September 28, AO yr 1, week 3

We are having a bit of a slower start this morning, after last night's late bedtime to see the lunar eclipse.

Fina continued working on her scarf. We need to finish it up today.

She also made this cute Canada flag with what she believes is a maple leaf that she found yesterday. I told her it isn't a maple leaf, but she cares not!

We did our morning prayer and read the Bible readings for this coming Sunday.

On to cursive. We repeated am, an, man, s, ss, ssss, sass, mass. The cursive is getting much better! So, we tackled t. And tt and tttt.  She did wonderfully with those t's. She was much less frustrated today with her cursive work. Which is great. She writes very smoothly and fluently, which I am happy about.

Let me provide a link to her fountain pen, the Lamy ABC. It really helps her keep a correct pen grip because of its shape. (This is something we are trying to work on with pencil crayons and pencils etc. She gets lazy and falls into a three finger grip often.) Apparently, it is the fountain pen that is commonly used in primary schools in Europe. I don't doubt it. Goodness knows that Europeans, in general, have much better penmanship than we do.

Next, on to poetry (at Fina's request).
Here is her "too cool for school" recitation of her two poems "Raining" and "Singing" that she has been working on the last few weeks.

We reread "My Shadow," "System," "A Good Boy," and "Escape at Bedtime." We read three new poems today: "Marching Song," "The Cow" and a two-liner "Happy Thoughts." She memorized the last one very quickly.

We got the chance to talk about whether we are as happy as kings with all the things we have. She answered an emphatic "no!"

We read Genesis 22:1-19, the story of Abraham and Isaac. She narrated it very well!

She wanted to read something else from the Blue Fairy Book and since "Cinderella, or the little glass slipper" was an optional story to "Beauty and the Beast" for AOyr 1 week 3, I thought I could tack it on as an extra. I had Fina narrate it, and she did so very well. SPOILER ALERT: the story is very nice and different than the Cinderella story as we know it. She goes to two balls and at the second ball she loses her glass slipper.  The prince's men find her, the slipper fits, she puts on the other slipper she had kept and her step-sisters beg her forgiveness. She forgives them, gives them lodgings in the palace and even finds for them two Lords of the court.

Then, we read "The Brave Three Hundred" from Fifty Famous Stories Retold. She could not narrate it at all. I gave her the "I'm very sorry you missed out on paying attention to such a wonderful story" speech and closed it up.

Rookie Mom mistake: do not do three narrations in a row! It is just too much for her. She would have gotten that story just fine. It was short and exciting!

MUS 12A and 12B.  ADDITION!!! 2 + 3 = 5. Very exciting! "Mom, is this like REAL math?"  I must say, I'm really impressed with Math-U-See. The manipulatives really work. She got the whole addition thing quite easily. She knows most of the bars by colour, and the ones she doesn't know she learns by trying. I'm already a believer!

We are in the process, with some friends, to start a monthly CM homeschooling coop. I hope to cover some of my missing items there! Maybe nature study with painting etc.  I will keep you posted as we figure something out. It is so great to have homeschooling friends locally (not just in Facebook groups, which are great, but still!)!

Off to lunch. (Fina is going to work on some Lego right now as I prep lunch.) And to finish that scarf for M. And to continue to read Peter Pan, and to play outside, and get to the Post Office, the library etc etc. What a fun day!

Oh, I had better play some Brahms while I prep lunch and she builds with Lego. I almost forgot today!