Week 1 in Review!

I'm happy to report that we survived our first week of homeschool! I was (and still am) completely wiped out. Friday was our most difficult day, but I think it was mostly just fatigue taking it's toll. We've both had to adjust to this new routine. I may have to reinstitute afternoon naps or put Ella to bed earlier so that she won't be so worn out by the end of the week. There will be definite tweaking going on, as we strive to find what schedule works best for us. But, for now, I will give you what I know you've all been waiting for...our week in review! ;)



As I said in my last post, our first book to "row" was The Story about Ping. The story is just full of lessons to be learned, my favorite being that it's always better to face the consequences of our actions, rather than run from them. I'm not sure the best way to share our week with you, but I figure pictures and links are what you really want the most! Here's a slideshow of our first week:

Some of highlights from our week were:

Watching this cute video: Addem & the Ants (we studied ants as part of our Bible curriculm - ABC, I Believe)

The snacks we made each day - ants on a log, ants in the sand, fruit salad eaten with chopsticks, and panda cupcakes (we saved the best for last and have enjoyed those all weekend!).

The crafts (of course!), which included the boat you saw in the pictures, a duck made from paper plates and another made from a paper bag (if I think about it tomorrow, I'll add these pics to my slide show).

Learning the numbers 1-20 in Chinese, via Circle Time Kids (a wonderful resource!)

Learning to recite the Bible memory verse for this week and write the first part of it. The verse was "Go to the ant, O sluggard. Observe her ways and be wise." Prov. 6:6. I was never more proud of Ella than when I found out that she had recited it perfectly for my parents on Friday without my being there to prompt her. YAY! One of my memory verse strategies is making it into a short song and just singing it at random times throughout the week. Ella is definitely an auditory learner and I will be finding other ways to incorporate music, especially when learning "facts" like this. We're giving her an mp3 player for her birthday, which will mainly be used for this purpose. I plan to record each Bible verse "song", then record her recitation of the verse and put them on the mp3 player for her to review.

There is so much more I could share, but it is late and I do need sleep after this crazy week. Now that the Olympics are over (LOVED THEM!), I can *try* to go to bed at a decent hour. We have some dear friends coming to visit next weekend, so we will have school in the mornings and CHORES in the afternoons in order to prepare for their stay! Please pray that God will give me rest, even on those nights that are not very "restful". :)