Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - Iditarod: GO Smyth!
My town has a wonderful teacher's store. There are tons and tons of educational toys, games, supplies and teaching aids. They also have a wonderful thing called Silly Saturdays. Every second Saturday of the month they have activities for children to come and do. This year the lady that puts it on has been mostly focusing on science. She is so great. She is enthusiastic, pulls the kids right in and has fun things for them. She loves the Iditarod. This month she took a break from science and focused on this incredible race. She had each child look through her book that had all the mushers pictures and short bios. The children were to pick a musher and make a pinny for their musher. They did some other activities as well, all dealing with Alaska or the Iditarod. The race starts March 7. The next Silly Saturday will be 7 days into the race and she is going to see whose musher is where. But she also sent us home with our very own race map, check-in sheet to track our musher, as well as other information. Cameron and I chose #32 Ramey Smyth for our musher. It helped that he likes soccer. LOL (He was #33 when we picked him but he has moved up. I guess I will have to keep my eye on that.) I may chose someone else to follow as well. And, if our musher drops out or cannot complete the race, we should pick a new musher to follow to the end. I think this will be a great activity for us to enjoy. If you want to participate and chose your own musher check out the official Iditarod site and chose from the list of mushers and let us know who you chose.
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Monday, February 23, 2009 - In-Depth Picture Study
One blog that I really enjoy reading is One Child Policy Homeschool. I don't know if it is because she too has an only child that she is homeschooling. Maybe it is the fact that she is using the Charlote Mason method as we. Or it could be that I just find her style of writing very delightful and her ideas fun and something that appeals to me. It is probably all the of the above.
One of the things that she has done is to have her child recreate one of the paintings they study for a term. I wasn't sure if Cameron would like this or not. Drawing isn't one of his favorite things to do because he wants it to be EXACTLY right and a perfect copy. But surprisingly, he rather enjoyed making a copy.
Our artist last term was Caspar David Friedrich. I like him much better than Boticelli. Cameron chose the very first painting we studied for his recreation project: The Cross in the Mountains.
I thought he did a fabulous job. I am more concerned with him picking out certain details rather trying to make a perfect copy. Especially since this is something new we have started.
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Saturday, February 21, 2009 - Week 26
Bible:
- Elijah hears God in the Still Small Voice
- God choses Elisah to suceed Elijah
- Elijah taken to Heaven in a whirlwind
- Elisha crosses the river Jordan and begins his ministry
- Elisha helps a widow: The oil that keeps on giving
Memory:
- Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the prsence of mine enemies; ...
Phonics/Reading
- We are still taking a break from our forward motion. We are still working through our review. I've also started asking him to pick a book, either from his current library books or from his own personal stash. There are a lot of new words and many rules we haven't learned but hopefully he is enjoying it because he has chosen the book.
Math:
- Fractions
- 3 digit subtraction with borrowing. He almost has this skill under his belt
Literature:
- Pilgrim's Progress
- Robin Hood - Robin and the Tinker. (Cameron's narration)
History:
- Children's History of the World - ch 60 "Thelon Gest Wart Hate Verwas" Hundred Years' War, Edward III and the battle of Crecy (which we read about in Island Story and Cameron noticed), and Joan of Arc
- Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley - we read the introduction which discussed the 100 Year's War and introduced us to a young Joan. I like how our readings are overlapping other readings
Nature:
- Pagoo (Pagoo is a library book so I am putting Seabird, which we own, on hold and reading more Pagoo)
- ch 7 - Room and Board, Travel Included - Pagoo finds an empty button barnacle. It isn't a perfect fit but it makes him feel much more protected. But there was a twist to his new home, it is the "penthouse apartment" on another hermit crabs shell.
- ch 8 - Around Snail Cousins' Rock - "Traveling Towers" as Pagoo's "aprtment building" is called stops on a leaf of kelp, ver near to some more interesting creatures: limpets, abalones, nudibranch, sea hare and snails. (Did you know snails have teeth on their tongues?) Traveling Towers are swallowed whole in the last sentence!
Poetry by Christina Rosetti
Copywork:
- Memory Verse
- For Jesus shed His precious blood, / Rich blessing to bestow; / Plunge now into the crimson flood, / That washes white as snow. (Only Trust Him ~ Stockton)
- Yes, Pagoo had been lucky in choosing his first home -- a snug penthouse apartment with free sea-food dinners included! (Pagoo ~ Holling)
- But Joan seemed to have brought the French good luck to have put new life inot their armies...after more than a hundred years of fighting, at last they drove the English out of the country. (Child's History of the World ~ Hillyer)
- The war was very reall to Joan, as it was to everyone in Domremy, and they all knew who the enemy was. (Joan of Arc ~ Stanley)
Spelling:
- cute, mule, fire, day, play, wait, does, been, said, neat, read, seen
Artist:
- Stary Night by van Gogh
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Friday, February 20, 2009 - Robin Hood and the Tinker
We are having great fun with Robin Hood. Cameron looks forward to it each day and he looks forward to "setting up the scene." I'm allowing him to retell Robin Hood using his men.
The Sheriff of Nottingham wants Robin arrested, but no one will serve the warrant. The Sheriff is asking the men of Nottingham shire if they will do it.
No one wants "a cracked crown and broken bones" so the Sheriff sends a messenger to another town to see if someone will. The messenger meets with several men but it is the Tinker that takes on the task.
We had to look up exactly what a tinker was. I had no clue. But now we both know that a tinker traveled from town to town to fix metal. (Cameron has never been very good with names. I know he gets it from his father. He keeps referring to Robin and Red Robin Hood and the Tinker was Tinker Toy...just a funny side note)
The Tinker takes the warrant and goes off to find "this knave Robin Hood" and who does he meet but some nice youth on the way. (It is really Robin) They immediately hit it off.
Robin does not reveal who he is and finds out that the Tinker is after him. He invites him back to the inn for some drink and fellowship. The Tinker loves his drink and hardily accepts.
But Robin has the innkeeper put something into his drink to make him fall asleep.
Robin pays for their refreshments but then tells the innkeeper to charge the Tinker when he wakes up. Then he steals the warrant right out from the Tinker's bag. Which is very funny because the Tinker was bragging about it.
Robin is gone when the Tinker awakens and is angry to find that the one he was spending time with was the very one he was after, and that he had taken the warrant, AND that he had to pay the innkeeper.
The Tinker goes on his way. He is angry and who should he run into in the bend in the road but a whistling Robin.
They fight with cudgel and staff
Cudgel breaks staff and Robin calls for some of his merry men.
Little John and some yeomen (AKA Storm Troopers) come to his aid.
At this point in the reading (before this delightful re-enactment) Cameron interrupts with, "The Tinker is going to join the merry men. Just like Little John did in the last chapter."
The very next sentence had Robin's invitation to join. The Tinker gladly accepted.
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Friday, February 20, 2009 - Parallels from History
We were reading about King Henry IV in history yesterday. Henry dressed as a regular knight as he went into battle and had five knights dress up like the king. All five knights died, but Henry lived. The enemy army was clearly trying to kill King Henry.
Cameron was fascinated by this part of the stroy. And then he made a parallel.
"Wow, King Henry did exactly what Padmé did. She was the Queen but dressed up like her servant so no one would know who she was."
Got to love it when Star Wars parallels history.
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Saturday, February 14, 2009 - Week 25
We are officially in the home stretch. We are in the last 12 weeks of school; term three. We had a very busy week with lots of extras. I think there was only one day that we didn't have to rush off to somewhere. We got the essentials done but a few things were put off until next week.
Bible:
- Kingdom Divided: Jereboam gets 10 tribes, Rehoboam gets 2
- Jereboam makes two golden calves and leads Israel into sin
- Ravens feed Elijah during drought and famine
- Elijah helps a widow
- Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel
Memory:
- Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Math:
- Addition, subtraction and multiplication drills using Math-U-See
- 3 digit subtraction with borrowing
Literature:
- Robin Hood - Prologue. The language is a bit to get used to but Cameron is really enjoying this so far.
History:
- Children's History of the World
- Chapter 58 - A Great Story Teller. We learned a little about Marco Polo
- Chapter 59 - "Thing-a-ma-jigger" and "What-cher-may-call-it" We are introduced to the compass and gun powder.
Nature:
- Pagoo
- ch 5 - A Ride and a Fall Far, Far from Home - We leave the dueling hermit crabs behind and learn more about mussels as Pagoo travels through Mussel Canyon
- ch 6 - A Starfish, and a Few Barnacles - Pagoo encounters different types of barnacles and watches as a starfish opens and eats a mussel.
Poetry by Christina Rossetti
Copywork:
- Memory verse
- Come every soul by sin oppressed, / There's mercy with the Lord, / And He will surely give you rest / By trusting in His word (Only Trust Him ~ Stockton)
Spelling:
- sing, sink, wink, drink, give, come, does, been, have, said, ear, hear
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - Birthday
Every year, at exactly 3:08 pm, I take Cameron's picture for his "birth moment." I don't know if I read of another mom doing this or someone told me that they did it but I have made it my own.
This year, Cameron was very involved in it. He didn't want me to miss the moment. We even set an alarm on my phone so that we could take the picture at the right time.
This year, we happened to be shopping at Wal-Mart. We did a birthday snack for Master Clubs (our Wendesday night kids program) and, unbeknownst to Cameron, for his surprise Birthday party after Master Clubs.
I try really hard not to pose the pictures. I want a picture of what he is doing at that exact moment. I know what I was doing exactly at this moment 8 years ago.
1 year we were just hanging around the living room.
Year 2, Cameron was taking a nap.
Year 3 is MIA. It has to be around here somewhere but it was before I got a digital camera.
Year 4, we had been out to lunch with Grandma and then some grocery shopping. We were JUST getting home at the birth moment.
Year 5, his two cousins had just left and we were resting from our first annual birthday sleepover.
Year 6 we were out shopping with Grandad and Uncle Adrian in between church services.
Year 7 Cameron was running a high fever and really sick.
Happy Birthday Cameron. You are growing so fast.
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Friday, February 6, 2009 - Weeks 22, 23, and 24
I am finally back on track of where I want us to be but the weeks have gotten all "smooshed" together. So instead of trying to figure out what we did each week I'm making one big entry for the last three weeks.
Bible:
- David spares the life of Saul
- Saul and his sons die in battle
- David becomes king of Israel
- David brings the Ark to Jerusalem
- God's covenant with David
- David and Mephibosheth
- David is judged for numbering the people
- Solomon is made king of Israel
- Solomon asks for wisdom
- The wisdom of Solomon; the dispute of two mothers
- Solomon builds a the Temple
- Solomon dedicates the Temple
- The Queen of Sheba
- Solomon's heart is turned
Memory:
- Psalm 23:1-3 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake
Phonics/Reading:
I have noticed a great improvement in his reading. We reached the end of a section in our handbook and instead of forging ahead, I decided to take a break and got back to review some. He finished his second A Beka reader, Tip Toes. We began working through book three of the Christian Liberty Press readers, A Time at Home.
Math:
- Shapes: square, triangle, trapezoid, circle, semicircle, rhombus, sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, cube, cone
- Rearranged shapes to make different shapes (i.e. two triangles together to make a square)
- A lot of fact drilling on addition, subtraction and multiplication. Multiplication facts of 1, 0, 2, 3, 5, and 10
- Three digit addition with carrying
- Three digit subtraction with borrowing
Literature:
- Pilgrim's Progress
- Vanity Fair, Hubbub in the Fair, In the Cage
- Trial of Faithful, Defense and Death
- Wind in the Willows
- ch 8 - Toad's Adventures
- ch 9 - Wayfarers All
- ch 10 - The Further Adventures of Toad (Cameron's narration)
- ch 11 - "Like Summer Tempests Came his Tears"
- ch 12 - The Return of Ulysses (Cameron's narration)
History:
- Little Duke
- ch 11b - Carloman dies and the little Duke grieves his death
- ch 12 - Duke Richard decides to go and ask for the release of the prisoner he is keeping, Lothaire. On his way to make his request he rescues a dog's life from a wolf. The dog he saves is exactly who he must petition.
- Conclusion: There was much war in Duke Richard's young life but then he knows peace. The one thing never resolved was his father's murderer. One day, a very old and decrepit man approaches the monastery that the Duke is visiting. The man is seeking sanctuary. It is the man that murdered his father all those years ago. The man was truly repentant and the Duke forgave him
- Our Island Story
- ch 45 - Edward III - Battle of Sluys (Cameron's narration)
- ch 46 - Edward III - Battle of Crecy (Cameron's narration)
- ch 49 - Richard II - Wat Tyler's Rebellion
- Children's History of the World
- ch 56 - Bibles Made of Stone and Glass
- ch 57 - John, Whom Nobody Loved
Geography:
- Seabird:
- ch 4 - The Ivory Bird Soars. Ezra carves the two tusks into a replica of the bird that saved the boat. He was a master at scrimshaw work. (I learned something new)
- ch 5 - Seabird Learns About Whales. This was a good review of whales that we learned about last year. (Our Lapbook)
- ch 6 - A Nantucket Sleighride. The whaling boat spots a whale. They harpooned the whale and now the whale is taking them for a ride.
- ch 7 - A Gallopin' Fishpole. The whalers are trying to reel in the whale. (Cameron's drawing)
- ch 8 - Fin Out. "Fin out" means the whale is dead. The whalers got their whale.
Nature:
- Pagoo
- ch 2 - Shifting Tides and Changing Hides. Pagoo is pushed and pulled by the tides. He keeps eating and molting.
- ch 3 - Pagoo is a Hermit Crab! As Pagoo molts, his tail becomes unusual. At first he feels important and then he feels exposed.
- ch 4 - At the Ringside. Pagoo is now on sandy floor of a tidal pool. Two enormous objects land near him. They are grown hermit crabs that are sparing with one another. There was a great size comparison. If Pagoo were the size of a 6-foot man, the other two hermit crabs were the size of a large barn, each. That made an impression on Cameron
Poetry by Eugene Field:
- Telling the Bees
- Contentment
- The Naughty Doll
- Over the Hills and Far Away
- Inscription for my Little Son's Silver Plate
- In the Firelight
- Jest 'Fore Christmas
- Little Homer's Slate
- The Hawthorne Children
Copywork:
- Memory verses
- Nothing can for sin atone- / Naught of good that I have done- / This is all my righteousness- / Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Nothing But the Blood ~ Lowery)
- Only trust Him, only trust Him, / Only trust Him now. / He will save you, He will save you, / He will save you now. / Come every soul by sin oppressed, / There's mercy with the Lord, / And He will surely give you rest / By trusting in His word. (Only Trust Him ~ Stockton)
- Sandy beaches spread wider, their rocks break and seem to rise like monsters rearing, pools are left a long the shore to gleam like little lakes. (Pagoo ~ Holling)
- Ezra was a master at 'scrimshaw work'-- the carving of bone and teeth. His shipmates had long since guessed why he wanted the two walrus tusks. (Seabird ~ Holling)
- Free! The word and the thought alone were worth fifty blankets. He was warm from end to end as he thought of the jolly world outside, waiting eagerly for him... (Wind in the Willow ~ Grahame)
- It seemed that the whole world must have rolled over Pagoo, leaving him lopsided. Yet without a doubt, poor little Pagoo had been changed! (Pagoo ~ Holling)
- The Whale's dash through a few ice cakes gave the Boat Steerer the chance of a lifetime to show off before the whole ship. (Seabird ~ Holling)
- He sang this song very loud, with great unction and expression; and when he had done, he sang it over again. Then he heaved a deep sigh; a long, long, long sigh. (Wind in the Willows ~ Grahame)
Spelling:
- now, fur, hurt, brown, turn, draw, saw, work, word, jaw, world
- brown, chalk, fall, talk, walk, small, all, plant, dress, front, bring, glad
Artist: Friedrich
- Moon Rising Over the Sea
- Woman at a Window
- We are starting something new that I've been wanting to do. Cameron chose from the six prints for this term to do a copy. He chose The Cross on the Mountains. He is actually enjoying copying his own rendition of this. He is almost finished but I am already very pleased with the details that he is noticing
Composer: Liszt
- Sonata in B Min
- Mephisto Waltz
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Wednesday, February 4, 2009 - Pregnancy
Next week is Cameron's 8th birthday. I saw this tag on Facebook and decided it would make a better blog entry to celebrate Cameron's upcoming birthday
1. Was your first pregnancy planned?
Not really. We were not trying but we had not been preventing for some time. The Lord had convicted me about using birth control and that conception was from Him. But it seemed to take a very long time. It was well over a year after I stopped using bc.
2. Were you married at the time?
Of course! We had been married for a few years.
3. What were your reactions?
Well, we were kind of in shock. I didn't even realize what had happened. I was not regular so missing wasn't a big indicator. In fact, I was CONVINCED that I had a bladder infection. I had all of the symptoms listed on the TV ad for some drug. We were going to make a doctor's appointment after we came back from camping Father's Day weekend. My friend suggested I take a test. I guess I was being kind of mean to her daughters and that wasn't like me. Hormones.
So it wasn't something that we expected. But we were both very happy.
4. Was abortion an option for you?
Nope. I do believe in choice. But I believe that choice is made MUCH earlier: before conception even happens. I do not believe in taking of a life, especially one so small and helpless. Abortion has never been a question
5. How old were you?
I was 25 during most of the pregnancy
6. How did you find out you were pregnant?
We thought our friend was crazy to suggest us taking the test. But we thought, why not, maybe she's right. We were both in the bathroom and it didn't even take the 5 minute wait period. It was a very strong and instant line, confirming our friends suspicions.
7. Who did you tell first?
My husband and I found out together but decided to keep it a secret for a while. I think mostly to prove to myself that I could keep a BIG secret and I think we wanted to go to the doctors first. I don't remember telling anyone except his parents. We made a special trip up to their house, but as soon as I walked in the door, my mother-in-law's cigarette smoke made me extremely nauseous. I said I was going to be in the kitchen while my husband told his parents. The nice thing is that she hasn't smoked around me since that day in 2000!
8. Did you want to find out the sex?
Yes. I couldn't wait. I wanted to know as soon as possible. My sister, who had been very accurate at guessing the sex of other babies was so convinced that we were having a girl that she went out and bought "her" first outfit before we knew. She was the first person we called after our ultrasound. LOL she quickly took the outfit back and replaced it with a boy outfit.
9. Due date?
Cameron was due 8 years ago today. February 4, 2001
10. Did you have morning sickness?
A little. I had more of the all day queasiness for about 2 weeks. There were also certain smells that made me quite green: cigarette smoke (which thankfully only involved my mother-in-law), and defrosting poultry.
11. What did you crave?
I didn't really have too many cravings. I loved orange juice and salsa. My husband is the one that seemed to have all the cravings. He craved hot fudge sundaes like the were going out of business. We had to stop and get one after almost ever church service. I think he gained more weight than I did.
12. What irritated you the most?
I did have some heartburn issues towards the end and my feet were always VERY hot. Even in the cold of winter. Plus from about December on I could barely put 5 words together in one breath. It made me miserable not to be able to sing Christmas songs. (I think I might have whistled just to satisfy my need to "make a joyful noise to the Lord.")
13. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what the baby was?
No. I always wanted a boy. I knew that my husband wasn't sure about this whole father thing and that a boy would be the best fit for our family.
14. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?
I lost 18 pounds, but believe, I had plenty to spare. Being pregnant was the best "weight loss plan" I have ever been on.
15. Did you have a baby shower?
Yes. Actually I had three different showers. My husband's family gave me one. His mother is one of six and his dad is one of seven so there were a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins and extended family on that side. My sister gave me one for our family and some friends and then my church also gave me one. All three were great. I would say that the thing I got the most of was blankets (Still haven't delved into them all 8 years later) and diapers. We did not have to buy any diapers until Cameron was 4 months old!
16. Was it a surprise or did you know?
I knew about each of them. My mom, mother-in-law, and friend Tammy went to all three.
17. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
No.
18. Did you take Lamaze?
Yes we did, but we didn't finish the class because over half the class "graduated" (aka gave birth)
19. Where did you give birth?
At the hospital
20. How many hours were you in labor?
I was in labor for over 35 hours. I was having problems getting comfortable very early Saturday morning. It was around 4am that I noticed that I was being woken at regular intervals. I got up and sat on the couch until I was pretty sure what was happening, before I woke my husband. But they weren't close enough together to go to the hospital. (They sure hurt enough. LOL)
21. Who drove you to the hospital?
My husband and I waited around the house. It was nice that it was a Saturday. He helped me take a shower and then had me settle on the couch while we tried to pass the time. We called the doctor's office to make sure that we were in labor but because it was Saturday the answering service just sent us to the hospital.
I was going too slowly to be admitted. They sent us away saying to go walk around the mall and eat something light. That was an interesting trip at Wal-Mart. I think I scared a few small children.
The second time we drove to the hospital I was in more pain than the first time. My husband drove over an extremely bumpy road. It was one of only two times that I yelled at him. Poor guy, felt just awful.
22. Who watched you give birth?
We got to the hospital Saturday night around 9pm. They gave me a sleeping pill and a shot of morphine. That was weird. Couldn't hold my eyes open except through the contractions. By Sunday morning we were still making little progress. My friend Tammy showed up as had been the plan all along. She and my husband were present for the birth.
23 Was it natural or c-section?
It was natural. Or as natural as possible with drugs involved. ;o)
24. Did you take medicine to ease the pain?
I remember my husband and I being at the library about 8 months into the pregnancy. Silly me was looking at child birth books and started to weep. "I can't do this! You'll have to do this. I'll never be able to do this!" My husband's ever so sensitive response: "It's a little late now."
So, I was of the mind set that I wanted the drugs in my room waiting for me. (Wimp, I know, and proud of it) But, I was so focused on breathing through my contractions that I never asked for anything. I think because I had that "out" I could go further. The nurse suggested that I should think about getting an epidural because I was tired, had been in labor for over 30 hours and it was going to get more intense.
DUH! I wanted one of those. So, yes, I had an epidural. It went better than the stupid IV for fluid they gave me. That took over an hour and SEVERAL pokes. I felt like a new person after the epidural.
27. How much did your child weigh?
Cameron was 8 pounds 6 ounces
28. When was your child actually born?
He was born at 3:08pm Sunday afternoon on February 11. He was exactly 1 week late. Over 35 hours after I first realized that I was in labor.
29. Who visited you at the hospital?
Right when it was getting time to push, my husband was walking down the hall with our Pastor and his wife. Since it only took me 7 minutes, they were one of the very first people to get to see and hold him. We weren't even out of the birthing suit. Also, my in-laws had been in a little earlier and were close by to be able to come and see him. My mom also showed up pretty quickly as did my sister but I was in a room by that time.
I only yelled at my husband twice. The first was in the car over the bumpy road. The second was about his lunch. I told him to go ahead and get lunch. The nurse told him that he could go to the cafeteria and bring it back here. I was all for it. I wasn't hungry. But when he brought it back, it smelled so BAD that I thought I was going to be sick. I was breathing through a contraction and told him, "Your food STINKS! Get OUT!!" Poor guy.
Even though it was such a long time to be in labor, I have such fond memories of it. And what a great little man I have from it.
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Friday, January 30, 2009 - Floating Egg
We have a lot of resources for science at our house. But, sadly, I have been quite lazy about it. The day seems to go one of three ways: But I really want to change that. I want for us to do things that he looks forward to and enjoys. I want him to have something he likes to work towards. Today, it was a science experiment. My Dad always seems to buy Christmas gifts that have an education twist. A few years back, he bought us Pop Bottle Science. It is a kit that comes with a pop bottle with a removable top, a few extra tools you need for some experiments, and a book full of different things to do with your pop bottle. Tonight we did the "Magic Floating Egg" experiment. It also had a hidden fractions lesson in it. First we were to fill the bottom part of the pop bottle 1/4 with water. First we eye-balled where half was and then eye-balled where 1/4 would be. I think that this was the first time that he got that 1/4 is a half of a half. Then we cracked an egg into the water and watched what happened. That's right. It sunk straight to the bottom. Then we did it again but made a very high concentrated salt water solution. (This was almost as much fun to him as cracking the egg and seeing what happened) Then we added an egg again and voila! The egg floated to the top. We always enjoy doing experiments and we were able to discuss things like solution, dissolving, and density and got to do things like estimating, measuring and predicting.
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - Battle of Crecy
Cameron loves the narrations that are not normal. Here is his great picture from our history reading of Edward III and the Battle of Crecy. Again, Edward is fighthing the French.
On the left side is King Edward III and his English army. This was one of the first battles that used cannons in Europe. Both sides have archers. Cameron added flames to them. They didn't mention flames in the reading but he said they did that sometimes to burn up more of the other's army. (Notice the two dead guys)
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Friday, January 23, 2009 - Battle of Sluys
Cameron loves our narration cards. He is still paying attention to the details of our readings and must internalize what is going on to reproduce it in his own way. But this helps to break it up from always just telling the story back. He loves drawing from the card pile to see what he gets.
For King Edward III and the Battle of Sluys, he drew the "Act out story using your toys" card. I left him alone for about five minutes and told him to set up.
The tall white robot is King Edward III and the yellow "workmen" are the English. The blue "police" are the French. Now he told me that he didn't have any ships because that is where the battle takes place but I was supposed to use my imagination.
The last part of the narration had the fool telling the French king that his men had lost the battle.
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Monday, January 19, 2009 - Numismatics
I don't know about you but I love words. I love learning new words. I love using new words.
Today, I introduced Cameron to numismatics. I had forgotten that my mom had given me a book. It was for Cameron to collect the state quarters in. I had worked on it for awhile but then put it on the shelf and promptly forgot all about it. Until she reminded me.
So today, I got the book back out and showed it to Cameron. He was pretty excited about it. Right away, my dad, who is a numismatist (such a mouth full), pulled out his pocket change and helped Cameron right away with three coins.
Cameron then went through his plethora of change and found a few more to add to his collection.
I hope this will become like a treasure hunt for Cameron.
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Saturday, January 17, 2009 - Week 21
We are combining some things over the next few weeks as well as getting some things done on Saturdays to get us back on track where I want us to be. So this is really week 20 and 21, sort of.
Bible:
- The Philistines caput re the Ark and then return
- Saul is anointed as first King of Israel
- Saul and his son Jonathon
- Saul is disobedient and his kingly line is rejected
- David is anointed King
- David and Goliath
- David and Jonathon have a special bond
Memory:
- Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Reviewed all the books of the Bible
Phonics/Reading: Some days seem good and others seem are the exact opposite of good. I am planning on stopping where we are very soon and maybe going back to do a review of some type. I have also added him reading some simple books to maybe build his confidence and fluency. This week he read:
- Hop on Pop by Dr. Suess
- I Can Read with My Eyes Shut by Dr. Suess
- Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman
- Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstien
Math:
- multiples of 3
- money: This is his favorite kind of math. He loves to separate each coin and count them.
- Believe it or not but he OFFERED to keep score for a game of Scrabble I was playing this past Sunday. He did a great job and the fact that he offered to do it blew me away. Real life math skills, right?
Literature:
- Pilgrim's Progress
- Talkative, Christian and Faithful
- Faithful and Talkative
- Evangelist Reunion
History Lit:
- Little Duke - chapter 11a. Carloman continues to become more and more ill but finds great solace in his lessons with Father Lucas
- Our Island Story
- chapter 42 - Edward I - The Hammer of the Scots
- chapter 43 - The Story of King Robert the Bruce and the Bohun
- chapter 44 - Edward II. - The Story of the Battle of Bannockburn (Cameron's Narration)
Geography Lit:
- Seabird
- chapter 2 - The Vision in the Snow. We meet Ezra, a young man on a whaling ship. He is sent to the crow's nest during a snowstorm and the gull helps him realize they are about to run into an iceberg. We looked up several web sites about icebergs.
- chapter 3 - Smart Traders. Ezra trades a jigging pump-drill, which we were both very interested in, for the ivory tusks of walrus.
Nature Lit:
- Pagoo - chapter 1 Pagoo Might be a Hermit Crab. Pagoo has just hatched and is very tiny. He is the size of a dot made by a pencil. We learned of other animals and plants that make up plankton. We checked out a few things under Cameron's new microscope. This helped a little on size comparison.
Poetry by Eugene Price
- Fairy and Child
- Child and Mother
- Ganderfeather's Gift
Free Reads: We are finally finished with The Five Little Pepper's and How They Grew. It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't horrible. I really didn't care for the way the spoke. It was hard to get into its rhythm. We just began Five Children and It. It sounds very promising and might be one that I don't want to put down myself.
Copywork:
- Memory Verse
- What can wash away my sins? / What can make me whole again? / For my pardon this I see/ For my cleansing, this my plea. / Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Nothing But the Blood of Jesus ~ Lowery)
- Waves churned all food into bits so small that the water itself became a sort of soup. Pagoo could lie in soup and eat it too, so he was happy. (Pagoo ~ Holling)
- Ezra knew that his 'Seabird' was niether a ghost nor bad omen. Yet this one, by flying off so oddly, had called his attention to the floating island of ice. (Seabird ~ Holling)
Artist: Friedrich's Moon Rising Over Sea I actually had Cameron look at this one all by himself while I was preparing a meal in the other room. He would then come and tell me what he could about the picture. It helped that I had not seen it because I asked him questions about it. I'm hoping this will help him "narrate" the picture back to me.
Composer: Liszt's Piano Sonata in B min. We haven't had one song yet that I couldn't find on YouTube.
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Friday, January 16, 2009 - Pagoo
We have started reading Holling's book Pagoo. I really like the Holling books that we've read so far: Paddle-to-the-Sea, Tree in the Trail, and Sea Bird. Pagoo is about the life cycle of a hermit crab. We started with Pagoo just hatched from an egg. He is the size of a dot made by a pencil and doesn't look much like a hermit crab.
For narration Cameron got the card that said to draw a picture from the story on the dry erase board. Here is his rendition of the just hatched Pagoo.
Good job!
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