Homeschooling Journal: February 2014 Part 6

Take a look at what we did at the end of February. :) Better late than never, right? :)

A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education)
To learn more, CLICK HERE.

K and I have been absolutely loving A.C.E. I adjust it to our needs and schedule and it is working out so well that we will continue using it indefinitely. As he finishes his PACEs (booklets) and memorizes Scripture, he gets a golden star each time and that is an encouragement to him. He is doing great with this program. It isn't individualized yet (as it is in the older grades), but that is ok. It gives us an opportunity to develop a special rapport that we couldn't if he were just working on his own.

The best part about it is that I grew up with this program and now I get to use it with my child. Eventually, A will use it, too. :)

Montessori Science (Botany): Parts of a Fruit

We read some information on the different kinds of fruit and how their seeds are different, but they all produce matching plants out of those seeds.
We also studied our nomenclature key cards and observed an actual fruit (an apple, cut in half).
Then he matched the 3-part nomenclature cards.
fruit, pericarp, exocarp, mesocarp, endocarp

I am looking into adding more parts the next time around (seeds, blossom end, stem, leaf).

Montessori Sensorial: Smell Bottles (with essential oils)

I decided to use our off-brand essential oils from long, long ago, not only to finish them up (and keep only the good-quality - Young Living ones), but also to use them liberally, without worrying about wasting our precious drops of the Young Living essential oils. Read on to learn what we did.

 

Montessori Culture (History): The Four Seasons

We read this book (it is bilingual, so we learned several Spanish vocabulary words).

Then we opened each folder dedicated to each season. I simply found images from the internet that depicted the gist of that season. I printed them out and glued them onto colored cards that match the season's folder. These are for personal, in-home use, and that is why I am not linking to the images. This is an easy diy project and it doesn't take too long either.

Montessori Math: Large Number Cards and Golden Beads Tray

We introduced this lesson HERE. Now, we extended that Presentation.

Here are the ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands large number cards.
Then, we look at the golden beads and match the beads to the cards.