Week 14

After having over two weeks off for holiday break, it has been so hard getting back into school. We've been trying to get as much done as we can, but it's been difficult motivating anyone. We had a good Christmas and got a lot of rest though. Here is a little bit of what we've been working on the past week.

History:
Sis is learning about the Assyrians in her history studies. She did research on Aram or Syria to gather information about the area. She has been reading all of the bible stories and history lessons on her own, then she adds to a timeline, takes notes, and writes narrations about what she learned in her notebook. Honestly I do not love this method of learning. I wish I was more involved in her history studies. next year we will all be learning history together, so I can't wait! We are still reading the book God King together which talks a lot about the Assyrians.

I didn't take a picture of Sis' notebook pages from this week, but she did all of those as usual.

She also did a mosaic project this week. She had to draw and color picture of a soldier riding a chariot. Then she had to cut the picture into 64 half inch squares and number them. Then she glued the squares into her notebook to make a mosaic. Some of the squares got cut a bit too small and didn't quite line up, but it still turned out pretty good. Sis loves any kind of art project, so she enjoyed this assignment.

Boo is still learning about the states along with the state birds and flowers. This week we added the States of Maryland and South Carolina to her map and learned some cool facts.

Spelling: I just wanted to give some recognition here to Boo for getting all of her spelling words right this week! This is the first time that she has been able to get them all. Spelling does not come easy to her and she gets so upset when she misses words on her tests. She had a couple that she really struggled with earlier in the week, but she was able to remember them by Friday. I'm very proud of her.
We also did a lot of handwriting practice this week. We are working on forming all of her letters properly and writing on smaller lined paper (Boo tends to write her letters huge.) She has improved so much since last year. I couldn't believe it when she brought me this worksheet. The top word she traces and the one underneath she does by herself. It is almost perfect and this is from a kid who had really sloppy handwriting a year ago!

Science: In our study on light we learned that with the right tools light can be bent to make it go where we want it to go. We did a fun experiment where we cut a small hole in a plastic bottle and filled it with water. We shinned a flashlight on the hole through the bottle and put a hand in the sink underneath the stream of water pouring out. As we moved our hand close to the bottle a light appeared on our hand where the water was hitting it. The water bent the light and causing it to shine on the hand rather that traveling straight ahead. We then learned how we can use fiber optics to get this same result. Many occupations such as doctors and plumbers use this technology to do their jobs.


The girls drew pictures of the experiment with arrows showing the light passing through the water, reflecting off the air, and back into the stream.






Reading:
Boo and I are still reading Farmer Boy for her read-aloud. Sis started reading my Narnia book on her own. She just recently started to getting interested in these books. She read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on a long car ride on vacation last fall. I've put off letting her read this series until I felt she was old enough to understand the allegory and the good vs evil. After that we watched the first movie together and she loved it. So, this past week she started reading Prince Caspian. I told her when she finishes we'll discuss it and watch the second movie. As a writer for children, I've always been a Narnia fan. My favorite part is when the lion (Aslan) is voluntarily sacrificed in place of Edmond for his mistakes of betraying his family and following the White Witch. I typically do not allow my children to read books or watch movies that contain any sort of magic or witchcraft, just a rule we have in our family. For these I make the exception. Here's why; these books were written by a christian for the purpose of helping children understand truths about Christ and our enemy through allegory. They do not glorify witchcraft but are meant to show that there is no place for it in the Kingdom of God. They have such a powerful story of redemption, Christ's sacrifice, great examples of our battle against Satan, and victory over the evil one. Also, they are great conversation starters. I'm really glad that one of my girl's is finally old enough to share them with me.

Art/Poetry: This week we read a poem called "The Road Not Taken." We painted a road that divided into two roads. The girls were excited to get back to our watercolor painting after having a few weeks off.

I addition to our paintings we did a lot of other art activities this week. The girls got a lot of art supplies and activities for Christmas. So they've had plenty of coloring and marker type activities and arts and crafts. We got over 6,000 beads for Christmas from Grandpa so the girls spent hours one day making bracelets. I love getting gifts that we can use for school projects.

 Boo also had a fun time this week making things with her new Sew Cool machine. She wanted this so bad. She asked to learn how to sew, but after researching I decided that since she is only 7she is not quite old enough to learn to use a real sewing machine with a needle. Most are for ages 12 and up. When I discovered that she mostly wanted to be able to make cool things for her dolls more than she actually wanted to learn to sew. I found this. This sews felt sheets without having to use thread, has a protective shield so that you can not touch the needle and comes with some fun projects. You still have to guide the felt under the needle as you would with a real sewing machine, so she is learning a little about how to really sew. When she is older I will buy her a real one, but for now this was good. She made some pillows for her dolls, a doll purse for herself and Baby Bear, and an eye glass case for Sis. I thought it was sweet that she used some of her felt to make gifts for her sisters.