Weeks Six & Seven

What a hectic couple of weeks! I decided to cheat a little and combine two weeks into one post because, really, that's what they were. We knew that Eric would be gone last week and that my parents were coming down to help us with a work project, and so we worked ahead the week before so that I would be free to help with the work project and not have to worry about history and science (which I sit and read aloud to them).

And it was worth it! We worked on our kitchen and we love it. And even though the girls still had to do all their other subjects they still had plenty of down time.

History: We studied how the Pilgrims came to make the decision about moving to America. I did not realize that they had lived in Holland for twelve years before they made the decision to America. I don't know that I ever understood their reasons for coming to America other than wanting the freedom to worship as they pleased--and while that is true, it was also that they did not like to see their children essentially becoming Dutch and losing their English roots.

Science: This week our Sassafras studies took us to Canada where we studied the farm habitat. We focused primarily on cows, chickens, honey bees, and spiders. I wasn't sure how I felt about this science when we began it but I really like it now. I decided to begin a binder for each of the girls and they can compile each animals picture and their projects. I like to be able to see progress!

Reading: Hannah is finishing up her pilgrim adventure book finally. We did have to do some remedial work on her Reading Comprehension assignment this week. She was rather dismayed when I read her answers and burst out laughing. The questions were something like "What makes tornadoes so dangerous?" She is supposed to read the story about tornadoes and answer the question. Which she did. But she simply wrote "It sucks". And that was it. Oh, dear...so she will have to redo that assignment!

For Grace she is still working through her Bob books but since we moved into the Word families book (which focuses on similar sounds like start, bart, mark, car, barb, etc). She fails to see the connection between the words and instead gets hung up on how long they are. I think we'll be trying something different next week...with Grace I feel like it always two steps forward and one step back...we make forward progress but it is always followed by some backward progress. I do not enjoy teaching beginning reading...it is a very challenging prospect!

Next week life should return to normal and Eric doesn't have any more trips scheduled that we are aware of. I am ready for a little bit of normalcy in our homeschooling. And the Pilgrims are finally boarding the Mayflower so woohoo, adventures to come!

Week Five

I'm getting a little behind already! So this week I'm going to combine two weeks into one...and technically speaking "week 5" is still an accurate title because according to our Heart of Dakota curriculum we are on week 5 (though actually week 6 of school).

We took a "light" week which is usually a good way of letting Mommy refresh. The girls continue with math and reading and quite often we do "catch up" for any projects we may have not had time for in the previous week. But we don't do our full curriculum which means no history, science, art, etc. I try to do this every 6-7 weeks though it was earlier this time.

We started our week with a camping trip at Peninsula State Park...a "living field trip"? It was a good time for our entire family as we got to spend time in God's wonderful world and explore nature a bit. The girls took a rigorous hike one day that they thoroughly enjoyed though we were all a bit surprised that they did so well with it.

 Eric and Sean getting ready to hike!

 

The girls enjoying the scenic view of Lake Michigan. I do not know why Hannah looks so unenthusiastic

On our way home we stopped and took in a corn maze. The kids loved that--they'd never been in one before!.

Unfortunately the rest of our week wasn't any less busy--this week was truly a pathetic attempt at a "light week". We did get some math and reading accomplished--but not much. And that's okay--so long as we get our 34 weeks of "full weeks" in we are fine-the light weeks are just there for my sanity but certainly not for necessity.

We took a couple days to have a rummage sale with some other homeschooling friends. The girls did help sell cookies at the sale so I suppose that counts as economics?

Week 5 (per HOD) was a lot busier.

History: We continued to study the Pilgrims' stay in Holland. Life was very different for them in Holland vs. England and so we've been reading about the many ways this was true.

Science: We continued our study of the desert habitat. We studied cobras and spiny lizards. 

Bible: This week we worked on memorizing  Psalms 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,I know that full well. The girls are not very good at memorizing but we work on it everyday nevertheless!

Field Trip: This week we enjoyed a trip to Little Farmer Apple Orchard. It was a very fun field trip. The kids got to learn about how bees pollinate the apples and more about the honeybee itself including watching an active hive. They learned about pests and then got to walk into a giant cooler and see how they store, clean, and sort the apples. This was followed by picking their own apple and a hayride to pick their pumpkin. They even got to enjoy caramel apples on the way home--with sprinkles, score!

 

And that was the highlight of our week! Next week we prepare for Daddy to be away for work again the following week so we are going to work ahead so that we can do some fun things while he's gone and not sacrifice school to do them! It will mean a busier week but it will be worth it!

Week Four

This week was a little different than normal because Daddy was out of town for the week. This naturally resulted in a week a little more difficult than usual. Grace had at least one major breakdown about a math problem that she has solved many times before--but apparently it eluded her this week!

Math: Both girls progressed in this area. Hannah continues to enjoy her math curriculum and has been regularly scoring well (it even grades her work for me, how great is that?!). I love to see how enthusiastic she gets about what she is learning. Believe me, that never happened before this. Grace struggled a bit at the beginning of the week but regained her confidence as we went along. I realized that it was the way they were presenting the problem that was confusing her. For example they would use 1+_=3 and she struggled to figure out that middle number. We'll continue to work on that. But with Grace it is always best to tread carefully--I have learned that if she becomes frustrated she becomes emotional and then it is usually best to return to the subject another day because after that she'll cry left and right!

Reading: Hannah has been reading The Mayflower Adventure for a couple weeks now.

 

When she finishes reading this book she will write out a report to show me that she comprehended the book. To be sure that we are addressing concepts like "main idea" and "order of events" we also do Reading Comprehension on Fridays which is a workbook that focuses on those ideas.

Grace continues to work on her beginning readers and really is improving. She eagerly gets out her book and reads it with confidence which is so heartwarming. She says that her favorite subject is reading so she must be feeling better about this.

Science: We continued with our Sassafras Science this week. We studied the camel and the cobra as we are now studying the desert habitat. Hannah is starting to get excited for anatomy. Though she loves studying animals she finds the human body more exciting and always has. She saw a anatomy kit at Hobby Lobby and has been asking for it ever since! 

The girls had a field trip to the Green Bay Botanical Gardens this week, too, where they studied various aspects of plants. Hannah was in a different group than me but Grace's group explored the garden with their five senses. It was a really well done field trip.

History: This week we continued to study the Pilgrims and their flight from England. This is history that I didn't actually know that well myself. I knew that the Pilgrims had come from Holland to America and that they were originally English but I don't think I realize that they had fled England amidst persecution. They were against the Church of England but it was illegal to go to any other church. Because they wanted to worship God in their own way, they actually had to leave in secret and then were caught and arrested--more than once! In the end the men managed to successfully leave England but the women and children got left behind because the ship's captain saw the English soldiers, panicked, and left before they could board the women. The women were subsequently arrested. Eventually, though, they were released and allowed to join their husbands in Holland. 

We also had a history field trip this week. We met Grandma and Papa for a tour of Pinecrest Historical Village. I thought this was a very interesting place and the girls seemed to enjoy the experience.

Aboard the caboose.

Hannah and Sean pretending to make lye soap from ashes and pig fat!

 Grace and Elaina enjoying a meal with wooden everything!

 Ready to go to school.

 Sean teaching arithmetic.

 Enjoying her lessons.

 Grandma and Farmer Sean.

 Elaina's turn to teach.

 Sean driving the play train.

 Grace checking out the rope bed in the play house.

 Elaina cooking a gourmet pioneer meal in the play house.

 Cutest firemen!

 Driving their wagon!

 

Considering that Eric was gone for the week it was a pretty full and interesting week. Next week, week 5, we are having a "light" week because we are going camping. The girls will be responsible for doing math and reading but get a break from science and math.