Unit 21

Last week was busy & the weekend was super-busy (including walking a half-marathon with my mom...need I say more?) so I've not put time into this blog. ; o)

I figured I'd better upload Unit 21 pics before posting pics from today so we're not completely out of order around here.

D completed Unit 21 in Beyond. K did the Bible stories from LHTH Unit 21 along with some Earlybird Math, HWT, Finding the Answers and The Reading Lesson.

D enjoyed making a canoe out of clay & painting it to be like the canoes the Indians traded with the Frenchmen who sailed the St. Lawrence River & Great Lakes to the fort at Detroit.
The canoe picture he used as inspiration for his canoe...not bad!

D is enjoying cursive and doing well!

Last week was the end of our spring co-op for the school year. D brought home his "body book" that he complied in his Human Body class. He laid out a piece of yarn that was the length of his intestines...it reached from the dining room down the hallway. He then bunched it up to show me how it fits inside of us!
K enjoyed her math lesson one day - adding white sheep & black sheep in the barn, around the pond and the sheep pen. :o)

One of D's science activities had him pretending to be various birds using the beaks God designed for each one's specific eating needs. The hummingbird (straw & water)...

I can't remember this bird...tiny beak for picking up bugs...robin maybe?
(tweezers & grains of rice)

The sparrow (clothespin & raisins)...

The pelican (slotted spoon & mini marshmallows)...Another science/art activity - making 4 types of clouds. We also read The Cloud Book that day - now that the school books are all upstairs with us at the table - I remember what I have!
After this project, D now tells me what types of clouds are outside...mostly stratus & cumulonimbus clouds lately...rain & storms. :o(

Jelly Bean Math & Bunnies & Pizza

A few pics from last Friday (late, I know) but I wanted to share the pics...

K had fun using Jelly Beans for math last Friday.
She also enjoyed and making these cute little cut-out bunnies from a "Never Bored" preschool activity book. Her cutting skills have really improved in a year!

I had to take a pic of this tiny pizza she drew at the bottom of her workbook paper just because I though it was cute. (She had to draw what she likes to eat/taste - she ended up with pizza and then she drew an apple, too.)

Unit 20

We'll finish Unit 20 tomorrow in both LHTH & Beyond, but here are a few pics of activities from today and earlier this week...

D's Bible verse this week is about being diligent and not lazy (Prov 12:24). We've had good discussions, especially as it relates to the responsibilities he's begun around the house. He's working on having a better attitude and being diligent to complete his responsibilities daily.

Below is the "ribbon" D made to go with his history story (that he really liked this week) about a boy who worked hard in his colonial school to receive it as a reward for behavior & studies for the week. The choice of color & design was all his doing. He wrote "Good Job" on the small circle.
Yesterday the kid's HWOT books came in the mail ~ finally! I had planned to start them in August, but D was just too excited about it and K is already making a lot of her letters on her own...so I let them begin yesterday.

You would have thought D received a HUGE box of LEGOS in the mail by the way he took the package and tore it open. He completed this ENTIRE practice page yesterday (it's suggested to do 1 line a day- ha!).

Today he completed this ENTIRE page of c's...I really like how they teach them simple cursive, nothing too fancy and all the letters are straight up/down, no slant which is great for a lefty like D!
I asked him why he enjoys cursive so much since he didn't have any complaints about writing an ENTIRE page of letters today. He told me it's because he doesn't have to lift his pencil - it's less work. Guess this means there won't be complaints about doing copywork once he learns all the cursive letters and begins doing his copywork in cursive in a few months?!?!

Today K made letter "F" and did a great job! She liked the frog that went with it that told her to "jump" from the bottom to the top to make the two horizontal lines.
She finished Lesson 3 of The Reading Lesson today. Instead of asking to do her "reading" she asks to do "Giggle Bunny" each day. I love that she's so excited about it!!!

D's poem for the week refers to bees and how hard they work. He drew a picture of a behive hanging on a tree surrounded by tiny yellow bees today. The big bee in the middle is big (he told me) because it's closer to our eyes than the tree/hive. He's drawing with perspective! There's a flower in the lower left corner, too.
We read about the rabbit/hare families today for science and learned what a Pika is...a member of the rabbit family. D was delighted that he could teach this to daddy at dinner tonight!
K happily colored tiny fruits/veggies that she cut out for her Finding the Answers paper today. She had to listen to short stories and figure out which food went with the clues in the story. Then she made up two stories about the 2 fruits/veggies that were left over. She did a nice job giving clues for her fruit/veggie stories.

K chose 5 stuffed friends to help her make addition problems to 5 today. She had a little help from C (who took a short nap).
Speaking of C, I had to keep her busy while I worked with D and K, so she colored on a BIG piece of paper in the kitchen with her chunky triangle crayons. She soon decided it was more fun to peel the paper off the crayons than to color with them. Oh well...it kept her busy for 5 minutes.
She's saying, "Let me see!" Always begging to see the picture as soon as it's taken...

new storage & school pics

After deciding our main room to school in would now be the dining room (natural light, better attitudes, frees up the playroom for just play, etc.). We purchased new storage for our school supplies over the weekend. I had to wait to take pics until the cabinets were anchored to the wall and filled. :o) I haven't figured out yet what to do on the top of them, so for now I just tossed a loose piece of beaded garland on top of the first one.

I LOVE THEM! At first I wasn't too sure about the glass halfway on the doors. I wanted something completely solid to hide all the school things...but it couldn't be found in the color we wanted. However, after I filled them with books, I loved the look! I think it allows the dining room to look a little more formal, yet functional at the same time!
Inside the first one: My supplies in the basket & planner on the top shelf, HOD curriculum on the 2nd & 3rd shelves (this year and next year), the kid's school supplies (turnabouts) & Bibles on the 4th shelf, lined paper, small markerboard, markers & rubber letters on the 5th shelf and misc. books and math counters on the bottom shelf.I love that my teacher bookends are displayed & holding up this year's curriculum on the 3rd shelf. They were a gift from my Grandma (who I will see in Heaven!!!). She gave them to me years ago when I graduated from college with my teaching degree.

The second cabinet: An empty top shelf...can you believe it?! It may be filled with more books from downstairs shelves. We'll see... The 2nd shelf holds paintbrushes and scented markers in glass jars (just to make them look nice!) and an America book displayed (just to fill space). :o) The 3rd shelf holds LOTS of educational books & holiday books - mainly non-fiction sorted by topic. These were housed downstairs but I would forget to use them...now they're where I can see them and remember what I have to go with subjects/holidays we're learning about.
The 4th shelf holds construction paper and extra arts/crafts supplies. The 5th shelf houses paints, tissue paper for art, dot pens, pastels and some science things (magnets/prisms, etc). The bottom shelf holds bigger books that won't fit in shelf 3 and more small arts/crafts supplies labeled in tubs.


D's science yesterday was about how the earth rotates each day so that the sun doesn't really "go down" or "go up" but WE move away/towards the sun each day. We marked our continent and then I rotated the earth around D - who pretended to be the sun. You would think we'd have a working flashlight in our home...nope! I need to fix that problem soon!I took this pic of D's math paper yesterday because I LOVED his handwriting. He has always balked at writing out the numbers but after an initial grumble, he completed the 2 numbers without complaint!
Today he held up a bowl to his ear to see if he could hear the "ocean" which he learned was really listening to our blood flow. Wow! I didn't know this. I love learning new things while homeschooling! :o) We read more about the ear in his science book!
K grinning next to colored erasers that she added together using a number line (a.k.a. paper ruler - no masking tape to be had in our home either...I've got to get shopping for supplies!). This activity went with the last two pages of her math book!
She's proudly holding up her math book (Singapore Earlybird 2A) which she COMPLETED today! She begged to look through her 2B book today - so I let her. She asked if the problems (+ and -) in the book was when she learns multiplication like D. I assured her it won't be for a little while yet. :o)
While D was working, she got out some math counters (flat marbles) and sorted them...
She then made them into a rectangle and asked me to take a picture...

Tomorrow, we school in the morning (should be interesting with C awake) and then head to the art museum for a field trip in the afternoon - a hands-on art project! I'm excited!

lots of pics - box day, reading, art, fractions & PE

Yeah! Our box from HOD arrived yesterday afternoon in midst of the pouring rain while we were out. The UPS delivery guy was nice enough to tuck it inside our glass door so it remained dry!

Within minutes of tearing it open and pulling out books for next year, K found her new reading book (The Reading Lesson) and begged to put the CD-ROM game in the computer. I can't say no to that, so we did it and after playing Lesson 1, she went on to complete the ENTIRE lesson in her book (her choice) all 18 pages or so! She's regained her confidence and happy attitude about reading - hooray!
Today she played Lesson 2 on her own during our usual play hours this morning and then did 8 pages of Lesson 2 in the book. In the pic above she's proudly showing the words spelled out using our rubber letters. It's definitely working better for her than 100 EZ Lessons!

She began her 2nd Rod & Staff workbook, Finding the Answers, last week. She begged to do two pages today...circling letters...
...coloring & counting...
I have loved using these workbooks with her this year. It's been a good fit (we've skipped the letter-writing pages). ;o)

D's art project today (unit 19/Day2) to go along with his history reading...making a pattern with "sand" on the "floor" as a little Puritan girl did one day when she was home alone cleaning...


I finally printed their responsibility papers today. I had put it off for awhile because I didn't know how I wanted to do it...index cards on hooks/rings to flip around, chart to put stickers on, checkmark, etc. When I read THIS blog post I realized that's what I needed to do so the kids have their set responsibilities throughout the day. Some days are different so it's nice to put certain ones for certain days (i.e. trash to kitchen Monday night, soccer bag to door Tuesday afternoon, etc...) D & K's are put in a sheet protector to hang on the fridge, using a dry erase skinny marker to cross off each one. We'll see how it works! :o)

D's "sparkler candle" art project from last week that I realized I didn't post a picture of...

K's fraction math page from last week...she chose to make each one a different color!
They are loving HS PE again this year. It's a drive, but worth it for them to get with the other kids and run, run RUN!

On Friday - K's class did a "carnival" with games.


While D's group used the parachute with various games. In the pic below, D is "it" and is trying to "rescue" a girl from getting taken inside the parachute.

Math Fun!

The kids enjoy math and I'm so glad!

K has begun learning about fractions in wholes/halves/quarters. We used playdoh to demonstrate halves/quarters on Wednesday...D is continuing to learn his 3's facts - both multiplication and division. He was in tears Wednesday and I realized it was because a lot of math has come "easy" to him. But with the multiplication/division he has to think a lot more - he's capable & can do them, it just requires more work.

He used index cards to be "trucks" and unifix cubes to be "boxes" so he figured out his problems by loading "trucks" with "boxes" on Wednesday. Example: 4 trucks holding 3 boxes each can move 12 boxes. We've gone round & round about where to do our school this year. We began downstairs in the school area, then moved upstairs, then moved back downstairs and now we're back upstairs. Are you dizzy yet?!

I realized D works better in the natural light, has a much better attitude and is less distracted by his sisters. He actually ASKS to do school in the dining room...he cheers about it! Looking ahead to next year when his work load gets a little heavier and the girls will have more play time in the playroom together, I think schooling in the dining room will work best.

For now our HOD and minimal school supplies are in the cube shelves...I have a happy boy!

Eventually we'll move the art supplies and other manipulatives we use for school upstairs in the dining room once I find/buy/build cabinets so everything will be hidden ~ just my personal preference for the dining room. ;o)

Back at it!

We got back into HOD today after taking 5 school days off for a trip to a nice, warm, sunny southern state! We had a great time! We could have done HOD on the road and in the hotel, but we decided to make it our "spring break." :o)

We finished out Unit 17 before our trip, so today we began Unit 18 for both kids.

K learned about Isaiah and begged to read the "O" devotional & verse in her devotional book. I'm not going to say no! ;o) Then for math, she used mini chocolate chips to be "petals" on flowers to practice counting between 11 and 20.
I bought a box of rubber letters over the weekend for the kids to use with spelling/reading since we didn't have any tactile letters other than A-Z chunky foam ones that go with a foam puzzle C likes to take apart daily!

D used them today to review spelling words from Unit 14 (today is a review week for spelling words). He was so excited about them which surprised me because I didn't think he'd like them THAT much! He kept putting certain letters together (ie. "sp" and then "or" and then "t") and then sliding them together making the sounds speed up until he's saying the word.

To go with his history/science today, he was to follow a trail of cotton balls (vanilla scent) to a "river" (where the scent is lost) and then past the river (scent changed to Almond) pretending to be a dog...we read about dogs, too. He really got into it!