The last two weeks Joe and Jack completed a unit study that I planned for them on flowers, worms and the seasons. Since flowers grow in the soil and worms live in the soil, I figured worms would tie in great with flowers, and I threw in the seasons for Joe. Also, with Hanna's science course being Botany this semester she included Joe in some of her reading and projects. We enjoyed all that we did for this unit study. It was fun, and I can't wait for our next unit--we are going to cover insects the whole month of June.
I dyed several different types of pasta for Jack to use for a couple of his tot trays and to include in a rainbow themed sensory bin. Joe had fun with the pasta tray and sensory bin too They pulled these out lots the last couple weeks.
Dyed abc pasta and sensory bin including pom poms, dyed pastas, silk flowers, flat glass stones (all from Dollar Tree)
Here are pictures of the boys working, and some of their finished crafts from our unit study.
Here are the above pictures described in order:
paper plate rain craft--I had Joe color a paper plate all over with markers. We waited for a rainy day and when it began to rain he went outside running around in the rain with the plate. He came back in and let the rain drops swirl around on the plate. He LOVED this!
Jack enjoying his ABC pasta tray.
Jack painting with dandelions. He was so cute to watch. He thought painting with the flowers was funny:-).
Jack making the cotton ball cloud for his rainbow after we read Barney's Rainbow.
Jack's flower letter "F" picture made with flower stickers.
Jack's finished rainbow.
Joe doing Singapore math. He is measuring using legos as a unit of measure. Estimating the answer first, then finding out the actual answer.
Having fun with the sensory bin.
Dandelion painting on a paper plate. This could easily be made into a flower by fringing the edges and adding a green stem and leaves from construction paper--I intend to do this.
Joe completed another fun Science Experiment in a bag. After reading books about worms we went out one afternoon after it rained (thanks for the reminder Hannah), found some worms, placed them in a plastic cup and watched them tunnel into the soil. Afterward, we wet the soil and waited to see what the worms would do. They quickly came to the surface for air (you can see one little worm poking his head up from the soil below.) We transferred the worms to another cup of soil that wasn't overly saturated with water and observed them for just a couple days. Joe loved watching the worms and had a blast with this experiment.
Joe made a dandelion picture by blowing a puffy dandelion onto a black piece of construction paper. He first took a glue stick and rubbed big circles of glue onto it in different spots so the seeds would stick.
After the dandelions dried, he used oil pastels to draw on stems, leaves, clouds and sunshines. This was a really neat art project! I actually ran it through my laminator and it looks super.
Joe made a cute flower pot craft using construction paper, paints, play doh and a section of a cardboard egg carton. He thought the finished craft was really "adorable" as he put it, and I think it is very sweet and pretty.
Joe and I are studying Benjamin Franklin in history right now. I have a couple science and art based projects centered around Benjamin Franklin that we will do over the next couple weeks.
Hanna worked on Science projects centered on flowers as well. The first was a flower dissection complete with a diagram (top two pictures). She also placed two fresh flowers (from my birthday bouquet) in a container filled with a layer of Borax powdered laundry detergent. She then completely covered the flowers with the Borax and put the lid on the container. She will remove them next Monday, and the flowers are supposed to be dried out, but look fresh (bottom two pictures).
Hanna is studying middle ages this year in History. She worked on reading The Door in the Wall, a book about a crippled boy living in a monastery--she said it was good, but sad--over weeks 3 and 4 of our homeschool. She also completed two maps, a timeline she made (as well as working on her Classical Timeline), and sketched a drawing of a monastery of her own design.
Hanna has almost completed her first Life of Fred math book. As of right now her average is a 93. I hope it stays this good or even better for the final grade in a few weeks. She has completed another unit in grammar and is doing very well with our new grammar curriculum. We both really like it.
So far our school year is off to a very good start. So much more relaxed and slower paced than last year. I am not feeling pressured at all like I did last year. I am moving at the kids' pace and feel a sense of peace that this will benefit us all. I have lightened our load in the arts and crafts dept. and this is making us all happier. Our curriculums are so fun. I am happy with each of them. Jack is still doing very well with his "school". He asks every single morning to do "cool". I love being able to include him.
I can't wait to begin our insect unit! I've found so many ideas, books and crafts/projects. The only problem will be deciding which ones to include without including too many:-).
Today when I was over at Mom's and Dad's dropping off some party stuff (Joe's stuff), Dad took me on a tour of the garden. I have glanced in the garden over the last couple weeks, but it's been a while since I've really walked through it. Dad took time and told me what every single plant was--there are so many, and everything is growing so big so fast! I got tons of pictures....
My dad told me he and his neighbor, Mr. Burns, who he does the garden with, use as much rain water as possible for watering. They catch it in these barrels, and then hook a hose to it for watering. I had no idea they used this watering system. I was very impressed. This is great!
This is a picture of the compost machine and the compost pile.
Of course, I had to get a picture of the gardener.
I love these pictures of my dad. He is so hardworking, so full of love, generosity and has such a good sense of humor. He commented while we were walking through the garden about how much he enjoys gardening, and I know he does. I am really thankful I got the chance to spend this time with him today. I don't get much time at all alone with my dad and when I do I remember how special he is and how very much I love him.
We just wrapped up our first two weeks of our new school year. They were super fun, super organized and went very well. I think our school schedule is going to work nicely for everyone, and the month of planning is definitely beneficial for me.
Here are the books Jack and Joe enjoyed reading during our spider studies.
Jack enjoyed his trays each day. His favorite hands down were the buttons. I purchased a pack of assorted buttons from Hobby Lobby. He had a blast stringing them, but especially hauling them around in his dumptruck and loader. I also used these for color and shape recognition. He is getting really good at remembering lots of shapes and colors.
He and Joe had such fun fingerpainting! This was a first for us, but it will definitely not be the last time. The boys had so much fun, and asked everyday since to fingerpaint. We haven't done it everyday, but we have done it lots:-).
Jack worked on several different simple arts/crafts. Most of them were based on scenes from the book Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani.
Joe began daily lessons from his curriculums. He was able to do most of his work right alongside Jack. For Joe's art lesson, I had him choose an animal from Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider that he liked best. He chose a cow. I found an art lesson on drawing cows, and had him complete it. He did such a great job! It looks super! He had fun with this drawing/painting, and was very proud of the finished picture.
Joe is still plugging away, doing very well with his reading progress. I love Happy Phonics! It is such a fun way to learn to read through games. I also like the fact that it corresponds with Explode the Code. Joe and I are having fun playing these games together.
We completed our first Science Experiment in a bag. There was one on spiders which fit perfectly with our theme.
Hanna was able to participate in this one too. It was called "Catch a Web". It consisted of placing a small amount of baby powder in the palm of your hand (picture 1) and then blowing it onto a spider web. This allowed you to see all of the detail in the spider web (picture 2). We did this with several webs. Joe and Hanna then took turns drawing the webs we found. We were also able to study a couple spiders that were on their webs.
We read lots of non-fiction spider books before conducting this experiment. Joe was able to answer all of the experiment questions as a result. He remembered things I didn't even remember. It always amazes me to hear my kids recite back from memory things they are learning in our homeschool. This was a very fun experiment!
We got to see our tent caterpillars emerge as moths.
Our plants in the light hut are growing lots! I hope they will do well after they are transplanted.
Hanna has done wonderfully with her work each day. She has done it eagerly and efficiently, and seems to be taking pride in her work.
Hanna chose an art lesson on architecture. From this lesson she chose to complete a drawing of a castle. She did a GREAT job! She put lots of time and effort into this drawing, and I am very proud of her work.
We had a Back to School Ice Cream Party--definitely a highlight:-).
It has been great to be back into our school routine. I am very happy with our decision to school year round. I am reminded each day as I watch my children, teach them, and talk with others in casual conversation just how blessed and how thankful I am for our decision to homeschool. I love watching them learn and grow.
To see what others are doing in their school activities head over to Homeschool Creations!
Family Home Evening is so important. I didn't even realize just how important it was until I read *this* letter a few weeks ago. After Jack we were a bit off in our consistency with FHE for just a few months, and that was ok. But since Jesse, we hadn't gotten back into a consistent pattern of FHE lessons and this was really, really weighing heavily on my mind. As it always seems to happen, I started to come across articles and talks about the the importance of teaching the gospel in the home, and I knew I had to figure out a way to make it easier on me to make sure our FHE's became consistent again, and not just sporadic.
Before I share the contents of my box that I am super excited about, I want to share a few passages I came across in my reading the past month that hit close to home for me--especially the last one.
The home is the first and most effective place for children to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self-control; the value of education, hard work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home.~David O. McKay, FHE Manual~
Teaching in the home is becoming increasingly important in today’s world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread and he is attacking, attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society, even the family. Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. While other institutions, such as church and school, can assist parents to “train up a child in the way he [or she] should go” (Proverbs 22:6), ultimately this responsibility rests with parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is parents who are entrusted with the care and development of our Heavenly Father’s children. Our families are an integral part of His work and glory—“to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). On God’s eternal stage, it is usually intended that parents act as the central cast members in their children’s lives. Fortunately, there are understudies involved in the production who may step in when parents can’t. It, however, is parents who have been commanded by the Lord to bring up their children in light and truth (see D&C 93:40).
Parents must bring light and truth into their homes by one family prayer, one scripture study session, one family home evening, one book read aloud, one song, and one family meal at a time. They know that the influence of righteous, conscientious, persistent, daily parenting is among the most powerful and sustaining forces for good in the world. The health of any society, the happiness of its people, their prosperity, and their peace all find common roots in the teaching of children in the home. ~Elder L. Tom Perry, 180th General Conference~
After doing some online searching I came across an idea called a Family Home Evening File Box--this sounded perfect for me. I immediately began to put it together. I purchased a magnetic closure file box from Target to hold all of the contents.
The Friend and Ensign (I keep our current issues in the box.)
Pre-printed lessons I got *here*--this site is wonderful--we've used these lessons for about a month already. (I will rotate and replace pre-printed lessons on an as needed basis.)
This box is an answer to a prayer. As I was gathering all of the supplies for it, printing out lessons and organizing all of the materials into the box I was filled with such gratitude for all of the guidance and direction I receive from church authorities, the scriptures and the gospel in general in helping me to raise my children, and to know what to teach them to try and give them a morally sound foundation to withstand the storms of life, and the world that they will inevitably face as they grow up.
I am so thankful for my testimony and for programs like Family Home Evening.
