Bigger Hearts for His Glory - Unit 17

Christmas is coming!! This week we took a trip to Christmas town at Busch Gardens to see all the lights! There was brisk air, crowds, bright lights, and a beautiful Christmas message sung by Carolers and other performers. Hats off to Busch Gardens for keeping the reason for the season known in their music and displays. 

Character Trait Wall

Started out the week adding a new character trait to our wall; endurance. We learned that we should push ourself to finish what we start and not to look for shortcuts.

Our verse was Proverbs 16:9. 'In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.'

In our bible study this week, we read from Matthew 3:13-4:11.  We learned that Satan tempted Jesus.  As we endure hardships we can depend on Him. 

In history, the boys were excited about the Daniel Boone stories this week and especially reading about his adventures. They have watched the old Daniel Boone shows The children were impressed by his braveness even at such a young age. 

We learned that Daniel Boone loved to explore and was a pioneer in traveling west. We learned that Indians captured him and he was able to escape. They followed his foot tracks but, Boone outsmarted them and found a vine to swing on. The Indians loss track of him. 

They loved their art project of the swinging Daniel Boone!  I enjoyed seeing how each of them are unique even in their art. 

We also learned that Daniel Boone moved his family west to Kentucky. It was a wild and dangerous place to live. His daughter and her friend were also captured by the Indians. They were brave and were smart to tear pieces of their dresses off to leave as a trail. They knew their dad would be searching for them.  He chased the Indians over 40 miles to save the girls. The weather was harsh. Freezing in winter and burning hot in summer. Daniel Boone lived a long life enduring many hardships which helped developed his strong character. 

Our timeline is filling up! The kids really love keeping up with the people we read about by placing them on the timeline. It makes it so simple to reference back to them when needed. 

Unit 17 Science

We talked about the importance of roots in Science this week. We learned that roots anchor trees into the earth and help keep soil from eroding. The kids drew a picture of the end roots and labeled. 

We also talked about microorganisms and their purpose.  We learned that they help to breakdown and decompose and are an important part of the animal life cycle. Our experiment was to find out what mold is! We put a wet paper towel in a ziplock bag with a piece of food. We put it in a dark area for a few days. Yuck! **Then we stuck in back in the fridge and forgot about it over the Christmas holiday! Whoa! This was amazing! This thing looked alive, felt soft, and had little smell. The kids said it looked like a chia pet! **

The kids are each excelling in math. The CLE light unit workbooks are an amazing fit for our family.  The boys are in the 404 booklet and the 7yo is rocking it in 207.  I love the lessons each day, 2 quizzes per book, and a final test. It isn't overwhelming with colors and pictures or kinky spiral math but, simple with clear instructions for the kids to follow. 

Our poetry copywork was the poem, Under the Trees by Richard Henry Stoddard. 

Next week, we will be taking a HOD break and be traveling around the world learning about different Christmas customs & traditions. We plan to visit 8 countries in 5 days with recipes & crafts!  I can't wait!! Our passports are ready!!

If you would like to follow along our daily activities and crafts, you can like our Facebook page here:  

https://www.facebook.com/takingoffwithhomeschool

See you then! 

Be blessed! 

Bigger Hearts for His Glory- Unit 16

We took a 2 week break for Thanksgiving. The time with family and friends was fantastic and the food was incredible.  I sure enjoy this time of year and especially the time with my mother and grandmother. These 2 ladies are both very special to me and the time I have with them both is very cherished.   

It was nice for the family to fly high over all the holiday traffic at Thanksgiving. Have I mentioned 'I love my navy pilot!'  Our trip was shortened by 10 hours because we were able to fly! The kids enjoy it and it was sure nice to get to our stretched out family in only a couple hours.  

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Back at it this week and we learned about integrity.  Doing what is right even when no one is watching.  We read Proverbs 27:19.  'As water reflects the face, so ones life reflects the heart.'

We read in history about George Washingtons final battles. He knew he couldn't beat the British in New York.  He outsmarted the British and outnumbered them in Yorktown. After 7 years, the British Leader, Cornwallis surrendered, he was defeated, and the Revolutionary war was over. 

We played a game of WAR with playing cards to see what happens when one person ends up with more cards on their side. Just like Washington, they defeat their enemy. The kids enjoyed the card game for sure. 

We took a leaf break to rake the yards.  

And do some tricks!! :)  The kids each had a great time in the backyard this week raking, jumping, and bagging the leaves! 

In Science, we talked about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. We studied these heavily last year even observing  their cycle .... so we briefly touched on it for a reminder this week. We reviewed that animals and insects often have coloring to camouflage into their surroundings. 

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We learned that shortly after the Revolutionary War the 13 colonies returned for a conventional meeting, elected George Washington as the first United States president, and drafted the Constitution to show the rights of the people and the powers of the government. A great clip from School House Rock to help!  Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzAJyK0ovo8

We talked about the 3 branches of the government. 

The kids used the history pages and completed this worksheet.  We also watched a quick School House Rock about the 3 branches. It was a great demonstration linking a circus to the branches.  My kids all thought it was fun & helpful.  Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5M50xBz1cU

Our vocabulary words this week were: Constitution, barge, and oath. 

The kids made index flash cards with the 13 original colonies and their state abbreviations. 

The older ds also wrote the capitals on the back of his cards and we colored and labeled them on our map. 

We also read about a boy that was named after President Washington. His name was Washington Irving. He desired to be a sailor when he grew up but, instead became an author.  He later wrote a biography of George Washington. We painted watercolor art with cool ocean colors and warm sky colors. The kids did great on these. 

Orthodontics!

Orthodontic appointments give the kids a fun game time with mounted iPads while we wait for our turn. The kids love this place and it's so nice to have this game room for a break from our homeschool morning! 

A fabulous week for our little dancer who was able to spread some Christmas cheer at a nearby nursing home with her dance studio. Such a great opportunity for the dancers. 

We hope you had a great week too! This season is going so quickly. We have our last unit next week and then a week of 'Christmas Around the World' before our 2 weeks off for Christmas break. 

See you next week! 

Be blessed! 

Bigger Hearts for His Glory- Unit 15

This week we learned about the character trait, initiative.  We talked about the importance of initiative and learned that many great leaders showed initiative in their decisions.  

Our bible verse was Proverbs 13:13. 

In poetry, we read and copied. The copy work is going well and the handwriting is getting better and better for each of our littles. 

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We started the week with an art project. Who doesn't love autumn? 

The kids divided their paper in 6 sections and drew a leaf in each section. They outlined with black sharpie and then erased any pencil markings they could still see. 

Next, they used watercolors to paint their leaves. 

And finished their projects by alternating the colors of the grid. These turned out so cute and they had a lot of fun making them. 

Here are the finished projects! They each did great and they are all unique and different! 

Watercolor Leaf Art

In Science, we took a closer look at a leaf.  Leaves have layers of cells. The veins carry food and water to the cells. 

The kids even colored their own in the science note booking pages. 

We learned that the deciduous trees  shed their leaves in autumn. Their leaves stop making chlorophyll and turn colors brown, gold, red, and orange. 

Plants that are living have stomata to 'breathe' through. 

We also learned about the different layers of a tree trunk. Tree trunks are made of rings. Each ring has a purpose for keeping the tree alive. 

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This week we read about some of the many battles of the Revolutionary War. George Washington and how he out smarted Cornwallis the British Army. I read the story and the kids acted out the narration with figures. 

We learned that Washington left several men to noisily dig barricades near the Delaware River. The British heard the movement and digging and thought Washington was simply preparing for the upcoming battle. 

Meanwhile, Washington had lead his army across the creek and around to surprise the British from behind.  They had nowhere to run and Washington defeated the enemy.  

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We learned that many important battles were fought near rivers during the Revolutionary War.  Washington showed initiative in crossing the Delaware River and attacking Trenton the day after Christmas. No one expected him to do it.

We read a story of George Rogers Clark. He was an American Colonel who stopped the British from sending Indians to kill the settlers in the west. He showed initiative when his army overtook 2 British forts. 

Marion's Tower

We read about Francis Marion who was a strong leader during the Revolutionary War.  The British called him 'Swamp Fox' because he was so hard to catch.  Marion was sneaky and hard to find. He  showed initiative and made a tall tower during the night. He was able to climb up and shoot fire down onto the British army.  The British surrendered their fort. 

We used stick pretzels to build our own towers. The kids enjoyed this! 

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The kids enjoy the daily speed drills for their math lessons. They have 2 minutes to complete as many correctly as they can. We keep track of their progress on a graph. 

Our oldest ds learned the 5 steps of long division this week.  He grasped the concept well and is excited to move forward with dividing larger numbers. 

Report cards went home. Lol! The kids all did great these last 15 units and I'm so happy to report we are already seeing many improvements. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to teach each of them. 

Be blessed and safe travels for Thanksgiving.