So, while we are celebrating 100 days of school TODAY, technically our 100th day was some time back and we've actually completed over 125 school days. If I had some time right now, I'd go back and figure that number up, but the reality is, it's not that important.
When you are homeschooling, learning opportunities present themselves at every turn.
- Caleb is learning when he's out helping dad in the garden, planting, weeding, killing caterpillars that are eating our plants.
- He's learning when he's going to the new neighbors and helps dad to mow their yard because their mower is broken.
- He's learning when our heifers are birthing their calves and he gets to experience it first hand.
- He's learning when I'm preparing dinner and he wants to help by measuring and cooking right along with me.
With the turn of this page in our teachers manual we have completed our:
- Books of the bible list
- 100's chart
- The old testament stories
- The Phonics lessons
- Number of the day activity
We are transitioning somewhat and will be working on some other important reading skills such as:
- developing smooth oral reading
- developing vocabulary by explaining difficult words - (Caleb is already doing this on his own. He has begun asking what something means when he hears a word he doesn't know or understand.)
- discussing books and whether they are fiction or non-fiction
- discussing books and whether they contain FACTS or someone's OPINIONS
- retelling stories in the correct sequence
- discussing a story and having Caleb tell me/or write out the "who, what, when, where, why"
- identifying the parts of a book - title, author, page numbers, title page, table of contents, illustrations, glossary and index.
He will continue developing his writing/composition skills by completing his Bible story and Bible notebook every day.
And while MFW does not use a formal spelling program in 1st grade, it is suggested (if the child is ready) to work on a weekly dictation activity. With this activity, I will pull a sentences from his bible reader, using one he's already read and we've talked about, and we'll go over it again. I'll dictate it to him and then we will discuss any errors or mistakes using a gentle approach and format recommended by MFW.
We are at the end of the year, but even still we have a lot to cover yet. It is good that things are changing up a bit as I think it will get us through the rest of the year with a happy face!
But, back to today and our 100th Day of School Celebration Activities. It didn't take a lot of research to come up with a few activities that actually took us about 2 1/2 hours to complete. It was a fun day and a nice smooth slide back into school since Caleb was down and out with a crazy stomach bug yesterday.
His Place Value Chart now says 100!
His tally marks have now reached 100!
His 100's Chart says 100!
He walked off 100 steps in the yard - starting from the corner of the driveway - where I stayed......
While he walked and walked and walked.....He is a speck there in the center of the photo.
I zoomed in for a shot and told him to WAVE so I could see him! Okay, you have to be chuckling at the rubber boots. He put his feet in his boots and realized that they were wet inside from helping dad in the garden the night before. He decided to wear mine. SOME DAY he will not like this photo!!
He used his patterned blocks and created 10 shapes, with 10 pieces each, making 100!
He grabbed what he THOUGHT might be 100 beans and then counted them out to see, making piles of ten.
He rolled a die, 100 times, and we kept tract of each number rolled to see which number would get the most rolls. He chose #6 as his number and I chose #4.
Well, #5 was the actual winner in this round. He insisted on playing a second time and that time his number, #6 was the winner. ;o)
Caleb came up with a 100 activity on his own, lining up 100 of his magnetic balls. I put a pencil there so you could get a better idea of how long his line was.
We finished out our 100th day by reading 2 books from the library - One Hundred Days Plus One and One Hundred Hungry Ants. It was actually kind of cute because in the One Hundred Days Plus One book, the little girl gets sick and missed her 100th day of school. But, the class is a thoughtful class and they wait to celebrate WITH her on the 101st day of school. That is what happened to us....Caleb was sick yesterday and we did not do school on OUR 100th day, but our 101st instead.
I asked on the MFW Facebook page (thank you momma's) and I also found a book at the library for ideas on celebrating our 100th day. The book I found was called, "100 Ways to Celebrate 100 days," by Bruce Goldstone.
What a fun day today! I love it when we can step outside of the norm and do something different! I can't stress it enough how excited he was when he realized the list of things we've finished and that he will no longer have to do anymore!
Until next time,
Blessings,
Pam
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