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.