Day One Narrations

This afternoon Pamela and I wrapped up Day Four and we are right on track. Every morning, Pamela comes up to me at around 8:15 in the morning and announces, "I want math!" Now that is a good sign!

While many days have been intense and busy (primarily because of poorly timed obligations on my part), we have shared many lovely memories, some blogged on Tuesday. The look on Pamela's face when she generated heat from a battery when working on the TOPS unit was priceless. She was so amazed when we finally got the flashlight bulb to glow. She smiled when I showed her the jar of rain we had captured from last night's storms. Today, when we walked for physical exercise, the weather trapped us in a sudden shower. We were quite wet by the time we reached home. Pamela giggled as we ran from awning to tree cover trying to make it home. She laughed as she splashed puddles with her pink crocs. Two years ago, we stayed put in rainy weather and walked around puddles and now she dances in the rain. After we dried off, we cut up a pear from the tree in our backyard and studied the inside for nature study. Pamela was surprised at how sweet and juicy our organic pears were.

Pamela is clearly on a search for meaning and creating personal anchors for her understanding. Wednesday provided several examples. In narrating a fantasy book, Pamela said, "She get the mail at the post office just like me." After reading the second chapter of a new fairy tale, she said, "It's just like Sleeping Beauty." To my great surprise, Pamela is enjoying a book about presidents and has said things like, "President elections in 2008 and 2012--that's leap year" and "Kings wear crowns, but presidents wear suits." When we read that Abigail Adams made medicine out of snails and worms, Pamela made a barfing noise and, when she was reading aloud a passage of an animal story book, she added an owl hooting as a sound effect for the owl who watched television. Sometimes, she asks questions about words she doesn't know like ping-pong tables and politics.

I will close with the narrations I promised from day one. I added extra words for clarity because Pamela still has word retrieval problems. Her oral narrations have improved a lot in the past couple of years, so what she shared jazzed up about the coming school year!

Literature
It had a wind. Cold! Her school had a grade. [The] day was good. [The] day was bad. She had a bad roof. It got break. Her father was gone! [He’s] just like Steve. They saw a white kitten and tongue. The weather had a hurricane. The roof [might get] hit. She saw a wardrobe mirror and a horrible face. Tooth [Teeth have] braces. [Her] eyes [have] glasses. It had a frightened. The girl was scared. It was a creature.

Poetry
[Canada is] rocky and [has] hems [hemlocks]. [It was a] forest.

Fairy Tale
They [the king and queen] had no children. The king had a crown. He had a queen. [They were] sad. The king was sorry [because they had] no children. The princess cried.

History
Dinosaurs roar [in] B. C., [the] beginning of the world. [They had the] end of the scrape [scrap] page. [They had] no book[s]. They [a boy] had a mushroom. They eat. [The] story [was on a paper] scrap. He [God] made the hills and seas.

Old Testament: The Tower of Babel
They built a tower [and] said, “Let’s make the building [up to] heaven.” They stopped the build[ing]. Babel [is] Babylon.

Current Events: we are looking at pictures of our current president, Queen Elizabeth II, their residences and the queen’s first crown.
We have President Barack Obama in [the] White House, just like C-SPAN. [England has] Buckingham Palace [and] Queen Elizabeth II. [She is] fancy. [Her crown is] beautiful and fancy.

Government
The White House was big and giant. The people went to [the] White House. Obama [lives there]. Queen Victoria [lived in the palace]. [The palace is] bigger. [The] palace is fancy. Messengers and guards [work]. [A place has] rooms [and a] queen. [We have] no king. Obama [is] President.

South Carolina History
Francis was cleaning up. [He was] cleaning the food. [He] walked and ride [a] horse. [He] was putting the cobs in his pockets. Cobs feed. Francis was angry. He had a fever. He was telling the neighborhood. He had a fit the corn. Francis’ [family] had six children. Francis had a fever.

Native American Story
The baby [said,] “Wah!” It’s lost in the woods. They [the people] had the smallpox. The baby was small. The people were dead. The baby was alone. The baby had some white sparrows, [which] were singing. They [the men] rescued the little girl. She was little frog. She smiled [a] crescent [and] had little teeth. Grandma said, “You old woman!” [She was] cutting [the] birch[bark].

Weather Experiments
The sun was warm and hot. The sun had Earth, [which] is spinning. The sun is yellow. [It is a] star.

Biography
The baby wasn’t a queen. The duke was sad. The baby had a prince, George. They had [a] grandmother and aunt. The baby was crying. The baby was small. [She was] baptized. Alex[andrina] Victoria was the baby. [The bishop] get the water and sign [of] Christ the Son.

Biography
It had no United States of America. Massachusetts had men. The men had the vote. Abigail had a husband. She had states. Abigail had horses. They ride. [They] said, “Neigh!” Abigail wear the dress. Abigail was a sweetie.