A Day in the Life of Gemma

My sweet girl has grown so much this year academically, as well as other areas, and is such a well rounded learner. Here are some samples that make up our weeks....

 

Our Morning Subjects:

 

Language Arts

 

Gemma is daily reading for our school time and multiple other times of day. She has been reading "The Imagination Station; Trouble on the Orphan Train" in the morning, and "James and the Giant Peach" at bedtime. She is also reading through the Owl and Chickadee magazines that she receives in the mail. Here is one of her recent grammar and spelling tests. She has grown leaps and bounds this year in her spelling capability. 

 

 

Math

Gemma has been working through Math-U-See Beta. She watches the instruction video on Mondays and then works through her workbook the rest of the week, usually doing two sections at a time. We move on when we have a grasp on the current concept- usually weekly. Gem had some trouble with remembering which number goes up top when one is carrying/regrouping but is doing very well otherwise. She likes math.

 

Our rotating afternoon subjects:

 

Social Studies

 

Gemma is learning so much about Canada, it's symbols and their meanings, the geography of each province, as well as industries province by province. She listens as mom reads about each province and then digs in her symbols book or on the internet to find what each symbols means, and then fills in her worksheet. We have only made it to New Brunswick but will plan on carrying on to learn in full the rest of the provinces during this next while. These  Dona Ward resources and text, "Geography Province to Province" are so rich in visuals, stories, and information!

 

 

 

Science

 

Gemma has been learning about plants, alongside her brothers. We had so much fun with this this year as we opened up plants (like our aloe), dug for roots, dissected flowers, and experimented with chlorophyll, and with plants and flowers from around our home to boot! This last while we finished off our "God's Design for Life; The World of Plants" text, learning about algae, mosses, and mold. Did you know that algae produce more than half of the oxygen in all of the world!!

Below is some of our reading, as well as a moldy experiment. Gemma and her brothers had a hypothesis about these bagels:

-sealed in fridge--> would go longer without mold

-touched and in the bathroom--> bad mold

-touched in the cupboard--> gross mold fast

-untouched in the cupboard--> don't think it will mold, maybe eventually

The results are interesting....

 

 

 

 

 

Other subjects carried out through the week and in the afternoons:

 

Career Education

 

Gemma is our expert laundry folder. She can fold three-four laundry baskets worth no problem now. She is such a blessing in that she does this cheerfully. Everyday she picks and writes her name on the chore list next to one-two larger chores such as this (little ones such as clear you plate from the table, etc are just routine), and completes and then checks off her box.

 

 

 

Arts Education

Recently Gemma created a clay panda planter at 4Cats art studio. We have not picked in up from being fired in the kiln yet. She also painted this bird house for our front tree. The neighbors have shared that they and their guests are loving these decorations.

 

 

 

Physical and Health Education

Gemma has participated in soccer, gymnastics, and swim lessons this year for extra-curricular classes. At home she never passes up the chance to play soccer, throw around a baseball, scooter, skateboard, practice jumping rope, hike, or bike. She has been going on special hiking dates with her date throughout the Lac Du Bois grasslands. Here is the swim badge she earned this term.