Unit 3: Preparing

We did our best to finish school this week with nasty colds...we survived though. A lot of Unit 3 was just a continuation of all the books and things we were learning last week. Here's a peek into some of the things we learned.

History: We continued to learn about the Ice Age in history. Sis' first activity was to research "cave art." We looked at different pictures online and read facts about ancient cave paintings. Again these amazingly detailed works of art point to the fact that "cavemen" were not primitive ape-like beings, but intelligent advanced people just like us and every person since God made Adam.

She learned how to draw a Woolly Mammoth and did her copywork from her Draw and Write through history book... 

Her weekly art project was to make a cave art painting, Boo joined us. On day one we made our cave wall by cutting a piece of paper from a brown paper bag. We crumpled it and dipped it in water and tea  bags to make it soft and give it an old "stony" appearance. Day 2 we looked at cave art samples of a bull and mammoth and sketched our own figures. we learned that many caves had hand prints painted next to the images. Archaeologists wonder if this could be a way for them to put their signature on their artwork. So, we decided to add hand prints to our cave art too. On day 3 we painted our cave art drawings.  

We also added "Tower of Babel," to our timeline. This is our accordion style timeline that we will be adding to  throughout the school year. We are "young earth creationists." Which means we follows the belief that the earth we live on is still fairly young (6000-10,000 years) and that according to Bible History the "beginning or Creation" can be traced back close to around 4-5000 years before Christ. In other words there is no such thing as "billions of years ago" on the earth. Both girl's (Heart of Dakota and My Father's World) curriculum hold young earth views. So our timeline starts with Creation at appox. 4000 BC and we will be adding event throughout history to present time.

Bible:  
We're still enjoying our Apologia Bible curriculum. This week we looked at some really fun opical illusions. We talked about how 2 different people can look at the same thing and see it differently. The way a person see's the world depends on what they believe to be true. However, while both views of an optical illusion are right, there is only one right way or truth in life. We compared it to 2 people wearing glasses...one with clear lenses and the other with pink lenses. While both people look at the same world they will see it differently, only the one with the clear glasses on will see things as they truly are. There are absolute truths and only those who look to God's word for truth will see things as they truly are.
   
Science:  This week was all about cells! We're starting with the basics of anatomy. What is a cell? While it was fun learning about cells ( I feel like I'm in school too learning this stuff!) we definitely had information overload! We tried our best to understand DNA and RNA, the parts of a cell and their functions, etc, but this stuff is not easy to understand! Sis did pretty well with it though. At one point we learned that each person begins as just a single cell and that one cell contains all the DNA about that person and who they will be! That right there seems to me to be proof enough that even at the very start (a single cell) that it is a life! That actually turned into an unplanned but important conversation with Sis about abortion. I'm glad we had that talk though, because it is a serious issue that my girls may face one day. I want to be open with them about it. I want them all to understand life begins at conception and even before that the Bible says "God knew you." 

Sis drew and labeled a cell in her journal. 

 

We will be taking a week off of school for vacation, so no new posts next week. One of my most favorite perks of homeschooling is taking vacations right after everyone else has gone back to school! We usually try to plan our trips around this time every year. We like to get 3 or 4 weeks into our school year and then take a week break for some fun and relaxation! The cost of hotels and tickets are always lower after Labor day. We pretty much have water parks to ourselves...no long lines or crowds at tourist attractions. Most places offer great deals around this time of year (bc they're desperate for business!) and it's still nice enough weather to enjoy a great vacation! See you all in a couple weeks!