Mrs Tkach's Lower School Class

assignments for our last day

2010-05-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Good Evening, Families!

We had a good day of learning together. We had an amazing treat when Mrs. Beth joined us and shared some amazing family mementos. We saw pictures of the Berlin Wall, Berlin, Viet Nam, Woods and Mills' grandfather's medals, a hunk of schrapnel.etc. WOW! It was very educational. Many thanks! And thanks to Mrs. Irvine for being our helper.

The children read about the influenza epidemic of 1918--1919. They were very attentive to this topic. (Ask them why they paid such close attention.) We listened to a poem that Ronald Reagan memorized as a child called "Dangerous Dan McGrew". For history we made replicas of China's coat-of-arms and listened to a great library book about a boy's life during the Cultural Revolution. Both were enjoyable. Spencer wowed us with his memory of the presidents and EVERY science fact (even the elements of the periodic table!) All the kids that had a chance to recite did well. However, Spence must have put in alot of time. Bravo! to all of you.

Monument Projects are due next week. However, Talia had hers ready today and it was outstanding. A Harriet Tubman Monument that is "UNDERGROUND". Very clever! We will have show-and-tell next week just for the heck of it! We will have learning--I promise. However, it will be a relaxed and fun day. I hope you can all make it to the sock hop Tuesday evening. It will be a lot of fun.

Students, please work hard for your parents this last week of Trinity. I love you each very much and am "shamefully" proud of you!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Memorize your favorite Bible passage. Be ready to recite it to your class and tell why it is your favorite.
2. Review Week 12--24 in Math and be ready to recite. Watch the hand motion videos on youtube for the Veritas cards. I plan for us to challenge each other in class to recite the cards.
3. Finish the Ronald Reagan book.
4. Read chapter 42 in SOTW.
5. Complete lesson 27 latin work. Answers will be e-mailed.

assignments for 5/18/10

2010-05-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,

We had a good day yesterday. As I reflect on the year, I am very proud of the literature selections the board approved for us. It is not easy to find books from this recent time period that have proven themselves and are on our level. The children took a minute to reminisce and reflect and they have the same opinion as I do.

We learned about a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah celebration. We listened and watched people dancing to "Hava Nagila" and did a little dancing ourselves. We, also, took turns lifting each student up in a chair, as is done at a Bar Mitzvah.

We continue to press on in Latin and I'm VERY proud of the children's translating capabilities. We reviewed memory work (Presidents and science) and had a probability lab about odds and ratios in science. Geography shows the children are coming along nicely in memorizing and locating features across our country.

We joined Mrs. Fowler's class as they presented projects they've been working on. It was so impressive that I have decided to have my class do the same project--see below.

Enjoy your week of learning and teaching your children.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read the second half of ch. 64 in Bible. (We began this book my first year at Trinity. For Woods and I, we have been through every story.)
2. If you have not mastered the presidents and the science facts, please have them ready to recite to the class next time. If you have, work on the math facts for weeks 12--24. We will begin reviewing the Veritas Cards in class next time.
3. Read chapters 1--6 in Ronald Reagan.
4. Read Chapter 41 in SOTW.
5. Please complete a monument project. Drawings are acceptable but models are encouraged. I will e-mail you the details of this assignment. This will be due the last day of class.
6. Complete lesson 26 in Latin. On Monday, write the words and translations from lesson 27 three times each.
7. Review states and capitals, and continue memorizing the names and LOCATIONS of our countries features from Classical Conversation Weeks 11-24.

assignments for 5/11/10

2010-05-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,

We had an action packed class day. After learning about the Sikhs in India we led the whole school in a small worship service and served them aN Indian meal called Aloo goobi. We spent the morning preparing the meal. Your children are ready to peel all your potatoes for you.

The majority of us are enjoying "The Dog of Knots". We discussed it and looked at a map of Israel to see the localities mentioned in it. We also looked at some pictures of Eliat stones that Uri was buying for his mom. I encouraged the children to make use of the glossary in the back of the book as they read.

We had a good latin lesson and broke into pairs to review our memory work.

Enjoy your week of learning!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

p.s. We had fun celebrating Talia's birthday with some yummy treats that Mrs. Irvine provided.

p.s.s. SHOW AND TELL IS NEXT WEEK!!!!!

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch. 63 in Bible
2. Work on memorizing the presidents. If you have that down, work on the 24 science facts.
3. Finish reading The Dog of Knots
4. Read ch. 40 in SOTW
5. Complete lesson 25 in latin. On Monday, write the ch. 26 words and meanings 3 times each.
6. Continue working on memorizing the names and locations of the features of the US geography map.

reflections and assignments for 5/4/10

2010-04-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,

This was a Tuesday I am glad to have behind me. I am sad to say that behavior was not satisfactory. I seemed to constantly have to tell the children to stop talking. There were way too many private conversations while learning and listening should have been happening. There were a few bright spots of undivided attention, but very few. Please tell your children to keep all attention on the subject at hand, to not speak out without raising hands to be recognized and, most importantly, to obey my directions promptly. I am most mindful of the teaching time we lose when those three courtesies are not followed. I want all of us to work hard and finish the year well. No coasting!

We missed Talia and Spencer and prayed for your safe return next week. I taught about the Vietnam War--a most difficult topic to summarize to a third and fourth grade level. Your student has a sheet we completed in class that I want them to go over with you. I did my best to explain why there were, and are, two views of that war and what an unsettling time that period was for our country. Mrs. Beach was my helper and had valuable input as her Dad was deployed three times to Vietnam.

We studied the Tet celebrations in Vietnam and your child should have some mementos to share with you. We cleaned our room as is done in preparation for Tet and made an interesting Apricot, coconut rice cake.

Latin had some difficult new concepts and really needs to be gone over well this week at home. We acted out the Bible story complete with palm trees and tent stakes! We broke into two groups and learned part of MLK's speech. Have your child recite their portion to you.

I look forward to seeing my students in May and having a most productive learning day.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch. 61 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Memorize Week 24 memory work.
3. Finish memorizing your part of the MLK speech and recite it for your family.
4. Read chapters 1--10 of THE DOG OF KNOTS.
5. Discuss the Vietnam War with your parents. Read chapter 39 in SOTW.
6. Complete Lesson 24 in Latin.

Reflections on Yesterday and Assignments for 4/27/10

2010-04-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Families,

I hope the children enjoyed yesterday just half as much as I did. Then I know they will have had a great time. Our tour guide at Penn Center was amazing. He graduated from the Penn School in the late 1940s. He walked our legs off and I imagine him to be 70 at least. The place is beautiful and so peaceful. The children's behavior was outstanding. The first 20 minutes were spent watching a video and they remained very quiet and respectful throughout. (Although we had just watched a long video of MLK making his "I Have A Dream . . ." speech) I'm very proud of them. Please plan another longer outing there. There were many trees that needed climbing and a leisurely picnic under the shade trees is a must.

We had a good latin lesson before leaving. I hope the students had some fuzziness from last week cleared up. Have your student explain two things from Bible. How fat was the king that was killed and what cycle did the Israelites fall into. Oh, and what does it mean to "compartmentalize" our lives.

Enjoy Spring in the Lowcountry and I will see you Tuesday!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Chapter 59 in the Bible Story Book
2. Please catch up your History reading. Several children mentioned they did not have time to read chapters 37 and 38 for yesterday. We will not press on into ch. 39 for next time but, instead, will spend time learning about the Viet Nam War.
3. Finish reading the MLK book.
4. Continue practicing Week 23 memory work.
5. Complete Lesson 23 in Latin. Write the new words for Lesson 24 three times each. (Answers will be emailed.)

assignments for 4/20/10

2010-04-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Families!

I'm sorry to be late posting. Life with a graduating senior is a whirlwind of activity. I'll try to do better.

We had a great day yesterday. We had show-and-tell AND still got to all subjects. Yeah! We spent alot of time looking at pictures and talking about JFK's assassination. We didn't take much time with MLK since we will read a biography about him. The book reports were outstanding!!! I'm so proud of everyone and the work they put into that.

I am trying to pull together a field trip for next Tuesday. I've e-mailed you my tentative plan. The Penn Center staff did get back in touch with me. Visiting the museum and having a guided walking tour will cost a total of $8 per person. I have a query into Nicole and Alice to see if there is any funding to defray that expense and will let you know. I plan for us to have class as usual including lunch in the morning. We'll leave Trinity at noon and return at 3:00. I do not think there is anything to have spending money for.

We had some questions about our work on the Latin Review. I plan to get in touch with an expert and will e-mail the answers later this week.

Enjoy the beautiful springtime.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 57 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice and learn Week 23 memory work.
3. Read the first 6 chapters of Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. Review our probability lab with you parents.
5. Read Ch. 37 and 38 in SOTW.
6. Finish the Unit 4 Review in Latin. Write the vocab words for Lesson 23 three times each.
7. Review the features of the U.S. from the CC book. Go back to the mountains in lesson 11 and move through lesson 23. I want us to be able to point our their names and locations on a blank map by the end of the year.

Happy Easter!

2010-03-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,

I enjoyed the day with your children today. We're reading an excellent book and I enjoy discussing it with them. We looked at a map of Berlin that I hope made it home. Several of the sites in our book are shown on the map. We saw a picture of the wall being constructed and discussed writing from different perspectives. In history we learned that Castro closed schools in Cuba for eight months and sent all teachers and students into the countryside to teach the peasants to read. We made books similar to the ones used. His goal was to abolish illiteracy in Cuba. For fun we stood toe to toe and had staring contests. The first one to blink was a communist!

Latin is proceeding well. Mr. Tkach, (Thomas) was in my room after school and said he was impressed with the chants we're learning and that there were many his students don't know. We drilled the features on the US map. My goal is for us to not only be able to name all the rivers, canals, trails, etc. but to point them out on a blank map. We were actors in Bible and had fun improvising. We'll have two probability labs in science when we return.

Many thanks to Mrs. Irvine for her help, today. Please enjoy our break and I will see you in April. The first day back is show-and-tell!

love to all,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 55 in the Bible Story Book.
2. learn week 22 memory work
3. finish Escape to West Berlin.
4. read chapter 36 in SOTW
5. complete lesson 22 in latin
6. work on memorizing the names and locations of all our geography features from the Classical Conversations book.
7. Read a book over the break of your choice. Below is a link to a book report form that I want you to use to write a book report about your book. It is geared for 4th graders but I want you 3rd graders to give it a try,too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! and assignments for 3/23/10

2010-03-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Good Evening!

We had a good, and somewhat of a calm day. Many thanks to Spencer's mom, Mrs. Victoria, for helping us. We were able to have a few activites outside because of the great weather.

For Geography, we are really concentrating on the land forms that are identified in the Classical Conversations book after the states and capitals. This is a challenge, but the last map in that book has all of them identified for us. Science was a probability lab from the CC book, too.

We discussed Communism in history as we learned about the Korean conflict. I encouraged my students to ask their parents who they thought was right when Gen McArthur was relieved of command--him or Pres. Truman. The lit read is also a good source to spur conversations about communism. The activity we did in lit involved learning about the genre of realistic fiction. These works include detailed descriptions so we went outside and had to make an accurate representation of a scene. It was a good exercise. We played a game in history to study Ho Chi Minh and his teachings. We spent a good amount of time reviewing chapters 20 and 21 memory work. Latin received a strong portion of our morning and your students are doing great (usually better than their teacher at grasping these latest lessons).

Be sure and wear green tomorrow and enjoy learning together.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch. 53 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Learn week 21 memory work and practice week 20 as well.
3. Read chapters 5--8 in Escape to West Berlin.
4. Describe our Probability lab in science to your parents.
5. I will not be covering ch. 34 in SOTW in class. I will leave it up to you as to how you cover it at home. Read ch. 35 for next week.
6. Complete lesson 21 in Latin. Here is my suggestion for dividing the work.
Wed: ex. B
Thurs: ex. C
Fri: ex. D, E, and F
Mon: ex. G and write lesson 22 words three times each.
7. Review that map at the end of the Classical Conversations book several times this week. We want to work toward not only being able to name the land forms but locate them on our blank maps.

WHEW! and assignments for 3/16/10

2010-03-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Good Evening!

Our day was packed! Ask your student about folk dancing, thank you notes, rutabagas, snakes, their pancreas, little red books, and performing Friday night!

Enjoy your week and I will see you Friday at the Open House. Watch for e-mails concerning a meeting place to prepare for our performance.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Ch. 51 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice History Memory Sentences through week 19 at least twice before Friday. Do not press on into week 20. We did in class, but I want them to concentrate on our performance material for the Open House.
3. Finish Otis Spofford and read chapters 1-4 in Escape to West Berlin.
4. Read ch. 33 in SOTW.
5. Complete Lesson 20 in latin and write lesson 21 words three times each. Here is a suggested break down for the week. NOTE: This is a challenging lesson--be sure to work diligently on the new material.
Wed: exercises B and C
Thurs: exercises D and E Go over this several times
Fri: exercises F and G
Mon: write lesson 21 words three times each.

Practice ALL the latin chants several times before Friday night.

assignments for 3/9/10

2010-03-02T17:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

We had a busy but fruitful day. Many thanks to Mrs. Karen for helping us and to Mrs. Stephanie for being our guest speaker. She told us of her training and work with the mentally challenged and was able to relate to Corrie ten Boom's love of working with these special people. As a college student, she traveled and was able to hear Miss ten Boom in person!

It is very late so please ask your student all about our day. The History reports were great. I don't plan to share my paycheck this time either--even though you did a great job teaching two chapters.

We are planning to recite our Latin chants and our History sentences/songs at the Open House. We worked on that today and I think we can be ready.

Enjoy each other and I will see you next Tuesday!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Lesson 49 in the Bible.
2. Practice week 19 memory work. Also, review all our History Sentences at least twice this week.
3. Finish reading Twenty and Ten. Begin reading Otis Spofford through ch. 3.
(A refreshing, light break after such heavy "reads" lately!)
4. Read ch. 32 in SOTW.
5. Complete Lesson 19 in Latin. Suggested daily breakdown:
Wednesday: exercises B and C
Thursday: exercises D and F
Friday: exercises G and H
Monday: Write Lesson 20 words and meanings 3 times each.
Please practice saying all the chants clearly and from memory at least twice this week.

A Great Day! Assignments for 3/2/10

2010-02-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

I'm not sure why I feel the day was such a success but I do. It seemed the children were really focused and we had meaningful learning! The day started with a very informative guest. Mr. McCoy of Lowcountry Horology visited our class to inform us about the profession of watchmaking. He was awesome. He went into the history of keeping time and told us about watchmaking during the time of Casper ten Boom. He brought samples and tools that we were allowed to handle. He was great. His shop is in a small building next door to the Barber shop that is across from the Bi-Lo shopping center near Paris Island. Several students want to pay him a visit. Many thanks to Mrs. Victoria for being our helper. We enjoyed having Spencer's little brother and sister with us today, as well.

I shared some of my Dad's stories from his time in the Marines in the South Pacific. Our discussion did get political as I defended out country's actions during WWII. Try drawing out from your child what he/she learned today. You can correct any misconceptions I may have imparted. We read a book about a Japanese/American girl being sent to a camp from her home in California. I explained my understanding of the rationale behind this policy. I also distributed information about the leaflets we dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki before the bombs were dropped. We also planted our Victory Garden. The plan is for it to live at everyone's house each week. We'll play that by ear. It went home with Chloe today.

We are about finished with our unit on the human body and I am considering ways we can show off our knowledge. Latin went extremely well--your students are amazing. If they could each do the work at home, I know they could be soaring above the group in the next class older than us. For those putting in the effort, it really shows--keep it up!

We pressed on in memory work and tested ourselves on states and capitals.

Enjoy each other this week and call anytime with questions or concerns.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read lesson 47 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice Week 18 memory work.
3. Finish reading Corrie and read first two chapters of Twenty and Ten. Be sure to read the Preface page and About the Author at the end.
--in conjunction with this reading, research what a DP is. Research the Biblical Account of the Holy Family fleeing into Egypt in all four Gospels. Be ready to tell all you know about it.
--Don't read ahead! Speculate about the relationship between Henry and Janet.
4. In History you're going to be the teachers again! Please read the following assigned sections of Chapters 30 and 31 of SOTW and be ready to thoroughly present/teach the information contained in your pages.
Woods--1st section of Ch. 30, pages 329--332
Spencer--2nd section of Ch. 30, pages 332--336
Amelia--Ch. 31, pages 339--1st 4 lines of 341
Talia--Ch. 31, starting with the first paragraph on page 341 through 343.
Chloe--2nd section of Ch. 31, pages 345--349
Mills--Help Woods by illustrating his pages.
5. Complete Lesson 18 exercises in Latin. Suggested breakdown for the week:
Wed--exercises B and C
Thurs--exercises D and E
Fri--exercises F and G
Mon--exercise H and write lesson 19 words and meanings 3 times each

assignments for 2/23/10

2010-02-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

We had a HUGELY busy day! I hope some bread made it home to you. We worked hard but I'm afraid it was removed from the oven before its time. You might try finishing baking it at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or so. We did get an idea of how hard Sarah Pucket had to work to earn coins to help her family in the Great Depression. We missed Woods and prayed for you! Mills was in and out with doctor appointments. Many, many thanks to Mrs. Tronda for being our very busy helper.

We had a great discussion on WWII and the different effects from all over the country. The Hatchells brought in letters from the government (one even signed by FDR) about an Uncle killed in the war. We will continue the study next week. We will also plant a Victory Garden (the seeds were accidentally left at my home) next week. Ask your student why they came about.

I hope you each have a great week studying. See you Tuesday!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Ch. 45 in the Bible Story Book. Be ready to discuss how Moses showed meekness and a merciful heart.
2. We did not watch the memory work power point. However, we did learn the Veritas Cards for week 17. Please move on into the lesson 17 work this week. We will spend time in class on it as well as moving on into week 18 next week.
3. Read the first 7 chapters of the Corrie ten Boom book.
4. Show your parents the hand out from Spencer's book about the lungs. Finish the drawing on the second page.
5. Tell your parents about Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics and his German friend. Read ch. 29 in SOTW.
6. For latin do the review that follows lesson 17. Here's my suggested breakdown for the week:
Wednesday: Complete ex. A of the review
Thursday: Complete ex. B
Friday: complete ex. C
Monday: complete ex. D and E and write lesson 18 vocab three times each

assignments for 2/16/10

2010-02-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Families!

I will be short and sweet tonight. We had a great day with an awesome Valentine Party to cap it off. Many thanks to each of you for donations and to Mrs. Irvine for pulling it all together for us. Thanks also to Mrs. Joy for being our very busy helper. We had the honor of having 4 guests--Jacob Beach, Anni Martin, Emily and Sarah Avera.

Please ask you student to recount the day for you--squirrel stew was the highlight. Mrs. Joy was merciless and shamed anyone not willing to taste. Life in the depression was hard!

I love you each and hope you have a great week. Happy Valentines Day!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Lesson 43 in the Bible Story Book and illustrate how it might have been to regain your land when you heard the trumpet. Be ready to show your picture next week.
2. Practice Week 16 Memory Work.
3. Finish The Bread Winner. Write a 1/2 page reflection on this book. Here are some questions to get you thinking: How would you have felt if you were Sarah? What would you do differently? We don't know if they were Christians. How would that have made a difference?
4. Read Chapter 27 in history.
5. Latin: Wednesday: Teach/show Mom how we did exercise E of lesson 17 in class. Do exercise B of lesson 17
Thursday: do exercise C
Friday: do exercise D and F
Monday: do exercise G and do exercise G of the Review that comes next.
6. Share with your parents about our talk about sin never being in the presence of God and what hope we sinful people have of heaven.

assignments for 2/9/10

2010-02-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

Good Evening!

A note about report cards. I was a bit out of my league because I designed the report cards (not my area of expertise). Next was filling them in which is always difficult. I have two to put in the mail tomorrow and I'm sorry to those families that I didn't have them ready today. A part I left off is the following key: E=Excellent, S=Satisfactory, N=Needs Improvement, and U=Unsatisfactory. Study Skills is a vague area that just entails if your student seems ready for class each week. Also, in subjects like Science and Geography that don't have homework, everyone received an S. I hope these give you a snapshot of your students work and will be helpful to you. Please contact me with any questions.

I AM EXHAUSTED! I don't even know why--it was a great day. Two huge highlights were visiting Mrs. Fowler's class to hear Mr. Charles Aimar, 92 years old, tell about the Great Depression in Beaufort. He was awesome! I was so proud of my students and their polite behavior during a long session. We also "showed off" for the entire school our memory work. I spoke with Mrs. Fowler this evening and she told her class not to even hint about complaining about some memory work she plans to require of them after hearing my students today.

Here are some hints to use as you have your student tell you about the highlights of our day: baking soda, incense, spleen, Mao Zedong, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", the Holy of Holies, spending a dime on the movies.

Enjoy your week!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 41 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Read Chapters 6--12 in The Bread Winner.
3. Read Chapters 27 in SOTW.
4. Complete Lesson 16 in Latin. Here is a suggested schedule for the week:
Wednesday: Complete exercises B and C
Thursday: Complete exercise D
Friday: Complete exercises E and F
Monday: Complete exercise G and write lesson 17's vocab and meanings three times.

Answers to Latin Exercises for after you've completed Lesson 16 this week:
A. 1. Jesus
2. Christ, Christmas
3. diurnal/natal, nativity
4. no answer
5. angelic, angel
6. magician, magic
7. infant
8. ruby
9. viridian
10. ass, asinine
11. glory
B. 1. ruber
2. Iesus
3. angelus
4. dies natalis
5. infans
6. viridis
7. gloria
8. praesepe
9. magus
10. asinus
11. Christus
C. Christian--Christus
ass--asinus
glorious--gloria
magcian--magus
ruby--ruber
viridescent--viridis
angelic--angelus
D. See Lesson 1,8,5,10,2,6,9,12,14, and 15 in that order to fill in the charts
E. 1. asinus
2. stabulum
3. infans
4. praesepe
5. Iesus
6. angelus
7. pastores
8. oves
9. pastores
10. infans
11. Magi
12. stella
13. Iesus
14. gloria
15. Iesus
16. Christus

Latin Answers for Lesson 15

2010-01-26T20:01:00.001-08:00

Here are the answers so that you can check yourself. Some of these we did in class.
A.1. corpse
2. capital, cap
3. ocular
4. aural
5. nasal
6. oral
7. dentist, dentures
8. brachium, bracelet
9. manual
10. digit
11. no answer
12. pedal
13. core
14. exercise
15. respiration

B. 1. exerceo
2. cor
3. crus
4. caput
5. bracchium
6. dens
7. spiro
8. nasus
9. auris
10. pes
11. manus
12. digitus
13. corpus
14. os
15. oculus

C. 1. exercise, exerceo
2. manually, manus
3. oral, os
4. spiracle, spiro

D. 1. Nominative
2. Genitive
3. Dative
4. Accusative
5. Ablative

E. 1. The boy trains, exercises.
2. The women were training, exercising.
3. The whale will breathe.
4. Time flies.

Our Fun Tuesday and assignments for February 1st

2010-01-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

Greetings Families!

Before I forget, show-and-tell is next week! Many thanks to Mrs. Karen for helping make our busy day a success. We ate manna that was falling outside our tents in Bible, we learned lesson 15 in Latin (I think really well, too.) We added the large intestines and the liver to our bodies in science and reviewed the functions of all the organs we've been studying. We went over the geography portion of the memory work from the beginning as a review of the state capitals. We pressed on into week 15 in memory work and practiced our presentation for next week.

After lunch, we had a history lesson about Egypt and Italy. We discussed why the British wanted to keep their fingers in Egypt's business (Suez canal) and three facts about Italy: 1. Who became the ruler, 2. What kind of government he set up, and 3. What is that kind of government. See if your student can answer those questions for you.

Finally it was time for the fun. Our Purim celebration! I told them about some traditions associated with this holiday. Megillah is the scroll that contains the story of Esther. A Gragger is a noise maker to use whenever Haman's name is mentioned. The word Purim means lots--which is what Haman cast to see which Jews to murder first. We made two food baskets and delivered them to Pastor Jeff Miller and to Mrs. Carol, one of the custodians. Each child donated three 50 cent pieces to the Haiti relief fund in the church office. The grand finale was when Mrs. Nicole read the Megillah to us and we booed and hissed and stomped anytime Haman’s name was mentioned. A messy, good time was had by all!

Please pray for my Arianna who was home today battling a stomach bug. Her big sister Rebecca volunteered to skip classes and stay with her so I could come teach. Interestingly, I didn’t have to ask Rebecca twice!?!

Love to all,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 39 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice Week 15 memory work. Perfect your hand motions and recitation for next week’s performance.
3. Read Chapters 1 through 5 of The Bread Winner.
4. Skim Chapter 25 in history and read chapter 26.
5. Cover lesson 15 in Latin. Here is a breakdown for the week that you may want to use:
a. Complete part B on Wednesday.
b. Complete part C on Thursday.
c. Complete part D and F on Friday.
d. Complete part G and write lesson 16’s vocab and meaning 3 times each on Monday.
6. Thank God everyday for the privilege of learning along side of your precious children.

2010-01-20T05:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

We had a BUSY Tuesday. Chef Todd let us invade his kitchen and make hamentashen cookies like Sache did in our lit book. Some had "gold" pieces baked into them and some did not. Hopefully one made it home for you to see. Many thanks to Mrs. Tronda for being our helper. In Bible we discussed Passover and how it is still celebrated today. History was a bit brief but we did talk about the League of Nations that was an American President's idea and the man of steel--Joseph Stalin. Chloe had a picture of Lenin in his coffin that she shared with us. Another lit activity we "enjoyed" was mashing into a makeshift wagon and lying still while I read to them. This helped us to sympathize with the crowded ride Sache and her family endured while fleeing Russia. I have a friend with chickens and the thought did cross my mind. . . Ask your student the other thought that crossed my mind to make the experience real!

We did some more reading and discussing the digestive system in science. For geography I think the capitals are just about conquered. I'm proud of the students.

Latin: Well. . . I am sad that the students are so unhappy and I want to try to help. I want to breakdown the assignments that you do at home for you. Maybe that will make it less daunting. My plan is to press on with this curriculum since it was chosen by the board. I made some changes in how we had Latin in class and they seemed to "get it" a bit better.

In memory work, we presented our weeks. Sorry for such short notice. I've reassigned weeks below. Tronda pointed out that working on weeks out of sequence can be confusing to the children and of course, the point is for them to see the flow of history.

Please quiz them about our day. I feel it was quite successful.

Work hard on your studies, students, as if doing them for the Lord.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

p.s. I saw Riddock Sunday and he said to tell everyone hello!

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 37 in our Bible Story Book
2. New assignments of Veritas Cards for our presentation to the school:
Mills: Weeks 1 and 2
Amelia: Weeks 3 and 4
Spencer: Weeks 5 and 6
Talia: Weeks 7 and 8
Woods: Weeks 9,10,11
Chloe: Weeks 12, 13, 14
3. Say the She'ma for you parents from Deut 6:4.
Read Ch. 107 and 108 in our Bible story book about Esther.
Finish reading the lit book.
4. read ch. 24 in SOTW
5. In Latin, we wrote lesson 14's words three times in class. Some didn't finish but they were easy words. Use your own discretion as to whether you want them to finish doing that. Here is a suggested schedule for the week:
Wednesday: finish writing the words 3 times if you so desire
------------- fill in the derivatives on part A. They are: 1. tempo, 2. annual, 3. semester, 4. hour, 5. punctual, punctuation, 6. solar, solarium, 7. meridian, 8. antediluvian, anterior, 9. posterior, 10. no answer, 11. diurnal, 12. procrastinate, 13. no answer, 14. move, movie, 15. no answer
------------- complete exercise B
Thursday: Complete exercise C.
Friday: Complete exercise D and E
Monday: Complete exercise F and G and write lesson 15's vocab words 3 times each. Let's see if this helps.

I had a meeting at the high school until almost 9:00 pm. That's my excuse for not having this posted last night. That was unusual and I hope to be more prompt in the future!

assignments for 1/19/10

2010-01-13T04:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

We had a busy Tuesday. We finished the Prince of Egypt for Bible, saw a snippet of Far and Away that gave us a visual of the difference between the peasant's life and the rich land-owner's life in Ireland. (I can't recommend this movie because of certain parts. However, I love sections of it to give the children vivid pictures of parts of history. For example, the life of immigrants upon arriving in America, harsh factory conditions, the laying of the railroads to the west, the races for free land in Oklahoma, etc.) It might be worth you pre-viewing and using your judgement about sharing it with your child.

Because Woods had us all wired up for video, we watched Ado Annie sing in Oklahoma. I whole-heartedly recommend viewing this movie with you children. We boiled salt water and tasted the resulting salt as Ghandi and his followers did. We went for a long walk in the neighborhood and imagined doing that with he and his followers. We discussed the large intestines and began discussing the functions of the liver. Most students have the state capitals memorized.

Two areas I feel I've caused a mix up in are memory work and latin. Some students had done lesson 13 in latin and some had not. For next week, be sure that lesson is completed. If your student already has that done, utilize some of the activity sheets in the back of their book to keep them fresh on the material. For memory work, I introduced Week 14. Work on this information for next time. I plan to take time next class evaluating where we all are and reviewing.

I love my Trinity kids. I had the card to show them about our purchase from World Vision of a goat and 2 chicks but forgot to. I'll share it next time.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

p.s. Many thanks to Mrs. Amy for helping us today!

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Chapter 23 in SOTW
2. Read Chapter 35 in the Bible Story Book
3. Work on memorizing Week 14.
4. Read through (and including) chapter 15 in The Night Journey
5. Make sure all exercises are complete through lesson 13 in latin

Our First Day in 2010 and assignments for next time

2010-01-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Good Chilly Morning!

It was great to be with my students yesterday. We missed Spencer very much and mourn with him as he mourns his family's loss and rejoice with him as he rejoices in a new sister!

Many thanks to Terry Beach and Beth Langehans for being our helpers yesterday. Show and Tell was great and long. Spencer, feel free to bring yours next week! In Bible, we watched part of The Prince of Egypt and enjoyed that very much. We pressed on past the review in Latin into lesson 12. We worked on some of the homework activities in class for that lesson. Hopefully, this will free up some time for you to do the review at home.

Because only one student had read the Gandhi book, lit was short. Another had done some research apart from the book and those two students shared their thoughts on this man's life and accomplishments. I hope each of you will make time to read the book. In history, we talked about WWI and the sad episode it was in human history. We listened to the poem In Flander's Field and talked about its history. We talked about the beginnings of communism and Lenin as well as women getting the right to vote. I began reading a book about Lizzie Stanton and her work for suffrage for women. It is at our library and you may want to secure it for your child to read.

We pressed on into Week 15 with the memory work. Science consisted of doing an experiment suggested in our history activity guide about hemophilia. It was most insightful. I will devote double time to geography next time because we did not spend time there yesterday. Please bring your maps.

I hope your week is fruitful.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS: (that I would like to see done before next time)

1. Read chapter 33 in Bible.
2. Work on Week 15 memory work.
3. Read chapters 1 through 9 in The Night Journey
4. Read chapter 22 in SOTW
5. Do review R in Latin and the rest of lesson 12 activities. On Monday January 11 write lesson 13 words 3 times each

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-18T06:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

My Becca will have surgery on her knee Monday, the 21st. We are sad because her high school basketball career is over. Her attitude is good and I'm proud of her. Thank you for praying for her. Her head injury is fine. Please pray for the surgeon Monday at noon.

We are buying a goat and two chickens for a poor family. I'm so proud of your generosity and hard work. I'm hoping World Vision will send us a picture of the family we've helped. I'll post whatever they do send me.

There is some reading I want you to do over the holidays. Please finish the Teddy Roosevelt book if you haven't already. Also, please read GANDHI, Young Nation Builder by Kathleen Kudlinski over the holiday as well. We'll analyze the book and have some activities from it on the day we return.

Merry Christmas, sweet students. I love you each and will miss you. Mr. Tkach and I were outside last night and it was cold and the stars were out. Find time to do that and get still and quiet and think about God entering the world as a baby over 2000 years ago . . . . .

love to all,
Mrs. Tkach

Tuesday in Review and assignments for 12/15/09

2009-12-09T07:11:00.001-08:00

Good Morning!

Only one more Trinity day in 2009. I introduced a Christmas project to the children and they will need your help.

When the Mansell family visited our class and spoke of their life in poverty in Ethiopia before being adopted, we were all touched. I brought a catalog to show my students from World Vision. It gives the opportunity to help the truly impoverished by buying seed, chicks, goats, a portion of a water well, etc. We want to each bring in a monetary donation and pool our funds and buy a gift from this catalog.

My STRONG encouragement to the children was to earn the money they bring in. We discussed ways--raking for neighbors, dog-walking, tasks over and above their usual chores. We even read about the Widow giving sacrificially in the New Testament. Jesus new her heart and recognized she gave the most because it was of great sacrifice. It would be great if the students could actually "break a sweat" and experience sacrificial giving. This would dove-tail perfectly with our discussion in lit of Teddy Roosevelt's character trait of diligence. Although he was frail, he diligently worked to improve his physical condition. Even if your child is weary of raking or whatever, remind them of the Godly character trait Teddy exhibited and to be diligent and remember the poor they are helping to care for.

Whew! All that to say please help you child to earn money this week to bring in next Tuesday and we'll select a gift from the World Vision catalog. You can go online to worldvisiongifts.org to see about this organization if you are not familiar with it.

We discussed the genre of biography. We did an exercise about interviewing famous people and then planned categories of questions. We broke into groups and formulated questions and presented them to the class. My plan is to have a person to interview next time and for the children to carry out the interview.

After neglecting them, we got out our maps and played a game to review the states and capitals. "I'm thinking of a state and ___________________is its capital" They did pretty well. The states out west need the most work, I think.

History was painfully dry and boring. Just ask Mrs. Irvine who was my most excellent helper. We skimmed the top if two long chapters via our magic carpets.

I want the children to teach again next time. We are starting WWI which will be split by the Christmas holiday--we'll learn more about it when we get. Please have the children present a report on the following topics:

Woods and Mills: Weaponry used in WWI (include all kinds: guns, planes, tanks, gas)

Spencer: Explain and make an illustration of trench warfare

Amelia: How/why did the war start and who was originally involved.

Talia: How did America get drawn in and what effect did that have.

Chloe: Woodrow Wilson during the war and the League of Nations

Again, please do not stress. If you have an old World Book set from your childhood, I think those are great sources. Your report can be as short as half a page or less. Illustrations are always helpful. The children seem to really enjoy presenting to each other and I like encouraging that.

I thought of having a Christmas party just for our class. I know there is one for all of TCA that evening but I'm not sure I'll be able to attend and I don't know if all the HHI folk will make it back. Each child could bring in a treat and we can enjoy eating together. I could think of some activities for us to do. Do we want a gift exchange? E-mail me your thoughts by tomorrow and I'll pull it together.

Enjoy this season and take good care of each other!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch 29 in Bible
2. We did not press on into week 13 memory work. I want the chldren to review the first 12 weeks.
3. Finish reading Teddy Roosevelt, if possible. Several moms told me the reading is difficult. If you cannot finish it, get as far as you can. You can finish it over the holiday and we'll have another book to read during that time as well.
4. read/skim ch. 20 in SOTW. Complete reports about WWI.
5. complete lesson 10 activities in Latin and on Monday, write the vocab from lesson 11 three times each.

our day's review and assignments for next time

2009-12-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Families,

We had a really fun day yesterday! I was so impressed with the students doing the teaching! The history reports were outstanding! Sorry, I'm not going to hand over any of my paycheck, though! We missed the Langehans very much and prayed for you. Spencer's brother, Ethan, joined us and Mrs. Victoria was our busy helper. Thank you.

Here are some things to ask your student about as they recount our day to you: How did Dr. Beaumont learn so much about the workings of the stomach back in 1822? Does God have favorites like Jacob did? What is the new chant to memorize in Latin? Why were the rebels in China called "the Boxers"? How is the name Carnegie pronounced in Pittsburgh, PA? What cruel practice was outlawed in China that kept girls feet small? What David-sized country defeated what Goliath-sized country for expansion in China? How many steps would Chloe have to take on the Oregon trail?

The inventions were awesome! We had a balloon launcher, a pair of safety shoes for around broken Christmas ornaments, a Christmas Box from the planet "Morf" (awesome that they worship Christ just like us!), an actual working pontoon boat for Webkins, a safety hammock for a pet bunny, and a cat mobile. The whole school came out to the courtyard at 1:45 and enjoyed our demonstrations.

Check you e-mail often this week. I'm working on an idea for my class for Christmas. Enjoy each other and work hard at your studies!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. read Chapter 27 in Bible
2. review and learn Week 12 memory work
3. share your invention with your family and read the first three chapters of Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt.
4. read/skim chapters 18 and 19 of SOTW
5. finish lesson 9 exercises in Latin and on Monday, Dec 7th write the vocab and meanings 3 times for lesson 10.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-17T23:58:00.001-08:00

Dear Families,

What an amazing day we had!!! I sure hope you've heard some about it. It started with show-and-tell so you know it was great. We had a few visitors--Emily and Sarah Avera and Annie Martin. They were a great addition to our class. Many thanks to Mrs. Joy Avera for being out helper.

We hammered away at Latin and I was most impressed. Memorizing those chants is vital and it seems everyone has them down. Yeah! We've moved to the second conjugation and I actually feel I know what that means this year!

For lit, we went outside and pretended to be walking on the moving earth of Krakatoa. We tried to get out "mountain legs". After lunch, we brainstormed ideas for inventions. We will spend time next week creating inventions. Some children want to make one at home to bring in. That is fine. They can do both.

We added muscles to our bodies in science and listened to some facts from our book about muscles. We were able to connect this learning with our memory work about the three types of muscles from earlier in the year. Hooray for connections!

I have to get to the highlight of the day. My dear friend, Sharon Mansell, brought her precious family in to class to share with us. Stephanie Fowler's class joined us. Sharon and her husband, Mark, adopted six children from Ethiopia. They came in dressed in their traditional clothes and the oldest, Maddie, shared much about her life in Ethiopia--both in the orphanage and before when they were still with their Mom. Her tender story and her pure love for her Saviour shone through and there were very few dry eyes in the room. The children sang a couple songs for us then led us in prayer--Ethiopian style! Ask your child about it. The name of the six children are: Maddie, Eska, Bethlehem, Hattie Hope, Yordie, and Hoptamu. Two of Sharon's non-Ethiopian children joined us as well--Elaina and Jillian. Of course we had Ethiopian food to try and we ate it as the Ethiopians do. Ask your child how.

What fun it is to be part of a school that can expose our children to these kind of learning experiences.

I didn't even tell the children Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you each have a wonderful, relaxing holiday. I am traveling with my family to Texas for the week. I will see you in December!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 25 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Learn week 11 memory work. Here's a link for the hand motions for weeks 11--20: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIDWS3rfJow
3. Finish reading our lit book. Bring in any boxes, cardboard tubes, misc. "stuff" to create an imaginary invention with next time.
4. For history, prepare to teach your section per my e-mail.
5. Complete lesson 8 exercises in latin. Don't forget to utilize the exercises in the back of the book. Also, I forgot to assign writing the vocab three times each for this lesson. It would probably still be beneficial to do so. On Monday, November 30th, write the vocab for lesson 9 three times each.

I MISSED YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Students,

I really didn't know I would miss seeing you as much as I do. Next Tuesday can't come soon enough. Mrs. Esther is a gifted teacher and a friend of mine and I'm glad you were all her students for a day (but only one day!). Many thanks to Mrs. Amy for being the helper.

I hope you are each enjoying The Twenty-One Balloons. Please begin collecting boxes and tubes and any such miscellaneous items to bring in the next two weeks. We will be making our own inventions in class! I hope you each enjoyed seeing the automatic cat feeder my friend is letting me borrow. I'll bring it again next Tuesday.

I want to try something different in history. This next week will be "flying carpets" as usual. However, the next class I want you guys to do the teaching! I'm going to give you each an assigned report to prepare and we'll read them in class. This will actually occur on December 1st because of the Thanksgiving break.

Don't forget that next class is show-and-tell ! ! !

Here's what to do for next time:
1. read chapter 23 in Bible
2. learn week 10 memory work
3. read Chapters 5--7 in The Twenty-One Balloons
4. read/skim chapters 14 and 15 in SOTW
5. complete Lesson 7 work in your Latin book

love to all,
Mrs. Tkach

assignments for 11/10/09

2009-11-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

1. read chapter 10 in the Bible Story Book
2. review week 9 memory work
3. read the first 4 chapters of The 21 Balloons
4. read/skim chapter 12 and 13 in SOTW
5. complete all review pages before lesson 7 in the Latin Book (we'll watch /learn lesson 7 in class next week)

assignments for 11/3/09

2009-10-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hello Trinity Families!

My computer is in the shop so Thomas is letting me borrow his laptop to post. We had a busy day Tuesday. We discussed the mill in the lit book that Uncle Jed repaired. Then we baked bread! I hope it made it home for you to sample. Many thanks to Mrs. Victoria, she was quite busy!

We dove deeper into the human body with some library books. Also, we traced ourselves and glued on our brains and hearts! We'll continue this over the next few weeks. In Latin, we did some reviewing and I plan to do even more next time. Please don't press on into Lesson 7. I know the children have already written those words three times. They will just be ahead when we do get into Lesson 7.

In history we flew our magic carpet to four different locations--the U.S., Japan, the Dutch East Indies, and the Ottoman Empire. Bible involved acting out the selling of Esau's birthright. (Acting out is our favorite activity!) It was a fun day and I think your children learned.

Be safe this weekend! Behavior was better, I'm proud of my students.

love to all. . .
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. Read Chapter 19 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Review first 8 weeks of memory work.
3. Finish reading Shades of Gray.
4. read/skim chapters 10 and 11 in SOTW
5. review first six lessons in Latin. We'll review more in class and complete the review pages.

assignments for 10/27/09

2009-10-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,

I'm sorry to be posting my blog so late. We had a good Tuesday.

I am concerned about behavior and kindness to our friends. I will be addressing this with the children next time. I will contact any of you individually if I feel there is a need.

We acted out some history events. Ask you child which South American country they played. We tasted some yummy oatmeal and then some watery gruel like Will (from our lit book) had to eat. We went outside and hauled a bucket of water like Meg had to do every day. We began our study of the human body and colored our brain and looked at pictures from my ancient World Book encyclopedia. We had some technical difficulties so we didn't go far in our memory work. I plan to not go further next time and spend a week in review of the first eight weeks.

Fall is a busy time at my house. As always, I appreciate you and your children praying for me as I lay plans for our class.

Until Tuesday. . .

Much love to all. . .
Mary Ann

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. read chapter 17 in Bible
2. review week 8 memory work
3. read chapter 6--11 in Shades of Gray
4. skim/read chapter 8 and 9 in SOTW
5. complete lesson 6 exercises in latin. On Monday, write the latin words and their translation from lesson 7 three times each.

a brief recount of our day and assignments for 10/20/09

2009-10-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon!

Since I took up so much of your time with my e-mail, this will be short. Ask your student about our day. Here are some phrases to jog their memory: Robert E. Lee's character, important civil war battles and where they mostly occurred, listening to the Rebel Yell!, presenting our map to the school, can our Mom have the faith necessary to save us, Addie, the struggle within ourselves between doing right or wrong, etc.

For next time:
1. Read chapter 15 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice memorizing Week 7 memory work
3. Read Chapters 1--5 of Shades of Gray.
4. Read/Skim chapters 6 & 7 of SOTW. (As I get your responses to my e-mail, this may change.)
5. Complete Lesson 5 in your Latin book. (Again, I'll let you know over the weekend but you may need to write lesson 6's vocab and meanings 3 times on Monday October 19.)

Make good use of this dreary weather and get lots of quality reading done!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

assignments for 10/13/09

2009-10-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

We had a busy Tuesday! Many thanks to Mrs. Victoria, Spencer's mom, for assisting us yesterday. Thanks to Amelia, also, for the cookie snack!

We had some great discussion during Bible time and had fun acting out the confusion that must have occurred at the tower of Babel when their languages were changed. We were treated to a performance over in the choir suite by some actors representing slaves. Mrs. Fowler arranged this and it was moving. They taught us some Negro Spirituals and taught us about Praise Houses and the codes hidden in the spirituals they sang.

We spent time rolling the dice and reviewing our memory work. We are not doing as well lately. Be sure to work on the week assigned at home. We seem better at the older ones than with the more recent ones. I still have a hope that we can present the Veritas cards memory work to the whole school at some future point. Perhaps the history sentences as well.

For literature we talked about how much of what Robert E. Lee was taught by his mother came straight from scripture. We discussed how we can deny self and consider one another more highly than we do ourselves. Not easy at any age, but especially hard for children. We asked God to help us to do so this week. We also tasted some boiled meat and potatoes as was served at West Point while Lee was there. I did not have any soup with cockroaches or bread pudding with mice!

In lit we started a project of making a large map of the south--we are going to mount it on a board and make small figures from clay to go on it. We will locate the major battles of the war. Hopefully it will be ready to show at our meeting next week. We spent a great deal of time on Latin. I plan to devise a new way to write the words and meanings because the children are frustrated. It may be as simple as a bigger piece of paper. There was alot of info in this lesson and I will probably review some of it before moving on to the next one.

We did not get to our maps due to the length of the slave presentation. I will double up our time with them next week.

Please don't forget our 3:00 meeting next time. If you can't make it, I will be sure you get a good summary of what we discussed. Enjoy teaching your children this week!

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read ch. 13 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice memorizing Week 6 memory work. Reminder: I do not cover Latin or English in class.
3. Finish reading the Lee book.
4. The schedule I was given for SOTW calls for us to press onto chapter 6. However, I am going to wait and spend another week on the Civil War. We'll omit or touch lightly on a future chapter.
Any reading or research you do with your child on the Civil War would be great. I'll ask them about it next time.
5. Discuss the derivatives I gave you in class during Latin. Complete the sections we did not do in class. Don't forget the optional worksheets you have in the back of your book.

A Calmer Tuesday and assignments for 10/6/09

2009-09-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

Thank you, Lord, for the coolness of fall! We had a really nice day yesterday. I hope you've heard some of what we did from your student. We were a bit less active and enjoyed reading and staying close to our classroom all day. Lately, we've been out and about the church grounds and neighborhood; so it was nice to stay close and calm and get more accomplished.

I'm sure you've heard about Addie. She's an American Girl and we are reading about her life as a slave and the escape she and her mother are making. We'll finish the book next time. Your children are spell-bound and so am I. This book is very well written and recommended in SOTW. I'm afraid I wrote the American Girl series off in my mind as frivolous and not serious and this book is proving me wrong.

We illustrated some scenes from our Bible readings and Mrs. Nuelle posted them on our wall. Stop in and see them next week. We listened to the story of the ark and discussed how it is a "type" of Christ. It was the only way to avoid destruction. It had one way in. It was sealed by God. These all represent what Christ provided for us on the cross. Food for thought!

We discussed how fortunate we are to live right here in the midst of history. I explained how I studied the events of the Civil War while growing up way over in Texas. In Beaufort County, we are able to walk outside and see and be where it all actually happened. We discussed the secession of the southern states, the Battle of Gettysburg, and watched a video about Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

I think everyone but me was pleased when we bid farewell to Sandburg's Abe Lincoln. We went downstairs and sang "O to Grace How Great a Debtor" with my piano playing. This was a song he sang in church. We, also, discussed how the people of the frontier took what they learned from the Bible and applied it to their daily lives. We reasoned that we should do so, as well.

We enjoyed using our maps and quizzing each other about the locations and capitals of the states we've studied so far. The children continue to amaze me with their memory work. I'm contemplating an exhibition of their memorization of the Veritas cards at some time in the future when the whole school is gathered. I'm very proud of them.

We worked hard in Latin because the vocab list was long this week. They are attentive and I know I'm learning from this curriculum. It will be worth the hard work we are putting in.

Thank you for praying for my Joseph. His father was able to spend a few hours with him on Friday and talk with the staff in the infirmary. His shoulder should heal nicely with the use of a fancy sling and there doesn't appear to be a need for surgery. Thank you, again.

Students, let's work hard at our studies this week, as if we are doing it for our Lord. Honor your parents because they do much for you and . . .because God instructs you to. Remember to take what your learn from the Bible and apply it in your lives. Let us pray for one another and for Trinity. We all need God's help to live in a manner honoring to His name. (Too bad I can't pass a cyber offering plate because I sure got "preachy" didn't I?)

love to all,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read chapter 11 in the Bible Story Book.
2. Practice memorizing Week 5 memory work. For now, we will not be reviewing the latin or the grammar sections in class.
3. Read through page 53 (chapter 5) in the R. E. Lee book
4. Read the second half of chapter 5 in SOTW.
5. Review the derivatives I gave you in class. See if you and your parent can think of others. Complete sections B, C, D, E, and F of lesson 3 in your Latin book. It is highly encouraged in my teacher's manual that the students write each word and its meaning three times at the start of the lesson. We attempt to do this in class. However, my students are at all different levels in handwriting speed so many do not finish. I would like these to be finished at home.

assignments for 9/29/09

2009-09-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,

My son was injured yesterday and is in the infirmary at The Citadel. He separated his shoulder while playing intramural flag football. Please pray for him. I mention this to make excuse for a short blog as well as a late one.

We had a packed day and I hope your student will tell you all about it. Mrs. Victoria was my helper and worked very hard for us. Thank you! Please remit $9 to Tronda for the awesome maps and make sure they come to class each time. Also, please be sure the latin book comes to class each week as well.

I'll be in touch. . .
love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. read lesson 8 and 9 in the Bible Story Book
2. practice memorizing Week 4 memory work
3. finish reading the Lincoln book
4. read the first half of ch. 5 in SOTW (we will spend two weeks on this chapter)
5. Discuss derivatives and see if you and your parent can think of any others besides the ones I gave you in class. Complete sections B,C, and E of lesson 2 in your latin book. Read and review sections D and F. Optional: In the back of the book (I don't have a student book so I don't know page numbers.) are additional worksheets that go with each lesson. Use these at your discretion.

Tuesday's Events and Assignments for 9/22/09

2009-09-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

We had a great day learning yesterday. We talked about God's Word and the stories of creation. Anyone answering questions correctly were treated to giant "Smarties". We enjoyed brownies from Spencer as we celebrated his birthday. Mrs. Hatchell was our helper and worked very hard. Thank you!

We began our latin books and I'm excited about this curriculum. I know that I'm learning from how the material is presented and I hope our students will as well. We had a little difficulty getting the DVD player and TV situated but should have those bugs worked out for next week.

We talked about showing respect to St. Helena for allowing Trinity to operate in their building. I saw great improvement in our hall behavior and I'm very proud of the students for that.

The children are still astounding me with their memory work. Everyone's favorite is the Veritas Cards. I enjoy those as well. We launched into our Abe Lincoln book and I find that overall we are disappointed in the choice. I take full responsibility because I chose the book and fought to keep it on our list. Hopefully the children will be a bit more interested after yesterday's activities and discussion. Even if it's not one of our favortites, I know the students will benefit from being exposed to this work of literature. In conjunction with the book, we were each put in stocks for various crimes. Many thanks to my husband for constructing them for us. We also sat and listened to the water at the courtyard fountain and relaxed and thought of young Abe's mom doing so with him when he was a baby. Lastly, we practiced running backwards to throw off any Indians that might pursue us.

In history, we discussed David Livingstone and looked at some pictures of him and his family. We then proceeded to act out the difficulties of traveling the rivers of Africa with our treasured animals to be dropped off at various ports. Ask your student what we used for a 'boat' and what we said was the waterfall we had to get past. It was a fun activity. We also had a painting activity to represent how Afghanistan was a buffer between Russia and India. Ask your child about that as well.

For a science activity, we saw a drop of water and how it acts as a magnifier.

I'm still working on geography because I want to take that subject well past just memorizing the states and capitals. Mrs. Hatchell has located a blank map of the U.S. that is 17" by 22". We could laminate it and use wipe-off markers so that we could use it all year. The goal I'm reaching for is for the students to be able to draw the US map and label the states with capitals. The cost for the map is $6.95 and I think Staples would charge $3 or so to laminate them. Please e-mail me your thoughts on this additional expense. Here is the web site: http://www.geomatters.com/search/results.asp?S=blank+US+map. I would like each student to have their own.

Please be sure your student brings their latin book and the literature book we're studying to each class.

I hope you each have a great week with your children--I'm enjoying my time with them very much!

Until Tuesday. . .

love,
Mrs. Tkach

ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Read Chapter 4 in SOTW. I will no longer be doing maps from SOTW in class. If anyone does not have the activity book and wants copies with directions to complete this activity at home, please let me know.
2. Work on Week 3 memory work. Reminder: On youtube there is a video of the Classical Conversations group in Lake Norman and their hand motions. These are the ones I use in class with your children.
3. Read through chapter 19 in Abe Lincoln Grows Up. Optional: Read through the Wilderness Road hand out. It was referenced in our book. Also, you might enjoy laughing at the lingo matching activity we did in class
4. Read lesson 7 in our Bible Story book.
5. For Latin, complete all parts of Lesson One--exercises A,B,C,D, and E. Usually we will complete A in class but because of equipment difficulties we were unable to do so. Here are the derivatives for the students to fill in (we discussed these in class)
1. Puerile
2. Puerile
3. Liberty ("liberi" is related to the Latin word for "free")
4. Salvation, Salve
5. Value
6. Amateur, amiable
They do not need to list derivatives for numbers 7 through 10.
Also for Latin, they brought home a sheet we worked on in class. We wrote each vocabulary word and its meaning three times. If they did not finish, they should do so at home. We'll do this every week.

OOPS!

2009-09-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

An assignment I forgot: Please read the first ten chapters of Abe Lincoln Grows Up. Also, if you child is captivated by this story and wants to read further, please don't keep them from doing so because of my assignment. The activities and discussion we'll have in class will only be from the assigned pages. However, I just can't bring myself to telling a child "Stop reading."

Enjoy!

The "Whirlwind" and next week's assignments

2009-09-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

Our day was definitely busy! We are so glad to have Spencer with us. Welcome! Also, many thanks to last week's volunteer, Mrs. Hatchell, and to yesterday's, Mrs. Nuelle and Gigi (Mrs. Nuelle's mom).

I hope you've had an accounting of yesterday's activities from your student. We baked steak and kidney pie which was a favorite of Robbie and Peter from our literature book. The whole second floor inhabitants were put out with us for the lingering kidney smell, but we pressed on. Most everyone tasted it for the first and last time. An interesting side note--Gigi is a Brit and kidney pie was a common dish for her before arriving in the States. She and Mrs. Nuelle were able to contribute to our discussion greatly. Yeah, God!

We had an outstanding guest speaker--a nurse! Mr. Kenny Campbell visited us and spoke on the history of nursing and his experiences as a nurse. He works at Beaufort Memorial and has a son, Christian, at Trinity. He was most informative. A rabbit trail--he warned us about the many golf cart accident victims he sees in the ER. Not four-wheelers, mini-bikes, etc.--golf carts. Y'all be careful!

We walked over to another part of the church to get internet access. We visited a site where we got to hear a recording of one of the survivors of Balaklava in the Crimean War. He was a trumpeter and played the charge that sent many into their death. GoogleTrumpeter Landfrey and look for the result by the gutenbergproject. I found it most fascinating--the children were less impressed, I think, but indulged my excitement.

The rest of our day was consumed with reading from a library book about Commodore Perry's visit to Japan, reviewing last week's memory work and being introduced to this week's work. We all received our latin books--be sure to bring them each week. We'll begin learning from them next week.

Here is what I'd like for the students to accomplish to be ready for next class:
1. Read chapter 3 in Story of the World.
2. Work on memorizing the information in Week 2 of Cycle Three.
3. Read Chapter 5 in the Story Bible. We worked for a little while on some questions from the Bible lesson. I sent them home unfinished for your students to work on if you have time. They do not need to be returned to me.

Enjoy your children this week and please contact me with any questions or concerns.

love,
Mrs. Tkach

Our First Day and Assignments for 9/8/09

2009-09-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Families!

We've all survived our first day of what I believe will be a great school year. I hope you have each heard highlights from your student. Here's some questions to prompt them as they report: Where did your class go? What did you buy? How'd you make a picture that winks? Why did you make a picture that winks? What did you memorize? What is so great about an Enfield rifle? What does the SS on the Salvation Army uniform stand for?

God blessed us with a great field trip. I know this to be true because I was sloppy in preparing for it. The people at the Salvation Army couldn't have been nicer and treated us very well. We got to see the food bags that they hand out to the needy. The Captain spoke with us about his duties and his uniform and some history of the Army.

I want and need input from each of you as we get use to our new program. My opinion is that things went very well for a first day. Here is what I'd like for you to work on for next Tuesday:

1. Work on memorizing all the material for Cycle 3, Week 1. This was introduced in class today. I plan to review it with games before I introduce the second weeks information next Tuesday. I visited YouTube.com and entered Classical Conversations of Lake Norman. There is a teacher there with hand motions that help me memorize the info and I will be using them with your student in class.

2. Read The Drummer Boy's Battle for next week.

3. Read Chapter Two in Story of the World.

4. Read Lesson 3 in the Children's Bible Story Book.

The curriculum committee and I have just about finalized the lit list. The next three books are as follows: Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl Sandburg, Robert E. Lee Southern Hero of the Civil War by Mona Kerby, and Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder. I'd like to ask you to promptly procure the Abe Lincoln book as I hope you'll be able to start reading it after next Tuesday's class. We'll spend several weeks studying and reading it. The Robert E. Lee book was not as easy to find but we can obtain used copies on half.com. Let me know if you have difficulties. All three books are in our county libary.

I should have the Latin books ready for distribution by next time.

I truly consider it a privilege to come along side you as you take the responsibility of educating your children. I do not take lightly that you have entrusted them to me for a day each week. As always, I covet your prayers as I plan how we'll spend our time together learning. Remember to sit back and watch them some this week. You'll burn pictures into your memory that will be priceless some day!

Until next week. . .

love,
Mrs. Tkach