Posted on October 6, 2009 - by Kay

Year 1: Week 6

(October 5 – October 9, 2009)
Our school week will see the heavier loads on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as those are the days that ds is at Mother’s Day Out so that dd and I have less interruptions. Each activity is designed to take only 10-15 minutes at the most as this is one of the defining characteristics of a Charlotte Mason approach to education.

*Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below. I always love learning from other people!*

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday

Planning Day

• Literature – Free Reading: The Twelve Dancing Princesses, by Marianna Mayer. (Beautifully illustrated version of this old story. Different from the ‘Barbie’ telling, this one has a little more depth of the characters and plot differences. Beautiful language used also. Definitely for kids with a little longer attention span.)

School Day

• To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
• Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
• Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
• Copywork: “There is no woman in Rome so much like a queen as our own dear mother.” (from Cornelia’s Jewels in the History lesson below.)
• Bible:
  • “The Teeny, Weenie True King” (Samuel annoints David), from The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones, pgs 116-121.
  • Add King David to the timeline (1000-960 BC) in our Book of Centuries.
• History:
  • “Cornelia’s Jewels”, from Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin.
  • Add this story to the timeline in our Book of Centuries.
• Literature: “The Boy and the Filberts”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).(Also found online here.)
• Math: Shapes – Go for a ‘shape walk’ around the neighborhood. Take a camera on the walk and have Kate take pictures of the different shapes that she finds on our walk. Look for at least one circle, rectangle, square, triangle, diamond, oval, and octagon. (Read my post about being “Shape Shooters” for more details.) **This idea is from 100 Best Ideas for Primary Math, by Holly Sar Dye, M.A.
• Phonics: Ending consonant sounds (l or ll and s or ss), from Brain Quest Grade 1 Workbook, by Lisa Trumbauer, pg 21.
• Science: Can air help things float?, from How Does a Ship Float, by Jim Pipe.
• Poetry: “The Average Hippopotamus”, from Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face, by Jack Prelutsky. (during Tea Time)

Library Day

• Natural History – Free Reading: A Mama for Owen, by Marion Dane Bauer. (Another book about Owen and Mzee and their incredible friendship. Beautiful drawings lend a soft tone to this book and the telling of the story is very sweet.)

School Day

• To Start: Pledge/Calendar/Weather
• Natural History: Record our observations of the Monarch caterpillars we’re rearing.
• Memory Work: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”Phillipians 4:8 (NLT)
• Geography: Chapter 5 of Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling.
• Artist Study: Raphael Sanzio: Peruse different paintings and accompanying explorations in Raphael (Art for Children), by Ernest Raboff.
• Natural History: Chippy, Sweetvoice, and Dotty, from The Burgess Bird Book, by Thornton Burgess.
• Math: Practice making shapes using rubber bands on a geoboard.
• Literature: “Hercules and the Wagoner”, Aesop’s Fables (Milo Winter Edition).
• Phonics: Compound words, in Grade 1 Phonics educational workbook, pgs 22-23.
• Literature: “Felicia and the Pot of Pinks”, from The Blue Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang.
• Poetry: “Please Bury Me in the Library”, from Please Bury Me in the Library, by J. Patrick Lewis. (during Tea Time)
• Foreign Language: Watch Signing Time!: My Neighborhood DVD during nap time.

Field Trips/Nature Study

• Literature – Free Reading: There, by Mary-Louise Fitzpatrick.