MFW First-Halfway There!

We are officially halfway through MFW first grade! It has been great so far. Lily is starting to need a little more of a challenge now that the reading has "clicked". We are going to start doubling up and finish the rest of first faster. If we go at double-speed, we should finish sometime in May.

So far, we have been working on phonics. I love the phonics program with MFW. It is very thorough, and makes sure all the rules are covered. So far, Lily is having no problems at all.

Here are some things that we have done in the last few weeks:

We talked about ocean creatures, so we made an ocean in a bottle.

We also took the opportunity to talk about oil slicks, and how they affect the wildlife. We did an experiment to demonstrate.

For Valentines Day, we took a little break from our regular math and science, and did some experiments and graphing with candy hearts.

We continued our study of oceans and sea creatures, and watched some Wild Kratts episodes.

I was so excited when Lily read this book to me, all by herself! I'm telling you-the phonics portion of MFW has been amazing!

We started our Bible notebook and reader. We talked about how God made the Earth from nothing, and did an experiment with Jello.

We did hands on phonics lessons to compare the "oo" sound. (Book, or Spoon?)

Right in the middle of the month of Feb, I decided that we needed to go ahead and see where Lily is, as far as testing. We live in a state that requires a test (or proof of progress). I decided to do the online CAT test. I told Lily it was just a practice test to see where she is. We would look at the areas she needed to work on.

 She passed! So, we are using these results, and our testing for the year is complete! MFW has her ABOVE where she needs to be.

We took a trip to the aquarium at the end of our ocean and sea creature discussions.

We talked about birds, and examined some feathers.

I'm really loving the Bible notebook drawings. This notebook will be a great keepsake. 

 

Lily copies a proverb every week for handwriting practice. I have to say, this is her least favorite  part of the curriculum. 

In math, Lily is learning how to read clocks and tell time.

 

 She made a fruit pizza clock to go along with the lessons on time.

For our project on the Tower of Babel, we were supposed to use toothpicks and clay. Lily didn't want to use the toothpicks, so she made little clay balls and made her tower with those.

 We were going to paint it when it dried, but it ended up falling apart.

We just started our music appreciation portion of the curriculum. Listening to the different instruments in Peter and the Wolf. I love that MFW includes classical music as a part of the curriculum. Lily really enjoyed this lesson, and can't wait do do it again next week.

So-that is where we are so far. We are halfway in, and beginning this week, we are going to take things at double speed. We are really enjoying this curriculum so far, and are making such great progress! We will check back in soon!