RTR Week 6

This week we learned about Roman architect. We looked at arches and aqueducts. We learned that many of the Roman bridges build 2000 years ago are still in use to day! Those are some pretty well made bridges! We did a little project to see how much stronger an arched bridge is compared to a straight bridge. We used pennies as our soldiers to walk across abridge made out of index cards. First we made a straight ridge across two piles of books. Our bridge held 6 pennies before it collapsed. Then we added an index card arch to our bridge. We lost count on the number of penny soldiers that we put on top. It was even strong enough to hold some horses and chariots ( nickles and quarters.) One arch under our bridge made a tremendous difference in the amount of weight it could support.

The next day we attempted to actually build a Roman arch and failed miserably! We tried to make it out of ice-cubes because we didn't have the 15 pudding boxes it called for. Maybe we will try it again later if we can come up with the right materials.

We did find a great series on Pureflix that goes perfectly with our history lessons called Friends and Hero's. It's about a bunch of Jewish kids living in the Roman Empire and they befriend a Roman girl (niece of Tiberius) even though the Jews hated the Romans. There are 3 seasons of episodes on there, so my kids have been binge watching this show after school each day and they love it. We have seen so many things in this cartoon that we have learned about so far...just last episode they were attending a Roman play with the masks and everything we learned about last week! There was a man from Gaul, and the kids recognized it! I'm loving having a visual like an exciting cartoon to re-enforce what we're learning! I really would love to buy the whole series on DVD.

In Bible we looked at Old Testament prophesies about Jesus. Each day we had a worksheet that listed some  prophesies and our job was to look up and read the fulfillment in the New Testament. We took a long time to do these assignments, but I think the kids got a lot out of it. It was amazing to see how much of Christ's life was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened. Not only where he'd be born and what he'd do, but even details such as him riding on a donkey's colt and detailed descriptions of his death.
The girls copied their memory verses for handwriting practice.



For science we had a very simple experiment this week. We froze salt water and regular sink water and compared them. The salt water did not fully freeze. It just got slushy. We learned about the importance of having salt water in the oceans of cold regions of the earth.









Baby Bear learned the letter M this week and the number 2. We learned all about the moon. She made a moon badge to wear, did all of her worksheets, salt tray, we sang songs, and she was able to memorize all the months of the year! One book that we are using this year is Amazing Animal Alphabet. Each letter of the alphabet has an animal to learn about. The back of the book has information to learn about the animals on each page. This week was M is for Mandrill. I love that she's learning names of unusual animals rather than just M is for monkey! We discovered that Rifiki from the Lion King (one of Baby bears favorite movies) is a mandrill! Baby Bear was excited that she now knows what he is. I love this book though. It's simple, yet she's actually learning a  lot from the lessons.

Probably the most fun thing we did this week was build a spaceship with Baby Bear while learning about the moon. We already had a huge cardboard box that I have been saving, so we cut it out and all the girls helped paint it. Then they had fun playing with it.

RTR Week 5

This week was a little different with Dad going back to work. We had gotten use to him waking us up and being here for our morning routine (he's an early bird, unlike the rest of us). Now he's gone when we wake up, so it's been a little bit strange. We managed to complete our school week in four days though and we celebrated Boo's 8th birthday!

In Bible we started memorizing verses in the book of Romans. We have three verses that we are studying. We copied them for handwriting and have been practicing reciting them. We're also still working on our memorization of the new Testament books. The girls played a NT books card game that came with our MFW curriculum. Bible is the first thing we do in the morning so we're usually still in pj's at this point.

This week in math both girls started something a little new in their curriculum. Sis started using her new Algebra/Decimal inserts with her MathUsee. MUS has blocks and different manipulatives that come with each book. The main concept of the program is to "build" the problems and be able to see the "why," rather than just the "how."  Sis has used MUS from the beginning and it's worked great for her.



Boo is using Math Lessons For a Living Education. This math is so hands on and fun (math isn't suppose to be fun right?) This week she started making her subtraction flashcards. Not just regular old flashcards though. This curriculum uses "Right Brained Flashcards." You know the side of your brain that's artistic and creative (the total opposite of math?) All of my kids are very right brained, so this was great. These large flashcards have the entire equation on the front including answer. Then they have a story that the child makes up and illustrates. This way they can actually see the math problem in a real and creative way and hopefully remember them better (not just with their left brain by memorizing facts but with their right brain too!) Boo had so much fun making these. We did a lot of them this week but we still have more to go. When they are done we will put them together on a ring to form a flip book that she can read through to practice.

For our studies on Rome we looked at Roman social classes, clothing, theater, and some of the Roman gods. We learned where all the names of our calendar's months originated. (July-Julius Caesar, August-Augustus Caesar, and most of the other months are named after roman numbers or gods.) In our history book we've finally reached the period where Augustus becomes the first emperor of Rome and the republic finally becomes an empire. All three girls did a craft when we learned about Roman clothing. We made a "golden Roman brooch" that we will save until later in the year when we actually make an entire Roman costume.

We started reading a new book for our history read-aloud time called "The Bronze Bow." So far Sis and I are enjoying reading this together. It doesn't keep Boo or Baby Bears' attention as well, but Boo's been listening to some parts. This story goes well with our history studies though, because it takes place in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. The main character is a runaway boy named Daniel  who lives in the mountains with a band of rebels plotting to take back their city from the Romans and awaiting a Messiah who will deliver them from oppression. This book is historical fiction, exciting, and a Newberry metal winner.

Just for fun and quiet reading time Sis read "The Indian in the Cupboard." This was my favorite book when I was a kid, so I thought she would like it. Baby Bear and I have been reading a daily picture book. This week we read Peter Rabbit and Curious George stories.


In science we are still on the third day of creation but we've moved from learning about the soil to talking about the seas that were formed when the dry ground appeared. All three of the girls do science together, although Baby Bear doesn't yet grasp the concepts being taught she still likes to help with the experiments. Our experiment was about salt water and fresh water we used food coloring  to color our different types of water. That way when we mixed them we could clearly see what was happening. When we mixed fresh water into the salt water it floated on top. When we mixed salt water into fresh most of it sank while some mixed with the fresh water. We learned that it is easier to float in the oceans and seas because the volume of the water weighs more. We looked at scuba divers wearing weights so that they will be heavier than the volume of the water and be able to dive farther into the depths of the ocean. After a science lesson Sis writes and illustrated a paper about what we learned to file in her notebook, while Boo just answers questions about the lesson orally. Baby Bear watches the experiment and then runs off to play. You'd be amazed at what the little ones learn though when they are just "being a helper" to their older siblings. Before bed one night this week Baby Bear was asking me something and I could quite understand what she was saying. Then I figured out she was saying "Momma is igneous rocks melted?" (we're still working on grammar.lol) I couldn't believe she had not only listened to last week's science lesson but remembered a word as big as igneous a week later!