CC at Home: Cycle 1, Week 4

Our boys are learning, learning, learning! I never thought that we'd be studying the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World with our three and four-year-olds, but I'm realizing that these little ones are so interested in history, people, and architecture. Nothing is more "cool" to my boys than a tall tower! They're going to love what we're delving into this week.

BIBLE: Read Exodus 20. Review the Ten Commandments using song and hand motions. I love beginning our school mornings this way. What a foundation! We'll put on "patience" this week using Doorposts' Put-On Chart. "Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools." ~Ecclesiastes 7:9. 

We'll take a look at the life of David each day and specifically focus on how he demonstrated patience, especially in dealing with King Saul. We'll also talk about the times when David and those around him didn't have patience. (1 Samuel 16-26) It's exciting for me when I'm able to integrate the subjects we're studying. This week, we have some overlaps, as we'll be studying the Hittite Empire, and Uriah the Hittite will appear in one of our stories. We won't go into detail about Bathsheba, but I find this verse to be so profound: "...because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." ~1 Kings 15:5. Here is a video introduction to the Hittite Empire. 

HISTORY

Monday: Introduce the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World using this site. It contains wonderful photos, paintings, and videos of the Seven Wonders. 

Wednesday: The boys love mini-books. This one is wonderful, because students must match the picture of the ancient wonder to the clue given in the book. (I'll read the clue aloud.) Then, they get to cut and glue in order to complete the book (very fun for my little ones!). Just a heads up, there is a typo in the word "pyramid" in the mini book, so we'll have to correct that!

Thursday: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World coloring pages. (Pharos Lighthouse, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis, Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum, the Great Pyramids, Statue of Zeus) The boys probably won't color all of them. We'll use these images to help us replicate the structures with cardboard bricks or Legos. 

Friday: Read Voyage to the Pharos and play this Seven Wonders matching game.

ENGLISH: We're still working on prepositions. We're having lots of fun with our Preposition Penguin! We just place him in different places in relation to our bodies and have the boys call out where he is (over, under, beside, etc.). This week, I'm going to use a simple illustration to delve a bit deeper. I chose this one (I'm a Wind in the Willows fan!). We'll talk about where each character/object is, but we'll also talk about where each character/object isn't. (The mouse is on the chair; he ISN'T under the chair.) 

MATH: Johnathan struggles with skip counting. He doesn't understand why the numbers don't "go in order." He says, "NO! It's 1, 2, 3..." I understand his frustration! Skip counting seems a little abstract for his young mind! We'll continue on, though, and I'm thinking that seeing a simple chart like this will help him understand the "skipping" concept. I'll just slide the chart into a sheet protector and have him check off or color in each number that we're saying. During week four, we're focusing on skip counting the 7s and 8s, but we'll review all of the previous weeks as well. 

Here is a GREAT skip counting game. Since I originally typed this post, Johnathan has played the game and done so well. I think this will help! 

LATIN: Continue memorizing noun endings (1st declension) using the song on CC's audio CD.

SCIENCE: What are some parts of a plant cell? We'll use hand motions to learn them, and the boys will color this page.

TIMELINE: Johnathan LOVES his timeline. He begs me to take out more cards so he can move ahead. I think it really helps that CC's timeline song is FANTASTIC! My husband sat down at the kitchen table yesterday and turned the song on. When I asked why he wanted to listen to the Timeline Song, he replied, "I just like it..." We had a good laugh! It is catchy!

FINE ARTS: Abstract art. I just LOVE the idea of marble painting. I think the boys would love it as well. We might try a simplified version of this lesson plan OUTSIDE. ;)