Main Lesson Monday

These are a smattering of the notebook pages the kids have created this month.   Not perfect, but perfectly delightful to me. 

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So one of my favorite lessons grew out of our recent thrift store find of Classic Poems to Read Aloud.  We memorized All Things Bright and Beautiful last week.  It was actually memorized in a matter of hours once I bought packs of gum as a reward.  I am nothing if not pragmatic, y'all.  So after that I had pulled out Hillaire Belloc's Mathilda for a hilarious contrast.  They thought it was a little gross and creepy so we discussed satire, parody, and cautionary tales.  They recorded the definitions and we found the rest of his tales here. Each picked out one to record in their notebooks. They still they are gross and creepy and I am still amused. 

Some math pages:

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We print out the free puzzles of the week for each grade level from Critical Thinking Press.  I truly believe that never before has critical thinking been more………critical.  These puzzles sometimes hurt my brain but they get everyone talking and working together, especially this week when they DID NOT INCLUDE A SOLUTION. Don't worry.  I'm not bitter or anything.  We are just still hashing this one out.  Go ahead.  Download.  Then tell us who you think stole the headphones 'k? 

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And some random real life practice finding nouns in a magazine article.  It is often easy to figure out a pattern in a language exercise book.  Then they are at a loss when faced with actual text someplace else.  This practice got us discussing abstract nouns since the mid elementary student who underlined in blue found most of the concrete things quickly, but missed the abstract – which is totally age appropriate per the whole Trivium age group delineations.  This was a quick game and isn't perfectly checked either btw.  There are more anchor charts and grammar pages to help springboard discussion over on my pinterest board here. 

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This next page just makes me laugh.  Every time.  (yes, I know it is misspelled)

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Your life lesson of the day is right there.  That "slightly downhill' part?   It's a concept to live by if ever there was one hahaha!  Working hard on that over here.  Just gonna leave that there and wrap up now lol.  

Living and learning lately – Early March edition

Late winter went out with a bang as far as school has gone.  Aidan had the opportunity to attend a co-op class on Celestial Navigation. (Thank you Amy! ) Truth be told, some of it was over his head as he was one of the younger participants.  But fortunately we still have access to the wonderful slide presentations and I have been pulling materials from the shelves to continue the conversation at home. Brendan and Kieran have been fired up about astronomy since overhearing us chat about class so they got some projects too, 

Mar 2012 aidan cel nav web
Mar

We found the Wrap-Up's.  They had been hiding at the bottom of a box I had unpacked and repacked and missed them. They were so excited.  Brendan and Tess were too little use them before we moved. Highly recommend. They last forever. 

Mar 2012 party web

Lunch for 20 last week.  Brendan wrapped 30 burritos the night before.  Go B! Once he got the hang of it he was a wrappin' fool.  The kids had their first St. Pat's gig earlier in the day and came back here for food and an afternoon at the zipline.  The boys headed out to the woods for a long imaginary adventure and later they all ended back inside for board games.  We know some great kids. 

Mar 2012 brendan roman numerals web

Roman numeral cards free here.   Fun extension ideas here.

Mar 2012 st pat crafts web 2

A cut and paste morning for the little Irishmen – and women. : )  From the links here.

I forgot to mention a couple read aloud standout's. 

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon  

This Audubon bio was fabulous. Really. It packed a lot of information in story form and included actual pages from his journals alongside lovely watercolor illustrations. I think we may try this art extension idea.  More than you could ever do here. 

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven 

This was a sorta silly story but I honestly didn't realize he had moved even more than we have. ; ) 

And I better wrap up here.  

Stop by tomorrow for the details on a Luck o' the Irish homeschool giveaway!

Montessori at Home – Multiplication Manipulative plans

Those of you who were interested in our multiplication mat might want to visit Montessori Print Shop.  Jennifer has graciously shared actual lesson pages from her primary math manual to use with the mat.   These run through a typical multiplication presentation, complete with suggested scripts. 

Enjoy!