'12/13 Week 19 Day 4

Half the school year is over! I can hardly believe it. I feel like we just started. 

I did not pack too much school work into our day today. Andrew did his reading (very well) and spelling which did not start off very well, but it was so good to see Andrew pull himself together when he relized that he was making one mistake after another. He finished strong, printing all the rest of the words correctly. And without using the stopwatch, again. I am so thankful for all the patience we both have had, because I see Andrew's spelling and his ability to focus improve a lot. Another reason why I like homeschooling. I am there to help along in struggles and share the victories. Sweet.
 
The reason why we had an easier day was because the library story time started up again. Saara has been enjoying it a lot, so we took a break from studies and headed to town. Sadly, the story time was cancelled, but we still arrived back home with a huge bag full of books. 

In history, we returned to Greece and started taking a closer look at the Spartans. In science, Andrew and Saara watched a truly amazing short video on cells and a fun one - "The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular". We also reviewed the different parts of the eye and how we see. It was related to our science video today which we watched and then tried to build our very own 'photo camera'. The box turned out well, but somehow we could not get any up-side down pictures. I am determined to try again tomorrow and I am sure, we can make it 'work' then.

One cool thing we did as soon as it got dark and that did turn out, was our 'Moon watching'. We took Andrew's new telescope outside and looked at the moon. It was SO COOL! I believe, I and my husband had as much fun (if not more) as the kids at looking at the Moon's surface and seeing the craters and all. We will do it again soon for sure.

This short video about cells has become my favorite.

Our 'camera'

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'12/13 Week 19 Day 3

The sunshine is out! We all had a cheery and sunny school day. Andrew was super, Saara is trying to be super. She is great. All the classes we had today went so smoothly and so well. Andrew did an excellent job getting himself focused and staying on the task in reading, spelling, handwriting, math - everything. Made him happy, made me happy and thankful.

After our history lesson about the Phoenicians, Andrew asked for the book and spent his break time looking at the pictures of battles.

For our vocabulary learning and reading comprehension we have been reading "Surprise Island" in the Boxcar Children series. The kids noticed that the Boxcar children had only bread and milk for a meal oftentimes. For lunch they asked for the same menu. I baked a batch of homemade bread this morning. We did add some honey to it as well.

It takes me 2,5 hours to make the bread and it only takes about 20 minutes to consume the WHOLE loaf. It is so good! I have the recipe below.

Andrew's science lesson was about our eyes and how we see. We checked the color of our irises.

We also made use of Andrew's microscope by taking a closer look at a single hair, a piece of dead skin, and a clipped sliver of a nail.

One can not ask much from a basic kid-friendly microscope, but a tiny piece of nail looks mighty big even with just 300x magnification.

CLASSIC SANDWICH BREAD

3c all-purpose flour
1/2 c milk
1/2 - 2/3 c hot water
4 tblsp melted butter
2 tblsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 packet (or 1/4 oz or 7 g) active dry yeast dissolved in 1 tblsp warm water

Combine all ingredients (make sure nothing is cold, all ingredients have to be warm) and stir till the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Transfer dough to a lightly greased surface, oil hands, and knead a few minutes until dough is smooth and supple. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover, allow to rise until puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 min.
Transfer dough to a lightly greased work surface, and shape it into an 8" log. Place the log in a lightly greased 81/2 x 41/2 loaf pan. Cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. Allow the bread to rise for about 60 min. until it has crowned about 1" above the edge of the pan.
Bake in 350 F for 35 min. until the bread is golden brown. The interior temperature should register 190 F Cool the bread before slicing. Store in a plastic bag at room temperature. 

I must say, we never get to storing the bread. It gets eaten within minutes.

"Octonauts"

"Octonauts" is one of Andrew's and Saara's favorite shows on Dinsey Jr. Why I think it is awesome? It introduces a lot of underwater animals and their habitats, ecosystems, conservation techniques, etc. in a very simple and understandable way. Saara's science book of the moment is about the oceans, and I find that she already knows a lot just by watching the episodes. 

I have to give a little shout out to "Finding Nemo" as well. Many a characters from that movie have been mentioned in our conversations as well.
 

Valentine's Day Crafts

As soon as we got our Christmas things packed up (finally), we started working on decorations for the next holiday - Valentine's Day. Saara was practicing making paper chains and stapling, Andrew was ready to move on the a more complicated heart chain. He even tried a couple of different designs on his own. 

'12/13 Week 19 Day 2

A day like any other. Only the end got a bit draggy. The weather? Possible. The stratus clouds have brought no rain, but they make everything look (and feel) rather gray. Before we succumbed to this gloomy-cozy curl-up-on-the-couch-kind-of-a-day, we did put a good dent into our school day. The best part of the day: I love it every time when both kids are unstoppably talkative during our morning Bible reading. They have plenty of their own opinions and any Bible story can remind them a multitude of their own experiences from the past. Even things I have forgotten. 

'12/13 Week 19 Day 1

We had a very busy day with lots of new information to learn. 
Andrew started a new science book about the human body. Last year he did very well learning about the internal organs and the digestive system, and today I was pleased to see that he remembered most of the information. So, it was more or less a review class.

We took our singular and plural studies to a new level as well: after recognizing nouns and their grammatical number, Andrew started to convert words in the singular form into the simple ('add the 's') plural form. 

In history, we visited king Solomon's northern neighbors, the Phoenicians. We looked at their alphabet, their trading routes, and watched a short video on them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLHNh4caX4Y). It was a good start and we'll learn more about them tomorrow. 

We started our day with solving math problems or 'crayon problems'.

Andrew practicing writing down and solving the crayon problems.

I am not doing any printing practice this week. Andrew has plenty of writing to do for his spelling practice and Language Arts.

Andrew could not take his eyes off the Phoenician and Greek alphabets. He was fascinated by them.

Trying to keep yourself still when you sister is tracing your boy on the paper is a science on its own.

Saara traced Andrew's body a bit too skinny, but he managed to fit all the major internal organs onto it.

Andrew explaining the function of every organ.

'12/13 Week 18 Day 6

I would like to swing and shout like Rapunzel in "Tangled" - "BEST DAY EVER!" We did have a great school day. Both kids showed a lot of patience, perseverance, and self-discipline. I loved Saara's new Bible verse that basically said that those who quarrel are fools. That helped to keep her from being too bossy, and Andrew from whining about her. :o) Siblings - never a dull moment.

In Language Arts, we tackled a new set of spelling words. I asked Andrew to trace the words using letter stencils. Just something new and different. 

Our Science class was fun. We reviewed the water cycle and the names and shapes of three types of clouds. I got some ideas and printable worksheets from Pinterest and Education.com.  And Andrew finally remembered the weird names of the three cloud types. 

In history, we revised the Hebrew Empire and its fall. Andrew did a good job retelling me the timeline of events from the arrival of the Canaanites to the East coast of the Med till the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. In his story, Andrew added a few facts he picked up from the video he watched yesterday. I am glad to see that the videos do help and that Andrew is paying attention. 

Again, it was a good day.

Andrew stenciling his new spelling words.

How do you get the water out of the sauce pan without touching the water? Answer: heat, vapor, condensation, precipitation. Sounds like water cycle, doesn't it?

Andrew learning about the clouds.

Saara got her first sewing lesson this afternoon. She is serious about it, isn't she?