Kindergarten Week 2

Here are some things we did this week, and some Gemma-quotes I don't want to forget...

"Mom, race you to the dandelions!"

"I think big bobby pins are what the Eiffel Tower is made of."

Some of the books I read aloud to Gemma this week: Brambly Hedge (the story about Wilfred's birthday), Harold and the Purple Crayon, more Prince Caspian, and more Little House in the Big Woods.

This is a typical scene in our house...

Gemma reading a library book (Aliki's Manners, which I checked out along with Manners Mash-Up, and - unbeknownst to her - tucked into her bag), lying on the the bed next to her bag of library books, an open Life of Fred (one we read a few months ago, but she wanted to reread on her own), a couple of her own books (a chapter book she read over the summer, and The Great Kapok Tree), a napping unicorn, and the game Guess Who, which she was playing with an imaginary friend.

She learned the rest of the U.S. Presidents song.

Math: We're more than halfway through Life of Fred: Goldfish. Because she knows how to skip count, multiplication makes sense to her, the idea of 3 fives being 15, etc. Right now, she's working on multiplying 2-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers (example: 23 x 6).

Piano: This week's song is "Make Time For Music." It has two sharps!

Bible: The WSC question we're currently working on, using Training Hearts, is #7.

Gemma has been practicing the song she's singing with the Cherub Choir at church.

The fall semester of ballet/tap class started.

Foreign Language: We did one Duolingo Spanish lesson. (I had hoped to do two or three, but I'm happy we did one.)

We went to the Getty with my friend Lynn to see the Cave Temples of Dunhuang exhibit. Here is Gemma looking at a giant map. We located the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Yellow River, the Great Wall of China, Japan, Korea, etc.

Of course, Gemma's favorite parts of the trip were playing in the family fun room, rolling down a grassy hill, and running through the flower garden.

Finally, our caterpillars that arrived Monday have all made it to the top of their lid and are pupating. The last caterpillar to attach itself to the lid dislodged one of its siblings, and the sibling is now suspended mid-cup, in silk that must be removed when the chrysalids are transferred to the butterfly habitat. I'm concerned that that rambunctious caterpillar's actions will result in only four of the five caterpillars successfully reaching adulthood. But we'll see.