Great Americans and Black History month

We started February learning a bit about Black History month, and we also started a timeline for our wall of "Great American People in America's History" to finish out through this school year. The kids added their own birth years and names to the time line, and we added facts that we learned earlier in the year such as the year the Constitution was signed, and when George Washington was born. We studied a bit about Martin Luther King Jr when we covered Georgia during our discussion when we came to that part of the country, so we added him too during the beginning of Black History month.

Earlier this week we read the story of Moses in the bible, and the children used their journal writing time to express their feelings about slaves and children of God.

We watched a video about Harriet Tubman.

Animated Heroes Harriet Tubman

So in our discussion of slavery, and a nation divided about government, we talked about the Federalists and the Confederates. We discussed the Mason Dixon line in our geography time today, and the kids made a collage depicting the state boundaries during that time, and now. And it transitioned into our time for the day when we stand and say the Pledge of Allegience, reminding them that our country now has a Federal flag, a Federal government, (and regardless of my husband's southern sentiment!) that is where we are today.

Map of the USA during the Civil war

Flags of a nation divided

We finished up our week by watching the video of Abraham Lincoln and adding him to our timeline too.

We've been working on listening, and respect, and other character building values in our devotional time, so I added a listening exercise to help them. We started reading Fablehaven, and I have to say that I LOVE the big vocabulary in it! It doesn't water anything down with the low expectation that children won't understand, instead it adds an adventure and fantasy to bring them UP to comprehend a broader vocabulary base, that frankly, our country is lacking in education. The kids are enjoying it!

Kellan is full of wiggles, so it has been more challenging to get him interested in reading, but he's doing it at his own pace, and I've been pleased with his progress. Keeping his interest during reading time (and therefor keeping him out of trouble) has been a challenge, so I came up with this:

I skim through the few pages that I intend to read to them, and write him a list of vocabulary words to listen for. And if he hears it, he makes a check mark by it. Then after our reading time, we say the words, use them in a sentence, and even make a word search activity sheet with the new vocabulary words some days. It has helped immensely, and it has thickened the stimulation for Maren too, who loves books and reading, and still wants more.

What are your kids reading right now?

Spelling

A few friends have asked what curriculum I use for spelling.

Right now? My own.


You can find spelling lists online for each grade level that your child is comprehending- that's a perk of homeschooling, to move your child up or down according to their individual readiness. Maren is in 1st grade, reading at a 3rd grade level, so for a challenge of learning new words I took ideas from 4th grade spelling lists.

Using Microsoft Word, I made a weekly list consisting of 9-10 words for Maren, 6-8 words for my kindergarten age son Kellan.

Both of them have a folder they call their "Dictionary". Each Monday, I put their new list for the week on the left side. The middle section has pages from A-Z for them to add in their new words alphabetically as they learn them. The right side has a column for each week to make a record of their testing.

So this is how we use this subject: Mondays they receive their new list. 1st Grader writes her words in cursive practicing handwriting, and looks words up in a dictionary. Kindergartener writes spelling words 3 times each in manuscript, focusing on handwriting for both.

Tuesday: 1st Grader uses dictionary for vocabulary and deciphering if the word is a noun/verb/adjective, etc, and writes it in a sentence. Kindergartener writes rhyming words for his list.

Wednesday: 1st grader focuses on grammar and usage of words (past or present tense, pluralizing, or conjugating verbs.) Kindergartener writes/traces/or copies from a writing board sentences containing his spelling words- focusing on punctuation and handwriting for both kids.

Thursday: 1st grader has creative, free writing time in journal, and reviews spelling and vocabulary for the list of words, alphabetizes them on a worksheet. Kindergartener has phonics lessons of combined sounds like TH, SH, CH, OU, EE, OO etc, and review of list words that might reflect those.

Friday is testing on spelling and knowledge of proper use of words, then they add them to their "Dictionary" to indicate that they have shown they have learned it. The date is noted on the right column of their folder, and a gold star just because I'm cool like that!

Also, the folder is record at the completion of their learning each week, so all of their papers of writing gets thrown away- this will go in their end of the year binder documenting their progress for our legal records. VERY easy and compact!




Other ways I supplement learning vocabulary and grammar for them are these worksheets I made. My first grader will have a sentence written incorrectly with mistakes like spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or incorrectly conjugated verbs, and she must critically think and correct the sentences. My kindergartener will be given a sound such as "-ing" and makes a list of words containing that combined sound of letters.

For further language and grammar for my 1st Grader, we are using Shurley English, and it fits us perfectly!