Today we have piano and the girls have not practiced all that they should have. Going from no extracurricular to two in one week for both girls is a lot to take on for a new homeschooling family. I am figuring that out. Hopefully, their teacher won't mind. She still gets paid.
Neely took her first math test since we've been using the Singapore Math 1st grade books. We combined Unit 1 and Unit 2 since it's easy stuff. She completed one of the problems without using manipulatives and I commented on how fast she did it. She said, "I did it so fast because I thanked it in my mind!" She's so country.
This is where she was chopping her wholes into parts. =)
"Jet. Like a private jet! Vrooom, vroom, vroom!" All around the room.
Teagan did her reading and had several practice sheets to finish up on beginning and ending blends (br, st, str, sp, spl, nd, mp, etc.).
When they both got to a point where one was not far off from the other in terms of finishing their current assignment, I decided we could throw in some together studies. It was History time!
I have never really been a fan of History, but the last couple of weeks have been awesome. It's probably because we're only doing people in history.
The first person we studied was Helen Keller. We read a book about her and really got into discussing what it might be like to be her. The girls sat in a chair and played deaf and blind. I would put something in their hand to let them fondle it, and then I spelled the name of the item in their hand--just like Helen's teacher did! It was so neat. Of course, they laughed because it tickled, but they really got the idea of how Helen learned. We talked about her birthday, birthplace, her life as a baby, child, and adult, and then we talked about all the good things she did.
Last week and today, we studied Martin Luther King, Jr. He is Teagan's person of choice. She is so intrigued by him, what he fought for, and the times they were living in back then. I had to give them a pre-MLK Jr. rundown of life for African Americans to give them an idea of how important the Civil Rights Movement was. We read his book, discussed when and where he was born, his life as a child and adult, and all the good things he did. We watched his "I Have a Dream" speech as well as his last speech. They were excited to watch, but saddened too. I have to admit, it gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. And it's almost as if he knew he was going to be assassinated by the context of his last speech. After the videos I asked the girls thinking questions and they did so good! I am proud of them. Their high interest really makes a difference.
One of the fun things we do when we discuss our people of history is to look on a map to see where they were when they born. Then we "travel" with them on the map to see where they went. MLK Jr. led us to four different states! And get this! When they ran over to find Massachusetts (where he went to college), Neely found it first! She go girl!
We also made a timeline a few weeks ago. I had to rearrange some of our wall décor to fit it in, but it's working. We posted both Helen Keller and MLK Jr. on their birthdate. We also post a picture and three facts about each.
Our timeline covers three walls. We just have to fill it in!
he went to Boston College.
Teagan's picture, on the other hand, was not so sweet. Memorable, but not sweet. You know she is tenderhearted, so the one thing that really sticks out in her mind is that
someone would kill him because of all the good he was trying to accomplish. It
really makes her sad. So her picture depicts his assassination.
Oh, I almost forgot. Teagan and Neely BOTH fixed their own lunch today! Awesome!
And if you're wondering about Libby, she must be taking a growth spurt. She slept from 10 a.m. until just after 12:30 p.m. We had a glorious day.