Cycle 1, Week 5

 ^"And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, ^preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." Acts 28:30-31

ANCIENT ROME

Paul in Rome

BIBLE: We'll read Acts 28 and discuss Paul's life in Rome. I really want to emphasize 1) Paul's dedication to preaching the Gospel, even in scary circumstances 2) God's provision and rewards to those who faithfully serve Him 3) Hospitality, especially the importance of allowing others into our home, even when it doesn't seem convenient for us, for the furtherance of God's kingdom. Actually, since I'm late getting this post up, I've already read the account of Paul at Rome aloud while the boys watched this slideshow. It held their attention, and I think it helped to "see" Paul and the setting. 

We'll also discuss the challenges Paul must've faced as he lived in Rome. We'll tie back into the Roman gods, and how Paul had to reason with the Romans about idol worship. He had to deal graciously with unbelievers and be a living example of Christ's love to the Romans. I'll have the boys make a house out of their cardboard bricks. They can take turns pretending to be Paul. I might have them say things like, "Jesus loves you," or "God sent his Son," "Jesus is the Messiah," etc. 

We'll continue using Doorposts' Put-On Chart for character study. This week, we'll continue to practice patience. 

HISTORY:

Monday: Introduction to Ancient Rome. We'll watch clips of these videos, just so the boys can get a feel for the setting, time period, etc. Since Johnathan and Samuel are so young, they don't yet grasp the concept of hundreds or thousands of years, so I think it helps for them to see the buildings, people, dress, etc. of the time periods we're studying. That way, they understand that this isn't happening now, but a "long time ago." We'll also read Romulus and Remus. Thanks to CC's timeline, Johnathan is already familiar with Romulus and Remus!

We enjoy Kingfisher history books. 

Romulus and Remus

Tuesday: CC Community Day; no "school" at home
Wednesday: We'll delve into the mysterious Pompeii. I am over-the-top excited about learning more about Pompeii. I remember being a little girl in a small country school learning about Pompeii. I was captivated by a documentary that we watched in class; I can still picture the images of the preserved bodies! Fascinating! On Wednesday, I'll probably read bits of Pompeii...Buried Alive! before naps and bed, or if we have a comfy minute on the couch.

Thursday: Today's history hour will be spent recreating a Pompeii home! This looks easy and very fun. I'm thankful for the people who do the work for me sometimes.

Friday: We'll probably spend this day recapping. Here are some fun activities I've found on the web:

• "Dress the Gladiator" online game (great for boys!)
• Ancient Rome coloring pages
• Have fun like the children of Rome: play tic-tac-toe, sword fight, play jacks, or throw a ball

GEOGRAPHY: Egypt! If you don't use CC's Geography Tables, I would highly recommend them. In fact, I think I'm going to have to buy another one for Samuel. These are beautifully done, match the maps that CC uses on community day, and are easy to wipe off. (The boys like using Vis-a-Vis markers on the maps. The fine tips on those markers help me to see that Johnathan knows the locations he's tracing or circling.)

ENGLISH: Continue using our Preposition Penguin to review and learn prepositions. 

MATH: Learn to skip-count 9s and 10s using the song (for the 9s) on CC's audio CD. We'll also use skip-counting charts and the skip-counting game (very helpful). 

LATIN: Learn the second declension noun endings. Johnathan is breezing through these noun endings, mostly due to the great songs on CC's audio CD.. Classical tools are beautiful things!

SCIENCE: We're learning the major groups of invertebrates this week. We'll use our plastic toys to find invertebrates and watch this fun, short video.

TIMELINE: Johnathan is continuing to obsess over the timeline. He wants to listen to the song as soon as he wakes up. He likes to line up his cards on the kitchen floor. I hear him singing "Israelite Conquest and Judges, Greek Dark Ages..." in the bathtub..Sometimes I wonder if he needs a little break... ;)

FINE ARTS: This week, we're focusing on perspective. I'll follow the ideas given in the back of the Foundations Guide. I also like some of the images and thoughts provided in this lesson.

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. ;)

CC at Home: Cycle 1, Week 3

"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands." ~Acts 17:24

Ancient Greece is the name of the game this week! I can't wait to give the boys a fun glimpse into the lives of these interesting people.

BIBLE: Each day, we'll simply read Exodus 20. Review Ten Commandments with hand motions and song. Continuing using Doorposts' "Put On Chart" to discuss kindness. We usually do a simple, fun skit during this time, too.

Monday: Read Joshua 3-4 where the Joshua leads the Israelites across the Jordan River on dry land.

I like the idea of making a river to use during our Cycle 1 studies! How convenient it would be to just pull out our river whenever we study the Jordan, Nile, Ganges, and Huang He! We could reenact events on the "river". We could even cut out other cities or regions and place them on the appropriate side of the river. Countless possibilities! This week, we could place 12 memorial stones in the "Jordan" river. Fun!

Wednesday: Read Acts 17:22-31, which describes Paul's sermon on Mars Hill. This will be a great way to lead into our history sentence about the Greek and Roman gods. Here is a coloring page of Paul preaching to the Greeks. I'll point out the Greek architecture and clothing on the coloring page.

Thursday: Read Acts 19:23-41 and discuss how important it is to worship the one, true God. We'll talk about who did the right thing (Paul) and who did the wrong thing (Demetrius). I'll hold up a little statue and ask, "Can this little thing help me when I'm sick? Can this help you when you're scared?" (No.) I'll try talking to the little statue and waiting for it to answer me. We'll discuss how our God is the only One who listens to us, comforts us, and shows us how to do good. We'll reference the painting and drawing below.

"Paul preaching before the Temple of Diana at Ephesus" - by Adolf Pirsch, 1885

"Demetrius the silversmith stirs up a riot" by Edward H. Corbould, 1894  

HISTORY/BIBLE/GEOGRAPHY: Week 3's history sentence is: "Tell me about the Greek and Roman gods." We will focus on Ancient Greece this week, but we will not focus on the gods. I don't feel comfortable presenting that information to my children yet. Of course, as they mature, they'll need to know the names of the gods and what those gods represented. I just don't think preschool is the time. They are still getting to know the one true God of our family. This verse gives us caution:

"When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise." ~Deuteronomy 12:29-30

I wish I had known about this book earlier. It looks wonderful. It's on my wish list!

Monday: GREEK ARCHITECTURE. This day always needs to be a bit simple, because we're getting ready for our CC community day on Tuesday. We'll just look at the little Parthenon in our Toob of landmarks and try to replicate it using these colored blocks. I'll point out the columns and symmetry (which is  timely, since we studied symmetry last week).

Tuesday: CC Community Day; no "school" at home.

Wednesday: GREEK ART. After reading a chapter 20 in The Story of the World, we'll create these very simple Greek "vases" using black markers and small terracotta flower pots. If you have older children, they might enjoy this worksheet on Greek vases.

Thursday: GREEK ATTIRE. Today is an important day, as we'll be making Greek clothes for our feast on Friday night. Our Greek attire is awfully complicated: a white sheet and a construction paper laurel wreath. ;)

Friday: GREEK FEAST. Tonight will be the Greek feast with Daddy! We'll all dress up and dine! The idea came from this blog; how inspiring! She even has recipe ideas for a Greek feast. We probably won't try the recipes, but we will recline at our very own homemade triclinium table using couch cushions and beach towels. It'll be fun and rather, um, interesting messy to eat while reclining!

After the meal, we'll cuddle on our triclinium and watch Disney's Hercules.

*This week, we'll be reading Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World, chapters 18-25. 

*I haven't viewed these videos yet, but I'll preview them and see if they are suitable for our little study of Ancient Greece. 

Aesop's Fables are perfect to read while studying Ancient Greece. 

ENGLISH: Continue learning prepositions using our Preposition Penguin.

LATIN: Begin memorizing Latin noun endings (1st declension) using the song on the CC Audio CD.

SCIENCE: "What are some parts of an animal cell?" I had the urge again. I saw an animal cell pizza and an animal cell made out of JELL-O. I immediately began writing down the ingredients, but I stopped myself. We just aren't going to have the time. And would my boys really "get it" anyway? They don't even like the ingredients on the animal cell pizza! I had to let it go. We'll either do a coloring page or use an animal cell model for a reference.

MATH: Skip count by 5s and 6s. See this post for skip counting worksheets.

TIMELINE: Johnathan's favorite part of memory work, by far, is his timeline. He loves to sing the song, play with his timeline cards, and do the hand motions! We'll simply continue doing what's working!

FINE ARTS: Drawing upside-down images. This book looks so fun!