For Rinoa’s grammar lessons, I use First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise. This scripted book not only teaches grammar concepts, but also includes memory work, copy work, and narration. As the author wrote, “Exposure, not mastery, is the goal at this level.” and the daily lessons that are given in small doses are perfect for this objective.
After forty or so lessons, Rinoa now understands the concept of nouns, proper nouns, and common nouns. By next week, she’ll be ready to learn all about pronouns. I’m using Schoolhouse Rock videos to supplement the grammar lessons. I don’t even have to buy them, they’re all in YouTube. Below is the video that got her excited to learn all about nouns. (I just grabbed the first video I saw in YouTube.) And you can’t blame her, the song is very catchy!
Aside from learning grammar, she’s also developing her narration skill. I tell her a short story, and she tells back the story in her own words. The problem I encountered when I started teaching her was she gives too much details that her narration become too long to write down – but she’s learning to pick out the important points and tone down her summary. As for memory work, she absolutely has no problems. I give her a 4-line poem and she has it memorized in one day. Below are two of three poems she has memorized so far.
She makes up all the hand gestures by herself and the person you hear clapping in the background in both videos is Mica.
In one of Mica’s writing activities for Language Arts, she wrote a character sketch of her cousin, Jessi. I promised my sister-in-law a few months ago that I would share it, so here you go …
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| My Character Sketch of Baby Jessi |
| by Mica Redington |
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The first time I met my cousin, Baby Jessi, was in New York. She is a very happy and playful baby. Whenever you put her in front of a mirror, she laughs and giggles. If you play with her a lot, she usually smiles. Jessi loves it when you hold her up on her feet. She loves it even more when you play music and move her around like she’s dancing. Baby Jessi is one of the happiest babies I have ever known.
And what’s a post without pictures? Here are some of Baby Jessi , taken by my brother.
Lapbooking was introduced to me by my cousin who is a homeschool consultant in San Diego. Apparently, it’s a growing trend among homeschoolers. I think it’s a brilliant idea. Lapbooks are an absolutely fun way to learn and can be implemented in any subject.
Our first lapbook project was for Mica’s literature study on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In conceptualizing this project, I knew I wanted to try the idea of a lapbook but make it so that the pages can be kept in a 3-ring binder. The result was a fusion of lapbooking, notebooking, scrapbooking, and mixed media collage. (What can I say, I was having fun!)
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| This is what the finished project looks like, kept in a 3-ring notebook. I used two 12×12 cardstock papers as the base. (One of my objectives is to use materials that I already have at home; and believe me, I have an endless supply of cardstocks!) I trimmed off 1″ on both papers to make each measure 11″ in length. I scored the papers vertically so that the width measures 8.5″ each with a 3.5″ flap. I then prepared the various mini books, pockets, and other elements that went on the pages and just had Mica put them together as she completed the different activities that I designed for her. |
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| On the left outside flap, we placed several memorable quotes from the book. On the right outside flap, we placed a trifold minibook that contains quick facts about the book. |
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| The “quick facts” mini book contains flaps for author, illustrator, publication place and date, setting, main character, and ‘what I liked about the book’. You open a flap and find the answer inside. |
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| I had Mica gesso the main pages just for fun. (I’m in this mixed media craze right now.) Then I gave her pictures representing each chapter of the book and she glued them on the pages with arrows to show the story sequence. She rubbed some oil pastels around the pictures for an artistic touch, then wrote the chapter summary beside each picture. Also on the left main page, we attached a pocket that holds strips of paper for each character in the book and another pocket that holds a mini quiz book. On the left inside flap is a questionnaire analyzing the symbolism of the characters in the book. |
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| The right main page is shown here with the chapter pictures and summaries. We also included a bifold mini book that holds another ‘analysis’ question for Mica to complete. On the right inside flap is a short writeup about the author, Charles Dickens. |
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| The bifold mini book is shown here opened up. (I know it’s not exactly a mini book since it’s just one page but I don’t know what to call it.) And there you go, our first lapbook/notebook. Maybe I’ll call it a crossbreed lapbook – yep, that sounds alright. |
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