Number 3

This week we learned about number 3. It felt a bit flat. It didn't seem like Brother picked up many threes from the story either. One reason is because we are sick... again. Someone has been sick every other week this winter. This time it is actually all four of us. And the trees are putting out a ton of pollen. So, we hung out at home limping our way through our week.

Here are our pictures:



Mine



Brother's

I think the other reason it felt flat is because I tried tell the Grimm's version of Cinderella. Brother hated it. He was Ok during the telling, but Monday night in bed he said, "I don't need to hear that story again Mom, I'm done with it and I don't like it." He was pretty clear about it. So, Tuesday I switched to the Enki Story "Pear Blossom" which is the Korean version of Cinderella. Honestly, the story rings more true to what our family values anyway. And it does contain archetypal images, which is what made me try out the Grimm's version anyway. That and pressure from a friend - which was not her intent BTW. If she knew I felt pressure, she'd be sad. Anyway, changing a story midstream like that kind of deflated us as well.

Also, I had forgotten that Brother has a choleric temperament. I was recently reminded that choleric students need to have things change to keep their attention. I can't just keep doing the same thing each week or he is going to become bored. So, I am going to be looking to Sixth Sense Math from www.earthschooling.com for additional ideas when I am presenting the number 4 next week. Hopefully some additional fun activities will re-ignite the spark.

Number 1

When at first we look for one
We find it in the shining sun.

This week we started Math. Boy did I ever have myself stressed out! It's not because I am concerned about math. I like math! I think it was just that a change was occurring. Now I have to have a morning lesson planned, and a somewhat structured afternoon practice time, not just a puzzle or some other project Brother already does on a regular basis. Once we were started it felt really good.

So we read the fairy tale "The Stolen Bairn and the Sidh", which is a Celtic tale. The tale itself included a lot of items that characterized the essence of the number one. one baby, one path, one king, one old grandmother, one hurt person, etc.




After reading the story, sleeping on the story, and then recalling the story, we discussed the story. Brother found 11 different "ones" in the story. Then we drew our picture in our "Good Books".



We had the common elements that I wanted him to put in the picture - the digit ONE, the written word, the dot, the roman numeral. Then Brother added a couple items that he came up with on his own - the moon, and the clock. My additional item was the baby from the story.




Here's Baby's picture. He sat at the table with us and wanted to be included.



After we were finished with our math exercise, Brother wanted to create a picture based on the story. This is the Sidh King in his hall. I didn't realize that there was a castle in the story, but he did. He really loves castles!

First week of Math

Because our main lesson is a Language Arts block, after quiet time we have "math practice work." The goal is mainly to start reviewing the math concepts we already know through life through activities.

This week Brother has chose to do Tan Grams. Here is a link to the set the we have had for years.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GHVLLO/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=4421986975&ref=pd_sl_65u06phcmv_b

And big puzzles:



And of course in his free time he builds a lot of castles with blocks and lincoln log houses.

During our walks we are also working with counting to 100 and on 1 to 1 correspondence.

Next week we are going to add in Cuisenaire Rods.