about. We'll just move on to the next lesson. For Writing Strands, I may do a lesson on Friday, just to get all "caught up." It's been a lot of writing for Rabbit, so it has been a challenge, but I'm trying to encourage and help her as much as possible.

We're not going to build a booth for Sukkoth. We're probably going to set up Rabbit's pup-tent, and do the Sukkoth readings in the tent, and maybe enjoy a snack there. The kids love it when we set up the pup-tent. We did read the passages in the Teacher's Manual. It is neat how the emphasis is on celebrating, being joyful or having joy, and praising God.

One other thing. On days we start by 8:15, we usually finish by noon. On the days we don't, then we're doing 1 to 1.5 hours after lunch. More motivation to get started by 8:00!