'13/14 Week 8 Day 1

Our day was rather heavy on the science side. Saara read a lot about the polar regions and Andrew did some experiments involving sight. 

Andrew filled out another book report and is ready for his next reading practice book which is a poetry book this time. He has really enjoyed reading rhyming lines in the past. 

Our last class today was music appreciation. We sang some songs and looked at the basic long and short notes. Their music teacher at the children's choir introduced the notes and rests to them a month ago. So today, it was a good review of the information they already knew. 

Science. Saara reading and comparing the Arctic and the Antarctic. A great poster from a book by the Schoolzone.

Andrew checking Saara's peripheral vision.

Music appreciation. Among other things, Andrew and Saara learned and tried playing short and long notes with the triangle. It was a lot of fun. We used a Youtube tutorial for this activity.

The notes and rests and the triangle on the head. :)

13/14 Week 7 Day 5

I stayed up late last night cutting and folding and gluing together an awesome replica of the Israelite tabernacle. A wonderful website to find this easy printable craft is sundayschoolsources.com. 

Andrew continued to learn about the five senses. Yesterday, we read about how our eye works and he enjoyed some experiments with light so much, he wanted to repeat them again today. 
We also read about how our sense of smell works. This topic produced a lot of giggles when we talked about 'buggers'. But we were very serious when we discussed why it is so important to grab a tissue when we sneeze. 

We read a whole lot more today - in history, reading comprehension, vocabulary learning, reading practice. I am so thankful, that unlike yesterday, we had a lot of 'oomph' that kept us going and enjoying every minute of it.

Bible. The tabernacle.

 

Science. Andrew is wiggling his finger in front of the flashlight and watching its upside down image appear on the wall. That is how our eyes work.

'13/14 Week 7 Day 4

Bible. This is our Moses with a brightly shining veiled face.

This was an odd day. We did our school work, but it was completely 'lackluster'. Even our little Bible play in the morning did not help much. Oh, we got all our work done well, but the usual energy was not there. 

Oh, well...

'13/14 Week 7 Day 3

The sunshine outside drew both kids out of doors every time we took a break today. Great fall weather. The cheery feeling helped us get our schoolwork done in time and well. Andrew took his third math test and did a good job. Ordinary day, but wonderful nevertheless.

'13/14 Week 7 Day 2

It was a long day, but in the end, it really did not matter because both kids had a great attitude. There were a lot of things that dragged our school day into late afternoon. All of them were a lot of fun and, truthfully, it is not our fault that there's only 60 seconds in one minute. Time flies when you are having fun.
We also did a great deal of very serious 'sit-down-and-write-in-your-workbook' type work - practicing handwriting, spelling out short vowel word families, tacking additions and subtractions, etc. So, this balanced our day into the realm of 'very good' once again.

Math. Saara reviewing ordinal numbers using buttons.

LA. We have not memorized any poems for a while. I chose a simple four-line poem from Saara's "High Five". We came up with some cute hand motions to it and within a few minutes Saara entertained us with a sweet recital. Video below.

Civics. We reviewed all the symbols and some facts about them today. Also, we looked up all the National Holidays in 2013.

Science. It rained all morning long, but right after lunch, we were able to go outside and collect a few leaves for Saara's science class. She has been learning about plants and how they need soil and water for growing. Today, it was all about sunlight and photosynthesis.

We looked at different leaves, their shapes and texture.

Along the way, we squeezed in a little art project.

Andrew's science was about one of the five senses - the sense of touch. He used his sister as a guinea pig for an experiment or two.

Freezing your fingertips (holding the ice cube for 40 seconds) numbed the sense of touch and it was not easy to pick up rice grains.

This experiment was called 'fooling your senses'. One hand from the hot water bowl and the other from the ice cold water bowl, felt the warm water in the middle differently.

'13/14 Week 7 Day 1

Saara could not wait to start her school work again. Andrew was not as excited and he really started pulling a face when he saw his math lesson. Partly, I do not blame him. Today's portion (and tomorrow's as well) was quite a lot. I am considering dividing it up into smaller sections. 
Other than that, it was Saara's ballet day which means using a shorter version of the lesson plan. What I had planned, got done and it counts as a successful school day, the more that the kids worked hard at their lessons.

Saara learned a thing or two about the oceans and seas today. She knows "Finding Nemo" by heart, has seen numerous videos about sea animals and read books about the same. So, it was kind of a tall order to find something new for her. I did, however. A few videos about the sea floor on Youtube floored her and her brother.

2013 Field Trips: 12 States Plus Washington DC

During our two weeks of vacation, Andrew and Saara traveled through 12 States (excluding Texas), plus we took a short day trip to Washington DC. After every leg, the kids and Dad took out the US map and tracked our travels with a highlighter. All of us were thoroughly amazed how far we traveled and how much we saw and experienced. I am thankful to God for His protection and His blessings during our travels.

Together with Texas it would be 13 states in two weeks. We got out at every border to stretch and take pictures at the welcome centers.

From one end to the other. Almost.