History: Our history focus this week was, "Coming into the Golden Age of Greece." We studied the Greek and Persian wars. We went back to look at the time of King Darius in Persia. We learned about the Battle of Marathon. Apparently this is a very well known famous battle, but I had never heard of it! I'm always learning so much right along with my kids. The word "marathon" comes from this battle where a messenger died after running 26 miles to deliver news of the victory. We also learned about Daniel who lived in Persia at the time of Darius (remember he threw him to the lions?) Then about Darius' son Xerxes(2 weeks ago we learned that Xerxes married Ester.) We also learned about the burning of Athens, and then finally the Parthenon and Golden Age of Greece.
Sis had to do a written narration on the "Golden Age of Greece." She doesn't love doing these narrations, but it's good for her to be able to put on paper what she has learned.We also finally finished our Draw and Write Through History book, so no drawings this week. Sis is not happy about that. I might have to add in some drawing assignments on my own soon, because she's going to miss it.
Sis researched a trireme, which is a war ship used in the time of King Darius. Her history project was to make a trireme ship out of cardboard, aluminum foil, and clay. The other girls were really jealous and wanted boats for their Littlest Pet Shops, so they ended up joining in on this project (even though they still have no clue what a trireme is.) The next day they floated their boats and played with them in water. 
Reading: We're on book #3 for our fantasy genre. This week I decided to have her read aloud to me instead of on her own. We began reading "Wind in the Willows." I try to have her read as much classic literature, and well written books as I can find. She is also reading "A Cricket in Times Square," on her own for fun, which also is a fantasy.
Science:
We finished up our chapter on nutrition in our anatomy book by learning about minerals. We had a couple projects to finish up our unit. First Sis had to make a food Pyramid and then plan a restaurant dinner menu. She had to use her pyramid, knowledge of nutrients, and cookbooks to come up with 5 healthy meal choices. Then she had to prepare one of the meals. The meal she ended up making was, "baked 5 cheese ravioli, green beans, and french bread with butter. Our meal had nothing from the fruit group, so instead of an unhealthy dessert Sis added mandarin orange fruit cups. She even asked to use our Christmas dinnerware for her meal and set the table for us. She did a great job
Other than that we've enjoyed some after school Christmas movies this week. We have a NO TV or video game rule until after everyone is finished with school in our house. That is usually after 4. So the TV is not turned on at all throughout the day unless it's to watch our math videos. Boo's school work only takes about one hour in the morning, so she and Baby bear are not allowed to watch cartoons while Sis finished school. This way Sis has a quiet house without the distraction of tv, all of their daily TV time is limited, and the younger's are forced to color/ play with toys and find creative ways to use their time. After school everyday they all get TV time before dinner. They either each get to pick a 30 min show or they agree on a movie.
Next week is Christmas!!!! So we will have a short week and then be off until after the new year!
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