Grades 2-3  Co-op meeting #12

History -- In history we discussed some different aspects of Greek life which can be found in the handouts the students brought home.  They worked on the project during class;  extra space should have been left for the kids to write the meanings of the words at home, if desired.

Geography -- We covered locations found in CCM for this week.

Religion -- We discussed the 6th and 9th Commandments with the emphasis on being pure and clean. Many of the students chose to draw their picture on NOT viewing bad images on TV. 

English -- We covered the material in PLL 45 which taught the usage of see, saw, and have seen.  After filling in the blanks orally, the students copied some of the sentences into their notebooks.

Science -- The topic for science was reptiles.  The characteristics of reptiles were introduced,  and the kids viewed a  snake, inside and out!  We also talked about the different kinds of reptiles: snakes, turtles, etc.  Also during science, the kids handled and observed Miss P's young guinea pig, which was shared for show and tell.

4th-6th Grade Co-op Week 12

Religion- Mrs. Powell discussed with the children the theme for the 3rd Sunday in Lent. She also talked to them about the Stations of the Cross.

Latin- Mrs. Powell went over Lesson 11 with the students. They were taught predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives. Some students volunteered to read aloud the Latin sentence they wrote for homework.

English- I read aloud the story from ILL lesson 40. We discussed indentations at the beginning of a paragraph, how many paragraphs were in the story, and the main thought of each paragraph.Children are to complete this lesson at home.

Science- Children got to examine the inside and outside of a dissected snake while we discussed reptiles.

History- We discussed the geography of Ancient Greece and how the land effects the way people live. The students were introduced to Greek city-states, the differences between monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. We also talked about King Darius, and began discussing the Persian Wars, stopping after the Battle of Marathon. We will continue the discussion at our next class after the field trip!

Co-op Meeting #12, K-1st

(although I missed today due to a sick child, here is what the kids did in my absence, thanks to Megan M. and Allison S.)

Religion - read and discussed Chapter 6 in O.H.F. about the Public Life of Jesus. The children did a coloring page depicting Jesus raising the dead girl to life.

English - picture study (PLL Lesson 140), discussion and story writing. The children were asked to "write" a story about what they saw in the picture, and they dictated their stories to the teachers.

Poetry - they worked on the second stanza of "The City Mouse Lives in a House". Any child who would like to perform the poem in front of the class has two weeks to practice for when we meet again, March 11.

History - they read (and I believe acted out, as we've done the past two weeks) the Aesop's Fable, "Two Travelers and a Bear". I did not find an appropriate coloring page for this story, but they did a copywork sheet on the moral "Misfortune is the test of true friendship". At home, there is plenty of writing space to copy the moral a second time. Another idea is to have the child draw freehand an illustration to show what they remember from the story.

Geography - the students traced the map of Greece, using a piece of tracing paper over top of the map of Ancient Greece we have worked with the last two weeks. At home, they may like to use colored pencils to color the land and sea, or add other details from the "master map" onto the traced copy.

Presentations - Finn M. brought in one of their family's baby chicks!

Science - they reviewed the characteristics of fish and amphibians and read about reptiles from the Handbook of Nature Study. As sometimes happens, the class ran out of time to add to the lapbooks this week. If you'd like to do so at home, simply write (or have your child draw depictions of) the characteristics of reptiles from the CCM Science question this week - backbones, scales, cold-blooded.

See you next week for the field trip!

Virtue Co-op Week #12 (Loyalty)

Loyalty

The condition of being faithful to a person, family, country, idea or custom.

Synonym: devotedness

Antonym: disloyalty

"He who trusts himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things."

- St. Alphonsus Liguori

Ways to practice this virtue:

Don't talk about your friends or family members faults to other people.

Preschooler's Stations of the Cross Box

As my children and I were praying the Stations of the Cross today with C's new SOTC Box, it dawned on me that some parents of other preschoolers may not realize what they have! So, I'm here to explain it to you. Inside the box you will find 14 items. One for each station. These items are meant for your child to hold and look at for each station to better understand/remember what the station is about.

1st Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death (Piece of Twine, like the one wrapped around Jesus' wrists)
2nd Station: Jesus is Made to Carry His Cross (Wooden Cross)
3rd Station: Jesus Falls the First Time (Band-Aid #1)
4th Station: Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother (Blue ribbon, like Mother Mary's veil)
5th Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus (Wooden Heart, to represent Simon's change of heart)
6th Station: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus (Piece of cloth w/ face of Jesus)
7th Station: Jesus Falls a Second Time (Band-Aid #2)
8th Station: Women of Jerusalem Cry for Jesus (A Tissue)
9th Station: Jesus Falls a Third Time (Band-Aid #3)
10th Station: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments (Purple Felt)
11th Station: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross (Nails)
12th Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross (Crucifix)
13th Station: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross (Picture of Pieta)
14th Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (Rock, like the stone placed in front of the tomb)

Idea found here: Pondered In My Heart

2nd-3rd Grade; Week 11

History-- For this subject the children listened to The Trojan Horse, by Emily Little. Thoughtful comments and questions were asked during the story. Following storytime, the students colored a picture of the Trojan Horse.  The sheet also contained lines if parents would like their kids to write a sentence or two about the picture.

Religion-- we talked about the 5th Commandment, learning about what is forbidden, but also how we can take positive action -- by being kind to others, avoiding quarrels, etc.  The kids then drew a picture of how they can obey the 5th commandment.

English -- we  went over the seasons,  did Lesson 44 orally, and then copied the first three sentences from the board.  The children also had an exciting presentation -- Miss Q. brought in a live rabbit!  We did not have time for Latin or poetry this week.

Science-- the students learned about amphibians.  We viewed pictures, talked about different kinds of amphibians, reviewed metamorphosis, and then made a flip book about the life cycle of a frog.  We numbered each stage of frog development, and the students cut out and pasted the pictures.

4th-6th Grade Co-op Week 11

Religion-
We discussed the upcoming 2nd Sunday of Lent in which Mother Church gives us some encouragement by reading the Transfiguration. Christ encouraged Peter, James, and John by showing Himself in some of His divine glory, rather than keeping it hidden in His human form. We talked about keeping our eyes on the prize: heaven! But to keep in mind that we can not have the crown without first having the cross. There would be no Easter if there was no Good Friday. We also talked about offering up our Lenten penances for the good of others, to help us stay on track. It is easier to pass up temptation if you keep that intention in mind. I told the children to look up to St. Francis of Assisi, who is a prime example of someone who embraces his cross.

Latin-
The children were blessed to have Mrs. Rolling come in and teach Latin! She livened up the class with some songs to help them review 1st declensions and 1st conjugations.

English-
We discussed possessive form and I read aloud some sentences. The children would name the noun that has possession and what it possessed.

Science-
We went over each characteristic of an amphibian as the children drew out the life cycle of a frog.

History-

We very quickly and briefly discussed the ending of The Odyssey and Penelope's competition for the suitors who wanted to marry her. She agreed to marry anyone who could string her husband's bow and shoot it through 12 axes- a task that she knew only her husband could do. Then the children had a fantastic demonstration on bows by Mr. Durgin. After that, they were given a chance to string a bow made by Mr. Rolling. Whoever could string the bow, could also shoot the bow! Three students were able to string it and then competed for the bow in a shooting contest. Congratulations to Z. Durgin, I. Cummings, and C. Powell! A big congrats to I.C. who won the competition and took the bow home. Thank you Mr. Rolling and Mr. Durgin!!