* Note- anything underlined in the table above or highlighted below is a link *
Key to Abbreviations:
GP- The Gospel Project- Home Edition
HIG- Singapore Math Home Instructor's Guide
TB- Singapore Math Textbook
WB- Singapore Math Workbook
MM- Mental Math (see appendix in HIG)
CCC- Complete, check, correct
AAS- All About Spelling
FLL- First Language Lessons
SF- Sounds First Phonemic Awareness Program (click here and scroll down to Grade 1)
OPG- The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading
SotW- Story of the World
G&B/A- The Good and The Beautiful, Arthropods
G&B/MB- The Good and The Beautiful, Marine Biology
COMING SOON...
Tuesday, October 12- Teacher Training- No School for students
Thursday, October 14- Spirit day
Tuesday, October 19- Co-teacher Training @ 2-3pm (Optional)
Friday - Sunday, October 22-24 Fortis Fall Campout @ Cedar Breaks Park, Georgetown
Thursday, October 28- DOGS/Spirit Day/Pizza Day AND Historic Dress Up- students may dress in costume as a historical figure from their grade level history study. Details below.
Friday, October 29 @ 3:30-6:30 pm Fortis Trunk or Treat!
**Dearest Parents**
This week one of my questions at our morning meeting was, "What would you teach about if you were the teacher?" Your sweet children blessed my heart when many of them said- in addition to things like "butterflies" and "dinosaurs"- that they would teach "everything I know about God" and "to love God always." You are raising up the next generation of teachers, missionaries, pastors, businessmen and women, doctors, parents and maybe even politicians. In whatever they do, may they always maintain that desire to share the truth of God's redemption plan with those He places into their spheres of influence!
You have my love and support,
Mrs. Kuhn
Historic Dress Up- October 28th: Costumes must be in the theme of our historic studies this year, which will cover nomads through the beginning of Christianity (see SotW Chapters 1-37). Guidelines: No weapons, no gore, nothing scary, students need to be able to move and sit properly and use the restroom on their own. Have fun thinking of ideas; I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Math:
Math is tricky this week, so we will slow our pace and spend several days on each lesson. Use the full hour each home day making sure these fundamental concepts really sink in deep. The concept of making a 10 to add is foundational for the entire rest of 1st grade (and beyond!). We will learn it now with sums up to 20, but we will revisit it again later for sums to 40 and eventually sums to 100. It is essential that your student understands this concept rather than relying on counting fingers/hash marks/etc to add.
If your child struggles because they're not yet solid in parts of 10, build in review time for this. If after giving it your all, they're still struggling, don't panic! Keep cheerfully plugging away, building in review as you're able, but never frustrate your student with more than an hour/day of math. Bear in mind that we have some 'fluffy' concepts coming up at the end of this semester that will allow time at home for continued review of these tricky concepts.
Reading:
I have seen gains in everyone's reading from the beginning of the year! This is just one of the reasons first grade is so exciting and definitely #1 in my book!
**Important note about OPG Lesson 96**
This lesson states that the letter I alone is "disobedient" in words that end in "nd" or "ld." However, we will teach this lesson according to AAS Key Card 8, which says "I and O often say their long sound when followed by...two consonants." We won't teach Key Card 8 in AAS until Step 14, but there is no reason to teach something incorrectly now, only to have to correct it later! So for now, please disregard the entire 2nd half of the Instructor paragraph on pg 174, starting where it says "There are certain words that don't follow either pattern." Rather, teach your child that the letter I followed by two consonants often says it's long sound.
Encourage your child to read words that they should be able to decode in "The Corner" from Frog and Toad All Year (sight words are in parentheses): Frog, and, in, the, rain, they, ran, (to), Frog's, I, am, wet, day, is, (have), tea, cake, will, stop, if, stand, stove, be, dry, tell, while, we, waiting, when, (was), not, much, than, my, me, this, gray, but, spring, just, went, find, that, path, in, until, came, see, on, side, it, no, pine, tree, three, grass, did, an, stump, mud, his, tail, home, got, go, (too), sun, yes.
Science:
Hopefully Arthropod Projects are in the works! Please let me know if you have any questions about the experiment, the write-up, or the presentation. The project is due in about one month, on November 11.
History:
Questions for discussion: Why did Hatshepsut choose to pretend to be a man? Do you agree with her choice?
What was different about Amenhotep than other Egyptians? Why do you think he worshiped the sun god instead of the true God?Journal sentence: Many pharoahs kept the New Kingdom of Egypt strong.
Geography:
I will be assessing the Northern Africa and Northern Central Africa map and songs on Thursday, 10/14.
Memory Work:
We've begun learning our Quarter 2 poem, "Count Your Blessings." Click here for a version of the melody you can use to practice at home (the verses are not all the same as the ones in our poem).
We're also beginning to learn the books of the Bible in order, beginning with the New Testament (we will go back and do the Old Testament after Christmas). Here is the song we practice with in class. Your child is free to learn the books with that song or another song they may perhaps already know.
