First Trimester

Most people associate the word "trimester" with pregnancy, but some universities divide their academic year into three trimesters rather than two semesters. The university I attended in Ohio from 1990-1992 used trimesters instead of semesters. When I am thinking about the first trimester, I'm thinking about my three pupils because we are more than one third of the way through our school year. Elementary schools usually divide their school years into four quarters, but since I don't need to make report cards for my kids yet, I don't really pay much attention to things like that. However as my semester at the university is drawing to a close in a few weeks, I decided it was time to reflect upon our school year thus far as well as the remaining about two thirds of kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade. At this point I am assuming that our last day of school will be May 11, 2018. Our breaks from school will include November 18-26 (for Thanksgiving), December 23- January 1 (for Christmas/New Year's), and March 10-18 (for Spring Break).

Bible - We have read Matthew, Mark, and Luke thus far. We started John yesterday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Tabatha has been doing the BSF lessons for children with them for the book of Romans. The plan is to finish reading the rest of the New Testament by May 11. They work on memorizing verses every week for AWANA. I've recently started doing "sword drills" with Nadia and Ian to have them practice finding verses in the Bible. Next week I am going to start helping Oliver memorize the books of the New Testament.

Music - The kids all participate in the children's choir at church. I am also giving piano lessons to Nadia and Ian. Ian will finish the Level 1A books sometime in December. Nadia is working her way through the Level 2 books. I have not been doing the Theory books with them lately; we need to get back to working on those. I also want to start teaching them some hymns at home since we don't sing them very often at church. I have also begun teaching Nadia how to play the recorder.

Physical Education - The kids all participate in a 90 minute gym class on Fridays. They all participated in flag football August through October. They are currently taking gymnastics (60 minutes a week for the boys and 90 minutes a week for Nadia). January through March they will take ice skating lessons and play on basketball teams.

Science - We've studied insects and birds the past three months. In December we'll study bats and flying dinosaurs. Then in January we'll start studying swimming creatures. We had one insect field trip (at Hershey Gardens) and went birding once at Montour Preserve. I'm planning on taking the kids to two aquariums this year (National Aquarium in Baltimore and Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ) since we'll be studying swimming creatures.

Spelling - Ian has finished nine of the 28 lessons of the third grade textbook, and Nadia has completed eight of the 28 lessons of the fifth grade textbook. The plan is for them to complete these books by May 11. I will start Oliver on Level One spelling whenever he finishes Level One reading; I have no idea when that might happen.

Art - They all took one class at Paint, Party, and More in October and one at the Children's Museum. Nadia and Ian are now enrolled in a 40 minute 4th grade art class at Meadowbrook Christian School on Fridays.

Math - Oliver has been working on learning to write his numbers and counting. Ian only has 8 lessons left to complete the 2nd grade textbook. He'll be starting the third grade text next month. Nadia started the sixth chapter (out of twelve) of her fourth grade text. I don't expect Ian to complete the 3rd grade text this school year, but Nadia will finish the fourth grade text. I still drill Nadia and Ian on math flashcards (all four operations) from time to time. This fall we added the 12 table for division and multiplication. Nadia's attitude toward math has better lately (yahoo!). Math comes very easily for Ian.

Spanish - Ian is doing Level 1 of Rosetta Stone, and Nadia is doing Level 2 of Rosetta Stone.

Social Studies - This year we're studying from Rome to the Reformation. Thus far we've studied the Roman Empire and some early church history. For example, this week we read books about Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, and Polycarp of Smyrna. Thus far we read these chapter books for social studies: pages 198-314 of the Story of the World volume 1: Ancient Times, Bronze Bow, Twice Freed, Dangerous Journey, Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, The Door in the Wall, pages 17-111 of Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History, and pages 17-165 of  the Story of the World volume 2: The Middle Ages. We've also been reading about the Vikings, the beginnings of Islam, and the Crusades.

Handwriting - Nadia has been practicing her cursive, and Oliver is learning to write his uppercase and lowercase letters in manuscript. This is a struggle for him at this point. Ian is getting the year off from a handwriting textbook. Next year he'll start learning cursive.

Reading - Nadia and Ian are reading chapter books. I also read them chapter books, we listen to books on CD in the van, and I read them picture books. I would like to get in a better habit of reading more picture books that are geared towards Oliver's level. I tend to read more picture books that relate to what we're studying in science or social studies. Oliver is at about lesson 10 ( out of 40) of Level One reading. I *think* it's starting to click for him. I'm hoping he'll really take off with his reading skills in the near future.

English- Nadia and Ian have been doing some writing, and we've spent a little bit of time learning some vocabulary words. Nadia has been learning some grammar through her handwriting textbook. This is the area where I really feel I need to put more time and effort with Nadia and Ian.

Life Skills - All three kids make their own breakfast and lunch. They have been packing their lunches at least two days a week. Nadia has been cooking at least one thing a week (with as little help as possible). She has also learned how to sort and fold the laundry. She helps me some with cleaning the guinea pig cage twice a week. Nadia and Ian are responsible for giving Jenna and Patches food and water each day. All three kids are responsible for putting away their laundry (I help Oliver some), clearing their dishes from the table after every meal, making their beds, brushing their teeth twice a day, and cleaning up their toys. Ian helps me with dusting. Oliver collects the garbage from upstairs once a week. Nadia helps me clean the three bathrooms once a week. Nadia showers or takes a bath independently twice a week. I am hoping Ian will be independent with taking a bath or shower in the near future.

Field Trips - We haven't gone as many as usual over the past three months. I am hoping that this will improve over the coming months. Some places we plan to go from December through June include the Museum of the Bible, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Mount Vernon, Ski Sawmill, National Museum of the American Indian, Baltimore Museum of Industry, Disney on Ice, Qing Jiang concert, US Mint, Franklin Museum, Franklin Institute, Adventure Aquarium, Garden State Discovery Center, Ephrata Cloister, Hans Herr House, Hands-On House in Lancaster, Reptiland,  Buffalo Museum of Science, Old Fort Erie, Fort George, Niagara Falls, Rochester Museum and Science Center, Strong Museum of Play, Genesee Village, Blue Angels airshow, Saratoga National Historic Park, Six Flag's Great Adventure, HersheyPark, Sesame Place, Knoebels, Sight and Sound's production of Jesus, Museum of Innovation and Science, SUNY Poly's Children's Museum of Science and Technology, Maryland Science Center, and National Aquarium. I have planned most of these trips to take place during the weeks I'm not teaching (ex. in between semesters, during spring break, and after the spring semester ends).