2nd 6 Week Conclusion

 Hannah has an amazing ear for music and will come up with rhythms and structures I never could off the top of my head, but reading notes is another story. She knows where the symbol coordinates with the keys, but she's not sot quick on which letter name it is. I figures this would be a good way to remember D. : )

 These two spend a lot of time together when Chloe is in school- this results in more frequent arguing between them, but they're still sweet.

 This week as I mentioned last week, we filled in some gaps. The kids are learning their first Psalm- The Lord is My Shepherd. We watched a couple of videos of shepherds and discussed how quickly the sheep respond when they see food or when they're called. This is how we should be to the Lord. A shepherd protects his flock and cares for them. They really liked the connection. They colored their own sheep and put them in the prayer corner as a reminder.

We also listened to Beethoven's Symphony No.6 "Pastoral"and acted out parts of the thunderstorm. For "beside the still waters" we listened to Smetana's The Moldau, which isn't exactly a still river, but that's okay. Chloe was able to discuss what about the music imitated moving water.

We had a memorable time learning about Archangel Michael. They learned a song and poem and each one got to play St. Michael as we walked around during the song and performed different actions. 

 We read several books Chloe had picked out of the library but officially started The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I wasn't sure they would follow since many words are above their age level, but from their questions I can tell they understand what's happening. I'm also trying to be as animated as possible : )

 The kids did a number of activities to reinforce different skills. Colin liked counting beads for this mancala board. I spent hours playing this game with my sisters.

We tackled a few science basics. We looked at beautiful portraits of many people from other cultures and discussed their differences. We discussed how we all have a different fingerprint. The kids had no idea they even had lines on their fingers, and I had to laugh when I tried to make their fingerprints because they were so tiny we could barely see. We used a light board and a magnifying glass to look further.

We explored the concept of wheels, ramps, and levers. First the kids each collected a toy with wheels and we talked about why certain ones rolled further than others. This wood floor makes a lot of these activites easier.

 Next I told them to each come up with their own ramp for their vehicle...while I took a shower. I wanted to see if they could implement the concept they understood on paper. Not so much! They all three came up with something interesting, but not quite a ramp. Hannah's was more like stairs.

Colin's was a drop-off (I was impressed he gave it a go!) and Chloe's had a stopper on the end.

The good thing about them getting it a bit wrong is that we got to learn to get it right together- that's way more fun. :)

A successful ramp.

 We've been using this lever quite a bit around here lately. They were happy they were finally allowed to touch the paint cans.

Finally we added the lever and wheel concept together with a dolly. Dax carries all his church binders around on this and it's usually in our way! I'm glad it got put to good use : )

That concludes our 2nd 6 weeks. I've got some unofficial school activities planned until after Thanksgiving. I just hope I can find the time to get them organized and to finally get this house finished up.
Thanks for reading!!

5th Week

 

This week we did a lot of filling in the holes. Considering I don't have a team of teachers or a principal or a board...and a world of material out there- (definitely not a complaint!)- there are places I need to watch for to make sure the kids aren't being short-changed- by me!  For one, Hannah's various vocabulary/reading/English material in many places has skipped to singular and plural with not much explanation. It's easy for her to get the concept but more of a challenge to remember all these big labeling words coming her way all the time. One of her favorite snacks is a slice of cheese. A "single" slice of cheese. That helped her remember the difference between singular and plural right away. : )

I've wanted to do the next project- Thankful Tree- for years but the kids weren't old enough to understand it. I set them to work painting three large sheets of paper with a mix of yellow and brown. Their instruction to follow was not to mix the colors but to smear them to look more like a real tree. They didn't have the full information of what we were doing, so their challenge was not to dwell on that but to just follow a direction- a challenge over here! I left them to it and they did a great job! And the deck was clean of paint!

 Chloe later helped me draw out leaves in different fall colors.

We cut and taped a tree together out of our sheets and they set to work writing what they're thankful for on each leaf. We add to the tree here and there and I like that it's always there for them to think about.

 Chloe had a few fun times the last week- #1 finally getting her own library card. She picked out the books were going to read this week. After she had picked out a whole stack of Spanish language books I had to explain her poor Mommy couldn't read. :)

 She participated in Hilarious Hair day at school- and brought the pink hairspray can for her H Show and Share.

 Several books from the library were actually Math Stories, which they loved. In one, a family voted on where to take a vacation and the little girl made a chart. We made a chart where our family voted on what to have for dinner. The kids loved having a say in that.

We also read a book about a little leopard who had been adopted into a tiger family. This lead to good discussion about adoption. The kids' godparents have just adopted a little boy from Bulgaria. We thought of good questions to ask them about their decisions and the process and wrote them a message. We got back lots of great answers, which we discussed. The next day we read from a church reader I had as a kid- a story about a man who had adopted many orphaned children but had run out of money for food. After their fervent prayers, the next morning they found a bag of rice at the door. I also showed them a bit of 19Kids and Counting, the show about the Duggar Family. There was a theme of adoption in that as well.

Lastly, we've been reading through our 3rd Ramona book. Since they're a little older they offer a look back a few decades and plenty of new words. They are also great character studies as the young girls make choices about how they will behave in any given situation. Sometimes they regret those choices! When I was young, I thought of Ramona's mother as a little distant but very loving. Now I'm her age!! And I see of course the story is written from the children's point of view so they can't possibly understand many of the mother's decisions- meanwhile I can see all the effort she put into all sorts of situations- and learn a little from how she handled a few problems with more patience than I would! I still love those books and enjoy seeing the other side while the girls laugh and laugh at Ramona's antics. It's great bonding for us.

 Friday we took a field trip with Daddy to the Perot Museum. It was our second time there, but we saw all new exhibits. This time Hannah skipped over some of the toddler play and examined the reptiles with some great questions. Earlier in the week she had asked about the difference between a crocodile and an alligator. We learned those answers and then at the museum compared a frog to a toad and male peacock to female. She absorbed lots of great info on animal habitats in their larger exhibits, too.

 Where did we find Chloe? On the phone of course- and rolling her eyes at the lengthy explanation they're giving about farming produce. haha

 Colin was in his element in the construction zone. He set right to work and took it very seriously.

We experienced what an earthquake felt like, put our hands into the water vapor of a tornado, and rode a hydraulic ride about drilling into the earth. Most of all, the girls were interested in manipulating all the screens like huge ipads.

This week, we're focusing more and more on church and how all we are learning reflects back to God's love and the love we can have. We're also doing a few little fun science lessons.

Catch- Up

 Our 2nd week of school, we read The Glorious Flight about Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel. I had big plans for learning about planes and aerodynamics. It turns out being displaced was more of a challenge than I thought. We simply didn't have access to a lot of our supplies, and the kids were more distracted and all over the place! So we did the basics and were happy with that. We read a couple of companion books- one about Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt, which I found really nice. 

We made an aerial map of their room at Nana's. 

 

                                          Then Hannah made a map of a dream room. I love how she included
                                          a slide and ball pit.

                                          We've been working on sentence construction.

                                         

                                          Another technique I've found she likes is when I write a short story
                                         that is one long run-on sentence. She reads it and decides where periods
                                         and capital letters should be. This has improved her own sentence
                                        writing a lot.
                                            
                                            In one of her assignments, though, she was taking quite a long
                                           time in the backseat while we waiting for Chloe to get out of school.
                                           It's because she spent her time drawing hair on all the letters- silly!

                                         They watched a Magic School Bus episode about flight.
                                         We also had some nice times just hanging out and intergrating things
                                         into little games- like going around the circle and coming
                                         up with all words that rhymed, or all words beginning with
                                         certain letter. They were better at that than I was.
                                        We copied rhythms through clapping.

                                         They learned to dribble. Another challenge I've been facing
                                         is repetition with our learning. Hannah's math book provides
                                        plenty of that, but with our other subjects (including dribbling)
                                        they often only get one or two takes before we move on to
                                        new information. I can tell they are retaining an awful lot,
                                         but without a standard form of testing, it's a little like not
                                        having a safety net. During my next planning period, I'm going
                                       to figure out how to work in review and more spiral learning
                                       to the 6 weeks.

                                         With Dax off on a Friday, we visited the pumpkin patch.
                                         They had plenty of bounce house fun.

                                        And each posed with their favorite group of characters.

                                         Hannah's said she's seen the smurfs, but I didn't know that, so
                                         it's funny they're her favorites.

                                         At co-op someone gave an excellent lesson on moths and butterflies.
                                        She brought in a chrysalis and they made origami butterflies.
   
                                       
                                         Just one of the things I love about Dax- he noticed Chili's was
                                         having a Daddy- Daughter princess night and took the
                                         girls out on a date.

                                         
                                          The next week we read Very Last First Time about
                                          an Inuit girl who went under the ocean ice to gather
                                          mussels for the first time by herself. I hadn't even
                                         realized this was possible and read a few things about the
                                         culture. We read several other books together and Hannah
                                          especially was pretty interested in how they used
                                         animals for all their basic needs. One book was a tall
                                          tale and we laughed and laughed at the final joke in the end.
                                         -One of those great moments about getting to see them
                                          learn and enjoying it together.
                                            

 

Hannah has been keeping a journal in the back of the van during our rides. 

I finally got a look at it the other day. This girl drew the same picture on each page with slight

variations in people and sizes of items on the coffee table. 60 pages worth so far!!!!??

I can't decide if that's dedication or a little obsessive compulsive. She seems to be having fun with it, so that's good. Now get her to do any other project and she's "bored" in a few minutes.

 For instance, this lesson on pointillism! Our book used this technique in illustrating snow

so we read about Georges Seurat. I remember being struck particularly by his work in art class growing up. I remember trying it myself many times. With the kids, we painted large red and yellow dots close to each other. The girls stood across the yard from each other to see if they could see orange. It was mildly successful  :) Then I drew them each a picture to fill with any dots they wanted. Hannah did an amazing job with consistent dots in color themes inside each section of the turtle shell. Soon, though, she was ready to move on. That's another thing I need to learn- what is a realistic amount for them to finish and when should I insist they push through to complete a project even if it's a little outside their attention time limits. This didn't seem like one of those times since it was more of an experiment-and so tedious. Nothing compared to Seurat's task, though! 

                                       
                                           
                Their friend had a birthday pony party. Hannah was very happy on her pony and looked like a natural. She got back in line several times. Chloe laughed hysterically and said "Woaah" over and over on her white horse.
                                          

 

                                         In the meantime, I had this view every night- and sometimes indeed
                                         that blurry because of my contacts. That's Frankenstein's monster
                                         backstage on the left and our good friend John (the conductor) on the right.
                                        Young Frankenstein was not a movie I particularly enjoyed but
                                        the music sure was fun. It's also always a thrill to hear an audience
                                        have a great time.
                                                   
                                          Here I am with two of the stars- Olivia is John's wife and
                                          always has the audience in fits.

                                          This little one had a  birthday. Chloe turned 5!
                                          I really can't believe it. This one has hit me hard
                                         because even though she really talks like a little adult
                                         (and very much with her hands) she's still a baby
                                         girl to me. Five seems way too old.
                     
                                        
                                         There's nothing more exciting to Chloe than doing something
                                         with a lot of other people, and celebrating her birthday at school
                                         was at the top of her list. She was insistent for weeks that we
                                         bring chocolate donuts. 

 We had her party at the park. The kids did a fall relay race where they dressed as a scarecrow and completed little tasks. They mostly had fun at the nearby playground. I spent most of my time fighting the wind and our decorations. This time I really, really plan on just having their birthday be a day full of fun with the family. As much as we love our friends, it is quite a bit to put together for something that goes by so fast, and for little kids, things never go as expected- which would be fun except for surprise red ant hills wherever poor Chloe goes.

  We were invited to Megan's parents for Halloween again this year. We had a Rapunzel, peacock fairy, and blonde superman. Dax actually made the hair headbands for the girls- another good reason to love him!

 Dax gave a lecture that day and came home in a suit. He altered his attire a bit to turn into this wacky 'overprotective of his stapler' guy below from Office Space. I love that the only stapler we had was miniature. Iwent as a 90's version of myself. We had a great time with our friends and the kids especially loved passing out candy. Poor Colin was the victim this time when a neighbor's cactus scraped his cheek. It was dark of course and we couldn't tell what had happened at first. Candy always makes up for little hurts, though.

 

 Thanks to Anna we had a safe, cozy, happy place to stay for several weeks while work was done on our house. We went through a lot of tested patience and struggling with the contractors, but it's finally finished!!!!! This week we only spent on reading and math- no feature book- because we've been dealing with this mess. About 70% is now put back together, but there's still plenty of trim to paint, everything to dust, backsplash to put up (wish us luck) and many many things we need to get rid of. I can't wait to post before and after pictures.

I honestly have no idea what we will be learning next week. I'd expected this week to have a lot of review but really we were just keeping our heads above water. I know many classroom teachers that feel the same occasionally, so I won't get too worked up about it. I'm hoping to fill in our scrapbooks with previous work since we fell behind on that. Since Chloe is now old enough for a library card, I might let her pick out a ton of books and we can read from them next week and simply learn new things. We can also catch up on many Bible lessons. After that, we will have a week on early America and Thanksgiving before our official break. I'm excited about the 6 weeks after that since we'll get to focus in on Christmas and many beautiful church lessons.