Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
In download materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type –in download materials
I let Dragon have a bit more independence during virtual school this week, to try to get her to ask her questions to the teachers instead of to me. I’m not sure it worked very well.
They had a guest speaker again, with a puppet, that taught them about organizing their space to be able to focus. It was cute, but Dragon wasn’t able to tell me what they were saying. She did enjoy the drawing that they asked her to do.
A tree with 2 yellow apples and 3 red apples, and a purple worm in a hole in the trunk. At the base of the tree are 4 orange pumpkins and Pegasus before he was born. At the top, to the left of the tree is a blue bird. The stack of people is our family standing on each other’s heads so that we can reach the apples to pick them.
Math was working on subtraction. Dragon used crayons to demonstrate the answer to the question that was asked of her.
She presented her doll of Valkyrie that was given to her for Christmas by a friend.
We had parent-teacher interviews on Wednesday, and they told us that she’s doing very well in math and she’s very polite and friendly, but that she needs to work on her French, which we’re fully aware of. How do you get someone stubborn to speak something she doesn’t want to speak? We’re working on it.
Homeschool was interesting this week. A lot of thinking about stuff and how we feel.
Dance
She did ballet 2 times this week, and practiced doing the spilts.
Music
Piano: First we reviewed her homework, which she did very well, so she obviously had practiced. And then she did it on the piano, right hand, and then left hand, and then both hands together. So she has new homework for this week; triads (1, 3, 5) on each hand. Then they did the clapping and counting (after the first note; the first one always seems to give her problems). They skipped lesson 1 and started at lesson 2, which she did perfectly without needing to repeat anything. They worked up to adding the fifth note on each hand, and that’s when it all fell apart a bit, so they ended the lesson. Chopsticks went very well.
We have a new French playlist that I can play through the Google, with a variety of artists.
Crochet
She did several stitches this week.
Basic Information
We are working on yesterday (hier) and tomorrow (demain) around any given day. The months of the year is going well. We’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
The saisons de l’année are all memorized. We’re working on how each of them feel and the types of things we can do during each of them.
When I ask her “combien” for any of the above, she now responds in complete sentences.
Printing words
Printing went very well this week. I’m quite impressed with her letters, tbh.
Counting objects/math-type activities
She had no problems with the counting worksheet. She has been counting to 40 out loud (three days in a row she has remembered 16 without prompting!)
Math – after a meltdown because she couldn’t draw a star, both math worksheets were completed very quickly. We also played a math game that the teacher sent along last week with subtractions, and she had absolutely zero trouble playing it. It was a lot of fun to play it with her.
Storytime
We read stories from the teacher’s outline that was sent to us on Monday. She enjoyed that, and we will continue to do it next week.
We watched Vampirina in French on Disney Plus, one episode a day. Dragon is enjoying it immensely, and is even recognizing some words!
Activity
Music blues and jazz – I put on Youtube videos for each of blues and jazz, and then talked about their sound and influences (blues, jazz) while we listened to them. Dragon danced to the jazz.
Learn to meditate – She sat cross-legged on the floor, back straight, hands relaxed. I had her breathe slowly and imagine an object in her mind. I had her flip it around and look at it from every angle, keeping her breathing even and body relaxed.
Make a personality mood board – We looked at the five main personality traits, and decided which fit her best. Then she cut out images that she felt represented each word.
Open – creative, details, people, cares, and relaxed
I really wanted this movie during Black History Month, because the themes of prejudice are very obvious and provide a great springboard for discussion, especially for my child, who hasn’t been exposed to any direct prejudice.
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
In download materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type –in download materials
Addition and pattern – worksheet
Storytime
Activity
Experiment Blue Eyes (link to experiment) – use different shapes in different colours and have them grouped in different ways, picking one group to be “lesser” each time. Does that make sense? No!
Virtual school went fairly well this week, although before it started, Dragon said “my head wants to be on a pillow”. Poor thing. I understand – I’m tired too.
She sang the bonjour song, raised her hand for the days of the week twice, and was able to tell the day based on the calendar (although she couldn’t say the year, but that’s ok).
She was able to write multiple words that started with the letter ‘s’, and she got multiple compliments from the teachers over her printing.
She liked the book that was read to her, but I’m not sure how much she understood.
Math after lunch was a bit more independent than she’s used to. They were given a link to a website with subtraction games (click and drag). She enjoyed it once she got the hang of it, and even asked for more.
Then they students learned about gravity with paper. That was fun.
And Dragon got to present her nebula to the class! She was very happy that they seemed to like it.
Homeschool was a lot of cooking this week (to nobody’s surprise, if you’ve seen the movie).
Dance
She did ballet 2 times this week, and practiced doing the spilts.
Music
Piano: Started off the same as usual, did not get there first counting right, but then got all the rest right. No recollection of the dotted half note, so she just let that go. They did the first three lessons, no problem as usual (A, B, C, D, and E). However, when they got to the next lesson, adding the F and G, she couldn’t remember anything at all. Focus, concentration, and memory was gone out the window. And then it came back (after threat of the lesson ending).
We have a new French playlist that I can play through the Google, with a variety of artists.
Crochet
She did not do any this week.
Basic Information
We are working on yesterday (hier) and tomorrow (demain) around any given day. The months of the year is going well. We’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
The saisons de l’année are all memorized. We’re working on how each of them feel and the types of things we can do during each of them.
When I ask her “combien” for any of the above, she now responds in complete sentences.
Printing words
Printing went very well this week.
Counting objects/math-type activities
She had no problems with the counting worksheet. She has been counting to 40 out loud (still missing 16, though) and traced my hands to write up to 50.
Math: both worksheets went very well, with no tears.
Storytime
We read stories from the teacher’s outline that was sent to us on Monday. She enjoyed that, and we will continue to do it next week.
We watched Vampirina in French on Disney Plus, one episode a day. Dragon is enjoying it immensely, and is even recognizing some words!
Activity
Cooking rice bowl – We used a recipe that is in Dragon’s Princess cookbook that she got for Christmas called Hoppin’ John’s. It was very yummy.
Baking beignets – This is the recipe used. Dragon used measuring cups and spoons by herself. She rolled the dough.
Learn about frogs – Dragon told me she likes learning about different animals every once in a while.
This one is probably the newest movie in the list – it came out December 25, 2020! In this week, we’re going to be talking a lot about music, especially jazz and blues!
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
In download materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type –in download materials
The virtual school had a different format this week, which Dragon did NOT appreciate. She was unfocussed for most of the morning and rude when the teachers spoke to her. She also didn’t even try to speak in French in the morning. It was a struggle just to get her to pay attention.
She did listen attentively to the story, but I’m not sure how much she got out of it.
Math was a bit of a struggle today. They did words regarding location (sous, sur, derriere, etc), and she had fun with those. But then they did a worksheet with dice and a cup, so I got our dice out. She didn’t seem to understand what was going on. (But she wasn’t quite as rude to the teachers when she said so).
But the end was very positive. The teachers had put a link to a coding exercise with a mouse and cheese. Dragon, after initial confusion, got the hang of it and really enjoyed it. Then she showed her teachers the nebula she had made (including calling it nebulose, the French word for it). She made them laugh with her enthusiasm, which was great to see.
We had a lot of fun with the activities for homeschool this week.
Dance
She did ballet 2 times this week, and practiced doing the spilts.
Music
Piano: Clapping and counting went very well again. After the initial first note, which she always seems to have trouble with, she gets all the rest perfectly. A new note (dotted half note) was introduced today. We’ll see whether she remembers it next week. They did lessons 1-3 on the piano again, and then introduced F (right) & G (left). At that point, she lost focus. So they did manage to do the whole lesson, but it was not as smooth as usual.
We have a new French playlist that I can play through the Google, with a variety of artists.
Crochet
She did not do any this week.
Basic Information
We are working on the day before (hier) and the day after (demain) any given day. The months of the year is going well. We’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
The saisons de l’année are all memorized. We’re working on how each of them feel and the types of things we can do during each of them.
When I ask her “combien” for any of the above, she now responds in complete sentences.
Printing words
Printing went very well this week.
Counting objects/math-type activities
She had no problems with the counting worksheet. She also made the numbers out of playdough.
Math: She had no problems with the first worksheet. The second required a little more effort, but she worked really hard and succeeded. We also did a couple coding games, from the website that the teacher suggested. She had a lot of fun with it.
Storytime
We read stories from the teacher’s outline that was sent to us on Monday. She enjoyed that, and we will continue to do it next week.
We watched Vampirina in French on Disney Plus, one episode a day. Dragon is enjoying it immensely, and is even recognizing some words!
Activity
Physics experiment – static electricity – She had a lot of fun playing with the balloon and making her hair stand on end. She was fascinated by the way the little papers jumped up to the balloon.
It didn’t pick up any!
Static!
Look at all the bits!
Book Quelle tête by Robert Munsch – She adored this. Thanks for the book rec, Fadhili!
Physics experiment – magnets – rather than do a particular experiment, I decided to just let her make her own hypotheses about what would happen with different materials, and what would allow the two magnets to cling together. Some of it surprised me!
Pulling them apart
Look! They stick together on their sides!
I can’t put them together!
Together again!
Stick through the dress
Magnetic attraction through the plastic gate
Magnetic attraction through my crochet hook case
Magnetic attraction through the wood door of the end table
Magnetic attraction through the book
Magnetic attraction through a wooden puzzle
The scissors are magnetic!
The cups are magnetic?
Nope – but four cups are not too thick for the magnetic attraction
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
In download materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type –in download materials
Virtual school started off a little hectic this week. We had been sent an email from the teacher saying that she would not be in class today, and we took that to mean that the class was cancelled. But when we checked for the link just to be sure, class was happening! Oops! So I rushed to get Dragon up, and she got ready to go within ten minutes! We missed Oh Canada and the first part of Le roi, la reine, et le petit prince. Not bad!
Dragon was very tired and a little cranky, especially when there were technical glitches and she wasn’t heard the first time.
They learned about the letter ‘f’ this week. Out of virtual school, we talked about frère, feux d’artifice, foulard, fusée, and fleur.
The story was read by the teacher, which I personally prefer, because they can slow down and make sure the kids are understanding.
Dragon was asked to do counting in math, which she found very easy. Then she was asked to figure out how many buttons were missing to make it look like the example. Once she got the hang of it, she understood exactly what was being asked of her.
Homeschool was good this week. We watched Over the Moon in honour of Chinese New Year, although the festival being celebrated in the movie is the Lunar Festival, which happens in the Fall.
Dance
She did ballet 2 times this week, and practiced doing the spilts.
Music
Piano: She did the clapping and counting the notes and rests perfectly (two weeks in a row). She did the first lesson no problem (letters, no notes). Then they did the second lesson, no problem reading the notes on the staff (C and D). Then they added the E and A. She was able to do the short piece (4 bars), but was having trouble following along with the longer piece (16 notes with no bars), but she was still able to do it, she just took longer to figure out which notes were which.
We have a new French playlist that I can play through the Google, with a variety of artists.
Crochet
She did not do any this week.
Basic Information
We are working on the day before (hier) and the day after (demain) any given day. The months of the year is going well. We’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
The saisons de l’année are all memorized. We’re working on how each of them feel and the types of things we can do during each of them.
When I ask her “combien” for any of the above, she now responds in complete sentences.
Printing words
Printing went very well this week.
Counting objects/math-type activities
She had no trouble with these. We are now practicing counting up to 30 in French verbally. She still stumbles on 16. I have no idea why.
Math: the easy sheet was very easy. The challenging sheet was challenging. She didn’t like that she couldn’t guess the answer, but she did like that we could draw objects.
Storytime
We read stories from the teacher’s outline that was sent to us on Monday. She enjoyed that, and we will continue to do it next week.
We watched Vampirina in French on Disney Plus, one episode a day. Dragon is enjoying it immensely, and is even recognizing some words!
Activity
Experiment: Nebula Jar – (renamed from Galaxy jar, since it looks like a nebula, not a galaxy). We used Crayola paint, glitter from Walmart, and pillow stuffing rather than cotton balls. We put blue paint in first, with pink glitter. Then we added pink paint with silver glitter, but it turned purple! So when we added the top layer of paint, we used pink again, this time with gold glitter, and we mixed it in a separate jar. We added the stuffing and poured the pink water overtop, to prevent too much mixing with the previous layers. I think it worked pretty well. I wonder if that would have worked for the second layer…?
Make mooncakes – the ingredients ended up being too expensive, so Dragon made spring rolls instead! They… kinda exploded. At least they tasted yummy!
Cooling the mixture
Learn about Chinese New Year – We had a video chat with a very good friend of mine and her son. We learned about the different animals of the Chinese zodiac (Dragon was born in the year of the Monkey!) and about different traditions that happen during the 15 day celebration. This year, the New Year starts on February 12.
This week kicks off Black History Month, and will feature movies with Black main characters or themes of prejudice (in the case of the animated animals). The movie (2018) this week might be a little advanced, but you never know until you try, right?
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
In download materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type –in download materials
Dragon had some issues this week, so she kept having to leave class. But when she was present, she tried very hard.
The morning routine was a little bit frustrating, because although she was asked to sing the bonjour song, she wasn’t asked anything for the next section or the one after that, so she got very upset about that, because she raised her hand and they didn’t call on her. I had to remind her that there are other kids in the class that need to answer as well, and the teachers already know that she knows her days and months.
They learned some words with the letter ‘e’, and she wrote a word that was on the screen very well (I don’t remember it).
After lunch, they did math, and Dragon was called on several times. She answered two addition questions and then counted several snowmen cards. She ran into difficulty when asked to count dice spots and indicate which one was which; she kept trying to point at the screen to show the teacher. a) she can’t reach the screen, and b) the teacher can’t see what she’s pointing at. lol
Then she presented last week’s lava lamp. There was some miscommunication, because I have no idea how to describe it in French, and the teachers didn’t know the name or couldn’t hear the name in English. But Dragon was able to say “eau” on the bottom and “huile” on top, and “tablet” starts the reaction, and she dropped the tablet in. The reaction was very clear and looked good on camera, so we were both happy.
Piano: Her counting of the notes and rests is doing amazing. She remembered all of it, it was really good. They had to start over because she was reading the letters of the notes instead of the notes on the clef, so they are back to only using A, B, C, D and E (around middle C). They covered up there letters. She did one of the lessons and half of the next one. First page was no problem, but the second page was a little intimidating. She is grasping it well and her teacher is very pleased.
We have a new French playlist that I can play through the Google, with a variety of artists.
Crochet
She did not do any this week.
Basic Information
We are working on the day before (hier) and the day after (demain) any given day. The months of the year is going well. We’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
The saisons de l’année are all memorized. We’re working on how each of them feel and the types of things we can do during each of them.
When I ask her “combien” for any of the above, she now responds in complete sentences.
Printing words
Printing went very well this week.
Counting objects/math-type activities
She had no trouble with these.
Math: The easier one was a breeze. The more complex one was a challenge, but she really enjoyed it. I will be making more of these for future weeks.
Storytime
We read stories from the teacher’s outline that was sent to us on Monday. She enjoyed that, and we will continue to do it next week.
We watched Vampirina in French on Disney Plus, one episode a day. Dragon is enjoying it immensely, and is even recognizing some words!
Activity
Zhezhi – We chose to make a fox. The instructions weren’t super clear at the end, but we figured it out, and I think they look super cute!
Make noodle soup – Dragon and her Papa made the broth on Monday (no pictures) and the filling on Thursday. She even used a knife! They popped it in the slow cooker, and we had delicious turkey noodle soup for dinner! Pegasus gave it the seal of approval.
Learn about Kung Fu – We had our friends call in for a video chat this week (they were extremely patient), and they talked about the different forms of Kung Fu and how they all came from different regions of China. It was super cool to learn about.
