Thursday, August 19, 2010

Catholic 1st Grade Homeschool: Day 4

Religion -


1. Today we read Just in Case You Ever Wonder, and talked about the book. Then we cut a length of string to 19 inches (Bill's birth length) and one to his current height, and put them side by side, talking about how much God has made him grow over the last 6 years.



2. The book ends by discussing Heaven. So after doing the string activity, we talked about how God sent Jesus so we could be reunited with God, how Jesus opened the gates of Heaven for us, how Earth is only our temporary home, and how Heaven is our true and permanent home with God forever.

Language -

1. We made textured letter cards for the letters of the alphabet. To make textured letters you can cut letters (using stencils or freehand) and glue them onto construction paper. {Click here for printable bubble letters - you can shrink them in your printer settings so that each letter is 1/4 page, which is easier to do activities with.} Or you can use blank index cards and write a letter with glue then sprinkle sand or glitter onto it. Or you can use index cards and make letters with puffy paint. You can use these cards to practice letter sounds, alphabetizing, and putting them together to spell words. So they will be useful throughout the year. Hint: when making these, make the vowel cards in red to set them apart.

2. We arranged the letters in alphabetical order. Guide your child if he needs help. Slowly singing the alphabet song can help with ordering the letters. If 26 letters are overwhelming, take a handful apart and have him put those in alphabetical order.

3. We completed lesson 4 in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and read a Bob Book reader.

4. Using the language notebook, we reviewed the sight word "am", and added the sight word "a".

4. Handwriting Without Tears practice, and practice writing the first name.


Math - with calendar time

1. Little Bill counted to 100, identified different numbers on the 100 chart, skip counted by 2's, and counted backwards from 10.

2. We matched up our numeral and number word cards one through five again.

3. Using blocks, we put down one block for one, made a tower of two for two, next to that we made a tower of three blocks, and so on through 10. (You can go through five if you need to.)

4. We used the blocks to practice adding different combinations. 

Science & Social Studies -

Hang in there! We will be more active once we have finished the fiction book. 

1. We read chapters 7 & 8 in Dinosaurs Before Dark.





Notes:

Here are a few additional ways to weave your lessons into everyday life:

- Go on a walk through your neighborhood and as you walk, take turns naming something you see and saying what letter it begins with. My oldest (who is currently 15) and I did this so often when he was young!

- When you are out shopping, point out little words you see, and sound them out together. 

- As you walk through parking lots (and stores), point to numbers and say them out loud. Sure, your child may know his numbers, but how about reading prices or big numbers such as hundreds and thousands? You can start pointing them out and talking about them now!

- When you are serving lunch or snack you can talk about fractions ("I am cutting this sandwich in half. That means two pieces that make up a whole"), and even the concept of division ("We have 10 baby carrots. If we divide them between 2 people - you and mommy - how many will we each get? Yes 5! So 10 carrots divided by 2 people is 5!") Remember that using fingers at this age is just fine!

No comments:

Post a Comment