My Father's World 1st grade

This past week has been hard.  James has ADHD...sometimes it's hardly an issue...and other times he is very difficult to manage, and this past week was one of those difficult times.  His hyperactivity, impulsiveness, lack of focus, and behavioral issues have been at an all time high.  This happens sometimes. Just a really really really bad week for him out of the blue, and then he goes back to "normal".   I really wish I could discover the pattern of why some days are fine and dandy, and others not. so. much.

Today, however...today has been good.  We woke up early (for us) and met some friends to go walking in the park while our kids tagged along on bikes, scooters, and strollers.   That was really nice, and hopefully the start of a new pattern of daily exercising.  I stayed after our walk and let the kids play on the playground before we headed back home to start school.

With James' My Father's World 1st grade curriculum,  he is learning Bible verses from Proverbs.  We have been memorizing a proverb a week.  This week is Proverbs 12:22.

Although MFW provides copywork sheets,  we also have been using a cool resource from Mama Jenn (who also does MFW) found here.  We have created a bible notebook that we keep all our memory pages in, so that we can look back and review.  

We are also beginning a study of the Old Testament.  He has drawn a bible times map with a cute little story to help him remember.  We have looked at the Greek alphabet and Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew and discussed how the Bible was written in a different language than we speak today.  This led into a wonderful discussion about Bible translators and how we have an awesome privilege to have the Bible in our own language.  

Yesterday, he started reading Bible stories in a special beginning level Bible Reader that comes with the curriculum.  He was so excited, as was I!   Today, we started a timeline that we will continue to add on to as the year goes on in our studies.  

As I was browsing the internet for a math supplement, I discovered this great idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  James needed a refresher on color mixing, so this is what we did before (and after) nap time.  It is really a mix of science and math together.  

We started out by coloring 3 jars of water in the primary colors of Red, Yellow, and Blue.

Then we took the color mixing cards and followed the directions to make a new color.

For instance, on the purple color mixing card it shows 3 scoops of blue, and 1 scoop of red.

(just ignore the missing burners on the stove...we were cleaning up!)

After we mixed the color, we wrote the equation on the card.  For purple we wrote 

3 (blue scoops)+1(red scoops)= 4 (purple scoops)

With Bella, I just gave her a jar of orange we had already mixed, and an empty bowl with various size measuring scoops and let her scoop and play.  She had a blast.