Kindergarten - 1st Grade Week Two

We had a lovely second day of co-op.  Below is a general explanation of the classwork we did, by subject (Art & Music excluded, since they are taught by different teachers).

Religion - we reviewed the Lesson 1 catechism questions (from the back of Our Holy Faith, Book One), reciting the questions and answers in tandem, one group asking the questions and the other giving the responses; next week we'll be doing a little project to help us learn about the Blessed Trinity.

English (Grammar) - our Picture Study this week was a painting of three kittens (Lesson 11 in PLL), and many of the kids willingly offered ideas to the lively discussion.

(Poetry) - we began "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson, first stanza (from CCM Week 2)

History - we read the story of Noah's Ark (Tomie dePaola version), while looking at some beautiful black line illustrations in The Ark by Arthur Geisurt and doing a coloring page from the Dover Old Testament coloring book.  We discussed the important parts of the story.

*** We took a short recess break outside to play a "name game" with a bouncing ball, to help the kids get to know each other a little better. ***  (a great idea of Mrs. Cummings')

Geography - we found time this week!  We went over the continents (which we had skipped last week due to time constraints) from CCM Week One, and also briefly went over the oceans for Week Two.

Science - (possibly the most fun) We studied ants!  We read about them, studied a "giant" one in a micromount, observed them in action digging tunnels in our class ant farm, and sketched them.  Ask your child to show you what they drew.  You may want to continue reading about them in the Seaside & Wayside nature readers (on the "Recommended Reading List"). Ants are discussed in Book 3, beginning on page 9.  There are also several great picture books on ants which you may find at the library.


Note to Parents:

The children received their nets and bug catchers/cages today (one set per family if there are siblings in the same class). They are encouraged to take them home to catch some examples of animal life (insects, worms, etc.) and to bring them back to Schola Rosa next Monday, either to show the class what they caught and/or to use to go hunting during class as well.

Binders - if you haven't already done so, consider adding some divider tabs to your child's binder to separate their work by Week, or maybe more preferably by subject: Art, Religion, English, History, and Science.