Couldn't have asked for a better weekend, spending time with family and enjoying the crisp autumn air. The extra day off on Monday for Veteran's Day was nice too and especially since we got to spend it with our favorite military man. I may never understand ones willingness and bravery to give their all for our country but, I'm so thankful for the amazing men and women who do just this everyday. I'm hopeful to impress upon my children the importance of our country and never forgetting the sacrifices that have been made for our freedom.
Along with the holiday, we squished in dental appointments and a field trip to the Mariners Museum. We combined our HOD school week into 3 days which can be a bit rocky & stressful but, doable with cooperation from the little ones. I love the flexibility that homeschooling offers when planned accordingly. Unfortunately, I failed to plan as well as I should have so this week was a bit of a struggle trying to get everything in. I think overall though, we did a good job and made it through just fine!
The Mariners Museum in Newport News was fantastic & interesting. The kids seemed to relate everything they saw to 'Stories of the Pilgrims' and the Mayflower. Which helps me know they have been paying attention! There was a display of Columbus' ship, Ninã that we discussed in the earlier units. The kids thought it was neat to find it at the museum.
Our verse this week was John 14:1-2. We talked about how our hearts should not be troubled because we know that God is preparing a place for us in heaven. What an awesome promise to hold onto in our troubled world we live in.
In our Bible Study, we read in Exodus 14:5-31 about how God protected the Israelites and saved them from the Egyptians. The Lord watches over His people. We talked about the miracle God did when He parted the Red Sea and allowed the Israelites to cross safely. He showed the Israelites that He is the one true God. We talked about the God we serve is the same God that saved the Israelites. Can you imagine how amazed the Israelites must have been to see the waters of the Red Sea part?
We filled a bowl with water and added black pepper to the top. We placed a bar of soap into the center of the water and the pepper quickly parted to the sides of the bowl. The kids amazement was much of the same in awe of the black pepper separating. Very neat demonstration.
In history, we learned this week that an Indian came to warn the pilgrims that a ship was coming. The pilgrims feared that it may be a French ship coming to capture their settlement in Plymouth. They were relieved to discover a red cross on a white flag which showed it was an English ship. The kids each made an English flag.
The English ship carried the pilgrims friends and family but, it did not have suffice food nor were the Pilgrims prepared to add an additional 35 more to the settlement as they were already struggling to feed everyone throughout the winter. They were able to visit a tribe of Indians and get more corn that they needed. God continued to provide for their needs.
The pilgrims had a surprise visit from an Indian messenger and they weren't able to understand what he was saying. The Indian warned of an attack on the pilgrims. He showed them a rattlesnake filled with arrows and ranted. Governor Bradford of the Pilgrims removed the arrows and replaced with gun powder and sent it back to the Indian chief as a warning. The Indians did not attack.
We read about snakes and we made a snake too! The kids glued on hole punch dots one by one. This was a very tedious art project... especially for my little perfectionist. They pressed forward and the snakes turned out very cute. They liked the way the snake skin felt but, may I suggest making an even smaller snake!
This week we also learned the great Chief Massasoit became very sick. He sent a messenger to the pilgrims for help. The Indians soon learned that broth, fresh air, water & quiet time worked better than the dancing, painted faces and ranting medicine men trying to scare away his sickness. The Indians found that the medicine men did not have the power they thought they did.
In Science Exploration, we learned that broth is digested more quickly than food because it doesn't have to break down.
The broth dripped easily and quickly through the stomach (coffee filter) into the small intestine (glass). The cracker takes longer to dissolve and digest. The nutrients were able to reach the intestine faster with broth.
In geography, we took a closer look at our globe and labeled and colored the continents and oceans. They drew a line around for the equator. You can print this globe printable from my Pinterest Homeschool board, here.
The puppy loves going to school with the kids... Especially when there's a blanket around.
In math, we used mini marshmallows as manipulatives to help with adding and subtracting. My 6 yo was concerned with adding several numbers and finding the missing addend (2+1+3+___= 9) .... until we added marshmallows. Then, she loved it and wanted to do more math! The little one kept needing extra marshmallows along the way. For some reason they just kept disappearing! Lol!
Our copywork is going well and becoming less of a struggle each week. Here is a peek at my older son's poetry cursive writing. His hard work and practice is paying off as he is doing so well and I am very proud of his beautiful writing.
The kids had fun playing this Thanksgiving themed... sight word & math game called Word Bump. It was great practice as they counted the total of 3 dice and bumped each other off the squares with lots of word writing practice. You can get the game from my Pinterest homeschool board... Click Here
This game helped with their weekly sight word practice. In our lesson this week we learned about -or.
We read Amelia Bedelia for our book in the Emerging Readers set. The kids took turns reading. Both are excelling with sounding out words and loved this silly story.
After our readings, I have the kids complete this listening worksheet.
Translation: "The dressed up chicken"
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This week with our piano lessons, the kids practiced dictating and clapping rhythms. They both can play 'Hot Cross Buns' using the correct notes and rhythms. They liked using these cards we made from the hardware store paint sample cards to create their own rhythms to clap out. The cards are perfect sized for notes and would make great flash cards for sight words, math facts or just about anything else you can think of.
They both tried to make a difficult rhythm to trick each other on the rests. It was fun watching them do so well with this and creating their own rhythms. They also learned how to play 'Frog in the Middle' on the piano and sing the So-Mi-Do pattern. You can find out more about our free online piano lessons at https://www.hoffmanacademy.com
We soaked up the sun walking outside and our dd decided we should make this shadow chain.
It truly is the simple things in life that give happiness. Their giggles of joy and silliness are priceless. I pray those sounds always echo in my mind and flood over the cries, struggles, and mischievous moments.
Please take a moment to comment, I would love to hear from you if you are following our homeschool journey!
See you next week!
Be blessed.
I loved your idea of using paint sample cards, very creative!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You can use them for so many different things!
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