What we did in LIFT

WHAT WE DID IN LIFT - January 22nd

We spent most of our class listening to the famous William Tell Overture, and learning about William Tell.
The Kids got to express what the music made them feel through creative art work.
We read a great story about Tell and all the kids were completely fascinated by it.

Afterward we used drama and imagination to act out the story of William Tell.It was really neat to see them all get into the parts they were playing- we have quite a few aspiring actors in LIFT =)

We also played some fun fine motor/coordination games with apples- including 'shooting' and apple off a cardboard head!

Also we continue each week to play some great math, and mind building games. They are all improving!

• Ask Your Kids to share with you about William Tell- See if they can maybe even act it out for you!

I am so pleasantly surprised at how much the kids are remembering, learning and creating each week. some of the things they have said, make me so excited to know that they are really learning and putting things together

What we did in class!

JANUARY 15TH

We had a great class this week learning together!

Your kids are learning a lot of new things, but my focus is not just information but developing their minds, the way they think, their creativity, and lengthening their attention spans.

In science this week we learned about the moon. We made our own moon models and ate Oreos and played games to learn the different phases of the moon (see if they can tell you these).

For hisory/geography we found Egypt on the globe and learned about Egyptian art.
We also studied hieroglyphics and made our own cartouches.
(Hint - You may have to ask them to explain what a cartouche is!!)

We also played some great dexterity/thinking/developing (and just plain fun!) games ~

Ask the kids to tell you 3 things about the Moon and Hieroglyphics!


Here are some things to do with the kids at home:

• They should have brought home an envelope with cutouts representing the phases of the moon. Have them show you what order it goes in and challenge you to a game to see who is the quickest at putting them in the right order!

• Make a ' Marshmallow Lunar calendar'.
  Buy a bag of marshmallows. Every night have your kids eat a marshmallow to the shape of the moon that night, then glue it onto a page of the calendar or a piece of paper charting the days of the month. (If it's cloudy or your kids have to go to bed before the moon comes out, you can look up the day's phase of the moon online) Not only is this fun, but it helps them see the full cycle of the moon! They will probably like the night of the new moon best because that is when they get to eat the whole thing!!!
  

HERE ARE SOME PICS THAT SHOW THAT LEARNING IS FUN TOGETHER

What we did in class!

What we did in LIFT- January 8th 2009

January 8th 2009
First LIFT class!

The Sigma class went great this week! I am so excited about spending the rest of the semester working with all of your kids!

Part of the goal of the first class is to evaluate some of the needs, strengths, levels and dynamics of this class!

Here are some of the highlights of this week's experience...

SCIENCE:
We are practicing being scientists at LIFT! We are learning to ask questions, think outside the box, form hypothesizes and test them,
One of the things we did was to conduct our own blind study- ask the kids about it! Your resident scientists :-) might enjoy giving you a blind study at home!


ART HISTORY: We discussed the origins of Art back in biblical times, and created our own cave masterpieces (on the driveway) using natural paints and brushes which the kids made from materials in the yard! I think we have some aspiring artists in our midst!


MUSIC: We listened to several classical pieces of music and then we talked about what we liked/didn't like about them, discussed what emotion it portrayed, which ones were our favorite, and discovered that all the boys preferred Beethoven. Besides an awareness and understanding of classic music, I want them all to really appreciate the depth and beauty and timelessness of these great masterpieces!!!


We also played some phonics games to sharpen skills, fun science experiments, and had some good discussions!

FOLLOW UP:
If you would like to follow up on the things we have learned at lift here are some things to do at home.

• With a fun obstacle course, we started learning Psalm 1:1- (NIV). We combined physical dexterity with hiding God's word in our hearts! Over the next weeks we will be memorizing ALL of psalm chapter 1.Review, discuss and look for ways to apply this verse with them all througout the week.

• Help them to develop there scientific minds by asking open-ended questions, encouraging curiosity, and promoting imagination!

• Encourage lots of imaginative play- with "basic" toys and supplies. This has the mega benefits of developing your child's mind and abilities rather than have a toy or a game that does the creativity, thought, and work of play itself! This also means lots of outside time as well!
• Read - read - read - read!!!
  
• 
  
• Probably the very best thing you could do to increase their attention span and develop their minds for creativity, thought, and learning (in addition to tons of reading)- is to limit any electronic device in their lives as much as possible. The less electronic media - the greater the learning, creativity, imagination, and attention span.

SIGMA CLASS PROVED THIS WEEK LEARNING IS FUN TOGETHER!

Doing the "blind case study"

Making their own works of art!!!!




Ella beginning her "moon" painting.


Mitchell and Reece


Moon

Mitchell and the creative paint brush he invented



Deborah's heart drawing!
Reece's Buffalo painting



Deborah Creating



Kolten making his snake!

Wyatt and his creative snake!

More blind study!