Kindergarten Week 5

For piano, in addition to all the songs she's been working on, Gemma learned "Mumbo Jumbo." She can play "Indian Song" from memory, and sings along at the top of her lungs.

Months ago, when she started Level B, I bought the ear training and theory books that go with Alfred Prep Level B, but we haven't been doing them. (When we started Level A, I also bought the flash cards. We're also not using those.) I feel like she's learning so much just by playing daily. When she finishes Level B, I don't think I'll buy the ear training or theory books for Level C. I also think I'll forgo the Solo book, and just get Sacred Solos. (I love the Sacred Solos book for Level B. I'm so glad to have come across it.)

My plan - right now ;) - for Alfred Prep Level C is to get the Lesson Book, Sacred Solos, and Christmas Songs.

Co-op was about boats. The host mom illustrated her own picture book about a sailing trip her family took to Catalina. She drew pictures of tugboats, cargo ships, sherriff's boats, etc. All of us moms were wowed. (I'm so happy to be part of a group of such creative and talented women.) Then the kids played Sink or Float, built cork boats, and ran around like wild things.

Gemma drew this picture at Classical Conversations this week. (The rest of the picture has mountains; the objective, I think, was to draw a person in the foreground and mountains in the background, to show that the person is close and the mountains are far away.) My husband and I had a good chuckle about it. Gemma can read at a 4th grade level, and multiply a 2-digit by a 1-digit number, but she would fail the kindergarten-readiness "Draw-A-Person" test. I have no idea why she continues to draw her people with only two fingers on each hand. They all kind of look like drummers holding drumsticks.

Church Mice started up again. The lesson was about Baby Moses.

She went to dance class.

At swim, she continued working on side breathing.

She did one Duolingo Spanish lesson.

We read some more of Little House on the Prairie. This is Gemma pretending to be Ma driving the covered wagon.

Here are Pet and Patty...

Pet is a stuffed frog wearing Gemma's unicorn helmet. Patty is an air purifier wearing Gemma's My Little Pony hoodie. She used a jump rope as the reins.

Here is one of her children inside the covered wagon...

We also read more Prince Caspian, Life of Fred: Honey, and Training Hearts.

Finally, Gemma's bean plants (that she grew from seeds she harvested from a parent plant) sprouted, and she planted them.