Wordless Wednesday

Schoolwork

Writing in another voice

Getting first graders to write a complete paragraph is difficult. Getting first graders to understand the point of view of someone else is difficult. Getting first graders to use their senses to describe things is difficult. So of course, our curriculum combined the topics! After reading Morning Girl, the kids had to write two paragraphs. One from the perspective of Morning Girl who is a teen girl that loves waking up early, helping her family, and is generally happy. The other from the perspective of Star Boy who is a younger boy that likes staying up late, makes noise, and plays jokes.

Morning Girl by Sweet Son

"I am excited. I think about the sea water. I see sun flowers. I hear the wind blow. I like to explore. Happiness is all around."

Star Boy by Sweet Son

"I feel good. I see stars and I hear bats. I think about bats. The night sky hides the bats so I can't see them. I am relaxed."

Star Boy by Sweet Daughter

"I am happy. I like to see stars. I like hearing owls. I am laying doun looking at the sky. I wonder what it's like tobe a star. I am excited." (Spelling is her own.)

Morning Girl by Sweet Daughter

"I am happy. I like seeing waves. I can hear birds tweet tweet. I would like diving in the ocean. I am splashing. Excitement is good."

Yes, they follow the same format. That's how you learn to write paragraphs. Not bad for 5 year olds just starting 1st grade though.

Cinderella

We have been studying how the same story changes in different cultures. We have read the The Story of Cinderella (Disney Princess) , Yeh-Shen (the original story all the others are based on, from China),  The Egyptian Cinderella , and The Irish Cinderlad . Then the kids were given an assignment to write their own Cinderella type story. (They were given a template.)

Sweet Daughter
Title: Ella Dancing
Once upon a time there lived a dancer whose name was Ella and she lived in a one story house. Ella was treated very poorly by monsters. This evil person made monsters eat Ella. One day Ella danced on March 15th. Ella was very upset because she lost her dancing shoes. Then Ella met some fish bones and fish bones helped by giving her new shoes. Ella went to the stage where she danced. Then Ella lost a dancing shoe. After searching everywhere, the lost shoe was found by a Princess. The Princess knew the shoes belonged to Ella because she was dancing. Ella and Princess lived happily ever after and rode elephants.

Sweet Son
Title: Mr. Stinky Pants
Once upon a time there lived a garbage man whose name was Mr. Stinky Pants and lived on a farm. Mr. Stinky Pants was treated very poorly by Mr. Pokey Pants. This evil person made garbage come out of the truck. One day Mr. Stinky Pants drove his big garbage truck. Mr. Stinky Pants was very upset because he lost his socks. Then Mr. Stinky Pants met a chicken and the chicken helped by seeing who had the socks. Mr. Stinky Pants went to the farm where he drove the garbage truck. Then Mr. Stinky Pants lost his socks again. After searching everywhere, the lost socks were found by a Prince. The Prince knew the socks belonged to Mr. Stinky Pants because they matched the uniform. Mr. Stinky Pants and the Prince lived happily ever after and had kids.

When I Grow Up

My kids had a writing assignment. Write about what you want to be when you grow up. I did let them trace pictures from various things we have around the house for their illustrations. Remember, they are in Kindergarten (5 years old).

Translation: "I want to be a Paleontologist. I will study fossils. I will study shark teeth. I love teeth."

To be honest, this was the first I had heard she was interested in fossils, sharks, or teeth.

Translation: "I want to be an Entomologist. I will study insects. I love firefly. The funniest insect is wolf spider."

This didn't surprise me. His love of insects is not new and has continued. He still constantly surprises me with his knowledge. His current favorite insect is the spittlebug.

School Work

Here are some examples of school work that we are doing at home. Right now the kids go to a private Kindergarten at a Montessori school in the mornings. In the afternoons, I do school work with them. These are specifically examples from what we are doing at home with Moving Beyond the Page and various science kits.

The writing assignment was to write a paragraph about visiting a fair.

Translated: I want to go round and round. I want to go up and down. I want to go to the ring the bottle. I want to hang on the web.

Translated: I want to go to Ferris wheel. I want to go to zoo. I want to go to pet animals. I want to go to see a cow.

They are watching this experiment closely.

We love our Magic School Bus science kits. Here are just some of the things they made and experimented with in the weather lab. I bought them on sale at Educents if you are interested.