HOD BLHFHG - Unit 30

Easter was a wonderful weekend for us with our family and gave us a much needed break even if only for a couple days. The kids all had fun hunting Easter eggs and playing outside together.

We found this Pinterest recipe for mega bubbles and had to try it out.   RECIPE HERE

The kids enjoyed trying to blow the biggest bubbles. Hoping to try this again soon and add a bit more glycerin to help with the consistency!

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This week was a review of the verses we have recently learned. We didn't mind at all repeating the songs we have become so fond of. 

This week we continued talking about the pioneers traveling west on the Oregon Trail and we learned that pioneers traveling in lines and groups of covered wagons were called wagon trains. The kids both sketched a covered wagon.  I'm impressed by my sons improvement with his sketching.  He is doing so much better with this!  

My son was so confident when he said, "When I watched Gunsmoke with Papa I already learned all about this!" LOL... Love him! 

We  learned about the covered wagons and that they were made to endure long and rough travels. They usually traveled about 20 miles each day. Climbing mountains, narrow pathways, and sometimes they even had to cross rivers or streams. Often the oxen could pull them across if it were shallow water, but if it were deep they would have to use the wagon as a boat. The wagons often needed repairs by the end of the day.  

To lighten their loads along the way, we learned that the pioneers would throw out heavy stoves & furniture  to make it easier on the animals pulling the wagon. 

We read about a family that heard a stampede of Bison coming towards them as the ground shook. They eagerly tried to direct the huge bison and fired shots at them to turn their direction away from the covered wagons. 

We learned that Bison grow to be 6' tall and 10' long. They are the largest land mammal. We measured out just how big they are with a sidewalk chalk drawing and the kids were surprised!  

The kids were also shocked that there were millions of bison that roamed the prairies and within 15 years there were only 1500 remaining. Bison became extinct because they were widely hunted for their meat and warm coats. 

We learned many pioneers lost their lives during the years of travels. We read a story about  a wagon that had turned over, the oxen pulling the wagon had died after pulling the wagon many miles seeking water for themselves to survive. There were vultures flying overhead.  Dan and his dad were out hunting when they saw this wagon tragedy and heard noises coming from inside the wagon. They found an abandoned  baby girl inside.  They had mercy upon her and took her back to their camp to care for her as their own. 

We read more about vultures in Science.  Vultures are birds that fly on a column of warm air.  We made vulture index cards. When we blew at them the draft of our air helped them  lift them.  The kids drew a vulture on the side ! 

We observed the index card riding on the air just like a vulture riding on a column of warm air. 

We talked about the difficult journey the pioneers made traveling through the mountains. Snow and rain made it difficult to follow the trails.  Some peaceful Indians were helpful and showed the pioneers the right way to go. 

What a fabulous country we have and are honored to be a part of.  I love how Heart of Dakota expresses this!  Can you imagine how the early pioneers must have felt as they came upon this great land?  We listened to America the Beautiful and watched as the scenes showed fabulous views of our country.  You can listen and see here:  America the Beautiful

God surely has blessed our nation!   The art this week was to make a mountain sky! 

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The kids have been working hard on reading their emerging reader chapter books.  I let each of them choose their book.

We decided to make diorama shadow boxes!  We found a shoe box and the kids decided on their favorite scene in their book.  We used construction paper, paint, cotton balls, aluminum foil, sticks, and just about anything else lying around that we could find.  I let the kids talk thru this with me but, they were able to do the project on their own.  My son struggled a little drawing Tornado the dog so we photocopied his picture from the cover of the book!  That was much easier!

My son wanted to read 'Tornado' by Betsy Byars. His diorama shows the dog, Tornado, hiding in a ditch, his dog house, and the playing cards he used for tricks.  He did a great job drawing the doghouse, used sticks for the trees and even made a ditch for Tornado the dog! 

My daughter decided on 'Animal Adventures' by Laura Ingalls Wilder.   She really enjoyed these short stories and will do great with Little House in the Big Woods next year.  Can't wait! 

Her scene was after a snow the girls wanted to slip on the ice on the nearby frozen lake.We used cotton balls for the snow and aluminum foil for the frozen lake. The moon glistened on the frozen ice and the girls saw a wolf sitting on the hill.  We used glitter for the reflection of the moonlight.  The girls were frightened and ran home as fast as they could. 

They both read a chapter each day... my son on his own and my daughter out loud with me. We finished their reading with this book report sheet.  You can get this free printable from my homeschool pinterest page here:  Book Report Worksheet

Making the diorama shadow boxes of their favorite part of their book was their favorite thing we have done so far.  They even shared about it with each other. This was a fun project and great success at promoting their reading comprehension.

We enjoyed another week and are excited to be nearly finished with our school year.  Look what we got today in the mail! So excited to begin a new year with Heart of Dakota's Bigger Hearts for His Glory!

Just a reminder that you can follow our daily adventure and be our fan on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/takingoffwithhomeschool

See you next week! 

Be blessed!