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! 

Bigger Hearts for His Glory - Unit 20

One of the greatest part of homeschooling is all the fun little surprises along the way!  This was too funny not to share!!   So, does anyone remember the yucky mold project about microorganisms from several units back?  LOL!  The hubby sent me this text after he discovered a mysterious Tupperware when he was cleaning out the fridge....  and I nearly fell over laughing.  Shout out to all the homeschooling Daddy's out there that get to put up with our CraZy Science Experiments!

 (FYI:  It was actually incredible and the hairs growing on it were so very soft, no odor, and the kids actually even "petted"  our mold before we threw it away!)   

Good times! 
What a fantastic week with Heart of Dakota!  We learned a lot about loyalty this week.

Our verse was Proverbs 20:6.

We learned this week about William Henry Harrison.  He went into medicine but, soon George Washington made the young officer in the army into a soldier.  He was loyal to his country.

William Henry Harrison met with Tecumseh to see if they could come to an agreement.  He was an Indian leader who united the Indians to fight against the US.  Tecumseh wanted the settlers to go back to the other side of the Alleghany Mountains. 

Benjamin Franklin once said, "There was never a good war or bad peace."  We talked about the reasons both Indians and settlers wanted the land.  Indians wanted to go to war to save their land and to keep things the way they always had been.  The settlers wanted the land that the Indians had sold them and to move further east.  They wanted peace and wanted the Indians to leave them alone.

Both leaders, Tecumseh and Harrison were brave.  The Indians were loyal to Tecumseh and the settlers were loyal to America.  The kids played war with the playing cards. The Indians were the red cards and the settlers were the black cards.  They enjoyed this fun game.

We read about Captain Lawrence's famous last words, "Don't give up the ship."

We learned that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner on the back of an old envelope while watching an attack from a British ship.

We watched this inspiring tribute about Francis Scott Key's, Star Spangled Banner.  You can find it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avHie2qV4_E   This was an eye opener to my kids and they all showed reverence and understanding after watching this.

Francis Scott Key was a loyal American.

The kids art this week was to use a straw to blow their paint in a splatter like pattern toward the center of black paper. 

This was definitely a different way of doing their art!  The kids thought it was funny. 

Next, the kids wrote 2 lines of the Star Spangled Banner. 

Our art was to show the lights they saw when they heard the bombs bursting in air. 

We read more in our pioneer book and learned about the backwoods schools.  The kids find learning about the ways they lived then to be very interesting.  Often the one room schoolhouses were filled in the winters as there wasn't as much work to be done.  The teacher was often a male and was usually very strict to keep the boys in line. 

 We learned a 'new' way to measure even when you don't have a yard stick.   The kids used a string to measure their arm span. 

Next, they measured from their feet to the top of their heads and to their surprise their arm span was very close to the same as their height! 

We read about the farms the pioneers had and the baby animals they raised. We learned about the different kinds of fences that they made by hand because they did not have the tools we have today.  

Then, the kids built some different kinds with our Lincoln Logs! 

 

With much war in the early years of American History, we learned that many great men and women were a part of making America strong and free.  We must not forget the sacrifices or price these early patriots paid for our freedom that we enjoy today.  The kids finished the week writing our Pledge of Allegiance in their history note booking pages. 

This week we listened to the hymn, Eternal Father, Strong to Save.  I love adding these hymns into our weekly lessons. 

I don't say it enough but, my how we love Heart of Dakota.  I am so thankful for this great curriculum.  I love teaching my children about history and showing them the relevance the past has on our present and future.  I love how Heart of Dakota weaves the Lord into our lessons and shows just how present He was and is. 

Hope everyone had a great week.  If you are reading through my blog, please let me know your thoughts or any questions or comments you may have.  Thank you!

See you next week!



 

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!