Writing Assignment

Actually an "oral story-telling" assignment to compose a "Story About Me." It could be fiction or non-fiction and story prompts were given if needed, but Cameron had no problem coming up with this. (I did help a bit with the last two sentences though.)

Cameron's Story About Games

Once upon a time, I was playing chess for my first time. I did not beat Daddy. Another time, I played chess against Cassie and Cassia won! Another day I played Daddy again and I got really close to beating him but I didn't. Another time I played Monopoly with Mommy. I also play backgammon with Mommy. Another time I played checkers with Cassie. I like to play games with my family. I can't wait until Greyson can play games with my family and me.

A Study of Nouns

Copywork in which "Person" nouns have been underlined in blue, "Thing" nouns underlined in green, and "Idea" nouns enclosed in red.

Where did my picture go??

The First Cities of India

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (The Ancients)
  
  • The River-Road
    
  • The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro

Mapwork:
Cameron's

Notice the neatness with which the water is colored. It's actually only colored at all because someone decided to make the river run all the way along the coastline. I said that that wasn't accurate and that the ocean would have to be colored to correct it. I was very pleased to see how neatly that was done. You will notice that Cassia's mapwork is not shown here. That is because her picture was entirely red. Eeek.

Coloring Pages: "An Indus King"

Cameron's:


Cassia's:

Notice her typically amazing use of color.

Favorite Library Books:

1. Once a Mouse... A Fable Cut in Wood by Marcia Brown
   
2. One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi
   

The Assyrians

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume 1 (The Ancients), Chapter 8
  
  • The Assyrians
    
  • Gilgamesh the King

Map Work:


Coloring Page:

Favorite Library Books:

• Gilgamesh the King retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman
  
• The Revenge of Ishtar retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman
  
• The Last Quest of Gilgamesh retold and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman
  

"The Little Girl Who Wanted to Be Dirty"

First draft narration:

A girl had a dream. She hated baths but she had a dream she was in a pig pen. She played with the pigs all day but then when it was time for supper she just got pig food and she didn't like that so she ran home and took a bath and put on clean pajamas. She told her mom all about it and her mom said, "You just had a dream!" The end.

Final (edited) narration:

A girl hated baths but she had a dream she was in a pig pen. She played with the pigs all day but then when it was time for supper she just got pig food. She didn't like that so she ran home to take a bath and put on clean pajamas. The end.

Hammurabi and the Babylonians

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (The Ancients), Chapter 7
  
  • Hammurabi's Code

Map Work:


Coloring Pages:
Cameron's

Cassia's


Crafts/Activities:
LEGO ziggurat

Grammar Definitions

Noun:

"A noun is the name of a person, place, thing or idea." 10/10/07

The Jewish People

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (The Ancients), Chapter 6
  
  • God Speaks to Abraham
    
  • Joseph Goes to Egypt
  
  

Map Work:

The route from Ur to Haran to Canaan and finally to Egypt is shown.

Coloring Pages:
Cameron's:

Cassia's:

"The Rabbit and the Turtle"

"The Rabbit and the Turtle" narrations 10/8/07

First (long & detailed) draft:

The rabbit thought the turtle couldn't beat him in a race. So then they had a race to see who would win but they had no coach so they asked the fox to coach and he said, "Yes." Then the fox said, "On your marks; get set; go!" and the rabbit went speeding ahead like a galloping horse. The turtle was walking slow behind. The rabbit got tired of hopping so he took a nap beside the road. And when the rabbit was still sleeping, the turtle walked right past him. When the rabbit woke up the turtle was way far ahead so the rabbit hopped just as fast as he could but the turtle was so far ahead that by the time the rabbit caught up he was already past the finish line. The rabbit said "Wait, wait, I'm faster!" but the fox said, "But the turtle already won. You may be fast but being fast and lazy is no good. Being slow and paying attention is better." The End.

Final (summarized) draft:

Once upon a time there was a rabbit and a turtle who were going to run a race. The rabbit thought he would win because he was so fast. But he got tired and took a nap beside the road. While he was sleeping the turtle passed by him. The turtle won the race."

Akkadia

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (the Ancients), Chapter 5
  
  • Sargon and the Akkadians
  
  

Coloring Pages:
Cameron's:

You can't tell from the scan, but the hat was very carefully colored a light peach or "flesh" color. Speaking of flesh color, before he began coloring, Cameron asked me if the people of Sumer had dark skin. I said that I wasn't sure, but I thought they did. He said, "Oh, ok. I have a brown crayon here for dark skin, but I don't think I'll use it now." He ended up not coloring the skin at all. I wonder if that is a political statement of sorts? It was, certainly, the first time he has ever mentioned skin color.

Cassia's:
(Scanner conked out! It was very red though, lol.)

Map Work:
Not interesting enough to post. ;) Just a red circle around Akkadia.

Other Activities:
*Word search on Sumerian Inventions for Cameron
*Illustrations of the list words for Cassia (click to enlarge)

Favorite Library Books:

1. Arabian Nights: Three Tales retold and illustrated by Deborah Nourse Lattimore
   
2. The Three Princes: A Tale from the Middle East retold by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
   
3. You Wouldn't Want to Be a Sumerian Slave! by Jacquline Morley
   

Memory Work, Fall 2007

from First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 1 + 2, Lesson 35

Days of the Week
a Mother Goose rhyme adapted by Sara Buffington

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is ever so sweet,
Thursday's child is tidy and neat;
Friday's child is prone to a giggle,
Saturday's child is easy to tickle;
But the child that is born on restful Sunday
Is happy and cheerful, and loves to play.

Introduced: 11/01/07
Memorized:

----------

from First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 1 + 2, Lesson 27

Hearts Are Like Doors by Anonymous

Hearts, like doors, will open with ease,
To very, very little keys,
And don't forget that two of these
Are "Thank you, sir" and "If you please!"

Introduced: 10/30/07
Memorized:

----------

from First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 1 + 2, Lesson 15

Work by Anonymous

Work while you work,
Play while you play;
This is the way
To be happy each day.
All that you do,
Do with your might;
Things done by halves
Are never done right.

Introduced: 10/17/07
Memorized: 10/23/07

----------

from First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 1 + 2, Lesson 2

The Caterpillar by Christina G. Rossetti

Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry;
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk.

May no toad spy you,
May the little birds pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.

Introduced: 10/2/07
Memorized: 10/4/07

Spelling Words, Fall 2007

week of 11/5/07

1. hit
   
2. big
   
3. win
   
4. fill
   
5. this
   
6. did
   

week of 10/29/07

1. hat
   
2. man
   
3. has
   
4. lamp
   
5. and
   
6. hand
   

week of 10/15/07

Review


week of 10/8/07

1. six
   
2. box
   
3. top
   
4. book
   
5. mix
   
6. pop
   

week of 10/1/07

1. van
   
2. zoo
   
3. you
   
4. *queen (quene)
   
5. zip
   
6. *very (varee)
   

Red starred (*) words were missed on the Friday test. Blue words were spelled correctly.

The Old Kingdom of Egypt

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (The Ancients), Chapter 4
  
  • *Making Mummies
    
  • *Egyptian Pyramids
  
  

Narrations:

Egypt's Pyramids - 10/1/07

Egypt has pyramids. The pyramids are used to hold people who are packed in sarcophoguses, called mummies. The mummies are wrapped in cloth. They thought the mummies would let them live forever.

Egypt is along the Nile river. They made mummies four thousand years ago.

Favorite Library Books

• Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki
  
• Cat Mummies by Kelly Trumble
  

Field Trips:

• Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium
  
  • *Tour the museum online here.
    
  • *Read about our field trip on September 19, 2007 here.
  
  

The First Writing

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (The Ancients), Chapter 3
  
  • *Hieroglyphs and Cuneiform
  
  

Favorite Library Books:

• Seeker of Knowledge: The Man who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Rumford
  

Map Work:
Cameron's

Cassia's


Coloring Pages:
Cameron's

The black was an artistic thing. I'm not sure what it "means" but he actually left the room to find a black crayon. He really, really wanted that man to be black as night. He wanted to do his map work in black too but I wouldn't let him because I said that you wouldn't be able to see the map if he did!

Cassia's

Crafts:

• Cameron's name in hieroglyphic letters
  
  
• Cassia's name in cuneiform on clay (plus some happy faces)
  
  
• "Mom" in hieroglyph letters on clay (forgive the faulty autofocus)
  
  
• "Mom" in cuneiform on clay (again, forgive the faulty autofocus)
  
  

Daily Schedule - Fall 2007

As always, NOT set in stone. This is just a general guideline of what I would like to accomplish each day/week. Fall Quarter 2007 is September 21, 2007 to December 20, 2007.

MONDAY

• Spelling: Introduce week's spelling words. Do a page or two of SWO A.
  
• Math: one or more workbook exercises
  
• Phonics: one (or less, if long) lesson
  
• History: read SOTW, do accompanying map work and coloring pages
  
• Lunch
  
• PE: gymnastics
  
• Read Alouds: read more history or other books
  

TUESDAY

• Phonics: one lesson or easy reader book
  
• Math: one or more workbook exercises
  
• Grammar: one lesson from FLL
  
• Science: read science text or books or do experiments
  
• Lunch
  
• 4-H: meetings or projects two Tuesdays a month
  
• PE: ballet for Cassia
  
• Read Alouds: read more science or other books
  

WEDNESDAY

• Spelling: finish week's lesson
  
• Math: one or more workbook exercises
  
• Phonics: one (or less, if long) lesson
  
• History: read encyclopedias and library books, maybe do project
  
• Lunch
  
• Library: stop by library, pick up holds
  
• PE: park day
  
• Movie Night: watch movies - hopefully educational ;)
  

THURSDAY

• Phonics: one lesson
  
• Math: one or more workbook exercises
  
• Grammar: one lesson from FLL
  
• Lunch
  
• 4-H: projects once a month
  
• Science: read books and/or do experiment
  
• History: read library books, do project (moved from Friday)
  
• Art History: do coordinated art history project from Artistic Pursuits, when appropriate (moved from Friday)
  
• Read Alouds: catch up on what we've missed through the week
  

FRIDAY

• Spelling: test
  
• Math: one or more workbook exercises
  
• Phonics: one (or less, if long) lesson
  
• PE: park day, alternate every weeks
  
• Lunch at park
  
• History: read library books, do project
  
• Art History: do coordinated art history project from Artistic Pursuits, alternate weeks
  

Notes: I am still planning on starting First Language Lessons when we get to (at least) lesson 140 in OPGTR (which should be less than a month into the Fall Quarter) but I'm also thinking of just waiting until after Christmas to start that. I think spelling will be a big enough strain and I don't want to completely put him off of language. Also, soccer is another PE thing but that is variable, about twice a week and, of course, screws up whatever else was planned for that day. ;)

Cassia: Cassia has been rocking with schoolwork but I still can't seem to schedule it. Sometimes she does great doing her math at the same time that Cameron does his, but sometimes they both just need too much attention. Phonics she definitely needs one-on-one attention for and I do still have a hard time getting her attention for that when there are games to be played with big brother. I think it is still working best to just give her some time on the weekends when DH is home and he and Cameron are off doing "boy things." It makes it more special and really a one-on-one thing.

Notes 9/21/07: Our very favorite park day has been changed from every other week to every week so I've had to cut down on our Friday schedule. We are usually at this park day from 12 or 1 until 4 or 5 so nothing much else gets done. Yes, I know I could start earlier but how often does that really happen? ;) Also, I've decided to go ahead and start grammar. If it gets to be too much, I'll drop it or I'll drop Spelling. Twice a week of a mostly oral program shouldn't be too much.

Egyptian Gods and Temples

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume 1 (The Ancients), Chapter 2
  
  • *Gods of Ancient Egypt
  
  

Favorite Library Books:

• Gods and Goddesses in the Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians by Henrietta McCall
  
• Cry of the Benu Bird: An Egyptian Creation Story by C. Shana Greger
  

Crafts:

Egyptian god dolls

Osiris and Isis


Amun and Horus


Thoth and Khnum


Anubus and Seth

Egyptians Lived on the Nile

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume 1 (The Ancients), Chapter 2
  
  • *Two Kingdoms Become One
  
  

Map Work:
Cameron's

Cassia's



Coloring Pages:
Cameron's

Cassia's

Nomads & Early Farmers

Spine:

• Story of the World, Volume I (The Ancients), Chapter 1
  
  • *The First Nomads
    
  • *The First Nomads Become Farmers
  
  

Map Work:
Cameron's

Cassia's


Coloring Pages:
Cameron's

Cassia's


Illustration (8/30/07):

"A house in Catal Huyuk."

Art: Cave Drawings 8/10/07

You Make Cave Art! from Artistic Pursuits, lesson 18 (Art in Caves: European Cave Drawings). Earth-tone pastels on crumbled construction paper.

Cameron:
Buffalo and Deer


Cassia:
Abstract Wall Design


"Teacher" example:
Man and Giraffe

Prehistoric Man

Narrations:

Prehistoric Man 8/13/07

Prehistoric men are the early humans. They lived after the dinosaurs. They were men who didn't wear clothes. They had fur! Some walked upright. Some walked on four legs. Homo hablis was one who walked upright. He also used tools. The tools were made of stones, bones, and hard things.

Some prehistoric men hunted mammoths. Mammoth hunters used spears to hit the mammoth. Some mammoth hunters hunted woolly mammoths. They lived where it was really cold.

Most Useful Library Books:

• Stones and Bones! How Archaeologists Trace Human Origins by the Lerner Geography Department
  
• Eyewitness: Preshistoric Life by William Lindsay
  

Read-Alouds:

• One Small Blue Bead by Byrd Baylor
  
• Dar and the Spear-Thrower by Marjorie Cowley
  

Most Enjoyed Videos:

1. The History Channel's Ape to Man
   

Games and Activities:

• BBC's Prehistoric Life Caveman Evolution Game
  
• virtual tour of the Cave of Lascaux
  
• Cave Drawings on crumpled brown construction paper with earth-tone pastels