Saturday, October 22, 2011

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.!!

Friday, October 14, 2011

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".





Friday, October 7, 2011

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.