Today was our first day of Spanish class with Gracyn. I was able to find out that she loves Peppa pig and loves to do art. We went over the ABC's in Spanish and will construct an ABC caterpillar to learn our ABC's.

For shared reading today we read 'Harry the Dirty Dog' focusing on inferring from illustrations. We met the 'h brothers' and practiced their sounds by playing Quick Erase. Gracyn revisited her family story from yesterday to add detail to the illustration, she will use those details in her revision of the story. She read 'Grandpa Snores' on Raz-Kids.

Gracyn reviewed the plant lesson from Tuesday and answered questions at the end of the chapter. We planted two sunflower seeds and placed one in the sun and another in the dark. She made predictions on what would happen to each plant. We began a lesson on the five senses.

Today's lesson continued with the concept of adding on and using models to add. Gracyn completed lesson 1.2 in which we used pictures as models to find the sums up to 10. For continued practice, Gracyn worked on an addition facts worksheet using the numbers 0-18. Together, we colored the cover of a homemade Sudoku puzzle book and Gracyn finished 1 puzzle using the numbers 1-4. She is very good at Sudoku and almost ready for the more challenging 1-6 Sudoku puzzles. We finished by reading Warthogs in the Kitchen, A Sloppy Counting Book by Pamela Edwards.

We started an exercise journal that we will record any activity/exercise that Gracyn does outside of class. We discussed nutrition and the types of exercise. Our yoga stretches included back and leg stretches. We then worked abs with sit-ups (we held each other's feet). We also set up Gracyn's yoga folder.

Today Gracyn learned to position herself properly at the piano by sitting on the front half of the bench, an arm's length from the fall board. We also went over correct hand position, with wrists up and fingers curved (as if gently holding a bubble.) We then discussed, played and identified high and low tones. Our next topic was black keys, and Gracyn played and correctly identified all of the two and three black-key groups. Next we went over finger numbers. We ended our session by playing through the first song in the lesson book. During the course of today's lesson, we performed activities and completed workbook pages reinforcing the concepts discussed. Gracyn demonstrated an excellent grasp of the material covered.

Today we reread 'The Tiger Tale'and discussed celebrating differences. We practiced the 'sh' sound in a sound sort. Gracyn completed lesson 51-1 of Reading Eggs and practiced sight words. She read 'Biscuit Goes to the Library' in a my turn-your turn format. We read the story she wrote yesterday and made a quick sketch of her family for a new story.

Gracyn was a pirate today! She dug in beach sand for treasure, Spanish coins, gemstones, jewelry and shells. She learned about the job of an archaeologist - finding clues to what happened in the past. She also learned that pirates were real people and that they influence our culture in exploring and settling in the new world. We read Do Pirates Take Baths by Kathy Tucker. Gracyn found and held a real lead cannonball. She dressed up as a pirate, eyepatch and bandana, and played the part. We looked at my power point presentation and learned why our region is known as the Treasure Coast. She learned new words - vocabulary, booty, loot, doubloons, archaeologist - and we added those to her vocabulary cards and envelope. We discussed maps and will continue next class. I took Gracyn to the election wall display and talked with her about it and how she might contribute and understand the election process. This will be something we will continue to do weekly for the next few months. She told me that she had already submitted some things for the school newspaper! I gave her some more ideas for that. We made a Social Studies folder and a vocabulary envelope for her classroom, to add to and review throughout the year.

Gracyn and I made Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Marshmallow Filling. Gracyn mixed all of the ingredients together for the cakes. While the cakes were in the oven, Gracyn mixed the butter, cream cheese, fluff, vanilla and sugar until it was creamed together. Next we placed the filling into the refrigerator until it was set. Using a small ice cream scoop we dolloped the filling between two cakes to make the Whoopie Pies.

Gracyn and I caught up on all her summertime fun. We then warmed up and resumed stretching. Since Gracyn took the summer off from gymnastics I explained it will take time to get her flexibility back and that we will spend a little extra time on that the next few weeks. We then did some basic skills and set up an obstacle course to work on her strength, balance and agility.