'14/15 Week 37 Days 3, 4, and 5

These last days have been bittersweet. There are many books that we started reading last September and finished up just now. Books about native Indians, poetry, science experiments, and Bible songs - all done now. Kind of sad. And yet we all are happy that one more school year is behind us.

Although we have accomplished all our 180 days of school, we still have a few fiction books to read, both read-alouds and reading practice stories, some science experiments are waiting to be conducted, and a few more math lessons worked through. 
Then, truly, we can say that Saara's first and Andrew's third grade is in the past.

Summer play and chores. The kids had fun playing with the cut grass. They pretended it was like making hay in the old times. In fact, they took it all into the compost pile.

Science. The little seeds of corn that Andrew planted for his science experiments have grown taller than him.

Husking the corn. The variety we used for Andrew's science class yielded some sweet tasting corn.

Summer play. It is time to catch fireflies.

Science. Spotting Venus in the evening sky.

Saara taking a look at Venus.

Math. Andrew figuring out the volume of the box.

Last day of school. We baked a cake and made home-made pink lemonade to celebrate the last day of school. We wanted to do more, but this weekend is going to be very busy, so we were just happy to sit down for a while and talk about our favorite books we read this year. Andrew's  most favorite was "The Sign of the Beaver" ...

... and Saara's the biography of George Muller.

'14/15 Week 37 Days 1 and 2

One by one, we are finishing up books. Yesterday and today, we read the last chapters in four books. Slowly, the end of the school year is getting closer and closer.

Today, Andrew and Saara had yet another math test which both passed fairly well. 
In LA, the kids brainstormed for ideas for their last writing assignment. We looked through all the pictures I have been taking since the beginning of the school year. It was so much fun! And that is what they have to write about - their school year. The idea webs they created today are promising. I am looking forward to reading their compositions.

Softball. Just a few more games left.

Science. Saara presenting her facts about the planets in the solar system.

The corn seedlings that Andrew planted in spring are producing some mouthwatering cobs.

'14/15 Week 36 Days 3, 4, and 5

These have been busy days. The league is trying to make up all the games that were cancelled because of rain, so we have been busy. 
Andrew discovered that he likes to retell stories rather than come up with new ones. It was surprising to me because his imagination is in overdrive sometimes. But obviously, he finds retelling a story much easier. He and Saara did a fine job on creating a story line/map of a Bible story we had been reading, and then writing it out in their own words.

'14/15 Week 36 Day 2

There was a furious storm raging outside in the early hours. Nobody got any sleep until the storm passed. The rains have done a lot of damage in Texas these days. The loss of lives just a few counties over is horrible. During our prayer times in the morning, we have been praying for our safety and for God's help in the affected areas.
So, we slept in a little this morning and started our school an hour later. The whole morning passed doing science. Saara has read through all the planets in the Solar System, and she was ready to make her own little accordion book. Today, she colored and pasted the pictures. Starting tomorrow, she will write a few facts about each planet.
Andrew has entered the world of atoms and molecules. He, too, did some cutting and pasting and constructed a model of an atom on paper.

Science. The Solar System in the making.

Andrew used a hole punch and colored paper to make the picture of an atom.

'14/15 Week 36 Day 1

We are getting close to the end of the school year. Just ten more days. 
Today was just a normal day of studies, nothing out of the ordinary - math, history, LA, and science.
 
The whole week end we left behind was anything but ordinary. It was rather wet. In fact, it was so wet it flooded. The creek came over its banks, but we all were safe inside. The kids had a fun time playing cards with Dad.

Surprisingly enough, the fields seemed to be in good condition despite the heavy rainfall this past weekend. The ballgames are on!

Power outage.

The worst of the flood waters.

Memorial Day ceremony by the Vietnam War monument. One more thing we did this past weekend.

'14/15 Week 35 Days 4 and 5

The days went past fast. On Friday, Saara close to flooded our table with water experiments. She was studying how the light travels trough water. She had a lot of fun, and I had a lot to clean up.
Also on Friday, the kids started to write a description of a painting. We are still learning how to write idea webs and how to use them in the writing process. I divided the assignment between two days. The first day they wrote down the ideas and penned down their drafts. The second day, we corrected and edited the drafts and they rewrote a clean copy. I am happy to see that both of them are feeling more comfortable with the task of writing, and that the process does not overwhelm them any longer. I have also seen that Saara has a natural talent for creative writing.

Science. One of many Saara's science experiments with light and water. The objects look broken in the water.

LA. Andrew working hard on his writing assignment.

'14/15 Week 35 Days 2 and 3

Nothing particular has been happening these past two days. Thankfully, it has not been raining, and the kids have been able to play outside a lot. 
This morning, Saara had her final (for now) dentist appointment. Back at home, we managed to have all the classes but science. To my greatest surprise, my reluctant creative writer Andrew showed a lot of interest in story writing this afternoon when I sat them behind a computer and introduced them to the Scholastic Story Starter at the Scholastic website. Both kids loved the assignment, and are looking forward to the next time we will do the Story Starter again.

Math. Saara learning about weights and observing how many ounces go into a pound.

LA. Both kids loved using Scholastic's Story Starter to type up their stories.

'14/15 Week 35 Day 1

The children woke up early this morning, so we started our classes earlier as well.
First, the kids took their 13th math test. An A for Saara and a B for Andrew.
In history, Saara was learning about Nero, Pompeii, and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. As we had time, we watched afew scenes from a classic “Quo Vadis?“ with Peter Ustinov as Nero.

And, finally, the rains have stopped, and Andrew was able to play his next game this evening.

'14/15 Week 34 Day 5

Today was a big day for Saara. She had her spring ballet recital in the afternoon. The best part was that Dad got done with his work in time and made it to the performance as well.
The morning, of course, was spent doing as much schoolwork as we could. Andrew enjoyed his science lesson on simple machines a lot.
We had even enough time to go for a nature walk around the property. It was wet, but very beautiful.

'14/15 Week 34 Days 3 and 4

Oh, this rain needs to stop. The kids have had a little time to play outside in the morning, but all afternoons and evening have been spent indoors because it is raining. Yes, we have all our lessons done, but - oh!- the mood is dragging. At least, mine. The kids seem to be content playing inside.

Rainy day activities. Crocheting.

LA. Saara LOVES writing in cursive.

Math. Andrew checking for right angles. A new thing he learned today.

'14/15 Week 34 Days 1 and 2

Another wet day. This, of course, meant no baseball practice for Saara. The kids had a chance to play outside in the morning before it started raining. The rest of the day we stayed indoors and worked on our school assignments. 

Andrew did a little victory dance as he understood how to solve divisions with bigger dividends. Something that looked so daunting to him at first turned out to be rather smooth and easy to solve. He is so happy!

Saara was learning about how it is possible to use mirrors to look around corners. We made a simple periscope and the kids had fun spying on each other for a while.

Science. Saara peeking around corners.

And spying on her brother with a homemade periscope.

LA. At the end of the day, Andrew presented his summery of George Washington's biography he finished reading a while ago to the whole family.

We had some visitors today.

'14/15 Week 33 Days 4 and 5

We finally made it to the store to buy a bag of m&m candy. With so many holidays evolving around sweets, we never buy candy, but end up rationing all the holiday booty. But we needed a bag of candy for Andrew's math assignment. Isn't math sweet?
Andrew had to draw a pictograph of different color candy found in a bag. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. He laid out the steps to organizing the data and presenting it as a graph. 
Saara had a sweet science project as well. We have been reading a book about space and the planets in the solar system. We have already reached Venus in our studies, but we backtracked a few lessons and revisited the different phases of the Moon. With Oreo cookies, of course. The kids remembered the activity from a couple of years back and were very excited to do it again. Sweet.

Math. Sorting the candy by color for a pictograph.

Science. After figuring out our crescents and gibbouses, the kids were ready to devour their Moon phases.

'14/15 Week 33 Days 2 and 3

These have been busy quiet days. We have been working diligently on all subjects. We started Saara's last read-aloud book, she also had her last ballet class on Wednesday. Today, both kids did well on their spelling test. We are marching on.

'14/15 Week 33 Day 1

We had a great team party at our place on Saturday, and it took us a whole two days to recuperate. With changes in Dad's schedule, and consequently in our schedule as well, it all worked out well. From now on, we will start our school week on Tuesdays and finish on Saturdays.

The fun get-together on Saturday served as a nice subject for a short writing assignment. It was interesting to how differently the kids saw the event. Saara loved her little impromptu performance with her friends, and Andrew was all about fishing with his team mates. 

Today, Andrew finished reading a biography of George Washington. I thought, a nice summary of his life is in order now instead of a book report.
During our Bible reading time, Andrew got very excited about our next native American tribe to study and pray for - the Shoshones. We all enjoyed the book we read about Lewis and Clark, and Sacajawea. It was like meeting an old acquaintance, and now we are encouraged to pray for her people living today.

Third game. Third loss. She still enjoys the game and her team mates though.

Math. Continuing learning about solids. Saara made her very own cube today.