Discover Spanish, Lesson 3

¡Hola, mi querido alumno Jacob!  Aquí estan las palabras y frases por esta semana:

¿De dónde eres? - Where are you from?

¿De dónde es usted? - Where are you from (formal)?

Soy de Los Estados Unidos. - I am from The United States.

¿Es de aquí? - Are you from here?

Sí, soy de aquí. - Yes, I am from here.

No, no soy de aquí.  - No, I am not from here.

Rewriting Paragraph for 4th Graders

While copying by hand some spindles, (a piece of wood that turns on a machine that you shape), on my lathe,(a machine that turns the spindle0, I got tired of having to always set and reset my caliper, (a measuring tool for round things), to check the thickness of different parts of the wood. So I made this simple wood board that measures it faster.

Spelling/Vocabulary Words, List #2

Arduous - adjective
involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring

Batten

noun
a long, flat strip of squared wood or metal used to hold something in place or as a fastening against a wall

verb
strengthen or fasten

Behemoth - noun
a huge or monstrous creature; something enormous, esp. a big and powerful organization

Bilge - noun
the area on the outer surface of a ship's hull where the bottom curves to meet the vertical sides

Cofferdam - noun
a watertight enclosure pumped dry to permit construction work below the waterline, as when building bridges or repairing a ship

Contrivance - noun
a thing that is created skillfully and inventively to serve a particular purpose

Derelict

adjective
in very poor condition as a result of disuse and neglect; (of a person) shamefully negligent in not having done what one should have done

noun
1. a person without a home, job, or property
2. a piece of property, esp. a ship, abandoned by the owner and in poor condition

Effrontery - noun
insolent or impertinent behavior

Inundate - verb
1. flood
2. (figurative) to overwhelm (someone) with things or people to be dealt with.

Meticulous - adjective
showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise

Ominous - adjective
giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening

Profuse - adjective
exuberantly plentiful; abundant

Qualm - noun
1. an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear, esp. about one's own conduct; a misgiving
2. a momentary faint or sick feeling

Staunch - adjective
1. loyal and committed in attitude
2. (of a wall) of strong or firm construction
3. (of a ship) watertight

Zither - noun
a musical instrument consisting of a flat wooden sound box with numerous strings stretched across it, placed horizontally and played with the fingers and a plectrum (pick).  It is used especially in central European folk music.

Indian Myths and legends

The Well baked man
Once a magician made the world realizing that something was missing he made a stove.
after doing that he made an image of himself out of clay. As he was collecting wood the coyote changed it and not looking at it he cooked it and when he brought to life, it baked and wagged its tail and looking at the coyote he said you changed it. Then after making another two clay images the coyote told him to take it out to soon and he didn't like it so he put it over seas. So he made another two and took them out to late so he sent them over seas again. He then did it again and didn't listen to the coyote and baked them perfectly and kept them.

Discover Spanish, Lesson 2

¡Hola, amigos!  Here's what we're learning to say this week en español!

¿Cómo estás? - How are you?

¿Cómo está usted? - How are you (formal)?

¿Qué tal? - What's up?

Bien - well

Gracias - thank you

Muy bien - very well

Más o menos - okay, fine

No muy bien - not very well

¿Y tú? - And you?

¿Y usted? - And you (formal)?

Endurance - Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Our geography book for this term is turning out to be really interesting reading.  We're studying the voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, on its ill-fated Antarctic expedition which started in 1914. 

I've already learned a few things about ships I didn't know, and it's pretty fascinating to read about the experience Shackleton and his crew had while they attempted this expedition across the Antarctic.  I wanted to share some of the things that made an impression on me today.  

The advertisement Shackleton placed in the newspaper pretty much says it all... this was not child's play!  It was dangerous business, indeed!  It's amazing that anyone responded, really.  Even more amazing was that during the Antarctic night, they didn't go crazy - it had certainly been enough to drive other ship's crews insane in the past.  (I know I get depressed just by several days of rainy weather... I can't even imagine endless night for months out of the year!)  The book says it actually seemed to bring them closer together.  They didn't have much work to do during the 'day' while they were stuck in the ice, so they had all sorts of social gatherings that included 'grog' (watered down alcohol), and put on silly skits for each other, in addition to routine things like reading, writing in diaries, playing cards, etc.  Some of the practical jokes they played on each other were pretty hilarious, too - such as the time they convinced one of the crew members that there was a 'costume' party... they actually got him to dress up as Buddha (with the help of a bedsheet), and when they showed up to the gathering, the poor guy was frozen and the only costumed person in attendance!  (Jake and I both had a good chuckle over that one!)

Shackleton and crew

The book also makes mention of the amazing light show they had during the Antarctic night, courtesy of the Aurora Australis, or the "Southern Lights".  I found some pictures of this, and it's quite beautiful.

I also (never having paid much attention to geography growing up) didn't know how close the Antarctic was to Australia.  When I looked at a map of the voyage, I was shocked to see Australia fairly close by (at least it looks that way!).  I think of Australia as being the opposite of the Antarctic weather-wise... and it is, but their relatively close proximity surprised me just for that reason!

INDIANS!!!

The 2 tribes that live near us are the Pima and the Pappigo, there literal meaning being River dwelers and Bean eaters.

The State Symbols

 The state flag consists of the blue field, representing the USA,

the copper star for the huge copper mining industry and The 13 stripes representing the sunset.

 The Cactus Ren

 The state flower: The Saguaro Blossom

The state Tree Being the Palo Verde

Spanish Notes for Week #1

Discover Spanish, being a podcast, has limitations when it comes to grammar and learning how to write the Spanish language.  Therefore, I will be posting these notes for you on a weekly basis, Jake, so you learn grammar as well!

Here are some things you need to know from this week's lesson material:

The words Señor, Señora, and Señorita all have an accent mark over the letter n, which is called a tilde.  The letter n with a tilde over it is its own letter, in addition to a 'regular n' in the Spanish alphabet.

The verb llamar, which literally in Spanish means to call, is the verb we use to ask what someone's name is, or what they 'call' themselves.  Depending on who is 'doing' the action in the sentence, the ending of the verb will change.  In the present tense (or now), the verb endings are:

I - o                                we - amos

you (singular) - as          you (plural) - ais

he, she, it - a                   they - an

So, in the case of llamar, to conjugate the verb, you remove the last two letters, ar, and replace them with the ending for the person who is performing the action (in this case, doing the 'calling'):

llamo                  llamamos

llamas                 llamais

llama                   llaman

The 'me' in front of llamo means that I call myself (my name is) _________.  So, to say:

I call myself (my name is) - me llamo                   

You call yourself (your name is) - te llamas          

He, she, it calls him-, her-, it- self - se llama          

(His-, her- its- name is)

We call ourselves (our name is) - nos llamamos
You (plural) call yourselves (your name is) - os llamais
They call themselves (their name is) - se llaman

In Spanish, when a sentence ends in either an exclamation point, or a question mark, there is an upside exclamation point or question mark at the beginning of the sentence, as well as a 'right side up' exclamation point or question mark at the end of the sentence.

Yay Arizona

Yuma is known for its heat somwhere around 120 degrees, people there joke that there was a sinner there that died and went to hell and sent for his blankets because it was cooler there than in Yuma

Arizona had a navy, no kidding they were trying to protect there rights to the Colorado river and deployed two patrol boats, it is said that they got tangled in weeds and had to get towed

Discover Spanish, Lesson 1

We've decided to start Spanish off this year using a podcast I found on iTunes, called Discover Spanish.  They're each 15 minutes long, which in my opinion is just about perfect - enough time to learn something, but not so much that you're too overwhelmed with information.  Here's what Jacob learned today:

¡Hola! - Hello!

¡Buenos días! - Good morning!

¡Buenas tardes! - Good afternoon!

¡Buenas noches! - Good evening or good night!

Señor - Mr.

Señora - Mrs.

Señorita - Miss

¿Cómo te llamas?  - What is your name (more technically, what do you call yourself)?

¿Cómo se llama Usted? - The 'formal' way of asking someone what their name is (authority figures, etc.)

Me llamo _______.  My name is _______.

Week One - Spelling and Vocabulary List

This week's spelling/vocabulary words are taken from To Kill A Mockingbird


Assuage - verb
1. to make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate.
2. to appease; satisfy; allay; relieve.
3. to soothe, calm, or mollify.

Amble - verb
1. to go at a slow, easy pace; stroll; saunter.
2. (of a horse) to go at a slow pace with the legs moving in lateral pairs and usually having a four-beat rhythm.

Apothecary - noun
1. a druggist; a pharmacist.
2. a pharmacy or drugstore.

Chattel - noun
1. Law. a movable article of personal property.
2. any article of tangible property other than land, buildings, and other things annexed to land.
3. a slave.

Concede - verb
1. to acknowledge as true, just, or proper; admit.
2. to acknowledge (an opponent's victory, score, etc.) before it is officially established.
3. to grant as a right or privilege; yield.

Dictum - noun
1. an authoritative pronouncement; judicial assertion.
2. a saying; maxim.

Divert - verb
1. to turn aside from a path or course; deflect.
2. to distract from serious occupation; entertain or amuse.

Domicile - noun
a place of residence; abode; house or home.

Entity - noun
something that has a real existence; thing.

Flivver - noun
1. Older slang. an automobile, especially one that is small, inexpensive, and old.
2. Slang. something of unsatisfactory quality or inferior grade.

Illicit - adj.
1. not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful.
2. disapproved of or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons.

Malevolent - adj.
1. wishing evil or harm to another or others; showing ill will; ill-disposed; malicious.
2. evil; harmful; injurious

Sweltering - adj.
1. suffering oppressive heat.
2. characterized by oppressive heat; sultry.

Taciturn - adj.
1. inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.
2. dour, stern, and silent in expression and manner.

Unsullied - adj.
not spoiled or made impure

Inaugural Post

Inaugural

adjective [attrib.]
marking the beginning of an institution, activity, or period of office

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3!

This blog has been created as a place for Jacob and I to chronicle our Charlotte Mason homeschooling adventures... I am personally very excited to begin implementing Charlotte's 'twaddle' free methods of educating children.  Since this method of education is based on living books, and Jacob and I are avid readers, we should be in for an extraordinarily fun year (and beyond)!

The lesson plan for week one is finished, and the fun begins on Monday, August 15th.

To be continued...