Our student read 89 books last year on his own, and hopes to read even more this year. We do not restrict ourselves to "grade level" books, but rather choose what interests the student and go from there. He uses a combination of phonics, sightwords and reasoning out to read the books. The key is - we read for FUN and we do not use "readers." I will also choose books that go along with the subjects we are studying, such as citizenship, character, history and inter-personal skills and use those as read-alouds. Many times, he will read a book back to me that I have just read to him because he enjoyed it so much.
Our study of Ancient Greece includes the use of videos. Two that we have viewed are:
The Odyssey
Jason and the Argonauts
These are from the Hallmark Television movies that are newer adaptations. We borrowed them from our local library.
We are also reading Aesop's Fables. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece who lived about 500 B.C. We read one fable per day and discuss them. I am also reading selections from Edith Hamilton's definitive book, Mythology. I censor where needed and abbreviate the sections that are too wordy for him. He is able to benefit from her love of the subject but does not get overwhelmed with too much information. Watching the videos mentioned previously have helped him to "visualize" these characters.
We discuss how these "gods" are petty, jealous, and full of faults. They provide good examples for our discussion of character. Click here to see picture narrations of some of the gods.
Our study of Astronomy ties in well with the study of the ancient Greeks. We have an inexpensive telescope to use in star gazing. We were able to go on a field trip to the local Planetarium and heard some of the American Indian myths about the constellations, so we are able to build on that when learning about the constellations and the names they are now known by. In the Jason and the Argonauts video, the use of the stars in navigation was shown in a fanciful way that captures our student's interest.
We have watched some of the Olympic events such as gymnastics, diving and track and field. We learned about the history of the games, and did a Math measurement activity in an Olympic game format. Click here to download in .pdf form this Classroom Olympics activity that works for you and your child to do together, or to do as a group with others. It even includes some medals to cut out and award to the winners. (Grade levels k-3)
He has also developed an appreciation for Japanese Anime music, thanks to exposure to this from the High School Student. It's fun to listen to them sing in Japanese!
Our student is also participating in a Ju-Jitsu class. He enjoys this sport of grappling, and will be able to compete in tournaments.
NEWS FLASH! Our student has progressed to orange belt and has competed in several tournaments and has won ribbons and several trophies.
Here he is trying to break a board with his foot and the other photo is of him receiving his orange belt.
