Week 5


Important Dates:
9/9-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/11- Spirit Day (jeans and Spirit shirts)
9/16- Picture Day
9/16-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/18-New Family Informational-Invite anyone who may be interested in Fortis!
9/23-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/25-Pizza Day and Spirit Day!
9/25-Falcon Moms Meet-Up
9/30-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/30-Grammar School Playdate 3:00-4:00


Make sure you are checking the homepage of the Fortis blog each day as well as this grade level page. Important school wide information will be posted there!

Math
  • Though it may feel like we are going slow or the curriculum is not challenging enough, there are many foundational math skills that we are developing in these first few units. Identifying sets, assigning a numeral to a set to make it a number, and writing digits are skills that we often clump all together with 'counting', but they are each their own math milestone! The units that we are covering in "book A" are preparing us for the big things we will be doing down the road!
Reading:
  • Our OPG lessons have begun! It might be helpful for your little one if you write the words on a dry erase board for him/her to read. 
  • Click here for a link to the short vowel story rhymes I introduce in class (this week is "short a").  This document also gives a hand signal to help the children remember the short vowel sound of the vowels. Example:  Short A (an ant) is rather grouchy.  Anytime one of the other letters tries to talk to her she says, “Ahhhhh, get out of here.” (Hold up all ten fingers)


Writing:

  • Please continue to enforce correct pencil grip and proper handwriting strokes! You are helping create habits that will last a lifetime and improve efficiency in writing.
  • As you work on the number formation pages in HWT, please feel free to modify the numerals 2 and 6 from what the book shows.

Spelling
  • Review phonogram and key cards.
  • Step 4 is rich in letter, phonogram, and phonics work. Though this lesson was covered last week, please continue to segment words, alphabetize letter tiles, and dictate sounds with writing.
History 
  • This week we are learning about Adam and Eve! 
Science
  • Feel free to dive into learning more about planets at home!
Geography:
  • Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. Click here for the song we use in class. Due 9/30
Memory Work: 
  • Spending a few minutes each homeschool day going over all memory work, will help make the process of memorization much easier.
  •  "Jesus Died Your Soul to Save".  Students will say title, author, and then recite poem on September 25th.

K week 59/9/20199/10/20199/11/20199/12/20199/13/2019Co-Teacher Notes
DiscipleshipSchool Pictures 9/16
BibleFruit of the Spirit: GENTLENESSDiscuss wasy to show gentleness at home and at school.Fruit of the Spirit: FAITHFULNESSDiscuss ways to show faithfulness at home and at school.
MathEM-A p53-54EM-A p55-57and math journalEM-A p58-60EM-A p61-63and math Journal
SpellingAAS-Step 4AAS-Step 4 p29-31AAS-Step 4AAS-Step 4 p29-31
WritingReview K,L,U,V. Intro WHWT-p23 (W) and pgs 84-86 (number formation)W, XHWT-p24(X) and pgs 87-89 (number formation)*Review W, X
ReadingOPG- L29OPG-L29OPG-L30/31OPG-L30OPG L31Short a 
HistoryLittle Pilgrims Focus: Creation & Adam and Eve
GeographyContinents and Oceans - Due 9/30
ScienceLesson 4: The Terrestrial Planets: Mercury and Venus
Memory WorkQuarter 1 Poem Due 9/25




Week 4 9/2-9/6

I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun Labor Day Weekend!  I am having so much fun getting into a learning routine with your little ones! At Fortis we not only value academics, but their heart and their spirit as well. We have been focusing on love, joy, and peace and what it looks like to care for others. We are reading some wonderful stories, as well as beautiful scripture.
Important Dates:
9/2 - Labor Day:  No School
9/9-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/11- Spirit Day (jeans and Spirit shirts)
9/16- Picture Day
9/16-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/18-New Family Informational-Invite anyone who may be interested in Fortis!
9/23-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/25-Pizza Day and Spirit Day!
9/25-Falcon Moms Meet-Up
9/30-Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
9/30-Grammar School Playdate 3:00-4:00

This week we will start the lessons from Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading (OPG) beginning with lesson 27 in class. Continue daily practice of the 26 individual letter phonograms from step 1 of All About Spelling. We will be working through step 4 of All About Spelling because the lessons are applicable to reading. After step 4, we will be taking a break to establish reading prior to introducing spelling.

Math :
  • Please make oral counting part of your daily routine. This can easily be done on your car ride to school!
  • Numbers 0-10 may seem like an easy skill, but in class, we are using tools such as a ten frame, number line, rekenrek, and subitizing cards to really solidify the understanding of these numbers. We want our students to have a very strong number sense. We encourage you to use these tools at home as well.  You can find them here:  http://www.fortisacademy.net/singapore-math/ 
  • Story problems are another great tool you can add on to your math lessons. We will start doing them daily at school. Give your child manipulatives and the different math tools mentioned above, along with paper and pencil. Let them choose how they would like to solve the problem. After they come up with an answer, have them explain to you how they came up with it. 
Examples:  
  •  I see 4 bees and 3 ladybugs in the garden. How many insects do I see? 
  •  Johnny had 7 apples. He gave 2 to his brother. How many are left?
  •  Sally had some cookies. Her friend gave her 3 more. Now she has 7 cookies. How many cookies did she have to start with?
  •  There were 6 crickets. Some hopped away. Now there are 3 left. How many crickets hopped away?
  •  Sarah baked 3 pies. She used 2 apples to make each pie. How many total apples did she  use?     
Reading:
  •  For lesson 28 we suggest you use your All About Spelling letter tiles and board!
  • Please read the instructor note in lesson 27 about sounding out words - when sounding out, phonograms should not be separated, they should be blended - no pausing or stopping between letter sounds.
Writing: (see table below)


Spelling :
  • Review phonogram and key cards.
  • Continue to review the first 3 lessons if student is still needing practice with these pre-reading skills.
History :
  • We will be learning about Creation this week.  We are using this song to help us remember what God created on each of the 7 days of creation.  Here is a link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoehyq6X650

Science:
  • We are leaning more about the Sun and how the planets in our solar system orbit around the sun!
Geography:
  • Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. Click here for the song we use in class. Due 9/30
Memory Work: 
  •  Please work on memorizing our poem "Jesus Died Your Soul to Save".  Students will say title, author, and then recite poem on September 25th. 

K week 49/2/20199/3/20199/4/20199/5/20199/6/2019Co-Teacher Notes
DiscipleshipCautiousness
Bible
Labor Day - No School
Review fruits of the spirit that we have introduced: love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness.Fruit of the Spirit: GOODNESSDiscuss ways to show goodness at home and at school.
MathEM-A 45-47EM-A p48-50EM-A p51-52  and math journal (Practice writing numbers 1-5 in math journal as well) 
SpellingAAS-Step 4 p29-31AAS-Step 4AAS-Step 4 p29-31
WritingHWT-p19-20 (K,L)U,VHWT-p21-22 (U,V)
ReadingGo over yellow Phonogram cards at least 2X/day and at least 20 minutes of read aloud timeOPG-L27/28OPG-L27 and at least 20 minutes of read aloud time.OPG-L28Introduction to Short a sound
HistoryLittle Pilgrims: CreationFocus: Creation & Adam and Eve
GeographyContinents and Oceans - Due 9/30
ScienceLesson 3: The Solar System and the Sun
Memory WorkQuarter 1 Poem Due 9/25

Week 3 8/26-8/30

I am looking forward to another great week of learning! The kids are doing great learning classroom procedures and I am enjoying getting to know them! We are also spending time each day focusing on a certain "Fruit of the Spirit" and discussing ways to grow them in our heart. I not only hope to train their minds, but their hearts as well, so that we all may become more like Christ each day.

***Pizza Day is Wednesday!  On the last Wednesday of every month we will have pizza delivered to school...a day off from packing a lunch!  You may have already paid for pizza when you registered.  If you didn't (and you would like your child to have pizza each month) you can send in a check for $40 or you can send an email to sjohnston@fortisacademy.net and Sheryl can add it to your FACTS account.  If you are still in need of spirit shirts you can let me know and I can pull one for you!

Love, Mrs. McKethan

Important Dates:
8/26 -Moms in Prayer @ 9:00
8/26 - Open House @ 6:00 
8/28 - Pizza Day/Spirit Day! Students can wear a Fortis T-shirt and jeans or uniform bottoms.
9/2 - Labor Day:  No School

Math:
  •  Please remember to do the "Introduction" and "One Step Further" at the bottom of the pages.
  • This is a great week to introduce those Subitizing (dot) cards at home, and begin building that number sense! Click here for dot cards up to 5 and click here for dot cards up to 10.  You can also make your own using index cards and "garage sale" stickers.  Make sure to offer several different ways to show each number (ex: 6 can be 3 and 3, 4 and 2, 5 and 1, ect.)  Show the card for 3 seconds then put it down.  Ask them how many dots they saw and how they saw it (2 on top and 2 on bottom, 1 on top, 3 on bottom, etc)
Reading:

  •  Please use this time to go over letter sounds! (Yellow Phonograms)
  •  Please be working with your student on letter recognition, both upper and lower case letters.  We will begin reading short vowel words next week!
  • PHONEMIC AWARENESS: to reinforce our Spelling segmenting lesson, we like to have "Turtle Talk" at school. Our puppet Tudley says a 3 sound word slowly (ex: /p/ /e/ /t/) and student has to blend the word and say it. This is a great activity for driving in the car!
  • Ideas: *call out a phonogram and have student write it with sidewalk chalk, wet paintbrush on sidewalk, shaving cream, a tray with sand or salt, playdough, etc. * Play hopscotch with phonograms. They have to say the sound before hopping to the next.
  • Read quality literature to your child to encourage the love of beautiful books!
    Writing:
    • Remember to reinforce letter practice on lined handwriting paper. Especially if your child is needing additional letter practice.
    • Please have your child practice writing their first name correctly (beginning with a capital and the rest lower case).
    • Check for proper grip and that your child is starting their letter formation in the correct spot (generally from the top).
    •  Click here for a short video to help with correct pencil grip and using the handwriting paper correctly.

    Spelling:
    •  Introduce blue Key card 1 and 2. *Please make sure to go over yellow phonogram cards at least twice per homeschool day. Also, if your child is struggling with segmenting words (p.23), please continue to review this concept. It is a crucial step for reading!
    • Your student does not need to bring their handwriting books to school.

    History:
    •  This week we will talk about the Greatest Story of All (His Story) and how history begins with creation and will end with Christ's Return.  We will discuss how Jesus is the very center of history.  We will also begin our classroom timeline this week.  
    Science:

    • This week we will be learning about stars.  We will be introducing the concept of the speed of light with a fun running activity!  On Thursday, don't forget to watch the video of a night as an astronomer! The link can be found here as well as on the blog chart.


    "Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another."
     ~Plato


    Geography:
    • Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. Click here for the song we use in class. Due 9/30

    Memory Work: 
    •  Please work on memorizing our beautiful poem "Jesus Died Your Soul to Save".  Students will say title, author, and then recite poem on September 25th.
    K week 38/26/20198/27/20198/28/20198/29/20198/30/2019Co-Teacher Notes
    DiscipleshipCautiousnessOpen House 8/26 6pm-7pm
    BibleFruit of the Spirit: PATIENCEDiscuss ways to show patience at home and at school.Fruit of the Spirit: KINDNESSDiscuss ways to show kindness at home and at school.
    MathEM-A p27-29EM-A p30-33EM-A p34-36EM-A p37-40EM-A p41-44
    SpellingAAS-Step 3AAS-Step 3 p25-27 key card 1,2AAS-Step 3AAS-Step 3 p25-27 key card 1,2Review segmenting words and Step 1-3To teach initial phonograms in place of first 26 lessons in OPG
    WritingN,MHWT-p15-16 (N,M)Frog Jump capitals, H, K, LHWT-p17-18 (frog jump capitals, H)
    ReadingPhonogram games and activities
    *Introduction to Tudley!    		Go over yellow Phonogram cards at least 2X/dayPhonogram games and activitiesGo over yellow Phonogram cards at least 2X/dayWe will begin reading short vowel words next week! Please make sure your child knows all of his/her letters and basic letter sounds
    HistoryLittle Pilgrims: The Beginning of History
    		Focus: Creation & Adam and Eve
    GeographyContinents and Oceans - Due 9/30
    ScienceLesson 2: StarsA day in the life of an astronomer video.  
    Memory WorkQuarter 1 Poem Due 9/25

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