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I just couldn't resist this. My sister in law recently had her fourth baby and for a shower, there were beautiful Chinese fortune cookies decorated with baby booties. One of them had the most profound and inspiring sentiment which was penned by the English poet, Martin Farquhar Tupper. So, in honor of the Chinese New Year, focusing on spring and new birth, I thought I would share it...(also thinking of you, Kelly!)
A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure,
a messenger of peace and love,
a resting place for innocence on earth,
a link between angels and men.
Hugs to all you mommas who have been blessed with little ones, and also to those who haven't yet - but will be in due time! Happy Chinese New Year!
I have a question. How long did you spend on your LA block? I am wondering if we are dragging this out too much. thanks
ReplyDeleteMama - we spent a long time on it (about 8 weeks total, but broken up over 3 months).
ReplyDeleteWe started that block on 8/31 and worked the entire month of Sept. We work Mon - Thus on our main lessons and Friday is a what do you want to do type of day. We usually do painting or some crafts or field trips or just play at the park on Fridays.
So Sept was the first 4 weeks of the block. Then in Oct, we went on a family road trip for 3 weeks and then got the swine flu when we returned, so we started back up in November and finished the block. Then we took Dec off to focus on the holiday (stories of St. Nick, St. Lucia, nativity stories, handmade gifts, etc)I'd say it took us about 8 weeks to get through the whole block. One of the twins did get a little tired of it towards the end of each of those months so I tried to present it differently (using more props, or going outside for the lesson, having PJ learning days, etc). Even little changes can help spice it up!
Some people seem to go through the letters quicker, esp if their children are already reading or familiar with them. Not all the letters have to have stories told with them. Fairman skipped several of the stories for some of the lesser used letters (N,P,Q,X,Y,Z and D wasn't even addressed at all in the entire section). That could cut down your time spent on it a bit. If you or your child is getting *bored* if it's dragging on too long and spicing it up isn't working, then I'd say stop the lesson and switch to another block for 3-4 weeks and then return to capital letters and it will be much more enjoyed! If we hadn't taken our road trip, we would have worked for 4 weeks, then done a maths block for 4 weeks and then return to the capital letters block a bit. In Grade 1, you really are just laying the formation so you don't have to cover as much material. Your child will absorb much of it anyway, even if all you did was read to them and let them draw in their MLB's - everything else is a bonus! HTH! And sorry so long - I can't believe I typed all that while warming chunks of beeswax under my armpits - lol! Oh what we do for our children :D