Heart of Dakota - BLHFHG Week/Unit 10

It's always a good week when you don't even realize the weekend is so near! This week flew by!    

Our memory verse this week was Psalm 118:1.  

The kids both enjoyed the song on  the 'Hide Em' in your Heart' CD.  They memorized the verse quickly putting the verse puzzle together and singing along. 

I cut up the verse a little more each day into "puzzle pieces." This week was an easy one so it didn't take them long at all to have it memorized!

Learning real life grocery skills with coupons, pushing their own cart, finding the groceries, scanning their items at self checkout and paying. Our Kroger experience was fun for them and there are all kinds of learning opportunities during a morning trip to the grocery store!  Who else educates everywhere you go?!?! Tell me I'm not alone! Lol! 

    Spelling practice with flash cards! 

In History, we read about how one of the pilgrim children on the Mayflower got into some mischief when he decided to try to make a firecracker with a feather quill and a bit of gunpowder. He called it a squib.   He didn't think of the consequences of what might happen when he lit a wick near the barrels of gun powder. The Pilgrims were thankful that the Mayflower didn't explode!  The kids enjoyed this story and the art project that went with it. Too funny! 

We also talked about how the Pilgrims were still trying to find a good place to establish their new land. The weather was getting colder. The kids traced and labeled their map of Massachusetts, Plymouth Bay, and Cape Cod area. 

We learned that the Pilgrims stepped foot on Plymouth Rock as they got off the Mayflower and hoped to start establishing their new homes and village soon.

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We enjoyed the emerging reader Owl at Home, the I can read level 2 book.  The kids were able to read it easily and they both thought it was funny. 

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We took a break from our day to day routine to go run the hills on the golf course behind our house. My ds had a lot of energy due to being pinned up from the rain so he ran up and down the hills until he was ready to get back to work. Lol! 

My dd found other entertainment looking for pretty colored leaves, acorns, and pinecones to add to her nature journal.  She has really enjoyed finding items to trace and record in the nature journal.

In Science, we talked about God's special plan to make fresh water with the water cycle. God created the sun to help take the salt out of the ocean water to make fresh water.  We learned that as the sun heats the water, it turns into water vapor and floats into the air. The salt stays in the ocean because it is too heavy to float into the air with the water vapor.  The water vapor fills the air, it changes into rain which falls to the earth.   In this way, God fills the lakes and rivers with fresh water. Then this water flows into the seas, and the circle starts all over again.  

We tried creating the circulation in a Ziplock Baggie with 1/2 cup of water and a couple drops of food coloring. We taped our baggies to the window and watched.  Despite it being dreary and wet outside, the kids were fascinated with this experiment as the cloud slowly appeared and water droplets began to fall back to the "ocean water."   We will keep watching this one for sure.

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We learned that the pilgrims measured the depth of the Plymouth Bay to make sure large ships would be able to enter the area. We made a clay model of the ocean floor that shows the levels of the land under the Oceans.  The dd insisted that 'Flounder' be a part of the picture and so the only thing my son could find was a snake!

We learned that nearly 3/4 of the earths surface is covered with oceans.  Ocean water is salty. We did an experiment that showed salt water helps things float. We had 2 glasses - one with fresh water and one with salt water. (We did have to add a bit more salt than what it called for in the HoD guide.)  We made predictions and placed half of a crayon in each glass. The one in the freshwater sank to the bottom immediately and the one in the salt water floated to the top.  The salt made the water thicker and the crayon floated.  The kids tried this several times and really tried  to sink the crayon in the salt water but it kept floating to the top.  We talked about the Dead Sea being 7 times saltier than the ocean. 

Several rainy days this week so the kids stayed busy, math worksheets, spelling practice, and had fun water painting with Q-Tips. 

This simple water color set was something I picked up at JoAnne's Fabrics in the $ bins.  The kids really enjoyed the art painting and it kept them busy for a bit too. Something different = FUN!

We also made recipe/handprint turkey's with their very own recipe for "how to cook a turkey."  These turned out kinda funny! HA!  You can print this free off of my Pinterest Homeschool page.  You can find it here!

Here are the recipes that they wrote:

My dd's recipe:  "You go buy a turke. Then, we cook it for 5 secunds and then we slice the eyes off. We put salt and then you eat a bite.   Cook in the oven on 10 hundred degrees. "

My ds's recipe:  "First you buy a cikin from the store. Then, you cook it for 60 mimutes. Then, cut the skin off. Then, you put sesning on it. Last you cut it up and eat it. Cook on stove about 150 degrees. "

I have to admit I have been asked 100 times in the 10 weeks we have been homeschooling, "How do you stay sane?!? My kids would drive me crazy! I have to send my kids to school to get them out of my hair!"  All I can reply is that it isn't always cupcakes and roses....  we have tough days, ears that won't listen and hands that don't follow directions.   It isn't always easy, but it is always rewarding.  Every day is a new day and in the big picture, I know that we are following God's plan for our family.  These 2 are the light of my eyes and true gifts from God.  I am so thankful that He has blessed us with each of them and allows me the opportunity to be their teacher and their mom. 

Thanks for following our blog.  We will be taking a week off for Fall break next week.  It's always good to take a break!  

Be blessed!