Bigger Hearts for His Glory - Unit 19

Our Jesus Calling Devotional has been a success.  Every morning this week, we started our day with an intimate reflection.  I'm always impressed by their spiritual growth and reminded exactly why it is so important for us to be taking time for studying the word.  

This week our character trait was Friendliness!  Our verse was Proverbs 18:25 ....
 "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Our poetry copywork was Open Range by Kathryn & Byron Jackson. 

We read about Thomas Jefferson and that he was our 3rd president of the United States. We learned that he purchased the land west of the Mississippi River from France in the Louisiana Purchase.  

Our art project was to make a 3D star!  My kids struggled with drawing a star so we used this one we found on Pinterest.  We used a star pattern here:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/185351340887003292/

I printed one copy and then the kids traced it to a blank page and then colored both sides with the pattern of their choice in red, white, and blue.  Next, we cut a slit in each star and slid them into each other.  We placed tape where we inserted to make them stand up.  They turned out great! 

We read that Thomas Jefferson paid Lewis & Clark to explore Louisiana, the land west of the Mississippi.  They followed the rivers closely as they traveled from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.  We made a tape outline of the United States and the kids added the Mississippi & Missouri Rivers.  We learned that the longest river in the US is the Missouri River.  The kids wrote down interesting facts about the expedition in their history notebook.  

We read about the Great Continental Divide and learned that the rivers flow East on one side and West on the other side.  We poured water over a bent plastic lid to show the water flowing  down each side just as the rivers do.  Couldn't snap a pic of this one as I had to hold the lid!  Very simple demonstration though to show the kids exactly what we had learned.

We started reading 'A Pioneer Sampler', our new favorite!!  The kids really are enjoying learning about the daily lives of this pioneer family. 

We learned about the importance of roosters and hens in the pioneer days.  The families looked forward to the spring when the hens began laying eggs again. 

We read about how everyone in the home had to work together... Cleaning, cooking, chopping wood, gardening, and taking care of the animals.  

Fires were important to cook on inside the homes but, sometimes they would get out of hand and even burn catch the home on fire.  The pioneers kept buckets of water near the fire and would wet quilts and cover the flames if it sparked up.  We experimented and set leaves on fire in a jar.  We learned that flames need oxygen from the air to burn.  When we covered the jar with a lid, the fire went out. 

We learned and labeled the different parts of a tree.  

We read & found it interesting that tree sap works as an antifreeze for the tree.  We watched a quick YouTube video showing how the tree is tapped and syrup is made.  You can watch it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiAh2J1lIOs

The kids now want to try it!!  If only we had an orchard of maple trees?!?!  

There are a few we can maybe try and visit nearby. I'll have to look into it a bit further. Has anyone ever seen this live? Is it something the kids would enjoy or a tedious repetition? 

Hope everyone had a great week! 

See you next time!