It's Tea Time: Word Boxes and Blackout Poetry

We hosted out first ever Poetry Tea Time two Thursdays ago. To describe it as fun would be an underestimate!

                                                                   

                                         All three of the kids set the tables and arranged the flowers.                                                                     

They also prepared the food and made the smoothies. My heart was smiling when I witnessed all those small practical life tasks that they had been working on for the past two years in full effect. They were so natural in their steps and I did not have to intervene, not once. It was more than about Poetry to them, it was more like a culmination of what they have learned about grace and courtesy and all things practical life and they were ready to share their work with the world. 

Let me just be frank, you may not see any Montessori Materials in this post, but I hope that you are able to see how we embrace the Montessori Philosophy in everything we do. I really want you to feel the bridge between Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary. We will one day when the time reveals itself return back to our materials at just the right time. Right now they are abstractly understanding the concepts that have already been taught. This year is a review in deepening our knowledge and becoming our unique selves.  "I can do it! that phrase never goes away no matter how old you are. This needs not to be the time of information overload, but a digestion period so that they have enough room for more. They are progressing ever so fast and my friends it is so exciting to have school days and think of it as, What fun are we having today? We do our reading a loud, language lessons, and math work everyday. We haven't had the time to add in extra subjects such as science, and history on a daily basis. Still some how they are learning this stuff, and can I just say that Student CNN Rocks! Philosophy and Chess is how we wind down from the day.

                                                                             

                                                                    

                                                                               

                                                                     

   Back to poetry.
                                                              

                             
                                 
                                                                           

We learned more about Lewis Carroll, had fun listening to and finding all of the nonsense words in Jabberwocky and tried our hand at defining the meaning of the words.

                                                                              

We made word boxes so that they would have a place to hold their poems.

                                                                      

 The kids also selected a piece of poetry that I copied for them and then used paint to black out the words that they didn't want in the poem to create their very own poem.

 They all enjoyed reading their poems aloud too.

                                                                       

Just this past February this guy requested to be able to skip the whole Poetry Unit in Write Shop, now he looks forward to Thursday's Poetry Tea Time.                                                                      

I really think that these two hours dedicated to Poetry each week with peers is time well spent.

As Seen on Pinterest: X- Rays in Tot School

                                                                     

                                                                       

Drawing

I am really not the kid's teacher, just their facilitator. I came to this conclusion over the summer when the kids started making fast academic achievements over the summer ( when we were on "break"). I couldn't keep up with them, and to be honest the questions they were asking were out of my skill level. Which is O.K by me because that is the beauty of homeschooling you can learn right alongside them. I am happy that they find me to be a resource person. Where they are now in being able to follow their interest is being able to connect with experts, those who specialize in certain fields.
.

DJ for a long time has been into animals. Over the summer DJ was frustrated with himself for not being able to draw things in nature "properly". He sketched over and over and finally one day he asked me if I would help him draw something. Those who really know me, know that I am really great at drawing stick people, but that is it. To prevent frustration we gathered " How To" tutorials from the internet, and books from the library. While this kept him busy for some time I was also researching if there were drawing classes in the area. I was pleased to use my resource skills to find a certified art teacher to teach drawing classes at the Studio.

                                                                       

Since his first class he has been begging for a new sketch book and a trip to the nature center. How wonderful that he considers that these two things go together. I am so happy for him and the progress he is making with his own independent studies.

Research Mini Lesson: Chewing Gum

                                                                                   

Today the kids and I did our first mini lesson on writing a report. Yes they have written a million reports, but it was time for me to show them how to polish those skills.

Our first topic is Chewing Gum

                        
The first step was introducing the Topic which was easy peasy to for them to identify.

The next step was identifying subtopics, which I don't think either of them have ever been taught before. I asked them what did they want to know about chewing gum. Then we made a list and was able to come up with three subtopics.

                                                                             

We went on and read some information about Chewing Gum which helped them learn to take notes and identify sources for their research topic.

                                                                                

They really enjoyed telling me the information that belonged under each subtopic as I modeled how to take notes, and letting me know that this information is from Source A.

                                                                                 

 Today's lesson ended with me assigning them some research work related to our topic and they are responsible for finding Source 2. We will come back to this lesson on Friday.

                                                                           

That Big Scary E-Word (Evolution)

For months I have been pondering how to teach Evolution as a theory to the kids. It seemed to be an impossible task for me. Whenever I sat to think out a plan it turned out to be bias, or religious. Then I came across Real Science Biology 2 and I thought o.k we will do it this way. The problem still remained that I have been pushing this topic aside for way too long as far as the kids are concerned. Real Science Biology 2 doesn't get into evolution until much later in the year.

This weekend prayers were answered when I remembered to check out Core Knowledge lesson plans. It is such a perfect plan that I am so pleased to have found for FREE. 

                                                                         
                                                                                   

I used to use their plans on a regular basis before I found the Montessori Method. I don't know why I stopped using them, because they are a great source of inspiration. I do use the books What your_____ needs to Know as a guide and they always have been helpful in linking those learning gaps that happen even when I tried to avoid it. 

                                                                                     

Just in case anyone is interested we are using the seventh grade plan That Big Scary E-Word (Evolution). I choose this particular plan because it stuck to teaching evolution as a theory. Score! I am in no way shape of form a very religious person, one thing that I always loved about my parents who are very religious is that they instilled my love for God, but never forced me to worship their way, and never prevented me from learning about other religions, or theories. This was very important to me in teaching the kids about evolution. Just because I don't believe in the theory of The Big Bang doesn't mean that it shouldn't be taught. It is a theory! And since I am raising scientist it must be taught!

And we will continue to roll out of our Timeline of Life.

                                                                                  

As Seen on Pinterest

It's official my all time favorite science activities involve baking soda and vinegar.

                                                                                   

                                                                             

The cups are filled with vinegar and food coloring, and then add the baking soda for color explosion.

Exploring the Five Senses in Tot School

Last Friday was our first class and we started with practical life activities, and the Pink Tower. Today we continued with our Practical life activities and also added in some themed activities. Since the parents also attend I am able to give some independent lessons as well, we meet for 2.5 hours and the class size is six children.

Today's theme was The Five Senses.