MFW 1ST GRADE ~~WEEK 6~~

Welcome to our weekly MFW 1st Grade posts (we are using the first edition)! If you haven't already, be sure to check out our daily school routine and curriculum here.

We are getting over colds (again) and had to miss a full day (or two) of school because Mommy wasn't feeling well :). Isn't is wonderful that we can be so flexible with our homeschooling schedules?  We can stop when we need to take a break with no worries that we have fallen behind.  

Friends, I want to encourage all of you homeschooling mommies to not compare yourself with others, but focus your eyes on Jesus (Heb.12:2).  It's easy (especially when your just beginning your homeschooling journey) to try and duplicate what other mommies are doing; and if we don't fit it all in, we're sure we are failing our children miserably.  

If God has called you to homeschool, He has equipped you for the task!  He has given you these wonderful gifts (your children) to raise and nurture.  He will give you His wisdom and discernment if you ask Him (James 1:5). 

It's hard to believe that we've been homeschooling for 6 weeks now! Time flies when you are having fun :) 
Here's a look at our Week 6!

We had another "visitor" this week! :)

Bible:  Our Proverbs for this week is Proverbs 29:11 ("A fool gives full vent to this anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control").  We discussed the differences between a "fool" and a "wise" man.  A "fool" is a person who doesn't know God (Psalm 14:1).  He is reckless with his words.  A "wise" man seeks to know God and make Him known (Prov. 2:6).  He desires to build others up with his words and not tear down (Eph.4:29).  

Ladybug and Buddy enjoyed drawing their own Bible Lands Map.  We will be studying many things that happened long ago in Israel; and it will be good for them to be able to locate what we are learning on a map.  The teacher's manual shared a silly story to help children learn how to draw the seas and rivers (of the Bible Lands Map).  After we drew our maps, we looked in the back of our Bibles, and we were excited to see our maps (that we drew) were similar to the "real" maps in the back!

Buddy and Ladybug's Bible Lands Maps

Grammar:  We are continuing learning long vowels and new sounds like "th", "or", and "ar".  

Ladybug's workbook page on learning the "ar" sound

Also, Ladybug learned to differentiate between the "oo" sound in words like "spoon" and "book"!  

Ladybug cutting out words to help her review

Ladybug made a folder to help here remember the "oo" sounds.  She placed words with  vowels sound the same as "spoon" and "book"  

I am thankful for all the booklets Ladybug made this week to help her review what she is learning!

Ladybug made the car booklet for Buddy.  She asked him what his favorite color is.  Today, he had several favorites!  :) 

Ladybug decorated the inside of car booklet for Buddy! He loves road signs!

Math: We are using the Complete Book of Math (CBOM) that MFW suggest.  As I mentioned in our previous posts, we are technically "behind" due to Ladybug's desire to color all of the pictures.  But, I am loving the CBOM (along with the math games ideas from the Teacher's Manual).  Right now, Ladybug is learning about skip counting (2s, 5s, & 10s); ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and less and greater than symbols.

I haven't shared about the Wooden Pattern Blocks yet. Each week, the blocks along with the Pattern Animal Puzzles are used on Exploration Day (in place of math sheets on that day).  

Here are some pictures of Buddy playing with the Blocks and Puzzle sheets.

The Animal Puzzle Book also has activity sheets for problem solving and critical thinking! Buddy (especially) enjoys the blocks.  He told me a few days ago, "Mommy, these are kinda like legos; and I like them!"  Yay!!

Science: This week we studied "Thunder and Lightning". Since I was "under the weather" (HA!), we didn't do any science experiments.  But we enjoyed reading and learning! 

We learned how lightning is produced.  I'm glad we studied "How does it rain" last week since it builds on that.  The tiny drops of water (a cloud) bump into each other and make electricity.  I thought it was interesting "that lightning and thunder happen at the same time, but light travels faster than sound through air" (taken from Things Outdoors).  That's why we see lightning before we hear the thunder!

This week has went by fast! We are enjoying the journey!!