Unit 5: Preparing

History: One thing I'm learning about myself is that history is my favorite subject. It makes me sad that I didn't care or pay attention to history growing up in public schools. It is so fascinating and I LOVE learning what has happened in our world in the past. It helps to understand the Bible and to see more clearly the "big picture" and how all of history has a place in this big plan of God for his creation. I think the one thing that I love most about Heart Of Dakota and My Father's World is that the core of both these programs centers around history. They make history come alive and exciting, so that my kids are just as fascinated as I now am. They are learning, not just to get the right answer on a test and then forget it, but they are also having fun. Hopefully they will not grow up with a love for history and more knowledge than I did. 


This week we started learning about ancient Egyptians! This is one of the earliest civilizations in which we have a written history. We learned about Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Rosetta Stone, which was discovered and unlocked the code allowing people to translate the ancient Egyptian writings. We used this website to look at a hieroglyphic alphabet and Sis tried writing her name.  NG kids Hieroglyphics-uncovered.  
We also learned about the Nile, Sphinx, pyramids, and mummies!

Her history project this week was to make an Egyptian clay cartouche (an oval shaped frame with a line at the bottom which indicated that the writing on it is a royal name.) We made a cartouche with hieroglyphic writing for the lady Pharaoh Hatshepsut's name. She was the first recorded female Pharaoh in history. We made our own clay out of salt, flour and water. Then we carved our hieroglyphics and let it air-dry overnight. Finally on day 3 we painted our cartouche brown. Boo joined us and made her own cartouche. She chose to make a rainbow and sun instead of Egyptian writing though.

In our Draw and Write Through History book, Sis learned to draw a pyramid and a sarcophagus (the stone coffin that held the mummy.)







Language: Sis vocabulary words this week to add to her journal were: sphinx, derricks, and classes (as in social classes.) 
In LA Sis is learning how to proofread using the correct proof marks. We're still diagramming sentences and reviewing parts of speech. Sis also wrote a letter to her Penpal Jordan this week. I think all kids once they can write should have a Penpal or two. It's great handwriting practice plus it's so much fun to have friends from around the country. Even though they've never met Sis feels like she knows her Penpals and they are always sending each other special little surprises, pictures and drawings, and saying things like "I love you, wish we lived closer." It's very sweet and has been a good experience for her.


Reading: Sis finished Reading "Sara Plain and Tall." That means we are finished reading all of the books in our Historical fiction genera. Next week will be book project week!

We also began reading "Grandpa's Box" again for history and adding figures to our own box. We're so excited to get to start reading this book again we have missed it the last few weeks.

I also started reading the book "Tirzah," by Lucille Travis, to her for our story time. It's about the life of a Hebrew slave girl in Egypt. If only Moses could persuade Pharaoh to let her family leave. Surely Yahweh will hear her prayers for a better life somewhere else. This story gives you a look at what it could have been like from the perspective of a Hebrew child in the days of the Exodus. 

Science: Bones! Bones! Bones! We are studying the skeletal system this week. We learned the names of a lot of bones this week and labeled them on the skeleton in our journal.There is so much more to bones though than just learning their names and locations. We're learning the parts of a bone (the different layers inside of a bone), What happens when a bone breaks, how bones grow, bone marrow, joints and ligaments. The most interesting fact we learned is that bones bleed when they break and the blood clots to help heal the bone much like a scab on a skin injury! We did an experiment with a chicken bone (which are very similar to human bones.) Sis had to cut it in half. We opened it up and looked at the red marrow inside where the blood cells are stored. Then we started a project where we are soaking one bone in vinegar over the weekend and another in water to see what happens. The vinegar is suppose to remove the calcium from the bone. We will see next week what happens.