This week was our first week of official homeschooling for the 2011 – 2012 school year. We had a blast! First, we love our new curriculum. {more about that soon} Also, we had a light load this week. I like to “ease” back into the new school year by starting with a few subjects and then adding a few more the next week. Starting a new school year this way is so much easier and less stressful for us all.
We began the week with filling out applications for our passports {from My Father’s World curriculum ~ Exploring Countries and Cultures}. We will be visiting places all around the world and learning more about the cultures, people, and ecosystems of those areas.
One of our projects in geography was to draw the continents and equator onto an orange representing the globe. Then we carefully peeled it and tried to make a flat map. We found out that it is quite difficult to make an accurate flat map. (The objective of the lesson.)
One of the things that I loved most this week was the books we read together. During our Bible time, we read the book, God Speaks Numanggang. This book is about a family who moved to a foreign land and helped the people write down their language. They then taught the people to read/write this language. Then the family went on to translate the Bible into the language of those people. The book moved me to tears.
Another great book this week was Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman. Last year, we began Sonlight American History (this book is part of that curriculum) but we went so slowly through it that we are going to complete it this year. The waterworks flowed as I read this book also.
Earlier I mentioned that we did not cover all of the subjects this week. That’s not totally accurate. Actually, we start our day with Bible and memory work time. During memory work time, we memorize verses, Latin/Greek roots & meanings, parts of speech, geography, history facts & dates, science terminology, math facts, and much more. In those few minutes a day, we cover many subjects worth of information. On certain days, we also complete notebooking pages about the info that we are memorizing.
We ended our week with our first field trip to an art gallery. We were able to work on some art projects such as:
tissue paper flowers
creating sculptures
weaving
We also were able to tour the art gallery and learn some American history while on our tour.
Guess who made this bell?
Love it when you see the history you’ve read about with your children right before your eyes!
It truly was a great first week back to school. We are looking forward to this new week where we add a few more subjects into the mix. The kids are even excited. I’ve been told that they “can’t wait for a new school week”. We’ll see if they’re still singing that song when grammar, spelling, and writing get added to the weekly lesson plans! {smile}
{Our Kindergartner and Preschooler will have a separate post about their first week posted soon.}
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