Weekly School Wrap-up

As of today, I start a series of longer posts that will cover the school-related activities that we do over the week. I will have other short posts during the week, but the Weekly School Wrap-up post will be the one highlighting the school activities that we do together.
Incepand de astazi, voi schimba putin lucrurile pe blog - in primul rand, voi scrie si in engleza! Si in al doilea rand, as vrea sa introduc o postarea mai lunga, care sa contina activitatile noastre de peste saptamana, in principal pentru ca nu am timp sa scriu foarte des, si imi place ideea de a le avea pe toate impreuna.

So, here we are, introducing:
Deci, fara prea multe detalii, in noul format:

Weekly School Wrap-up - Week 1

I. is now 4 years old.
I. are acum 4 ani.

We have officially started homeschool this week. We're still readjusting after the laid-back schedule over the summer and trying to switch from free play to more scheduled activities during 'school' time. So far, it's going well. We're doing most of our school-related activities in English. These are a few of the activities we did in our first week of school.
Am inceput oficial 'scoala de acasa' in aceasta saptamana. Inca ne adaptam, dupa o vacanta lunga. Pentru cititorii mai noi ai blogului nostru, as vrea sa adaug ca noi facem activitatile noastre educative in limba engleza, de fapt de aici si titlul blogului. Iata o parte din activitatile cu care ne-am ocupat saptamana asta:

Practical Life / Fine Motor Skills

Transferring marbles on suction mat

Transferring smaller marbles on suction mat

Clothpins

Learning to Read

We have used the ABC Section  from Starfall.com to repeat all letters throughout the week. We also played with the Word Machines and the family of words. We also played short games with letters every day, sounding out words. Basically, until this week, she could 'read' a word that I sounded out for her. The break-through was on Friday when she managed to sound out 2 words all by herself!
I. stie literele mari si mici, stie sa recunoasca auditiv si vizual prima litera din orice cuvant, si acum incercam sa mergem mai departe cu invatarea cititului. Am folosit Starfall pentru a repeta toate literele in aceasta saptamana, dar si pentru a fi atente la cuvintele scurte (scris mare) care apar acolo. Am mai folosit literele mari din spuma pt a forma cuvinte, familii de cuvinte, dar si cuvinte fara sens (silly words, care tare au distrat-o). Pana acum, daca eu ii spuneam/citeam/aratam pe litere un cuvant, ea unea sunetele si forma cuviantul corect fara ezitare. Minunea s-a intamplat vineri seara, cand a citit singura, pe litere, si apoi le-a unit corect, doua cuvinte! Ezitand, uitandu-se la mine dupa aprobare, dar a reusit. Si s-a bucurat!


French Learning

We're learning French, too. We started 6 months ago and my little girl loved it, learned a lot and is taking big steps towards fluency. To offer her more French input, I've decided to have 2 days a week when we focus n French - the songs, books, videos, cartoons etc will be in French. On one of these two days we will take a trip to our local French Cultural Center/Alliance Francaise to borrow children books and DVDs. So we started on this scheduled this week, she loved her visit to the French Cultural Center and enjoyed watching cartoons in French, as well as reading books and magazines!
Dupa cum ati vazut poate deja, incercam sa incorporam si limba franceza in scoala noastra de acasa. Pentru a nu le amesteca, am decis ca doua zile pe saptamana sa le alocam francezei. In aceste doua zile, incercam sa comunicam mai mult in franceza, iar materialele - cantece, carti, DVD-uri etc, sa fie tot in franceza. De asemenea, in una din cele doua zile mergem la Centrul Cultural Francez pentru a imprumuta materiale noi. I. ii place mult acolo, abia asteapta sa mergem. Am inceput din aceasta saptamana programul acesta si merge bine, a dat rezultate bune.

Spanish - Introduction

My daughter has requested several times that I teach her Spanish, too! Although I do understand it, I cannot speak Spanish, so I did some research and found some online materials for her. I added the materials on the Spanish Learning page. So, at her request, when she asks for it, we listen to some songs, watch a couple videos together, so that I learn along with her. So far, she's very interested, she learned several words and short sentences, she's very engaged into it, so we'll see how this goes into the future.
Ok, de unde a aparut si spaniola, poate va intrebati?? Pai, la cererea I-nei care mi-a spus in repetate randuri ca vrea sa invete si spaniola (asta dupa ce a ascultat mai multe cantece in masina la radio si a invatat sa deosebeasca spaniola). Initial nu am luat-o in serios, dar dupa aceea am zis, de ce nu? Eu pot sa o ajut cautandu-i materiale (cantece, desene etc), iar daca prinde cate ceva, minunat, daca nu, e la fel de bine. Asa ca i-am cautat materiale (le vedeti pe pagina Spanish Learning) si, in zilele in care ea cere, urmarim impreuna (sa invat si eu impreuna cu ea) unele dintre ele. Deja stie cuvinte multe, incearca sa lege propozitii, ii place! Ceea ce e interesant e ca pare a invata spaniola prin franceza (nu prin romana) - si pana nu am intalnit si altundeva acest concept (de a invata o limba straina printr-o alta limba straina anterior invatata), nu am inteles exact ce se intampla in capsorul ei. Cert e ca e incantata sa inteleaga si sa spuna cuvinte in spaniola. Vom vedea cat o tine..

Geography - Exploring the World Map 

We had our first geography lesson by introducing the World Map floor puzzle from Melissa& Doug. We found it at a local bookstore, but you can order it online. I love it that it shows the continents (without countries) in different colors and also the animals that live on the continents. My girl loves it, too, she has learned all the continents in the first day (it helps that she can read the first letter in the words, so she can find out for herself the names). We will be adding other materials to our Geography lessons, soon.
Prima lectie de geografie - cu puzzle-ul de podea World Map de la Melissa& Doug. Noi l-am gasit in librarie, dar se poate comanda online.Noua ni-l place foarte mult, I. a invatat repede denumirile continentelor (sunt trecute continente, oceanele etc, dar nu si tarile, ceea ce mi se pare perfect pt varsta ei). Vom adauga si alte materiale de geografie in curand.

Melissa&Doug World Map puzzle

Now she can name all the continents

Here is a video of her, naming the continents 

She's traveled all over the world!

Math - Counting activities

Transferring chestnuts (that we picked up together from the park), counting, 1-to-1 correspondence, and also an excellent fine motor activity.
Activitate de transfer de castane, numarat, corespondenta 1 la 1.

Transfer with tongs: counting, 1-on-1 correspondence, fine motor skills

Octonauts Theme

I. discovered the Octonauts episodes on youtube and loved them! So I went to  1+1+1=1 and printed some Octonauts worksheets.
Despre Octonauts am mai scris aici.Iata fisele care le-am folosit:

Octonauts magnet tray

Completed

Octonauts 3-part cards

Matching names to pictures - I. completed it all by herself

Gluing work

We read a lot, listened to music in French and Spanish, watched a few cartoons - I. loved watching Heidi and Dora episodes in French (we borrowed the DVDs from the French Cultural Center/Alliance Francaise). And also watched tons of Caillou episodes in Spanish, on Youtube.
Am citit mult, am ascultat muzica in franceza si spaniola, I. s-a uitat la desene animate (Heidi si episoade cu Dora in franceza (de la CC Franceza), si la Caillou in spaniola pe Youtube.

And, of course, lots of free play - block building, imaginative play, outside walks etc.
Si bineinteles, s-a tot jucat, si s-a jucat si iar s-a jucat! 

Linking to Living Montessori Now , Homeschool Creations , Living Life Intentionally, Rainy Day Mom, and 1+1+1=1.

I also want to open a collection for everybody who wants to add their school related activities to this post. You can add one or more posts, they don't have to be very long!
Si, in continuare, am deschis o colectie, unde mi-ar placea enorm sa adaugati activitatile voastre educative pe care le-ati facut acasa cu copiii in aceasta saptamana care a trecut! Colectia se va inchide peste o saptamana, cand voi deschide una noua, cu urmatoarea postare!