Kendall said to me this morning, “The chrysalis is black!” I asked her what that meant. She didn’t understand my question first. She finally said, “The butterfly inside is turning black.”
In the next few hours, we’ll be having another monarch butterfly fluttering in the house.
Taylor woke me up on Saturday morning at about 5am for help with the bobbin. I understood what that meant: help with the sewing machine that needed a bobbin with thread. It was almost automatic, my walk to the school room. In my surprise to see long lines of machine stitching on a swatch of fabric, I asked her how long she had been up. She said with a smile, “Since one!”
Since one in the morning? I completely understand the creative spark that throws a sleeper out of bed and becomes flame, heat for the cauldron, which is why I didn’t get angry with her. I was happy.
It’s Sunday 1:30am, and I’m waiting for her to wake up, excited about the gift that the Tooth Fairy brought for her. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’ll be wanting to go out to garden under the stars… being that the Tooth Fairy brought Taylor gardening supplies.
This is a list of the subjects and content that the children have mastered or completed during the second nine weeks of school.
Maths ~
Ty: Grade Four Maths: Roman Numerals: Addition, subtraction, and multiplication through MM. Arabic Numerals: Place value through ten millions, building millions, building models (drawings) of algebraic expressions, finding rules in patterns: If x=1, 2, 3 and y=3, 7, 11, then y=x(4)-1.
Kyle: Grade Two Maths: Roman Numerals: Addition, subtraction, halving, and doubling through MM. Arabic Numerals: Adding and subtracting two- and three-digit numbers, building to one thousand, counting by tens and hundreds, comparing and ordering
Taylor: Grade One Maths: Roman Numerals: writing to XX, addition to XII, subtraction from IX. Arabic Numerals: Addition and subtraction to 20, word problems and solving through models and drawing.
English ~
Ty: Grammar: common and proper nouns, concrete and abstract nouns, predicate nouns, possessive nouns, pronouns and appositives, main and auxiliary verbs in various tenses (I am, I was, I have been, I did become, I have become), irregular verbs including past participles (The sun had shone), adjectives common, positive, comparative, and superlative, adverbs in describing adjectives, verbs, and condition, prepositions, object nouns, conjunctions, capitalization, quotation marks, fragments and run-ons, homophones; Spelling: Plural words (-y to -ies), names of months and holidays, -ld, -ft, -lf, -mb, -tch, /kw/ and /skw/ sounds, silent k, silent w(wrote)
Kyle: Writing: Paragraph structure, main idea, supporting details
Taylor: Narration and comprehension from various reading materials; Spelling: -lk, short vowel with double consonants -dd, -ll, (odd, still) contractions
Art ~ Free drawing
Phys. Ed. ~ Unorganized running around, riding bikes, rollerblading, and climbing trees. Taylor learned to ride a two-wheeler in five minutes a few days after turning six.
German ~
All: Singing children’s, folk Telling time, colors, numbers, greetings. Conjugating irregular verbs (to be, to eat) in first, second, and third persons, singular and plural. Narration from German Bible.
Penmanship ~
Ty: All lower- and uppercase cursive letters
Kyle: All lower- and uppercase traditional manuscript
Taylor: Uppercase traditional manuscript including ampersand (&), c o s t u v w x y z in lowercase
Music ~
Ty: Piano: Great Balls of Fire and Clementi Sonatina Opus 36, No.1. Theory: Identifying intervals and steps between tones.
Kyle: Piano: Hound Dog and Mozart Minuet K.1. Theory: Note naming in bass and treble, note values in comparison to notes other than whole, id est, how many tied eighth notes make a half note.
Taylor: Piano: C and G major pieces. Theory: Note naming in bass and treble clefs.
All: Singing: Solfege sight reading; English, Irish, and American children, folk, 1950′s, and 60′s rock.
World History ~
Romulus and Remus’ foundation of Rome, Roman Republic, conquering Carthaginians, Hannibal, three Punic wars, Julius Ceasar, crossing the Rubicon, Ceasar and Cleopatra, Ides of March, Marc Anthony and Octavian, Augustus Ceasar, Pax Romana, Pompeii and Pliny, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, the Rise of Christianity in Rome, Constantine and the Edict of Milan, Byzantine Empire, Visigoths in Rome, Germanic invaders, Justinian Code, the Vikings, Eric the Red, Leif the Lucky
Cultural Literacy ~
Norse mythology (Odin, Thor, Sif, Loki), Greek and Roman mythology (Jason and the Golden Fleece, Perseus and Medusa, Cupid and Psyche, Sword of Damocles), Aesop’s Fables, Beowulf, Finn McCool, and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Life Science ~
Ty and Kyle: Learning to observe, vertebrates and invertebrates, earthworms, octopi, starfish, arthropods, insects versus arachnids, insect life cycles, heads, motions, defenses, communication tools, dwellings, complete and incomplete metamorphosis, biographies of scientists, plants as provision for Man and beast, broadleaf and needleleaf, seed design and travel, parts of a flower, germination, recognizing birds, understanding the design for flight in birds, why birds sing, the purpose of feathers.
Taylor: Living versus nonliving, habitats, life cycles, basic needs, designs for survival, e.g. camouflage, fins, talons
