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!