Spelling Bee on Friday, May 10

A few weeks ago, I sent an email to the Comm Central group about a Spelling Bee for my competitive 3rd grade son (who otherwise wouldn't be interested in studying lists of words.)  I thought I would post specifics here, in the event someone didn't respond to my initial email but were interested.

After giving it more thought...here's how the spelling bee will shake out (I'm open to suggestions).

When:

We'll just do ONE FRIDAY and see how it goes on May 10 at 12:30. If afterwards we think it was profitable time then we can talk about subsequent Fridays..

Where:

My house (so that my baby can nap.)  Our neighborhood park is only 2 blocks away so if you'd like to take your littles there while we spell, that's fine.  Or, we have a trampoline in the back yard...and a flat driveway & cul-de-sac for ride on toys...Or we can do both.  I live near Whole Foods (email me for exact location.) 

What list?

That's a good question and I'm open for suggestions.  I had planned on using this site for words.

Format:

I'll say the word.  Then ask the child to say the word and let them spell it out loud.  I will allow a piece/pad of paper and pencil for them to write it down and look at it.  Depending on how fast/slow the process is, I could put a time limit on their turn - I will play that by ear.  We will start with easy words and work our way harder until the last man is left standing.  When a person misspells a word, I will spell it correctly for them then ask them to sit down.  The next person will get a new word.  I want the spelling bee to last at least 20 minutes.  If we have a clear winner within 5 minutes, we'll have a second and maybe 3rd round.  I specify these time-constraints because my 3rd grade extrovert will be ready to get the "work" out of the way so he can play. 

I'm not sure of the age span of the children who are participating.  If you could reply and let me know who and what age is participating it will help me plan (or spelling level - like "my child is in kindergarten but he can spell 4th grade words."

Let me know what I've missed.  Feel free to invite non-Comm Central families.  And mark your calendar for May 10 at 12:30.

Julie

luvmyhub AT gmail DOT com

Book:: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

Several years ago, when my husband and I were thinking of adopting a daughter from China, a friend recommended that we read this well written book to help us understand the culture.

Below is the product description from Amazon.  I have bolded the sentence that summarizes the book.    -Julie


Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love.

Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving -- and ultimately uplifting -- detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

Geography Games

Here's a great website for geography games.
-Julie

App for IEW - and it's FREE!

I just found out that IEW has apps for free for Apple and Android! Oh. My. Goodness. I think our composition lessons are going to get easier now. Baker will do anything on the iPad (LOL). Here's the link...IEW apps page.
Amy

Another Comm. Central Student

Last Friday, we welcomed our third child into the family, a son weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds, 10 ounces.  We named him Schaeffer Allen Majors (after Francis Schaeffer).

If you want more details, click on over to my personal blog.

-Julie

Camera Phone:: Works for Me

Even though Comm. Central has dismissed for the year, we are still doing school.  I'm expecting a baby January 6 and imagine that life will get a bit crazy then, so we're working ahead.

Maybe you are not as scatterbrained as I am, or maybe you've taken the time to master your smart phone and don't need this tip.  

Something that is working for me lately, is taking pictures of lists with my phone.  

Confession

I make lots of lists.  Then loose them.  Somehow, I've been able to keep up with my phone.

Remedy

Take a picture of your lists.  Below is my 3rd grader's "to do list" for last Thursday.  I took a picture because we aren't doing the same things everyday, nor in the same order.

This was his "spelling test" from this list.  That site also has lists for kindergarten through 8th grade.  Below I've circled the words he struggled with or spelled incorrectly.  The following day, I drill him first on the words he missed previously.

By taking a picture of my lists, I can reduce clutter (by throwing away paper!) yet feel like I'm keeping my head above water.

-Julie

Science memory work review crossword

Find it here!

First semester history review crossword

Find it here! Unfortunately, one of the clues fell off the page, so "Stalin" will not have a corresponding clue.

Thanksgiving!

Here at Loften Academy, I do my best to keep some semblance of a school routine during the long break. Mainly, because we are usually behind by this point but also because I find Baker does so much better with structure (and so do I). Here is a great resource for Thanksgiving "stuff" for all ages, including printables and clips on the history of the holiday. Enjoy! May we all be thankful this season.
Amy
Mama's Learning Corner

Colorful Commentary & Background to Gettysburg Address

In 1932, Dale Carnegie wrote a short biography on our sixteenth President called Lincoln the Unknown.  It is unlike any other Presidential biography I have ever read.  Short yet chocked full of interesting detail that I did not learn in other biographies about him.  One of the stories in this book that remains with me months after reading it is background information to the Gettysburg Address (typed below).  Since our children have memorized it, I thought that they would enjoy hearing more information about it - to help it and our President come to life.  And, being that Thanksgiving is next week, you could also talk about the fact that Lincoln was the one who made the first Thanksgiving Proclamation.  - Julie

The following autumn, {after the battle of Gettysburg} the Cemetery Commission decided to dedicate the ground, and invited Edward Everett, the most famous orator in the US to deliver the address.

Formal invitations to attend the exercises were sent to the President, to the Cabinet, to General Meade, to all the members of both houses of Congress, to various distinguished citizens, and to the members of the diplomatic corps.  Very few of these people accepted; many didn't acknowledge the invitation.

The committee had not the least idea that the President would come.  In fact, they had not even troubled to write him a personal invitation.  He got merely a printed one.  They imagined that his secretaries might drop it in the waste-basket without even showing it to Lincoln.

So when he wrote saying he would be present, the committee was astonished.  And a bit embarrassed.  What should they do?  Ask him to speak?  Some argued that he was too busy for that, that he couldn't possibly find time to prepare.  Others frankly asked, "Well, even if he had the time, has he the ability?"  The doubted it.

{...couple of pages of details that I'm too lazy to type...}

Edward Everett, the selected orator of the occasion, made two mistakes at Gettysburg.  Both bad - and both uncalled for.  First he arrived an hour late; and, secondly, he spoke for two hours.

Lincoln had read Everett's oration and when he saw that the speaker was nearing his close, he knew his time was coming, grew nervous, twisted in his chair, drew his manuscript from the pocket of his Prince Albert coat, put on his old-fashioned glasses, and quickly refreshed his memory.

Presently he stepped forward, manuscript in hand, and delivered his little address in two minutes.

Did his audience realize, that soft November afternoon, that they were listening to the greatest speech that had ever fallen from human lips up to that time?  No, most of his hearers were merely curious;  they had never seen nor heard a President of the United States, they strained their necks to looks at Lincoln, and were surprised to discover that such a tall man had such a high, thin voice, and that he spoke with a Southern accent.  They had forgotten that he was born a Kentuckian and that he had retained the intonation of his native State; and about the time they felt he was getting through with his introduction and ready to launch into his speech - he sat down.

What!  Had he forgotten?  Or was it really all he had to say?  People were too surprised and disappointed to applaud.