On Monday, We started out with a form drawing. I drew it on the driveway in chalk so the kids could walk it, or "scooter" it, before we got into the school room.
Once inside the room, We drew it in the air, on each other's backs, and Grant practiced it on his chalkboard before drawing it in his MLB.
Afterward, I told Grant the fable of The Mouse and the Lion. Moral: Even the weak and small may be of help to those who are much mightier than themselves.
Before I told the story, Grant and I talked about lions and mice. We talked about what they look like, where they live, what they eat, and what traits they each have.
After the story Grant and I drew a picture with our block crayons.
Mom's Drawing
Grant's Drawing
On Tuesday, Grant told us The Lion and Mouse (with a little bit of improvisation).
We worked on a summary of the fable together and Grant copied it and then we read it together.
After that I wrote the summary on the board and made Grant turn around and tell me the words that started with an m, then an h, and then an l. When he was done with that I had him come up to the board and circle all the words that had a short "e" sound in them. I have also started writing all the nouns in blue. I haven't told him why yet, but I will explain to him soon that nouns are "naming words" and will always be written in blue. I wonder if he will ask me why some words are in blue before I tell him, hhmm......
Once we were done with the exercises we made lions from beeswax.
Mom's Lion
Grant's Lion
On Wednesday I read Grant the story of The North Wind and the Sun.
When the north wind wants to engage the sun in a friendly little competition to see who can remove a passerby's coat first, we see that gentle persuasion is better than force.
Grant enjoyed this story and asked me to read it twice. Afterward, we drew a picture from story.
Mom's Drawing
Grant's Drawing
On Thursday, Grant and I acted out the story for the girls. Grant, in a blue silk, was the North Wind, and I, in a yellow silk, was the sun.
(The bean bags were the "wind" he was blowing.)
After our "play", we summarized the story and Grant copied it. Grant was not very happy to be doing his copy work, as is evident by the quality of the letters he wrote.
On Friday morning, Grant finished his copy work, read through it twice, and then we did some LA exercises with the sentences on the black board. I erased some key words and Grant had to figure out which ones they were and re-write them.
On Friday afternoon, the kids and I went on a field trip to the local apple orchard with our home school group to pick apples and play with friends. The weather was great and the fresh apples were even better! Johanna was tired (and a bit whiny)so she didn't feel like picking many apples that day. Maybe next year.... Grant enjoyed seeing some of his friends from co-op, I enjoyed talking to some of the Mom's I hadn't seen for awhile, and we all enjoyed an apple cider slushie. I have a batch of crock pot apple butter brewing right now. Yum!
