Preparing & Res to Ref - Unit 6

The Preparing Hearts for His Glory - Unit 6

This week we read about God fulfilling His promises to Abraham of land and a great nation.  The kids were amazed that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac and were relieved when God revealed another way. 

The kids made shepherds crooks.  A couple wanted to wrap theirs like candy canes.  We used blue painters tape and yellow markers which made the project less painful than the recommended paint. 

We learned that Abraham's son, Isaac grew up and had twin sons - Esau and Jacob.  God chose Jacob to carry out His plan.  Even though he wasn't perfect, God used him.  We read about Jacob and his mother tricking his father into receiving the special blessing.  

We learned Jacob had 12 sons. The older brothers sold Joseph, the favorite son, into slavery in Egypt.  The brothers brought back his special coat of many colors and told the father that Joseph must've died.  When famine struck, the brothers had to go to Egypt for food and happened to unknowingly run across their brother.   

The kids drew a picture of Joseph and wrote about his story.  I love the drawings!

We learned that Egypt had prepared for the famine by stocking up and were known for their bread. 

We followed the recipe to make Egyptian Pastries.  The kids kneaded the dough and rolled it out into long strips.  Next, they wrapped it around to make the pastry.

We glazed the top with honey. 

The kids didn't love it as much as I thought they would.  It was very honey tasting. 

After the cooking, the kids had an impromptu playtime in the warm, end of summer rain.  Hey, no thunder... no lightning... They had a blast and it kept them busy (without any bickering) for awhile! Win! Win!

We are still experiencing a painful day 4 writing our narrations.  It has definitely been an adjustment with the amount of writing in Preparing.  I ask questions and they do well answering them, but seems so difficult getting them to get it written onto the paper.  I'm hoping that it continues to get easier as we keep going through the program. 

We took a break to visit an Airshow near Virginia Beach. With a hubby in aviation, we rarely miss a show that's nearby.  The kids enjoyed watching the Blue Angels fly! 

Resurrection to Reformation - Unit 6

The first question this week was, "Why are we learning about Muslims?" I explained it is history and it's good to know.  This week he learned the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Muslim Invaders. He read about Mohammed's visions that led to the writing of the Koran. He learned that Islam acknowledges Jesus as a profit, but not the son of God.  Islam spread quickly when Mohammed changed his peaceful teachings to teaching by conversion with the sword.  They soon began conquering land around them.  He learned that Jihad is a Muslims religious duty to spread the territory by war if needed. 

We are still loving these notebooking pages for history.  I just have to make sure he uses the erasable pens I bought him so that  it is dark enough and I can read his work clearly.  Still working on penmanship... I know it is hard to read. 

He wrote scriptures, wrapped them in aluminum foil, stuffed them into our bread loaf dough, and baked 5 loaves of bread.  

The loaves rose beautifully - we didn't use the recipe in the book.  We made homemade Rosemary Garlic bread to have with our spaghetti dinner that evening! 

The other kids loved helping to find the hidden treasures that revealed the true identity of God with the verses he had written.  We talked about how Christ is the son of God and the head of the church.  He is the bread of life and the only path to eternity in heaven. 

I'd recommend folding them a little bigger as we cut through a couple and even thought we lost one for a bit! 

This week he read The Winters Tale in Shakespeare studies.  He says he likes Shakespeare even if  the stories are a bit odd. 

We made the switch to Apologias General Science and fully discontinued using the science as written in the guide.  

The spiral notebooking pages that go with the Apologia General Science textbook are awesome and seem much more to his level! 

The module experiment supplies that come prepackaged are amazing and made making this plaster impression of a shell easy! 

 I am so glad we made the switch. With that being said, for a younger child I think the written Science is suffice but, our 8th grader needed a bit more substance.  I chose to take him back to Res to Ref because he lacked a formal study of the Bible and I wanted him not to feel overwhelmed with the upper guides.

Hope you had a great week too! 

Until next week!

See you then! 

Preparing & Res to Ref - Unit 5

Preparing Hearts for His Glory

This week we had so much fun learning about the early civilization in Egypt.  Conveniently, there was an Egyptian Festival and Bazaar in our town that we were able to visit and see some of the artifacts. papyrus, and clothing firsthand. 

We learned that the Egyptians used hieroglyphics to write. Overtime their writings became unrecognized and a man set forth on a journey to break the code with what is known as the Rosetta Stone.  The kids loved hearing about this neat bit of history and wanted to know more about hieroglyphics. 

The kids enjoyed each using a hieroglyphics stencil to write their own names. 

The kids were easily able to fill in the stencil shapes to spell their own name.   You can find the Hieroglyphic stencil inexpensively priced here:  http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=032261

The kids did great with their Draw & Write projects this week.   They drew a sarcophagus and a pyramid.  

Our history project this week was to make Egyptian Cartouches.  The kids mixed up the salt/flour dough and each had the chance to make their own.  

We rolled the dough and then shaped it.  Then using a toothpick they engraved the design of Queen Hatshepsut. 

We let them dry for several days... Flipping it over back and forth.  (Dries best on both sides if you can prop it up standing it on end.)  The kids were anxious to paint their cartouche. 

The kids learned that the circle around the outside was to signify importance of the person it represented.  These turned out so good! We carved their names and year on the back too and my son added a hole at the top of his so we could add it to our tree at Christmas! 

After they dried, the kids dabbed brown paint onto their cartouches and let them dry. Looking good!  I love how they are each unique.  My only recommendation with this is to have the kids dab the paint into the engraved areas first and wipe as you go so that it is darker in those areas. Our paint dried really quickly and then wouldn't wipe off as well as we would have liked. 

In Science, we learned that animals and bugs live inside cactus to help keep them cool and safe from predators. We learned that the waxy layer helps protect the cactus and keeps the juicy layer inside from drying out.  The kids drew a picture and labeled the layers of the cactus.

We read about Abram this week and how God chose him and promised him the land of Israel. Abram obeyed God, left his land and his family and God fulfilled his promises.  

Drawn Into the Heart of Reading

The DITHOR biography report was due this week for all 4 of my kiddos.   They each had their own reports to work on.  I love how the people they chose all reflect their different personalities. 

After completing their daily DITHOR workbook, they were each assigned a type of book report.  Living Poster, Life Size Scroll, and Water Color/Pastel.  To help them gather the facts they each started with the above Biography Graphic Organizer. 

The 3rd grader made a living poster board character of her chosen, Betsy Ross. She thought this was so silly but, it was cute and she had a lot of fun making the 5 pointed stars and the simple paper bonnet. She also liked designing her dress and making a flag. She learned that Betsy Ross was a hard worker and was diligent with her sewing.  Despite being widowed three times and losing a child she pressed on in her sewing shop.

The 5th grade project was a Life Size Scroll biography project. They outlined each others bodies and then made their outline into their biography character. 

They spent a good bit of time on their character.  One 5th grader chose, Dale Earnhardt, JR. and was extremely detailed with his artwork.  He learned that Dale Earnhardt, JR. had to work hard to earn the fame and position he is in today.  He overcame difficult times in his life and pressed on.  

The other son chose Harry Houdini.  He learned that he overcame difficulties and tasks and was famous for escaping!  These were big & fun projects that the kids all really enjoyed.  It definitely broke up the monotony of our school week routine. They even had homework to complete the projects.  Reminded me why homeschool moms don't give weekend homework!  LOL! 

Our oldest wrote a 2 page typed report on his favorite basketball star, LeBron James. He learned that  LeBron grew up without knowing his father and at an early age started working hard to accomplish his dreams.   

Additionally, he made this awesome project with pastels, water colors, and a copied face of his character.  I think it turned out great. This is my anti-artsy kid...  being pulled from public school after 9 years doesn't understand why he can't just answer multiple choice questions for his complete education.  I'm working on breaking that mindset and he's been doing amazing so far as we take on all these "silly projects".  He's always so proud when he completes them! 

Resurrection to Reformation

This week in history, the task was to make a grid and follow the directions given.  Of course, my public school minded young man again didn't see the value in this.  It turned out great though!  I am really proud of his effort. 

We are still loving these beautiful HOD note booking history pages.  

I still need to work on getting more legible penmanship.  His cursive isn't much better but, hopefully with enough encouragement he will get better as the year goes on.  Still love and enjoying seeing his reverence to the Lord shine through in his writing.

This week in Science the experiment was to create a model to show the layers of the earth.  He followed the recipe and it still turned out a little crazy!  Our core wasn't placed in the exact center and so he had to make 2 slices to find it but, he could see the layers!  LOL!  Not our best but, he said it was YUMMY and was happy about the afternoon snack! 

With that being said.... We did decide to make the change to Apologias General Science.  I've ordered the coordinating notebooking pages as recommended and can't wait to get started with a little more advanced science that will be counted as a credited class on his transcript! YAY for progress! 

Thanks for following our homeschool journey one unit at a time!

See you then! 

Preparing & Res to Ref- Unit 4

This week I saw the cutest lunch idea that I thought I'd pass along to each of you. It was so quick and easy and to cute not to try if you happen to have a heart cookie cutter and some sprinkles!  My kids loved this so much, begged for it the rest of the week, and with such little effort one would have thought I had been awarded the mom of the week for adding sprinkles to their sandwich!!!  :)

Preparing Hearts for His Glory

This week, the kids drew the Tower of Babel.  I was so impressed in my big 5th graders artwork. I think his turned out great! 

We learned that after the great flood the ash and moisture may have caused the drastic climate changes. 

The kids were amazed to know that most of this area was a part of the Ice Age even into the United States. 

We made a replica with clay of the land and water areas where the ark is believed to have settled. 

I'm personally not a fan of working with clay but, the boys did a great job with this.

The little girl made the flags using toothpicks and then we labeled the bodies of water. 

We used a medicine dropper to fill the seas with water and we also added the ice walls -with cubes of ice- north of the Mediterranian Sea and West of the Caspian Sea.  Hooray for our recycled Chinese food container  with a lid ~ which made a perfect home for our middle east project.

My little bug took on a new concept in math and learned how to borrow twice this week. This came very easy to her.  Love that she loves math and especially love the sweet notes I find on her papers! 

This week in Science we started reading One Small Square: Cactus Desert.  The kids made a Saguaro cactus from green clay and we added toothpick spines.  Next, we used a flashlight to be the sun and noticed that the spines and arms provided shade to the cactus. 

When the sun was directly to the side, the arm of the cactus provided shade for the remaining cactus. We learned that cactus learn to adapt to their warm environment in the desert.

Our first day of co-op in our 3rd year of homeschooling was a success and now I'm kicking myself for not signing up sooner.  The kids really loved their new classes - PE, Multiplication, Drawing, 50 States, Heat & Energy, Survival Life Skills, and Excellence in Writing - and also loved making new friends.  Really looking forward to what co-op will add to our homeschooling year! 

Resurrection to Reformation

This week in Science he read about Venus and studied the surface.  He added color on his own to his note booking pages which is a huge improvement!  The cursive is improving!  YAY!  

His vocabulary -radar & phases- and the science reading narration were added to his science notebooking pages. 

We skipped the butter lava experiment this week as he was quite sure he knew and understood about lava and molten rock.  I actually am considering a step more with the Science because I feel that he needs and can do quite a bit more.  We are looking at Apologia - Physical Science.  I've heard great things about the course and will be deciding soon if we will be changing it up. 

In history, he learned that Carthage was an important city. The notebooking pages are amazing and love following his work throughout the week. 

He continued reading Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream and added a quote to his art. 

He completed his chosen biography on Lebron James. I love how DITHOR is asking him to compare and to think about character traits. It's been neat to see his inner being coming forth with good and deep thoughts.  We will begin working on our book report activities this week. 

There's just something about seeing your child studying the Bible.  Thankful for these simple moments that God is blessing me with.  I can only hope and pray that the seeds that are planted now grow into men and women who are willing to serve the Lord. 

Hope you had a great week! Leave me a comment or  if you'd like to follow our daily journey on our Facebook page, you can like our Heart of Dakota homeschooling page by clicking HERE .

See you next week!