Fall Music Together Week 3

It's always a joy to get to make music with the children and parents in my classes.  Last week and this week we sang a song called Can You Do This?  The song is in Lydian which might make it sound a little different To you.  If you want to play around with the Lydian mode at home you can play from F to F on a piano or keyboard using all white keys.

In one class I had the chance to point out how kids feel the rhythm in their whole bodies, and we can help them match the beat of the song by showing the beat in our whole body as well.  adults often stop feeling and expressing music in their whole body.  If you watch a toddler they feel the music from their head to their toes.  Sometimes the trick is just figuring out how they are experiencing the music and how to help them learn the best for the stage of life they are in.



Last week we sang Apples and Cheries with Ice Cream flavored.  Each part of the room got one flavor to sing over and over again.  If you haven't tried this along with the CD yet you should.  Pick one flavor (one phrase) and see if you can stay on that part during the whole song.  We are building up to singing the song in a round.

This week we moved to Los Fandangos.  There is a clapping part that goes along with the song.  Listen for it on your CD and look for it in the songbook.

This collection also has a lot of call and response songs.  Use these to your advantage during the week.  They can be fun in the car.  Songs like Can You Do This are great for directing you kids to do things.  I can wash my hands, you can wash your hands, I can dry them off, you can dry them off.  I can hold your hand, you can hold my hand, I can keep you safe, you can keep me safe.

The only song from outside the Fiddle collection was the play along.  It was This Little Light of Mine by the Chris Barber Jazz Band.   Here is the link to get it.

Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Week 5

History

Some fun activities for at home this week

Games about the Roman Empire and the split of Rome

http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/preload.htm

http://ccingitonedayatatime.blogspot.com/2012/09/starringall-thumbs.html

Geography

This weeks geography is the Egyptian Empire.  Here is a fun way to combine art and geography!

Build the Egyptian empire out of sugar cubes, construction paper, and straws

  

We enjoy the Magic Treehouse books.  There is a fiction and nonfiction book about Egypt

Science

I like these sorting cards.  A simple sorting activity might be fun for all of the kids this week.

Science Experiment

Here is a video of this weeks science experiment.  Watch it with your kids after our school day and see what they remember.
http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2011/04/how-to-make-a-naked-egg/

Blobbing

It's finally time to add the continents!  This week we will practice tracing North America.  Next week we will add it to our blob map.

Fall Music Together Has Begun

We are off to a fantastic start for this session of Music Together!  Thank you to all of the parents who sang, danced, and played instruments with their kids today.  You all did such a wonderful job right from the start.  When you model musical behavior you help your kids learn to be musical.  It doesn't matter if you always sing on pitch or keep the right beat.  If you are having a good time making music your kids will learn to enjoy music.  By being exposed to a community of music makers in a Music Together class they will learn to sing in tune and keep a steady beat.

Today I shared with you that I am going to play a new song on the ukulele each week in class.  The ukulele is a great instrument to enjoy playing with your child at home.  It's also a fun first instrument for kids who are a little older.  Because it is small it is easy to put your fingers down for the notes and chords.  I have started basic ukulele tutorials for you so you can learn to play at home.  You can find the tutorials here 

http://me-and-my-purple-ukulele.thinkific.com/

I played the Hello Song and I've Got the Rhythm In My Head on the ukulele in class today.  I've Got the Rhythm in My Head only has one chord!  It's so easy to play with your little one at home.  You can hold down the two fingers needed for an F chord and let your child strum.  If your child is ready to try putting their fingers on the strings this is an easy place for them to start!

The only song we did that is outside the collection today was the Freeze Dance by the Fresh Beat Band.

It's Time To Make Music!

The Fall Music Together session finally starts here Monday!  Music Classes at Journey Montessori will start with regularity now that we are past Labor Day as well.  I have enjoyed a little break but I'm thrilled to start classes this week.  All of the Music Together teachers in Charlotte get together before each new session to share awesome teaching ideas.  Here's a little video to enjoy before coming to class this week!

Fun Learning About the Greek gods - Percy Jackson Inspired - CC Week 3

We had a great time learning about the Greek gods with some friends today.  The kids are learning the names of prominent Greek and Roman gods this week for school.  I found several posts about Percy Jackson books, and parties that were inspired by the books, and decided to have our own fun.

Here is what we did.

We started learning by going on a hunt for 20 different gods and goddesses.  Each poster has a QR code on it.  When you scan it you find out the name of the god or goddess.  You can get them here.

After working hard it was time for a game.  We adapted the Mr. Fox game to be a Zeus and Hera game.  Whoever was Zeus or Hera went to the top of the hill and turned their back so they couldn't see everyone.  They then got to tell the mortals how many steps to take.  The mortals job was to go as quietly as possible so they could sneak by.  When Zeus or Hera thought they were getting close they yelled, "Zeus is coming down the mountain!" and turned around and chased them.  Whoever they tagged became Zeus or Hera next.

After getting some energy out it was time for a quick lesson.  We used the CC timeline cards that applied to the gods.  We sang the timeline song and stopped each time we got to one of the timeline cards listed and talked about it briefly.  We looked at the map as we discussed Greece and Rome being established and how to gods names changed from Greek to Roman when Rome defeated Greece. 

Next it was time for shield making!  We used cake rounds for the shields and duck tape for the handle on the back.  If you use a coupon at Michaels you can get a good deal on cake rounds.

Once the shields were made it was time to talk about the god of war and get ready for battle.  Greece and Rome went war in the garage.  Both sides were armed with their shields and pool noodle swords.  To win the battle you had to have the least amount of balloons on your side at the end.  

What Are the Five Kingdoms of Living Things?

We enjoyed a fun review lesson yesterday about the kingdoms of living things.  This collection of science lessons goes along with the Classical Conversations curriculum.  Each lesson is short and ties into the Bible.  Our favorite part of yesterdays lesson was drawing our own pizzas.  Did you know that you can make a  pizza that has four of the five kingdoms on it?  Do you know what they are?  What would you need on a pizza to represent four of the five kingdoms?

Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Week 4

New Grammar

We are going to keep new grammar simple.  The goal is to be exposed to the material, not master it.  Mastering it should happen at home.
The review dice with movements and tone of voice are a great way to spice up new grammar, but still keep it simple and to the point!
https://halfahundredacrewood.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ccreviewdice.pdf

You can look back to the other weeks on the blog for ways to spice up learning prepositions, plant cells, and Latin noun endings.

We will expand on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World at home this week with some fun coloring maps and model building.  

Art

Here are a few fun ideas for ways to do abstract art this week.

http://www.happinessishomemade.net/2014/03/17/kids-homeschool-art-lesson-piet-mondrian/

http://greenbayartroom.blogspot.com/2011/10/kandinsky-trees-1st-grade.html

http://galatiak12art.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-pictures-of-messiest-project-ever.html

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Art-Lesson-Elements-Abstracts-1275328

Science

This week we are talking about water pollution.  Be careful not to put too much food coloring in the water.  It really takes a lot of water to undo to pollution (food coloring).  We will go over the scientific method again.  There are some great worksheets on CCC for tutors and parents.  

Here is a fun water quiz for at home.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/puzzlesquizzes/water-wiz/

This activity could be adapted at home to talk about water pollution too.

http://www.filthwizardry.com/2009/07/aluminium-foil-river.html

Presentations

We are still working on organizing presentations this week.  Each student still gets 3 minutes to talk.  They are getting better at this time frame.  In addition to organization we are going to work on eye contact.  Go back and watch your video from last week (I record the students each week so they can go back and watch themselves and share it with their families) did you look at your audience?  Here's this weeks fun video.  Kid President doesn't look at his notes on the board.  He knows what he is going to say and he looks at the audience (or he has something he is reading by the camera).  

Blobbing

We are reviewing for blobbing this week.  Look back to week 3 for a video.  We have the compass rose, Equator, Prime Meridian, Tropics, Arctic and Antarctic Circles on our blob maps now.