Week 23

Hello Masters families,

We had another wonderful week filled with celebration and review. I wanted to start with a very heartfelt thank you to the moms that were such a huge help on Tuesday. You were there to help in an endless list of ways. Thank you for help with reviewing and checking the memory work, testing students for memory excellence and power, helping with the end of the year performance(Math Sound Off), setting up and organizing the ice cream party, setting up and selling the CC store treats, classroom clean up and set up etc. etc. etc. I can't thank you enough for the support you have provided this year each week and at home. Thank you again, you have all blessed me so much and I have treasured the time we have had to grow together as a CC family.

This is my favorite time of year as the students, parents, tutors, and director all get to see the fruit of hours of hard work from a year of dedicated homeschooling. I am amazed at the glory of God's hands on these children as I watch them reveal how much they have learned this year. This week we were able to review the math multiplication tables 1's-15's, all of the math formulas, all of the Latin declensions, all of the English grammar, and a large portion of the geography/map labeling for this year. The students literally flew through the review! There is no question that their brains are trained to retain. Way to go moms and masters students. Next week we will continue to use as much time as possible drilling our memory work and covering as many subjects as possible to celebrate our learning.

END OF THE YEAR PROGRAM:
All of the students are doing a great job on the Math Sound Off. We had so much fun this week learning to march and chant...SOUND OFF! Please take a few minutes this week and next week to review your lines. Practice sitting and standing as you sound off. Remember that our "costumes" should be very simple. If you have access to camouflage clothing or accessories (hat, bandanna) this would be a great addition to our performance. If you do not, please let me know and I can help to locate something for you to wear on Monday night. PLEASE DO NOT GO TO ANY TROUBLE, THIS IS JUST FOR FUN. The students have also come up with the idea to use some face paint to put math symbols on their cheeks. This alone will be a great way to show our math spirit.

MEMORY TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR WEEK 23:
Presidents: Drill using the presidents song on the Audio Weekly CD.
History Sentence: We discussed the history behind the liberation of South America and then used the map of South America and a world map to point out Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, and Spain as we sang the sentence.
Geography: To help the students learn the countries of South America we listened to a geography song. I sent home a copy of the words with each student to practice this week. We will drill again next week using the same song. On the back of the words I also included a copy of how to draw North America and South America.
Math: The Distributive Law - practice saying and writing to master this math formula.
English: Linking Verb song
Science: We practiced chanting the answer to the question,"What are some kinds of clouds?"
Cumulonimbus, Cirrus, Stratus, Cumulus, Stratocumulus
C C S C S Classical Conversations Study Clouds in Science
We also studied the Latin roots for these science terms. cumulus (a heap) numbus ( a cloud ) cirrus ( a curl of hair) sternene/stratus ( to spread out ) altus ( high )

I look forward to our final week together in our Masters class. I am already missing seeing all of you each week. We should have a wonderful day. Remember we will be having class pictures, Math Sound Off practice, lots of review, and a pizza party at lunch! Have a blessed week.

Love,
Mrs. Gaines