Number Review and St. Patrick's Day

We used the week of March 11th to do number review.  We also read some fun St. Patrick's Day books and did some crafts to go along with the Holiday.  Cory's parents also came into town on Thursday to spend the weekend with us.  Our niece was in town to play in a volleyball tournament, so they came down to watch her.  We only had a three day week because we used Thursday morning to get ready for our house guests.

I drew this picture on the chalkboard which would stay up the whole week as we reviewed the numbers 1-4.  Each day Johanna would look at the picture and see where she could "see" each number.  This also led us into a discussion of shapes and the number of sides they have.

Every day I would tell her a verse or story about the number, and then she would practice writing the number in Arabic form, spelled out in letters, and in Roman Numeral form on the following page:
 

We also reviewed letters and worked on basic reading skills with workbook pages like the following:

 

On Monday, we reviewed 1 and 2, so I read her the first two parts of the following verse by Eugene Schwartz from The Waldorf Book of Poetry:

One is the Sun that shines so bright,

One is the moon so high;

One is the day and one is the night, 

One is the sheltering sky.

One is the head so still and tame,

Upon one body whole with health;

And I is the one and the special name

That only I can call myself!  

Two are the eyes with which I see

Two are the ears that hear;

Joy and sorrow both live in me,

And so do courage and fear.

Darkness and Light must together live,

Night and day are as sister and brother;

And two are the hands that receive and give,

To help myself or serve another.  

After I read the verse, she practiced writing out the number 1 and 2, then I read the girls a St. Patrick's Day book, after which they helped me hang up paper shamrocks throughout the room.

On Tuesday, I read her the third part of the verse:

Around me in the world I see

Beast and plant and stone.

Nature weaves her world as Three,

But I am three in one:

A head well-wrought for wisdom's work,

A heart hallowed by love;

Strong limbs to labor on the earth 

As Angels do above. 

After I read this part of the verse, Johanna practiced writing out the number 3.  I read the girls another St. Patty's Day book, and then they drew pictures using stickers.  They decided to include Stitch (from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch) in their drawings since those were the stuffed animals of choice for the day.

Johanna's Drawing

Julia's Drawing

On Wednesday, I read Johanna this:

Summer and Autumn, Winter and Spring,

Through Four seasons passes the year;

Fire and Air, Water and Earth-

Out of these four does our whole world appear.

Afterward, she practiced writing out the number 4.  I read the girls one more St. Patrick's Day book, and then they made cookie cutter shamrocks.  

 

And a few leprechauns....

We enjoyed watching our niece play volleyball, and spending time with family throughout the weekend.  We also enjoyed our annual St. Patrick's Day feast of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and Irish Soda Bread on Sunday. Yum!

Next week we will finish our number review up through 10.  The week after that Grant will be on Spring/Easter break, so we will have a more relaxed week with lots of Easter books and crafts.