Creation to Greeks ~ week 7

I've rearranged our week a little bit. We're doing History MWF and Science TR.

MEMORY WORK: We added the 2nd Commandment - You shall not make for yourself an idol.

BIBLE/HISTORY: We talked about Abraham, Isaac, and the destruction of Sodom. (Genesis 17-21) Instead of a notebook page about Papyrus, we made some. I slipped it into a page protector and filed it in the history notebook.





Race to Bury Tut was on the National Geographic Channel this week and we watched that. Very very interesting. They also made a cartouche.

SCIENCE: Christian Kids Explore Biology Lesson 2: Cells. They had so much fun learning about cells. On Tuesday, we read the lesson and looked at some pictures of cells. Then I had them label the basic parts of an animal cell and a plant cell. I used this picture from BBC to make a labeling worksheet. They also watched the interactive video.

For the 2nd part of the lesson, we read a few pages from Cells: Building Blocks of Life (ISBN 0134004663) that described each part of the cell and filled out the reading sheet. On the back I had them draw and label each cell. We also made a Ziploc/Jello animal cell. It was later pointed out to me that we actually made Red Blood Cells.



HYMN STUDY: We finished memorizing Holy, Holy, Holy.

VOCABULARY: Greek Root: graph - to write or draw

READ ALOUD: We finished Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones. If you can't get it from the Library (like I did) then I highly recommend buying a copy! It is a really good book.

LATIN: LNST 2, lessons 1&2 pages 1-12. These lessons reviewed book 1.

MATH:

*T* lessons 17-19 of R&S 1

*C* PM 2A exercises 24-26 and Review 1

*B* PM 2B (almost done!) Reviews 3 & 4 plus corresponding textbook pages

LANGUAGE ARTS:

*T*


*C* first half of LLATL Yellow Lesson 2

*B* began lesson 2.

We had a hard time getting LA done this week.

Creation to Greeks ~ week 4

This week went well, as far as MFW goes. We didn't do much LA or Math, since I've not been feeling up to par.

We learned some "everyday life" facts about Ancient Egypt, and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by King Menes. (Check out my Notebooking Page.)

We also built pyramids out of homemade playdough and straws.



The whole point of the experiment was to prove that pyramids were more structurally sound than cubes.



Well... we proved it!! Our dough must've been too soft, because we couldn't even get the cube to stand up. If you put your hand on the top of the pyramid and tried to shake it slightly, it was very sturdy.



We've slacked a little on English From the Roots Up, but we'll get back to it - I promise! (And now it's in print so I have no choice. lol)

Creation to Greeks ~ week 3

It was a great week! We covered Genesis 9:20-11:9. We also discussed the Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia and celebrated Rosh Hashanah (or the Feast of the Trumpets).

This week's memory work started the books of the Old Testament. We did Genesis - 2 Chronicles.

Science: Genesis for Kids, we completed the chapter on Day 1: Light.

~ANIMAL STUDY (with *T*)~
He's really into animals right now, so I decided to take advantage of that interest.

I'm going to use Disney's Wonderful World of Animals (since I already owned it) as our spine. I really like how the animals are broken up into categories: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles & Amphibians, Fish & Sea Creatures, Insects.

Additional books that we will use include:











I got the 3 previous books from www.PaperbackSwap.com, you can also find Just So Stories for FREE online.

This week we read the intros in the Disney and Scholastic books. He's very excited to start with Fish & Sea Creatures tomorrow.

~MATH~

*T* did lessons 3-8 in R&S Math. He's doing such a great job.

*C* completed PM 2A Workbook Exercises 2-4 (with corresponding text pages) and Textbook Practice 1A. He's on track now, so he's only doing one "day" as scheduled in MFW Lesson Plans.

*B* is still working 45 minutes a day. Three days of math this week came out to PM 2B Workbook Exercises 3-8 and corresponding text pages.

~LANGUAGE ARTS~

*T* nothing in LLATL this week. We reviewed some of the sounds he's learned so far. I'm really trying to take it slow with him.

*C* did SpellWell A lesson 4. I'm not going to have him start LLATL Yellow until after the baby is born... so mid-September? He also did a few pages in HWT Cursive.

*B* completed lesson 17 in LLATL Yellow. We'll start Writing Stands when she starts the Orange book. She also did a page (2 letters) of BJU Cursive.

OH and *B* received a letter and CD from Joni Eareckson Tada. She was super excited. :)

Creation to Greeks ~ week 2

We actually did week 2 over the course of 2 weeks. Lots of stuff was going on so we spread it out a little.

In week 1 our memory verse was 2 Timothy 3:16, this week we added verse 17:

... so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

From the Bible, we read about Adam and Eve, the fall, Cain and Abel, and Noah's Flood. We also read the corresponding pages in Guerber's The Story of the Chosen People.

In Science, we talked about light some more. The kids really enjoyed the homemade fiber optics. They also had fun exploring which items would (or would not) block the TV remote from turning the set on and off.

~MATH~

*T* did a few activities from Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out about Math: Easy Activities for Young Children. He also did lessons 1 and 2 from Rod & Staff Math 1. He absolutely LOVES it!

*C* finished Primary Math 1B and started 2A: Exercise 1

*B* finished 2A and began 2B: Exercises 1-2

~ LANGUAGE ARTS~

*T* worked on LLATL Blue: Part II, Lesson 1. He can read the first Bob Book!! The word list includes: Mat, sat, at, Sam, am, on. I'm so proud. He wants to read so bad.

*C* did Lesson 3 in Spellwell A.

*B* completed lesson 16 of LLATL Yellow.

Sabbath Celebration

What is Sabbath?

The Sabbath was instituted as a memorial to His creation. (p.21)

It really was an awesome experience, and I truly understand why Friday is called "preparation day." I spent ALL DAY getting it ready.

I made Challah Bread. My very first homemade bread. It was delicious!

We also had Basalmic Chicken, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, pineapples, and banana pudding.

I found some candle holders that looked like the Star of David.

This is how we had the candles set up. I had the two traditional white candles representing Creation and Redemption. I also included one candle for each child.

On Saturday (the Sabbath) we went to an annual festival held downtown. I gathered that the day was supposed to be focused on spending time with family.

Supper that evening was very light. Salad, bread (leftover Challah), and pineapples.

CtG week 1 ~ Creation

We have a few things on our timeline now. I've placed the BC markers (3000, 2000, 1000) at random places along the line. I will move them as we add the pieces to match. I placed the AD markers (1000, 2000) sort of evenly.



We really had such a fun time this week! At the start of each lesson we reviewed this week's Memory Verse:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness... 2 Timothy 3:16

Then, we read about the days of Creation from Genesis. I also read from Guerber's The Story of the Chosen People to recap what we read in the Bible.

In Science we talked about light and optical illusions.

God and the History of Art is an excellent resource and I recommend it for all!! Our first lesson was called: A Lesson in Frustration. It talked about Joni Eareckson Tada and how she overcame difficulties and ended up painting with her teeth. SO... the assignment was to try to draw something with their teeth.




*B* read Joni's Story by Joni Eareckson Tada with Joe Musser and Linda Lee Maifair. I had planned on her reading the 100 pages over an entire week, but she decided that she wanted to finish it within 2 days. I'm so proud. :)

~MATH~

*T* did a few pages in Essential Math, but it's just moving too fast. I've decided to have him work through Rod and Staff Beginning Arithmetic before we even think about Singapore. I do not plan on dropping Singapore from his long term plan... he just needs some more time to cover the basics. Depending on how we like R&S, I may just combine the 2 programs long term.

*C* worked 30m a day for 4 days on PM 1B: Exercises 57-66. He will start 2A the middle of next week.

*B* is learning the multiplication/division facts for 2 & 3. She really surprised me on how fast she learned them. She works 45m a day on PM 2A: Exercises 40-60 (workbook) AND Practices 6A-6D (orally, textbook). She will start 2B sometime next week.

~LANGUAGE ARTS~

*T* did LLATL Blue Part 1, Lesson 2. This week we were to choose a story about animals. We read The Wild Little Horse by Rita Gray.

*C* finished lesson 2 of SpellWell A and 2 pages from HWT Cursive.

*B* completed lesson 15 of LLATL Yellow. The last day's assignment was to write a friendly letter. I suggested that she write a letter to Joni Eareckson Tada and tell her how much she enjoyed the book. She was very very excited about doing that! She also practiced cursive Aa and Cc in BJU Cursive 3.

Tomorrow evening we begin our Sabbath Celebration. I'll post about that in a few days.

TN, Spiritual Revival, and New Inventions

This would be Adventures in MFW week 18. If you read my earlier post, you saw that I'm not exactly sticking with Adventures. I'm still following the TOC for US History, but I'm using A Child's Story of America as our main text.

History:
This week our state was TN. Since we live in TN we added quite a few coloring pages from The Terriffic Tennessee Coloring Book. We discussed the Second Great Awakening and new inventions, such as the Cotton Gin and the Steam Boat.

Math:
*B* did lessons 44 & 45 plus the corresponding review sheets. She's learning/reviewing place value to 100,000.
*C* did lessons 24 & 25.

Language Arts:
*B* finished PLL Lesson 32 - copywork for "their" and "there" & Lesson 33 - dictation for "their" and "there"
*C* PLL Lesson 32.
*T* started Plaid Phonics Level K. This week he did Ss. We're still planning to continue with Reading Reflex, but I noticed that it would move along much easier if he knew the letter sounds first.

Poetry:

We are reading a 2-page spread from The Random House Book of Poetry for Children each day. We were doing Ambleside Online's schedule for *B* & *C* individually, but it was becoming too much on me. So I'm combining a lot of our Literature. I'll write more about that later.

We read a Biography on Bach and practiced our Hymn. I Sing The Mighty Power of God

Mike is starting first shift on Monday, hopefully that will help us to gain some regularity in our schooling. All of this "here and there" stuff is killing me!!

Tweaking MFW

I actually sat down and integrated A Child's Story of America with Adventures in My Father's World-starting at week 18.

I soooo wish I had done this from the beginning. I love Adventures in MFW, but it's very light on history... for us. Now that we've started our State Studies there doesn't seem to be enough history... for us.

Here it is. I hope someone finds it useful. At least you can see where the states would be covered in a US History Study. Click the box on the far right to make it full screen.

US History Plan

Get your own at Scribd or explore others:

Adventures in MFW ~ Thanksgiving

We're having our big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, so I decided to do week 13 now.

Psalm 100

A Psalm for giving thanks.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord , all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord , he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

We read The Thanksgiving Story over 3 days. After the first day's reading, we went out into the field and measured how big the Mayflower actually was. 90' x 26' They enjoyed "seeing" it. It was pretty neat to see how small it actually was.

Math and AO Literature were kept up, but everything else slacked this week.

*B* is loving The Princess and the Goblin. I'm getting hooked into the story as well.

Dinner from New Jersey

Chicken Casserole and Savory Green Beans
(I didn't buy enough fresh beans, so we ate some from a can.)

Adventures in MFW ~ week 15, finished

New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina

We actually did NH last week. Right now we've just been doing one state per lesson. I can't wait to start digging into history again!!

On Tuesday, I made a dinner from Maryland. (I know, I'm behind.) We had Crab Cakes and Macaroni Salad. I've never made or eaten either of those before... it was okay.

I got the recipe from Eat Your Way Through the USA. It's a really neat book, it also gives food facts for the states.

I'm hoping that next week will start to become normal again. It's hard to get used to Daddy working 3 days a week. Needless to say, we're STILL working on Zoology chapter 9. They are really learning the stuff though! It amazes me what they soak up as youngsters.

Ambleside literature update: We're still working though week 1. Like I said, I hope things calm down next week. *B* and I started reading The Pilgrim's Progress together. We take turns reading paragraphs.

Adventures in MFW ~ week 15, part 1

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we only need to "school" 5 more days this month to stay on track. The bad news is that I took a 3 day break this week. Well, I guess that's not really bad news. Especially with our loop schedule. All I have to do is pick up where we left off. I love it! No "extra" planning, needed! (Except to add more Bible readings.) I highlighted what we actually completed this week.

For Adventures in My Father's World, we only completed one state. New Hampshire.

Our Picture Study was Prima Ballerina by Edgar Degas. They enjoyed coloring the picture. We listened to our music selection (from the Nutcracker) while they colored. I got the coloring pages from here.

Reading Reflex and *T*... I keep forgetting to post pictures of his word building exercises. I'm so proud of him!!

Zoology I: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day

We learned the most disgusting things this week. Yuck #1: When a mosquito "bites" you, it SPITS into the wound and we have an allergic reaction to it. That is why it itches. Yuck #2: A fly uses it's feet to decide whether or not it wants to eat something. Then it VOMITS acid onto your food so that it can use it's sponge mouth to absorb your liquified food.

We started doing Ambleside Online's Literature. *B* is doing Year 3, and *C* is doing Year 1.

It looks like a lot, but really it isn't. The purple boxes are what they do by themselves. I pre-read the selection and when they are done I hear their narration. I don't write it down or anything, I just make sure it's accurate. *C* loves to draw. So, instead of narrating his poem he draws a picture of something that comes to mind while reading it. ~ Notice the sun in the window.

Adventures in MFW ~ week 14

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina

Week 13 is reserved for the week of Thanksgiving, so we will come back to it next month.

This week was a little crazy, so even on the loop we didn't get everything done. BUT being on the loop helped me get more done that I would've.

In Adventures, we did the coloring pages for CT, MA, MD, and SC. We also read about the states' birds in Birds, Nests, and Eggs.

We listened to the "dances" from the Nutcracker Ballet. The kids really enjoyed drinking hot chocolate while listening to the Chocolate dance.

In Zoology, we are still working on chapter 9, insects. At least we're doing it... right? *C* came running in one day, "Mommy, mommy, I found an exoskeleton!!" At church on Sunday he told EVERYONE about his discovery. After we read each section they write at least 1 sentence in their composition books.

We also have a new pet. We haven't named him yet, but he (or she) is a Camel Cricket.

*B* is learning about the metric system in Math. She's having fun with it.

*C* finally took his first math test, and made me grade it. He got a 100%. Poor kid would've been devastated if he hadn't.

*T* did another lesson or so in his workbook, and also did some MUS Primer worksheets.

I had an issue with Song School Latin this week. They have the word house as casa. I don't agree with that, so I taught my kids domus instead. I did email CAP and ask about it. Here's part of the email I got back:

Some dictionaries define casa as "house" as well as "cabin", "cottage", or "hut" (e.g., Wheelock, and the Oxford Latin Course). Other define it as just "cabin", "cottage" or "hut" (Ecce Romani, Cassel's). So while there is some ambiguity among the dictionaries, I think that "house" is an acceptable definition of casa. Furthermore, most Romans (including the Roman middle class) lived in fairly modest dwellings that were more along the of a cabin. In other words, the average Roman lived in a "house" more akin to a casa; where as the average American lives in something more like an aedes. Domus is a more generic term that doesn't make clear what kind of house one lives in. In other words, a Roman living in a casa could still refer to his casa as a domus!

Did you catch that? "Domus is a more generic term that doesn't make clear what kind of house one lives in." That screams: USE DOMUS! USE DOMUS! SSL has nothing to do with Roman history or I might agree with using casa. I just decided that we would learn the "generic term" for house. Isn't that what the word house is? A generic term for one's dwelling?

One more thing, if someone can explain this to me I will be forever indebted to you... if casa basically means a cabin or hut, why would the word castle be derived from it?

We didn't get our Picture Study done this week, but we'll keep it on for next week. I picked Prima Ballerina by Degas to go along with the Nutcracker theme.

Oh, yeah, I hate to say it but Mama's not going to finish Sense and Sensibility. I just can't find the time for it. Ouch!

Adventures in MFW ~ week 12

Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia

Our first week of State Study! euge! My version of MFW uses a Dover Coloring Book for the state pages. I printed the state flags (onto sticker paper) from Enchanted Learning.

They wanted to make a "State Book" instead of putting the pages into their history notebooks. And these are the books I got from the library. I went ahead and got all of the 13 colonies.

In science, we will be coordinating bird study to match the state birds. Most of our readings come from Birds, Nests, and Eggs. This week we read about the American Gold Finch.

This week's picture study: A Sunday Afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. We read the info here, looked at it "far" and "close" here...

... and colored the picture. Using crayons sort of made it look like lots of dots.

We had a pretty light week. Daddy was cut to 30 hours at work for a few weeks, so we have to adjust to a new schedule.

*B* took chapter 3 math test and did ok. I wasn't very happy, but at least it was something fairly easy. She has a hard time "getting" easy stuff. Anyway, so she also did some Math Mammoth worksheets for extra practice. After I felt she really grasped estimation, we moved on. She completed lesson 27 (meter) and lesson 28 (decimeter).

*C* started Horizons Math grade 2. He did lessons 1-7. He can't wait to get to lesson 10, because it's a test! Crazy boy!

...And that's all she wrote!

Adventures in MFW ~ week 11

First of all I have to say that I LOVE the loop schedule! We got so much done! It's nice to just do one thing if that's all I can squeeze into a certain time frame. Again, wow!

In History this week our focus was George Washington. We finished reading Meet George Washington, and A Child's Story of America pages 99-107. In CSA, we learned about the branches of government, how they work, and George Washington as our first President.

They traced the picture and we looked up the dates in a president book that I have.


Our picture study this week has been "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. We read a bit about him from VM Hillyer's Child's History of Art. After that they colored this page from Enchanted Learning.


We've been studying Tchaikovsky and this week we listened to some music from the Nutcracker.

We actually got to do science this week! Thank you loop inventor! We started chapter 9 on insects. After each section the kids wrote a little bit in their composition books. They also are labeling an insect from Enchanted Learning. The coolest thing is that I got these from Dollar General for 60 cents (how do you make the little cent sign?) each!


In Latin, we did chapter 6 in SSL. We're having fun remembering that "vir" is man, because daddy is a man and he is "weird." :) *C* said "puer" and *L* ran to get Pooh Bear. LOL! They've done 1 page per day in Latin's Not So Tough. We're working on Chapter 3 in Minimus. Just a minute ago *B* said, "quid facis?" I said, "Stuff." She said, "You mean stuffius." Followed by a giggle.

In math, *B* did lessons 23-26 and Monday she will take the Chapter 3 test. I had *C* take the grade 2 readiness test for Horizons and he only missed a few. So, Monday we'll start the grade 2 book. I really only started with grade 1: book 2, because I wanted to make sure that he was ready. He is. *T* did lesson 14 in Horizons K. I found some worksheets leftover from MUS Primer, and I'm having him do some of those. He really needs more practice with number recognition.

Oh, and even though we're doing the loop we've been starting each day with Bible readings. We're using Penny Gardner's compiled list.

On a side note... I've finished the first chapter of Sense and Sensibility! euge!