Bigger Hearts for His Glory- Unit 24

What better way to start the week than with a snow angel!  A bit of distraction this week with the snow but, we still managed to get through the week! Lol!  This week in Unit 24 we learned about the character trait - SERVICE.  Our verse this week was Proverbs 11:24  'One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.'
It was a great opportunity for the young ds to serve the neighbor by shoveling their driveway.... except somehow the ds came home with $5.  Guess we are going to have keep working on this one.  LOL..

This week in history we learned about famous men who provided a great service to their families, our country and even the world.

Daniel Webster grew up in a very poor family.  He learned to serve others  because of the example his family set before him.  One cold night he saw an elderly woman steal boards from his walkway.  He  followed her home to learn that she was cold and needed the wood.  He served her by bringing her a bundle of wood the next day.

 We read about Samuel Morse.  He had many professions, was an artist, and enjoyed painting portraits.  We drew portraits too and they turned out wonderful!

The kids have struggled with art but, really seem encouraged when their HOD projects are complete!

We had great portrait drawings!  One of my kids wanted to draw his Papa!

We  read about Samuel Morse this week. With the help of William Baxter and Alfred Vail  invented the telegraph.  Eventually cable was laid across the Atlantic Ocean and the telegraph became a service to communicate all over the world.

We watched this youtube clip showing the alphabet in Morse Code:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5uyK5MrsTs

The kids added the code to their history notebooks.

We also learned about Charles Goodyear and his diligence in finding a use for the India rubber tree.  The kids were fascinated with this story and amazed as rubber is something we continue to use often in our modern day life.  We watched this awesome clip on YouTube showing the rubber process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKq42J7SaWw

We talked about the peddlers that came to the different farms to sell or trade items that may be of  necessity.  We made a water pouch and talked about how these were much easier for peddlers to carry around rather than a heavy bucket.

In Science, we learned in the pioneer days that they were able to tell time in different ways as they often did not have clocks.  The kids favorite way was the shadow clock.  We wrote down different ways that early pioneers were able to keep time.

This week, we took a couple days off to play in the snow!  The kids loved to be out in the Snow! Sledding and building snowmen was a huge hit this week!

Hope you are staying warm!
See you next week!

Bigger Hearts for His Glory- Unit 23

This week our Character Trait was Discipline!  We learned Proverbs 16:17

'The highway of the upright avoids evil; He who guards his way, guards his life.'

This week we wrote out the verse and cut it in sections.  We made a puzzle and the kids did great memorizing it for a special prize.

We studied about Horace Greeley and learned of his early discipline.  He began reading at age 3 and was told at age 13 that he knew more than the teachers.  He started working for a printer and even though he was teased often, he eventually became a famous newspaper man.

The kids watched a video on setting type and quickly voiced that it was a tedious job! They spelled out Ben Franklin's famous quote!  I still don't think they got it correct but, they tried as if they were using type and it was tough!

We read about several famous writers; Hawthorne, Prescott, and Bryant learned of their great discipline. 

We also learned about Louisa May Alcott.  She came from a very poor family and although she struggled to be obedient and disciplined as a little girl, she had a great desire to make herself better and help her family.  She became famous with her best known book called Little Women. 

We also read a poem she wrote to help her do her laundry cheerfully.  The kids wrote the verses on 'pieces of laundry' and we hung them up on our clothesline. 

We read about the Bob o' Link bird and read a poem by William Cullen Bryant. The kids copied it from the book into their history note booking pages. 

We also watched this quick YouTube video to show the kids the Bob o' link bird!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TXIrXiyW6o

  In math, the little one tested equivalent measurements! "3 teaspoons really does = 1 Tablespoon!"

The bigger ones struggled through multiples and factors this week. I did happen to find this great project to help.  Here is the link for the reference books above:   

http://love2learn2day.blogspot.com/2013/12/factors-multiples-flap-books-online.html?m=1

Science Notebooking

We read about sheering sheep in science. We learned the process and how the wool was spun into thread. The thread was then dyed using different flowers, berries, or bark. In our science note booking, we wrote and colored our chart. 

Harcourt Readers

We started the Harcourt reading series level for 2nd & 4th grade. These readers increase in difficulty and are wonderful for comprehension. The kids complete the readings and then have a notebook that they answer 5 questions from the back of the book. I've asked the kids to answer in complete sentences. It's been a great way to double check and edit their work. The readers are relatively inexpensive. We purchased our sets from eBay. 

We took a break this week and headed to the museum with our homeschooler friends on Friday! 

We finished off the week baking valentine cookies for our friends! The kids loved decorating them! 

It was another great week with Heart of Dakota.  I can see there are many of you popping in to see the blog but, I sure also love hearing from you.  Please feel free to leave your comments below! 

See you next week! 

Bigger Hearts for His Glory- Unit 22

This week our character trait was diligence. Our verse was Proverbs 21:5

We read about John Audubon. We learned that he was very diligent in his work.  We read about his long journey trying to publish his book with his drawings of birds.  After all his work was nearly complete, it was ruined.  

We followed a step by step, "How to draw a bird" on YouTube...You can find it here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0TI4DltlZ4   

The kids did WONDERFUL with their bird sketches! I was SO proud of them.  The link was easy to pause on each step so they could easily sketch as they instructed.  

Red Robin Sketch Art

The oldest changed his to a blue jay just to be different. 

 Robin for the little girl too!  I absolutely love how these turned out!  They did a great job with their drawings.  We talked about how we would feel if we hunted down the birds and then drew thousands of these.... and rats ransacked our drawings like John Audubon's.  The kids were sympathetic to how John Audubon must have felt so discouraged after the rats made their nests in his drawings.  We learned he was diligent in completing his task again.

We learned that Audubon was a brave & avid hunter. We read about his encounter with a black panther.    Our activity was to try being a sharp shooter. Lol! The kids enjoyed throwing a hat in the air while the others aimed and shot their nerf guns.   

The kids had so much fun in the hall practicing their shot. 

We read about Audubon and his friend who shot from one hundred feet away.  He shot the snuff off the candle and left the flame.  We balled up pairs of socks and the kids launched them down the hall to see who could get the closest to the candle. Of course, they had fun with this!!

We also read about Henry Longfellow.  He was diligent in his poetry writing and eventually he became a well known poet.  The children copied a portion of his famous poem, A Psalm of Life.  

In our science notebook, we added pictures of the honey bee, bumble bee, and wasp.  We talked about the importance knowing the difference between them and that the honey bee is good because it makes honey and spreads pollen from flower to flower. 

Our science experiment was to see how boats float! We filled the sink and put a paper towel inside of a glass. We turned the glass upside down and lowered it straight into the water. The kids were amazed the paper towel did not get wet! 

Next, we talked about the air pocket in the glass. We leaned it slightly to the side and the air bubbles came up to the surface.  The paper towel got wet. 

In our Science Pioneer Sampler reading, we learned that cows were an important part of the farm. We watched a quick YouTube video on milking a cow:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCkoQ-sCQ4Y

Next, we learned that the cows  were usually taken care of by the women or girls in the family.  The milk was used to make butter and cheese and were traded at the general stores. 

We watched the happy scientist video on how to make butter in a jar.  His explanation of the process was right on.

You can watch it here:  http://thehappyscientist.com/science-video/making-butter

The kids loved this experiment and the butter tasted amazing!! 

We learned that one has to be very diligent in making butter. But, the outcome was delicious! 

The butter was just wonderful on our homemade bread!!  The kids were so proud that they made the butter themselves. 

Our hymn this week was 'Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart.'  We played it throughout the week while the kids worked on their projects. 

That wraps it up! Hope everyone had s great week!

See you next week! 

Bigger Hearts for His Glory- Unit 21

Our character trait for the week was decisiveness. Our verse was 'All hard work brings a profit but mere talk leads only to poverty.'  Proverbs 14:23

Andrew Jackson

 

We read about Andrew Jackson and learned he had a fiery temper as a young boy.  After many different professions he became our 7th president. We learned that he was the first president to put his own friends and trusted advisors in office.  He was nicknamed,  "Old Hickory" because he was rough on the outside and tough on the inside. Andrew Jackson was decisive in his plans and fair to his enemies. We learned that he was quick to make important decisions and this made him a great general in the war. 

7th President, Brave, Brilliant General

 

Decisive, Hot Tempered,  & Strong

In history note booking, the kids made these hickory trees and listed different descriptive words about Andrew Jackson.

We ran outside for a quick geography lesson about streets, our neighborhood, and surrounding area. We drew on notecards and the kids put them together like a puzzle. 

 

The kids made hats like Andrew Jackson wore.  They cut out 2 semi circles and we stapled together. They added fringe and gold decorations.  

These kids have some big heads so they had to hold on their hats.  Bigger paper would've been better.  We almost skipped this somewhat seemingly silly project but, they really enjoyed it. Sometimes I forget it's the little projects that lighten up the lesson and make it easier for them to remember what we were talking about. 

 

They marched around with their silly hats on! 

After reading our lesson in Pioneer Sampler, we learned that these critters liked to raid the henhouse.  We used the science note booking pages and the kids drew these different animal footprints. 

We learned that corn was a valuable crop on pioneer farms.  They used corn to make many things.  We made Johnny Cake Muffins for breakfast! 

Who knew these would be such a hit?!?!  The kids helped mix the ingredients together.  

We baked them and then the kids had hot muffins.  We topped with honey, syrup, and jelly. Yunmy!  I think next time we will make them as pancakes.

They were so yummy warm from the oven! 

The kids loved this special treat and we will be keeping this recipe to add to our favorites!

Homeschoolers Snow Day!! First snow of the year!

Our little bit of snow gave us a 2 hour delay starting school. There wasn't much but, it didn't stop these little ones from wanting to play.  Once it had almost melted there was still enough that they had expectantly piled to make some cardboard sleds for their stuffed animals. Lol! 

 

We celebrated our Friday with a trip to Virginia Beach at Aquarium for their Homeschooler Day.  The kids loved petting the sting rays! 

 

I love taking advantage of homeschool days where the kids can learn from others and they have so much fun. 

 

We hope you had a great week too! 

See you next week!