Weeks #11, #12 & #13

Wow, time has been flying by! 

 I am so behind in my posts...it has been crazy around here these last couple of weeks. 

To catch up,  Soccer Boy has been learning about the letters L & M.  He is just progressing along no nicely.  He has our routine all figured out and really loves doing his schoolwork.   We spent all last week learning about Thanksgiving.  We studied about the pilgrims, Native Americans, turkeys, and the Mayflower.  This is all new territory for him, but he really enjoyed coloring all the pictures and decorating the turkeys.  He had fun placing his letters for the alphabet on his magnet board.  He also enjoyed painting a log cabin that goes along with Artsy Girl's history lesson this week.

  

Artsy Girl has been very busy in anticipation of taking the week of Thanksgiving off.  In our geography & history studies, she has spent a week learning all about the United States.  She studied about the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War and George Washington.  She learned about the history of the American log cabin and painted her own replica.  We also studied about the history of the American Patchwork Quilt...a precious heirloom here in the South.  She created her own piece of art out of fabric, ribbon and a little Modge Podge (I am slightly addicted to Modge Podge...love it!)  In Bible, she finished her study of Moses.  In Math, she began mulitiplication...yikes!  She is doing really great with all this new information.  For the next two weeks, we explored a unit on volcanoes.  We used the Magic School Bus books and science kit.  She (and myself too) learned so much about how volcanoes are formed, the different types, famous volcanoes and the Ring of Fire.  We performed several experiments all leading up to the erupting of our very own volcano...a favorite with both kiddos! She has gotten the "Science Bug" and now wants lots of science projects for Christmas. 

We will be taking this week off for Thanksgiving, but will return next week beginning our three week study of Christmas!

Week # 10

What a wonderful week!  Soccer Boy had fun learning about the letter "J".  He learned all about baby Jesus in the manger.  He has made major improvements in cutting, gluing and tracing.  I'm so proud of him!  We went on a scavenger hunt in search of jack-o-lanterns, jelly beans and jam.  We finished our week by adding a "J" to our ABC tree.

Artsy Girl learned all about the wonderful season of fall/autumn.  In Science, she learned about the tilt and rotation on the earth and its effect on our seasons.  She learned about what crops are grown here in the fall and the life cycle of a pumpkin.  In Geography, she learned about the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and how seasons are flip-flopped in each of them. We talked about how countries near the Equator do not have seasons at all!  In Bible, she continued her study of Moses and how he learned to trust in God.  In Math, she began subtracting using regrouping.  This is totally new territory for her, so we are easing into it.  In English/Grammar, we concluded our study of verbs and did a cumulative review of everything we have learned so far.  In Art, we studied about Alberto Giacometti.  She re-created one of his famous sculptures, The Square, using aluminum foil and pipe cleaners...very cute! 

We took a field trip to visit full size replicas of two of Christopher Columbus' ships, the Nina and the Pinta, while they were here on the Misssissippi River.  The kids enjoyed this and got to see how hard life would have been on those small ships for so many months! 

 

That about wraps up this very busy week.  I am out of town next week, so the kids will be doing some light school work with G.G.!!

Week #9

What a fun and very busy week! 

For Soccer Boy, it was the letter "Ii".  He liked this letter because he got some yummy ice cream.  Along with our letter, we also learned about the number 3, the circle, and read stories about Rockets & Spaceships.  We also added an "Iguana" to our alphabet tree.

For Artsy Girl, we "dug" into the topic of Rocks & Minerals.  We read the Magic School Bus "Inside the Earth" and completed the Young Scientists Kit about fossils, minerals and crystals.  We made our own fossils. 

We practiced using the Mohs scale for mineral hardness.  We put together a geology lap book.  We also used this great kit from the Smithsonian Museum, in which she  and Caden chiseled through stone to unearth 9 rocks, minerals & gemstones.  They thought this was great!  We began this little project inside, but quickly moved outside as soon I realized how messy this was going to get.  After we cleaned all the stones, we performed tests to figure out what they were.  3 were rocks and minerals and the other 6 were polished gemstones.  Super fun!

In Bible, we continued our study about Moses.  In Math, she did so great on her test.  I'm so proud, even though she does not like Math. In Language Arts, Grammar & Spelling, we began our study about verbs and compound words. She is also continuing reading each night in her chapter books.  This week is more of the Magic School Bus and their journey inside the Grand Canyon. For Art this week, she learned all about Jackson Pollock and his splatter paint technique.  She created her own piece.  I really thought she would love this, but she said it's just not as pretty as Van Gogh's art.

That about wraps it up for this week.  Next week we will spend the week learning all about "Fall/Autumn".

Week #8

Ciao!  We have had such a fun week!  After being off for two weeks, we feel nice and rested to begin again until we're off for Thanksgiving next month. 

It has been all about the letter H for Soccer Boy.  This was one of the letters he has struggled with recognizing, so we spent lots of time on this letter.  He loves the "Letter of the Week" program mixed with a little of the "K4" program by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  It's nice that we can adapt it to fit our needs and increase our work as he catches on. We ended the week with a "House" to add to our ABC tree.

We are continuing to use the "Expedition Earth" program by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  This is a really great program, that again we can adapt to fit our needs.  We're off to Italy this week with Artsy Girl!  One of my very favorite places.  Since this is somewhere I have visited, I had a little insight to add to our studies.  We spent the week learning the history and geography of Italy.  We also learned about the Italian culture/arts specifically Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo.  She was fascinated that so many of the great masterpieces that are so famous today came from these two Italians all the way back in the 1500's.  She even made her own adaptation of Da Vinci's "David" out of clay.  She also made a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which she says is "beautiful even though it's crooked". 

In Bible, we began our study about Moses.  In Math, she began adding 4 digit numbers.  In Language Arts, Grammar, & Spelling, we learned about using a thesaurus.  She wrote a story trying to use many descriptive words from her thesaurus. 

I think that about sums it up.  Next week we will begin our week long study on Rock & Minerals.

Week # 7

Privet!  We had a very fun and very busy week.  Along with our usual school activites, Artsy Girl began her American Heritage Girl meetings this week.  Since I am treasurer and helping to get this program started, I have stayed up many late nights.  It's ok though...it's for the girls to have fun and make lasting friendships!

Anyway, we took a detour this week for Soccer Boy from our Letter of the Week program (courtesy of Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler).  We spent all week learning about camping and making our camping lapbook (courtesy of Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations).  He enjoyed this activity very much.  I really like making lapbooks, he seems to really learn by putting his book together.  He cut, matched, glued, learned beginning letter sounds and finally we made our own firepit out of a CD, sticks, rocks, and tissue paper.  We plan on having a mock campout in the living room tonight with homemade s'mores...yum!

It's off to Russia this week for Artsy Girl.  We headed straight to the largest country in the world.  We watched clips of the Nutcracker and learned all about Peter Tchaikovsky.  We watched a video on Siberia.  We learned all about some of the animals from Russia and she did a book report on endangered monk seals.  We studied about Peter Faberge and the history of the famous Faberge Eggs.  She even made her own replica.  We learned about Communism and Democracy.  We spent some time learning about Russian art by the famous Kandinsky and she made her own version of his abstract painting, "Squares with Concentric Circles".  We continued our Math and spent all week learning about nouns in English.  We began a unit on Rainbows in Science with several hands-on projects.  She really enjoyed this...doesn't every little girl like rainbows:)  She finished her study of Daniel in Bible and really enjoyed reading about him in the lions den.  I think that about covers it.  Oh, we also made homemade pretzels that were supposed to be made last week with our study of Germany (just ran out of time).  They were yummy, the kids loved making them!  We're off next week, as I will be out of town.  We will resume shortly as we head off to Italy (my favorite!).

Weeks # 5&6!

Guten tag, since we had the Labor Day holiday, I decided to combine two shorter weeks.
So, these two weeks are all about the letters F and G for Soccer Boy.  We learned all about foxes, fish, firemen, gorillas, gumballs and goats.  We counted, sorted, colored, cut, glued and finally made our own little fox for "F" and goat for "G" to add to our alphabet tree.  We continued reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as he really loves this book and read about a day in the life of a fireman (especially fitting with the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11th this weekend).

Artsy Girl was off to Germany to explore the land of over 150 castles.  We visited the amazing fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein Castle.  We read extensively about the Holocaust and Artsy Girl read a biography about Anne Frank.  We talked about what it would be like to go into hiding for two years and to ultimately be separated from our family.  We also learned about Ludwig Van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach.  We listened to some of their most famous musical pieces and read about their lives.  Beethoven composed his most famous symphonies after he lost his hearing!  She was surprised that she had heard all these musical compositions and didn't know who had written them.  We completed the German craft of pressed flowers and put our flowers into a frame...very cute craft.  We also learned about the German artist, Klee, and made a replica of his "The Golden Fish" painting.  In Bible, we began learning about the story of Daniel which will continue into next week.  In Math, she completed a math review of the things we have learned so far and did fantastic.  She may complain about Math, but she is doing very well in it.  In Science, we began learning about seeds.  We looked at some various seed coverings (testas) from a sunflower, bean and coconut.  We even planted a sunflower seed to watch the process of germination.  In English/Grammar/Spelling, she completed the section on the writing process by writing a story about our trip to Magic Springs in Arkansas.  Stay tuned next week, we are off to Russia!

Week 4

Bon Jour...we had a very busy week!  It seems we did several projects this week, so I have lots of pictures. 

It was all about the letter E for Soccer Boy.   He is getting the hang of how we do things each day.  He knows when I pull out certain sheets what he is supposed to do without me telling him.  We colored by numbers, sorted elephants by size, did some elephant graphing, painted letter Ee's, did a letter E word hunt and finally put together an E for our alphabet tree (very cute).  We didn't have gray foam, so we have a purple elephant:) We are also continuing his daily reading from his children's Bible...he really likes these stories!

This week we headed off to France.  We learned a few French words, watched a video on truffles, learned about Claude Monet and even made one of his famous waterlily masterpieces.  We learned about the history of the Eiffel Tower and made our own 20 inch replica!  We also learned that soap was accidentally invented in France, thus becoming now well known for their lovely French soaps.  We decided to make our own version...we melted glycerin and soy milk soap, then added fragrances (lavender, of course, since it is from the French countrysides..pearberry and cucumber) and then the fun part...the kids added the soap coloring to form all kinds of unique colors.  They soooo enjoyed this project and were amazed with the finished product.  We now have 21 bars of colorful soap that smell great!  The kids have been using their soap each night! 

Artsy Girl started learning about the "Writing Process" in language arts and we will continue this next week as she drafts, proofs and publishes her very own story. She also did great on her weekly spelling test with short vowel words.  We are continuing subtracting in math with 3 digit numbers (she really does not like this...she puts this off until last :( )  She is continuing her daily bible lessons and also we are still learning about the different phylums of plants (there are many!) in science.

Week # 3

This week it's all about Dinosaurs for Soccer Boy as we learn about the letter D.  We read several dinosaur books, colored, glued, sorted, traced and finally made a cute little dinosaur to add to our tree. He has been walking all over the house saying the "D" says "da"...very cute!

This week we're off to the very beautiful Spain.  We looked at pictures from our trip a couple of years ago, as well as looked at some of the Spanish tiles we brought home.  We spent time talking about how Spain is a peninsula and how they differ from islands.  We learned a few Spanish words and watched a video on Christopher Columbus and his voyages from Spain.  We ended our week studying about a very famous Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso, and re-created one of his masterpieces of a dancing clown (using geometric shapes and collage techniques).  We began studying about the thousands place in math and continued our parts of a sentence in language arts.  She had her very first spelling test and didn't miss a one!  In science, we are doing an overview of the study of botany.  We began our Bible lessons, learning about how God made us each unique and special in our own way:)

Week # 2!

We are now settling into a nice little routine. 
This week Soccer Boy learned all about the letters B and C...we even went on scavenger hunt around the house gathering items that begin with these letters.  He added his letters to our alphabet tree (pics to come soon). He is even beginning to learn the pledge and enjoying his daily bible stories.

This week it's off to The British Isles where we learned all about England, Scotland, Wales and northern Ireland and put our first stamp in our passport.  We learned about Charles Dickens, the author of her book, Oliver Twist, which she continues to read.  We spoke with our very best British accents...Artsy Girl says that mine is really terrible:)  We visited London and took a drive through the Scottish countryside to see the beautiful castles.  We ended our week making a model of Stonehenge out of flour, sand, glue and food coloring (who knew?).  It's looks really good and Artsy Girl is very proud of it.  And for our art, we learned about Vincent Van Gogh (she is fascinated that he cut his own ear off).  We began our grammar studies learning about the parts of a sentence which will continue into next week.  Still reviewing math and started our science...this year we all spending a whole year learning all about plants:)

First week of School!!

This is our first week of school for this year!  Artsy Girl has started 2nd grade and Soccer Boy is starting K4.  Things went so great. 
I was anxious about starting school with Soccer Boy, even if it is preschool, but he has been doing so well.  He is very proud of himself and loves having his own cubby with his notebook and supplies.  We started with the letter A...we sang songs, did lots of tracing, coloring and at the end of the week added our letter A to our alphabet tree on the wall. 

Artsy Girl started with some review of language arts, math and spelling.  She started reading "Oliver Twist", her first big chapter book...she's a little nervous.  This year we will be visiting over 30 countries (one a week) with our geography/history studies.   We did an overview of all the continents, learned about latitude/longitude and how to read a map/globe.  We ended our week making a paper mache globe out of a beachball!!  Sooooo much fun and very messy.  The kids had a ball making it, and when dry, Artsy Girl gave it a coat of paint with all the different continents different colors.  Enjoy the pics!! :)