'13/14 Week 4 Day 3

If yesterday was void of any extra things, then today was flooded with lots of videos. We watched most of them during our Science class, but one of them, an animation about the life of Joseph, we watched in parts throughout the day. 

We finished our school day with some exercises again. First, however, we read a few pages from a health book I borrowed from the library. 
As Andrew needs a little work on his co-ordination, a couple of the exercises were to help him with that.  He has mastered his skipping, jump-roping, hula-hooping, jumping-jacks, etc. and today he learned the V-jump (or scissors). As soon as he figured out what his arms and legs were supposed to do, there was no stopping him. :)

Bible. Joseph and his colorful coat.

Science. Saara has been charting the wind faithfully for six days.

'13/14 Week 4 Day 2

Mornings outside are becoming more and more pleasant.

Because of Saara's ballet class in the middle of the school day, we had a condensed version of our 'normal' day. In other words, lots of work got done but without any videos or extra illustrations that I usually insert to our textbook reading times. So, by and by, the day was good and productive.

Math. Getting it done while sister is dancing away.

One of the dancing princesses.

'13/14 Week 4 Day 1

Week 4 is underway and, I believe, I have become used to the new dynamics of teaching two children, the volume of material, and the method of delivering, presenting, and handling the classes. It is very 'doable', but it does make me think with awe of all the super homeschooling mothers who teach more than two children of different ages. 

Math. Playing shopping (or the family shopper in training).

History. From Charles the Great, Andrew has moved on to king Alfred of England. BBC has some fun activities on line for kids which we checked out at the end of our class.

Civics. A few weeks ago, Andrew read a book about the Statue of Liberty, last week we watched a show on TV about the history of the statue, and today, we talked about it again as one of the symbols of America. The worksheet the children filled out (from Education.com) asked for the home state of the statue, so I had them put together the US puzzle that proudly featured the statue as well.

History. With Saara, we are reading about the Roman times. Being girls, we - of course - had to try out some 'Romanish' hairdos.

'13/14 Week 3 Day 5

All was relatively quiet today. Like the life of fishermen on the isle of Capri before the Blue Grotto was re-discovered. We did our work, brought another load of books from the library, and ate ourselves silly on blue jello. 

Our 3D rendering of Ann Weil's "The Red Sails to Capri".

'13/14 Week 3 Day 4

It was all about the wind today. At least it seemed so. The Science class took the better part of our morning. At first, we went over our digestive system and the role our teeth and tongue have in all this (Andrew). We finished with a long lesson about the wind (Saara). A very colorful one, I must say.

Our last class - Art - was colorful too. Once again, we studied primary and secondary colors and did a whole lot of mixing. 

I took a whole lot of photos today. Below is just a fraction of all the hard but colorful work we did today (did I say 'colorful' again?):

Andrew's Science. The kids were looking at their teeth today - the differences in shape, position, and function. I asked them to bite their teeth into an apple and we saw clearly the marks of their incisors, canines, and even molars.

Saara's Science. Saara loves her science videos. She remembers them from two years ago, but now that the whole DVD is HERS alone, she is much more eager to watch and comment ("Oh, he is going to make a mess. He really needs a bigger bowl." etc.).

After we established our compass directions - which was easy to do as the sun had just risen in the east, we set to figure out where the wind was blowing today. At first, out favorite 'wet the finger in your mouth' method, and then 'throw the leaves in the air' method.

Saara now has a task to record her wind observations in her Wind Chart for the next seven days.

Every good wind study needs a pretty wind sock.

While Andrew was finishing his sock, Saara tested hers over the vent.

LA. Andrew filled out his first book report.

Math. 'And the queen in the parlor was counting her money'. A complete misquote, but Saara did count quite a bit of money today, by 1s and by 2s.

Art. Secondary colors in the making.

'13/14 Week 3 Day 3

Andrew had two companions today: a tissue box and a trash can. He hauled those around the house all day. Poor boy is blowing his nose and sneezing a lot. Hopefully, he will be over this cold very soon.

Because he was not quite back to his normal healthy self yet, I cancelled our PE exercises this afternoon. Both kids filled the time with a lot of creative play. Andrew built a farm and was milking a cow (stuffed polar bear). Saara was in a play tent with her dolls and books.

The rest of the day went as planned. 

Now, this is a place I would like to pay my tribute to the great books of literature Sonlight has chosen for Core C. Andrew and I finished reading Ann Weil's "Red Sails to Capri" tonight. Did Andrew find this book interesting - yes, he did. Did I like it? Let me tell you what this book has done. 
At first, I did not think much of the story - cute and well written. That was all. And then the last chapter, when they find the grotto and how it changes the whole island of Capri - it has kept me on the computer for the better part of the night. Of course, I had heard of the Blue Grotto before, but I never knew the story behind it. Fascinating! I have read the articles and looked at the pictures and read again about the three men who despite the island's superstitions entered the cave in 1826. Fascinating! I told Andrew, I would find some pictures online about the grotto, and he said, "But Mom, I want to see it in person!" Me too, dearest. Me too! Good literature can inspire and give dreams, and, maybe one day we will lie flat on the bottom of a small boat entering the blue cave in Capri.

Bible. The story of Joseph.

The stories they come up afterwards are amazing. This one was 'the camel in the pit', I believe.

Math. Higher math.

Just because God is good and blesses us with pretty things.

August Kopisch "Die Blaue Grotte auf Capri". The German painter August Kopisch, his friend Ernst Fries, and a local fisherman Angelo Ferraro entered the cave on April 18, 1826.

'13/14 Week 3 Day 2

What a fun day we had yesterday! Saara had her first ballet class. She was not too sure about it at first, but she got over her anxiety of meeting a LOT of new people before the class started. She loved the whole experience and wanted to have a class every day!
Both kids also enjoyed our lunch at a restaurant and then a nice afternoon at the museum with friends. A great day!

Well, today we were back at the grindstone. Not SO fun. :)

During our Bible reading, the kids said that they want to read their own Beginner Bibles. I had no objections to that. We will still continue with Saara's Bible Stories book, but the kids will read their chapters as well. It will make the Bible time a bit longer, but I do not mind. I love it - they want to read!

Our Science and LA went really well and fast, but during our History class, I noticed Andrew starting to 'droop'. He paid attention and was answering my questions focused, but later while finishing his Math workbook, things got out of hand, and my boy ended up getting sick. He is laying down now and telling me he is feeling better. And that he wants to build a fort with couch cushions. I might take it as a good sign. :)

LA. Andrew may know is letter sounds, but Saara is still learning (although she can read Level 2 books - go figure.) Both kids love the short animal animation on my computer: http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=1mQivl8OfFU

More LA. Andrew has moved from Common and Proper Nouns to Pronouns. Andrew and Saara did some pronoun sorting this afternoon: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pronoun-Chart-Printable-Activity-633261