Taking Off with Homeschool!: Heart of Dakota BLHFHG

Another short week with Labor Day. We completed the week in 3 days to have extra time off for the holiday.
Public school started this week in our neighborhood and I was a little concerned that I would have some sort of backlash to deal with as they watched the cute little first day of schoolers load up on their big, yellow, bus. At first a bit of gloom I could see on their faces quickly turned into no big deal. To my surprise, the kids just stood outside and waved them on. In all honesty, I felt relieved as we marched upstairs to start our school in our own little school room. What a blessing it is to me to be able to share in our kids learning.... teaching them and watching them grow physically and spiritually.

We started out the week with a little 'PoP for Sight Words game!' A pretty cute game... a breeze for the 8 year old, but was really great for the 6 year old.

http://www.amazon.com/POP-for-Sight-Words-Game/dp/B0032EKAJ2/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1378432645&sr=1-1&keywords=pop+for+sight+words

This week our memory verse was Psalm 139:13-14.

The kids enjoyed the song, "You Knit Me Together" that goes with the verse and sang it over and over again while doing their work. This was a fun verse for them to learn and they became quickly fascinated and wanted to learn more about the womb.

In History, we read in Boys and Girls of Colonial Days about Love patiently waiting to see her father after he had been kept in England imprisoned while she went on to Holland. She stayed with a nice family and was given a bulb. She waited and it grew into a rare, beautiful and large, pink tulip in the spring. We listened to this song "Tulips from Amsterdam" that was recommended by some of our friends who live in England. Little girl loved twirling to this one! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ors-eZeeJ0U

The kids enjoyed the tulip craft project and being able to make the flower grow taller by attaching it to a pipe cleaner and poking out of a hole under the flower pot.

We completed our history worksheets and color pages that we got from the Facebook HoD files. These really seem to help the kids process the reading material by answering the questions about what we read.

In Science, we talked about how God created a special kind of energy. Light energy! Light moves in waves through space. To demonstrate, we filled a bowl with water and blew across the water to see the waves ripple quickly. We learned that this is kind of like the way light moves in waves through space.

We started our Storytime ~ Adventure Book. We chose 'The Twenty One Balloons.' The kids both enjoy me reading to them.

http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-One-Balloons-Puffin-Classics-ebook/dp/B001ROAKEY/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378432765&sr=1-1&keywords=the+twenty+one+balloons

In our journal writing, the kids enjoyed this cute template here: http://pinterest.com/pin/98938523037082770/ from my Pinterest homeschool board.

"I wish it would rain cupcakes because they have icing!! And some are big!"

"I wish it would rain money because I want to buy a car."

I refer to my Pinterest Homeschool board often for all the little extras that we do. You can follow my board and check it out here on this link: http://pinterest.com/lovemynavypilot/homeschool/ There are so many FREE little unique and fun ideas!

The Writing Without Tears poetry printables from the HoD Facebook Files were a fantastic addition to the curriculum. My 6 yr old actually did two pages of Copywork on her own before bed and said it was so easy! I love the awesome files everyone has shared with the group. It makes HoD so much easier and makes me feel like I'm not alone! There are others that have done this before and have thought of everything!!

In Bible Study, we studied about how Jesus was a baby and grew just like we do. He had a heart beat just like ours. We held a toilet paper roll to our chests and let eachother listen to our heartbeat. They were fascinated to be able to hear the beating so clearly. We read Luke 2:51-52 and learned that Jesus pleased and was obedient to God and his parents as he grew.

Preparing for our field trip to the nearby apple orchard, we made an Apple Lapbook. This was our first one ever and the kids really loved this project. I found it on Pinterest, of course... and it was FREE!

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/apple_pie_tree.php

It helped break up the daily curriculum and got them... ok, me too... excited about our orchard visit! I don't know who is more excited me or the kids!! :)

The 'how to make an apple pie' recipe section on the left above was perfect! I'll share what my 6 year old wrote for her recipe.

"First, we get 2 apples and then we cut them into little circles. Next, we cook it in a microwave for 100 minutes. Put a little sugar and then try a bite!"

What a fantastic field trip to take after talking about pollination a couple weeks ago. The kids enjoyed the orchard!