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School started late today so we had to skip our read aloud time. We focused on catching up on some things that we were falling behind in...like science and history. Pete fixed us a nice lunch of Chicken and Rice...wasn't that nice?! That rhymed.... Nik: Grammar: adverbs Science: tools that astronomers use, astrolabe History: different regions of the US Math: ratios
Jake: Grammar: adverbs and note-taking Science: fertilization of flowering plants History: The Constitution, Bill of Rights,George Washington and his cabinet... we tried a new way of taking notes today and I think it really helped Jake retain a lot of this info! Math: review
Belle: Grammar: letter Y and Z, wrote short sentences History/Geo: Australia and Antarctica Copywork: a line from the "Field Daisy" Math: line addition and number words
Gee, when I write it all down, it doesn't seem like much!! It sure did feel like a lot! lol!! |
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Here is a photo of the flowers that DS2 and I dissected this afternoon. I just love my scalpel...it came from one of Gus' central line repair kits from the hospital!!
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Yipee!! We started school on time this morning!! During breakfast we talked about I John 3:18..."Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions in truth." Pete had to go take a entrance exam for nursing school in the afternoon...he passed and was allowed entrance! lol!! QOTD: Life is an adventure in forgiveness. ~Norman Cousins WOTD: flummery TDIH: the euro debuts Read alouds: Twelfth Night from this book, Saint Ursula Reading 3 from this book, and various poems from this book.
DS1: Bible: Elisha LA: self-test, copywork from the poem "Mischief "by Jane Taylor, 3 new words from SAT list, adverb review Math: reviewed percentages to decimals to fractions, self test 2 History: self-test 1 Science: Isaac Newton, measuring the sky Art: freewriting using a Hogarth painting, cool and warm landscapes Music: listened to Handel
DS2: Bible: telling the truth LA: note-taking, cursive "Pp", copy work from "To a Lady" by Anna Laetitia Barbauld, spelling w/s Math: fractions review History: Articles of Confederation, discussed report to be done Science: flower dissections Art: freewriting using Hogarth painting, cool and warm landscapes Music: listened to Handel
DD1: Bible: discussed how the earth is full of God's glory LA: line leader letters, matching big letters w/ little letters, copywork from "The Field Daisy", listened to "The Tortoise and the Hare", practiced writing "Ww" Science: read One Bean by Anne Rockwell History: read about Africa Art: freewriting using a Hogarth painting, cool and warm landscapes Music: listened to Handel
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We had an abbreviated school day...slept in and then had company in the afternoon. At breakfast we had a mini-lesson about Zacchaeus. In the evening we meet up with our friend Crazy Tanya and her daughter...who is making this really cool scarf out of eyelash yarn....and had 1/2 price appetizers at Applebee's.
QOTD: They can conquer who believe they can. ~ Virgil WOTD: hootenanny TDIH: 1521 Martin Luther Excommunicated Read aloud time: Reading 2 of Saint Ursula from this book, All's Well That Ends Well from this book, and several poems from this book.
DS!: Bible: Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa and Nadab LA: reviewed abbreviations, adverbs, copywork from "Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed", QOTD in cursive Math: decimals to fractions History: Early US Reading: The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum
DS2: Bible: Living happily with others LA: Unit Test, cursive "Oo", copywork from "The Sheep and Pig Who Set Up Housekeeping", spelling exercises and adverbs History: American Revolution Test..unit test
DD1: Bible: Who's in Charge? LA: reviewed vowels, copywork from "The Young Minnow Who Would Not Eat When He Should", read aloud was The Lion and the Mouse Science: Plants and their parts History/Geo: Europe
To help DS2 prepare for his American Revolution test, we played our game we created called "Revolution". It is basically a trivia game...there is no strategy involved...just have to know the answers! LOL!! We will be adding questions to the game as we work through our history lessons. I guess the name of the game will change as we progress...hmmm...hadn't thought about that! lol!!
The "Common Sense" cards are the questions. You move around the board and gather things to give to Gen. George Washington. Each item is assigned a value. The winner is the person with the most valuable "pile"...we are still making some changes to the rules....overall though, we have fun play the game! |
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We started this morning with a bowl of oatmeal and a mini-study on Job. Pete had just returned from work and was able to lead our discussions...I like it when he's around to do that!! DS2 asked if our pets would be in Heaven which lead to the reading of a chapter from Randy Alcorn's book Heaven for Kids. A nice discussion followed. Pete went to bed and the kids and I headed for the schoolroom.... At 10:30 we stopped for apple muffins and The Merchant of Venice from this book, several poems by Edgar Guest from this book, and Reading 1 Saint Ursula from this book. I use The Home Educator's Tutor for the Saint Ursula readings. DS1: Bible: read about Jeroboham and Ahab Language Arts:
Math: reviewed decimals and place values History: read about the different regions of the US Science: studying stars...read about Galileo, Brahe and Keppler Art: visited Olga's Gallery to view William Hogarth collection Music: review of instruments and their families Reading: The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum
DS2: Bible: illustrated a verse and read about the ant Language Arts:
Math: Test on Polygons and Circles History: discussed Benedict Arnold, Nathanael Green, Rochambeau and the Treaty of Paris Science: discussed the male and female parts of the flowering plant. Art: visited Olga's Gallery to view William Hogarth collection Music: instruments and their families Reading: The Yellow House Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner
DD1: Bible: worked on memory verse Genesis 1:1 and made a collage of God's Creation Language Arts:
Math: none today because the math book has traveled to some unknown destination...hmmm... Science: worked on penguin lapbook History: studied about Asia and the Great Wall Art: visited the Olga Gallery to view William Hogarth collection Music: instruments and their families Reading: Bob Books!
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A few things seen Up the Hill...
Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky.
Inspired by Georges Seurat.
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...for those who think we no longer "do school"!! This has been a fairly light day because sometimes you just need those kinds of day! lol!!
Nik: **Today we reviewed finding the area & perimeter of hexagons **Discussed Job and the advice that Job's friends gave him. We are studying the Books of Poetry in the Bible. **Play practice for "Everyman Jr." which is a morality play. Nik is playing the role of "Everyman" at the Jonesborough Repertory Theater. We are not allowed into the auditorium while the actors are practicing so we haven't seen Nik perform yet!! I am getting excited...
Jake: **Jake and I reviewed shapes, planes and dimensions. ** A few chapters in The Hurricane Mystery were read. ** A mini poster titled "Proverbs" was created and several verses were added. **Jake reviewed for an upcoming grammar quiz **and attended his Webelos meeting
Belle: **Reviewed addition facts and reviewed number words **Learned the letter "Gg" and practiced handwriting **practiced "squishing " some words together...like mat, pat, sat... **practiced her memory verse John 1:1 and colored a William Tyndale picture while I read a story about Tyndale.
Me: I found a few neat sites this morning while I was drinking my coffee...
Kiddley...this site is waaaay too much for one sitting! Claire has created such a fun blog where she shares "everyday ideas for you and your kids". It is one of those blogs that I go to and say "ohh..I want to do this.." after all the posts! I think I want to be her when I grow up! lol!! And guess what! She has another wonderful blog too...LoobyLu. I love that name.
My Minutia has posted directions for a wonderful advent calendar using a baking sheet.
Mighty Goods is the answer to all my Christmas shopping woes...I think I'll get all those "hard to buy for" people that lovely Yeti ornament! I don't care who you are, you have to love it!
Enjoy!
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Look who I caught reading yesterday? Reading without me nagging him to read...do you all understand what I'm saying??!! He didn't even realize that I had taken his picture!! It's a miracle...really...it is!! |
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is almost complete. We are lacking a story and drawing of a panda and a photo of Belle standing with the bamboo at Sycamore Shoals State Park. I let Belle do most of the work...she made it most of the way through then said she was done. I glued a few things down for her...later that day she proudly showed it to her dad. So I guess the experience was good! lol!! The photo below, of course, shows the inside of the lapbook. The little blue cards are vocabulary words that go in the pocket just below them.
This next photo is the front of the lapbook. Take notice of the very rare white head and shoulder panda bear! lol!! She was so upset that she had colored the bear with too much black...she got over it though when I told her she could use my beloved letter stickers to title her lapbook!!
Tomorrow we'll listen to the sounds of panda bears and see some live shots through several webcams. Did you know that pandas make a lot of strange noises?? |
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Belle is going to start working on her Panda Bear Lapbook this week. We have been studying the continents and right now we are checking out Asia...that's how we decided on the Panda Bear!
Here are the "parts" of the book:
We are also going to be visiting several sites. There are a ton out there but I just picked two for the webcams...
We have already watched The Amazing Panda Adventure. Let me just warn you though...the acting was stinky but my kiddos sat quietly through the entire movie. It just about did me in! lol!!
and a few more things.....
Here's a cute panda pattern from one of my favorite artists Molly Chicken! Too cute!! And this one's for us make-up wearing gals....Panda Cleanser
I'll be posting pictures of the lapbook at the end of the week!
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Just wanted to post some of what the kids studied today.
Nik:
Ruth and Naomi Division Test on the Liberty Bell Read some of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Jake:
Bible test Estimation and operations in math Poetry and poetic form Read some of The Wheel on the School
Belle:
Addition with "1" Letter "P" Reviewed wall words
Together we discussed what it means to be grateful...the characteristics of someone who is grateful. We read about King Xerxes and how he honored Mordecai for saving his life. Our memory verse I Thessalonians 5:18 was practiced. We also looked at Georges Seurat's painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte" . We discussed optical mixing and pointillism and then started watching "Sunday in the Park with George". This is an onstage musical which is really creative with the scenery...there are a few bad words and some of the dresses have dipping necklines so you may want to watch before your children do...I thought it was ok but just want to give you a heads up! Anyway, it's creative and parts of it are very clever. It's inspired by Seurat's painting "...La Grande Jatte". I have the Netflix copy so when I return it you can get it! lol!!
Tomorrow, Belle and I are going to be working on a Panda Bear lapbook...hopefully I'll get some pictures and I'll post some links that we are using.
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Belle and I are reading Esther so we decided to make a crown for her to set on her shelf as a visual reminder about the story. Some of you all may have seen my earlier post on trash stompin day...yeehaw...this is the crown I was wearing as I was doing my stompin'. I like it!~
Don't all queens wear croc-like shoes??
And now...introducing....Ned the o-Possum.....
Here Ned is sassing us...he was a just a little bit terrified. Ouch...look at his little ear...he's got some issues. The kids found him in the neighbors garden. Today, Nik entered his play "Awesome Opossum" in a local playwright competition....I really wish we had these pictures this morning!! Maybe he'll let me post his play....
He's so ugly and yet so cute! I wonder where his momma is...hmmm.....maybe I don't want to know!!
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Winnie the Pooh series by AA Milne and Ernest H. Shepard Beatrix Potter series The Little House by Virginia BurtonThe Story About Ping by Marjorie FlackThe Little Engine that Could by Watty PiperBlueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskeyMake Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskeyOne Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskeyOx-Cart Man by Barbara CooneyStone Soup and other folk tale retellings by Marcia BrownMiss Rumphius by Barbara CooneyThe Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman Brer Rabbit books by Joel Chandler Harris Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis StevensonThe Little Red Hen The Gingerbread Man Goldilocks and the Three Bears The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The Real Mother Goose illustrated by Blanche Fisher Aesop's Fables Wright Mama Goose, a collection by Edelen Wille The Oxford Book of Children's Verse edited by Peter Opie Hiawatha by LongfellowPaul Revere's Ride by Longfellow My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling The Tale of Three Trees Wynken, Blynken and Nod |
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Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling Parables from Nature by Margaret GattyAmerican Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb The Heroes by Charles Kingsley Pilgrim's Progress Book 1 by John Bunyan The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald Children of the New Forest by F Marryat The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling Book 1 and Book 2 The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald Men of Iron by Howard Pyle Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright English Fairy Tales and more by Joseph Jacobs King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry (18th century, Africa, France and England) The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong
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The Story of David Livingstone by Vautier Golding Rob Roy by Sir Walter ScottJack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss Call of the Wild by Jack London Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Penrod by Booth Tarkington A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson The Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit The Wouldbegoods by Edith Nesbit Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge Michael Faraday, Father of Electronics by Charles Ludwig Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan
Most of this booklist was taken from Ambleside Online. |
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Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, c.1886 Georges Seurat
We have finished our study of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. We spent a lot of time observing his "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" and discussing the story of Icarus. I used Bruegel's paintings for several creative writing assignments. Interesting stories....
Now...we're going to be studying Georges Seurat. He was the artist who created the style of art called pointillism. We're going to be doing some art with Q-tips and paint...in the style of Seurat. |
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Friday Co-op has started! Here's the classes the kids are taking:
Nik: Brain Games World Geography Current Events Living Radically and Righteous ...or something like that! can't remember it!!
Nik was not looking forward to Brain Games but after all was said and done...it's his favorite!
Jake: Brain Games Cooking PE
Jake was very concerned about taking Cooking...thinking it was going to be girls only. When I left him in the kitchen, there were 4 boys and only 2 girls!!
Belle: Curious George Storytime Kindergarten Science Kindergarten Art Daughters of the King
This is the first co-op session that Belle has agreed to go to her classes by herself. I'm helping in the Science class though...I'm a "floater" at co-op so I go where I'm needed!
It was nice to see the other homeschoolers....it's been two years since I've seen most of them because we were in Knoxville with Gus. Everyone graciously allowed me to talk about Gus...no one seemed uncomfortable and that was good. My intentions were not to make anyone feel weird...I just need to talk about him...those of you who have lost children understand exactly what I'm talking about.
After co-op we had to go to Nik's playwright class and then home...and then back out to Walmart to get fabric for bean bags for Scouts. I think we finally got home around 8:30!! Way too long of a day...I was beat!!
I did meet a HS mom that has offered to do massages for some of our Gus' Gang moms who need a little bit of pampering...for free!!! Isn't that great!! I'm so excited about getting this set up!
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