Mom School: Week 1

My friend, Linda, is starting a link-up for moms who are learning and doing school right along with their children called "Teach by Example - Mom School". For a while now, I've been "doing school"; rather, I've been educating myself and learning new things. One of my goals for 2017 was to learn some new skills and refresh myself on some others.

This week, I've been using my new book "Creative Handwriting and Beyond: Inspiring Tips, Techniques, and Ideas for Hand Lettering Your Way to Beautiful Works of Art". Wow! What a title!

I have always loved hand-lettering and doodling, especially using scriptures. It's a way that I worship God, even if that sounds sort of far-fetched. By taking my time to write out His Words in a beautiful way and illustrate them, I am meditating on them and putting them in my head and heart. It's really very relaxing for me and lots of fun.

I have decided that this year, I will invest in myself - my hobbies, my skills, and my past-times. I don't bat an eye when I purchase something for the kid's education, so why shouldn't I be just as eager to buy things to enhance my education and my skills? And, yes, calligraphy and hand-lettering are skills.

I have also decided to dedicate a 30-minute block in the afternoons each day for my kids and I to practice our skills - whether it be hand-lettering, painting, knot-tying, sewing, cooking, baking, piano, karate, whatever! I think having a time set-apart for myself to learn something will make sure I get it done.

Plus, I've discovered that anytime, and I mean anytime, I get my sketchpads, markers, and book out to start practicing, my kids either do the same thing with paper and markers, or find something similar to do. I realized I can be such an example to them, to show them that even moms want to learn new things! I want my kids to know how learning can be fun, and I hope that they will see me enjoying myself while learning.

Here are some of the practice pages I've been working on. I am getting better, but still not "good" yet! My daughters love my pages, though, and think I'm "the best ever".

 

 

 

 

I even bought Mercie, my almost-9 year old, a hand-lettering book for children, sketchbook, and box of 100 thin markers for her birthday next week. She loves to hand-letter and doodle with me, so I know she will love having her own supplies!

I am also helping my 9th grade daughter with her algebra daily. She is not a math-y kid, and I'm not a math-y mom. I bought my own notebook in hopes that I can start doing her lessons each day on my own. I would love to be proficient and quick in algebra.

The other book I am planning to read this week is "The Signers". Eli checked this one out at the library, but I literally know nothing about anyone who signed the Declaration of Independence, so I'm hoping to read this through and take a few notes.

What are you learning, Mom? Link up:

What We're Reading This Week (week 1)

I would love to start posting the library books my older 3 kids check out from the library each week. Their choices are usually very different from each other, and I always like wondering why they choose certain books. I always enjoy seeing what other kids with ages similar to my own are reading, so maybe you will enjoy this!

The only requirement my kids had this week was to choose one book that was on the presidents, American history, or government. I'm appalled at how little most kids know on this subject, and even how little I myself know! I told the kids they must choose one book on this subject each week for the rest of the year. They have to read the book, and then at the end of the week give an oral report to the family. That way, we can all learn something!

Mikaela - 14

• "Whose Haunting the White House? The President's Mansion and The Ghosts Who Live There" by Jeff Belanger
• "The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corpss, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968" by Ellen Emerson White
• "A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Sniket

Eli - 11

• "The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence" by Dennis Brindell Fradin
• "Football Trivia" by Tyler Mason
• "The Lego Play Book: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Lift" by Daniel Lipkowitz
• "Really Horrible Science Facts" by Jay Wakins

Mercie - almost 9

• "Who Was Betsy Ross?" by James Buckley Jr.
• "The Critter Club: All About Ellie" by Callie Barkley
• "Junie B. Jones Has A Monster Under Her Bed" by Barbara Park
• "Stranded at Plimoth Plantation 1626" by Gary Bowen

What are your kids reading this week?

Week in Review: 1/23-1/27

This week, we got settled into our rental condo in Alabama. Rod worked almost every day this week, and the kids did school each day. We found the library on Wednesday. It's a really neat library with story time on Wednesdays and a "craft-ernoon" on Wednesday afternoon. We are right on Lake Martin, so the kids have been doing some fishing (but no catching). There's a playground on site, so the kids can get some exercise.

Silas finished Unit 3 in Little Hearts for His Glory this week. Here are a few highlights from his week:

• He is on Chapter 5 in The Reading Lesson. He can read lots of three and four letter words and sentences. He enjoys the stories in the book because he can read them himself.
• He learned how to add 3 and 4 (small) numbers.
• He added The Flood and The Tower of Babel to his timeline.
• He memorized Proverbs 20:11 "Even a child is known by actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right."

Titus finished Unit 2 in Little Hands to Heaven this week. Here are some highlights from his week:

• He used pattern blocks to make the letters B and b.
• He used patterns to build the Tower of Babel with his linking cubes.
• He made a rainbow from torn paper.
• He painted the letters B and b with our Kwik Stix.

Mercie completed Unit 20 in Bigger Hearts for His Glory. Here are some of her highlights:

• Mercie used straws to blow paint on paper, representing the "bombs bursting in air" from the Star Spangled Banner.
• She is getting quicker with her multiplication facts.
• We made a 5x5 grid on the floor and I gave her coordinates to find.
• We read in the Pioneer Sampler each day.
• She learned about helping verbs in Rod and Staff grammar.
• We practiced and wrote the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mikaela and Eli both completed days 33-37 in Bob Jones Distance Learning. Here are a few of their highlights:

• Mikaela is learning how to find percent difference, percent error, and experimental error. She has quite a few word problems to muddle through each day.
• Eli is learning fractions, which comes easy for him.
• Mikaela and Eli are both working on adverbs and adjective in grammar, at different levels.
• In Life Science, Eli is learning about genes and reproduction.
• In Physical Science, Mikaela is learning about gravity and freefall.
• In Cultural Geography, Mikaela finished up chapter 5 and is beginning on chapter 6, which is on Canada.
• In World Studies, Eli learned about European culture, expansion and religion.

Their days are getting much quicker with BJU. I don't know if it's just that they're used to how the program works now or what, but almost every day this week, they were both done by 12! We do begin at 8-8:30 in the morning, and they work until lunch. After lunch, they usually have another hour or two of schoolwork, but this week, they were both finished.

How was your week?

"Doritos" - a poem by Eli

Eli, my 7th grader, had an assignment in his Writing and Grammar course today. He was to write a poem from prose. He kind of missed the mark on this one, but it was such a funny poem, I wanted to share it. I hope it brings a smile to your face today.

Doritos

 

My favorite chip I'll speak of today

They're so delicious in a cheesy way.

They are the chips for the athletic pros,

Oh how I love you, Doritos!

My favorite flavor is nacho cheese,

Gimme, gimme, gimmie, pretty please!

And now only at Taco Bell,

you can get them like a taco, that's very swell!

You can get them at the store in three different sizes.

When you throw them in your mouth, it's like flavor prizes.

There's one little problem, and that is when

there's no more left and you scream then,

"Sme hent rocaustran mephan trouk"

Oh please don't curse!

There's more in your mama's purse!

See this is a time to keep your mouth closed

because I will say "All Hail Doritos!"

 

by Eli Russell

 



B: Boys

Growing up, I only had sisters. My closest friends growing up only had sisters. Now, my sister and I both have three boys! My mom, who never had a son, now has six grandsons. And, let me tell you, boys were something new to us all! My husband, on the other hand, has three brothers; plus, he's a boy, so boys were nothing new to him.

Here are a few facts about boys that I have learned over the past 11 years:

• Boys are loud.
• Boys are messy.
• Boys are always hurting themselves.
• Boys are dangerous!
• Boys have no fear.
• Boys give the best hugs.
• Boys make me laugh at things I never would have thought would be funny, like farts and burps and other bodily functions.
• Boys have imaginations.
• Boys are competitive.
• Boys are goofy.

My boys are Eli, who is 11; Silas, who is 6; and Titus, who is 4. These boys are always outside doing things - riding bikes and scooters, building things, exploring, and getting hurt. They are always making things with Legos, shooting each other with pretend guns, pretending to be a Jedi, and flipping off my furniture. They think SpongeBob is quality television, farting is funny, and they are Little Joe and Adam from Bonanza. They eat me out of house and home, are constantly tearing holes in their blue jeans, and want to fix anything that's broken (especially if they broke it). They are always trying to beat me in board games, races, and anything they can turn into a competition. They are always toting around tool boxes, tackle boxes, and BB guns.

These are the kinds of pictures I find on my camera - from BOYS.

 

Eli  and his first deer.

Dressed up for church, and not happy about it.

Eli fishing here in Alabama.

 

Titus and Silas goofing off in their room.

 

Silas and Titus working in the yard - digging holes.

 

Titus and his toolbox.

I love my boys! They have opened a whole new world for me - an exciting, imaginative, and colorful world. I am so thankful that God has chosen to give me 3 wonderful sons.

Join us for Blogging Through the Alphabet!

Bob Jones Distance Learning Details and Components - The VLG

I hope to start a series of posts on Bob Jones Distance Learning (BJDL) - the details and components of the program. Just a quick overview: Mikaela is using the 9th grade complete curriculum and Eli is using the 7th grade complete curriculum, both with DVDs. They completed Day 33 today, so I'm not ready to give a complete review of the program, but so far we are really loving it and I'm quite impressed. Yes, there are a few things we aren't crazy about, but isn't that true with every program?

I wanted to give a review of my favorite component of BJDL is the VLG - Video Lesson Guide. This is simply a booklet that contains the 180 daily lesson plans for each of your child's subjects.

Let's take a peek into Eli's VLG - Day 34. I'll use the Life Science subject row for the examples below. As you can see, there are 6 columns at the top of the page. These columns are "Lesson", "Content", "Materials Needed", "Work Text", "Assignment", and "Parent Responsibility".

The "Lesson" column just states the subject, along with video number your child will be watching for the day. For example, his first column says "Life Science LS-05-05". This tells Eli that for Life Science he will watch the DVD that spans these numbers, find the number on the screen, and push play.

The "Content" column explains what the lesson is about. This way, at a glance, I can see what he will be learning in his video and what he will be working on today. Today his says:

• Chapter 5 Test
• UNIT 2 - Heredity and the Origin of Life
• Introduction
• Chapter 6 - Cell Division
• Introduction

The "Materials Needed" column lists any materials your child will need in addition to his textbook, workbook, and pencils. Today, he will need the Chapter 5 Test which is in a test booklet. I can tear out the test and hand it to him to complete. If there is a lab or investigation, it will list all of the supplies you need.

The "Work Text" column tells you which pages in your book(s) you will be using. His says "pp. 79-80".

The "Assignment" column is just that - the assignment for the day. This is really nice because I can glance at this and see exactly what they are expected to do today for homework. Today his says "Read Section 6A, pp. 79-82". Sometimes it will say things like "Answer section review questions on this page..." or "Be prepared for a quiz tomorrow".

The last column is "Parent Responsibility". This tells me exactly what I have to do each day. Today it says "Administer, grade and record Chapter 5 test." It also tells you how long the video will be each lesson. This lesson is 30 minutes, which is the standard time. Some days may be shorter, like 15-25 minutes, but it's never longer.

The reason I love the VLG so much is because it has simplified my life! Every morning after Bible time, I tell Mikaela and Eli to bring me their VLGs. We take a few minutes to read over together, discuss anything that I think they need to remember, and gather any materials. I can quickly see if I need to do anything, which subjects I need to check (because some they check in "class" on the DVD), and what they need to study for.

The kids use it as a checklist as well. Each time they finish a subject, they can put a checkmark beside it. They know what they've done and what they have left.

It is such a simple thing, but without it, BJDL would be much more complicated for me to use. The kids really like it, too, because they can quickly see what they are doing today. Some days, they don't have a video to watch and some days are "catch up days". They usually compare "days" with each other. "I don't have a video in Cultural Geography or Bible today!" and "Oh man, I have two quizzes today!" Looking ahead, on Day 35, Eli has three subjects that are "No Video" days! He has tests and assignments, but no video.

In summary, the VLG is my favorite component of BJDL because it simplifies things for myself and my children.

Week in Review, 1/16-1/20

Last week, Mercie completed Unit 19 in Bigger Hearts for His Glory, Silas completed Unit 2 in Little Hearts for His Glory, and Titus finished most of Unit 1 in Little Hands to Heaven. Mikaela and Eli completed days 29-32 in Bob Jones Distance Learning.

Silas has really taken off in The Reading Lesson. He is almost through with chapter 4. I am so impressed and encouraged, because reading has been such a struggle for my little man. He is also excited that he is reading sentences and short stories now.

Mercie has been using Times Tales to solidify her multiplication facts. She is having such trouble with them, but two days of Times Tales has helped quite a bit.

We are using The Pioneer Sampler for science now, and it is wonderful! We love the stories and the simple activities. Last week, we learned about how to make maple syrup and sugar from tapping trees. The activity was to fill two plastic cups with the same amount of water, but add two spoons of sugar to one and stir it until it dissolved. We put them in the freezer for an hour. After an hour, we took them out to discover that the one with sugar was still slushy, while the one with just water was frozen. This showed us how the maple in the trees acts as an "antifreeze" for the trees. Interesting!

We took off Friday from school because we were packing and cleaning the house. We left Saturday morning headed to Alabama, and we arrived Saturday evening. We got settled in the condo we are renting, went to the grocery store and bought food and a few things we needed, and then relaxed and watched some TV!

The condo is nice. There is a playground, a swimming pool, and it's right on Lake Martin. We went fishing today for a little while, but the wind is so cool that we couldn't stay out long.

This is a short week-in-review, but I'm exhausted from the weekend! Have a great week!

A: Abundance

I am so excited to be joining in on Blogging Through the Alphabet again! I completed all 26 weeks last year, and I hope to complete all 26 this year. Looking back, I didn't have a central theme to all of my posts. I considered a theme this go-round, but I couldn't decide on just one. So, this year, it will be random once again!

As I thought of a topic for the letter "A", the word that came to my mind was Abundance. The simple definition in my dictionary is "a great supply; more than enough".

As I look around my house, I am overwhelmed with abundance. We have a refrigerator full of fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs and leftovers (another example of abundance). We have not one, but two deep-freezers full of fresh beef from one of our cows and fresh venison from the deer my husband and children have killed this year.

Our bookshelves are overflowing with books - I even had to put some in my storage building. The kid's rooms are so full of toys, we have to buy more baskets and bins to store them in. We have more Bibles than people in our home. Our closets are so full of nice clothes, we are always running out of hangers.

 

We have central air-conditioning and heat to keep us cool or warm, plus a fireplace. We have flushing toilets and electricity at the flip of the switch. We have clean water with the turn of the faucet. We have beds with mattresses, sheets, blankets, and pillows. We have two reliable and luxurious vehicles to drive, as well as money to fill the tanks.

I have five children so I have an abundance of hugs, kisses, tears, tantrums, long talks, laughter, and snuggles. I have an abundance of entertainment throughout the day, games to play, puzzles to put together, and books to read. I have an abundance of laundry to do, meals to cook, beds to make up, and toys to pick up.
 

I could go on and on, but I think you understand. Your home, too, is full of abundance.

 

John 10:10 "I came so that you may have life, and have it more abundantly."

(another attempt at hand-lettering from me)

 

Jesus came to give us life, but not just any life - abundant life. Does this mean he came so that we could live in beautiful homes with nice cars and designer clothes? So that our kids could have all the latest electronic gadgets, be involved in all of the extracurricular activities they want and have more toys than they could ever play with? So our bank accounts could be full, but our hearts empty? No - not at all.

I don't believe in a prosperity gospel, but I do believe that God blesses His people. I don't believe that you should be close to God so you can have all of the material and worldly possessions you desire. I believe the abundant life Jesus is talking about here is not worldly-focused by Godly-focused, heavenly-focused, Kingdom-focused.

He came so that we could have an abundance of grace, forgiveness, mercy, healing, and peace. When we find these things in Jesus, the material and worldly possessions don't mean as much anymore. We have all we could ever need in Him, so there is no voids left to fill with superficial things.

Ephesians 1:3 says "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ." Notice is says every spiritual blessing, not just some of them or most of them. God has given us an abundance of spiritual blessings, as well.

I also believe that you can't deny the abundance we as Americans have. Even if you aren't rich by the world's standards, you probably have a home with running water, electricity, and air-conditioning. You most likely have real floors instead of dirt floors and a roof over your head. You probably have closets full of clothing and shoes, even if they're not brand-name or even brand-new. You have food in your pantry and refrigerator, a TV to watch, a phone to use, internet access...we live like kings and don't even realize it.

The response to our abundance should be giving. We have the ability to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and bind the wounds of the injured. We can mend broken hearts, give rides to the people who don't have transportation, and offer hospitality to the less fortunate. There are so many things we can do, so many things we should do, so many things we are called to do. If we ignore the needs of others, we will answer to God for it one day. If we see someone who needs help and refuse the help we can give, we will be accountable.

We need to remember to thank God every day for the luxuries we enjoy and take for granted, for the abundance we are constantly complaining about.

 Join us in Blogging Through the Alphabet! It's not too late to start; in fact, this week is the first week. So please join the fun!



Week in Review: 1/9 - 1/13

This week we have had much nicer weather. The kids got to play outside quite a bit, which was nice. We will be leaving next Saturday headed to Alabama for another job. It is exciting to go to new places, but I always miss our house, our church, our family and friends. We decided to rent a condo this time, which will make things much easier! The condo is right on the lake, with a swimming pool, swing set, picnic tables, and a grill right outside the door. God really blessed us with this spot! I told the kids it would be like one long vacation, except they will be doing school. My brother, his wife and their two kids will be on this job, and it always makes it easier to have someone there with you. We are planning to have a Bible study with the pipeline wives!

Mikaela and Eli finished days 24-28 in Bob Jones University DVD learning. Mikaela had to write an essay this week for Cultural Geography comparing communism, socialism, and capitalism. She is getting better at writing essays, as she has already had several to write since using BJU. She had a chapter 2 test in Algebra I, and I'm happy to say she understands what she is learning. She has been doing multi-step equations, and let me tell you, they are not easy. I've been doing right along with her, and some of them totally stump me. Honestly, I let her skip some of the really hard ones. We do them together (while I glance every now and then at the teacher's guide to make sure I'm not making a mistake). She can do the easy ones with no trouble and some of the semi-hard ones with no trouble. Fractions in multi-step equations trip her up, and she has a hard time with word problems. She is doing pretty well, though, so I continue to give her help as needed. I figure if she was in public school, she would have to have a tutor, so I'm kind of her "tutor" and teacher. We do her work together, although I let her work some on her own, but I check them right away. So about half an hour to an hour of my day is sitting with her doing Algebra. Physical science continues to challenge her, but she did well today on her section review questions. She is on chapter 4, which is simply titled, "Mechanics". Writing and Grammar is easy for her, and she enjoys her assignments. She has to read a book she's never read before and write a book report on it, due next Friday.

Eli had to write an advertisement this week for Writing and Grammar, and he did a really good job. We have got to work on his handwriting. He has always had sloppy handwriting, but this was him working really, really hard. Dysgraphia? I've thought maybe. His hand hurts to write, but he doesn't complain like he used to. I love how he added a blue "slide" for the "L" in Playground.

 I love these little Writing assignments at the end of each chapter. So far, he has had to design a book jacket and keep an observation journal. He is also learning about personal pronouns. He is learning about prime numbers and factorization in math, which isn't very challenging for him. He is learning about Asia in World Studies, and he continues to enjoy this class. He is always throwing facts at me that I don't know! In Life Science, his favorite class, he is learning about cells. He has watched several investigations on his DVDs this week. He learns quite a bit from this course. Honestly, the Life Science is the most impressive class we have! I would recommend it for anyone. There are fun projects and plenty of investigations (experiments), and his teacher makes the class fun to watch. The little kids often watch with him, especially when Lab Rat is on! He's a rat puppet that cracks lots of jokes and is very cute.

Mikaela and Eli are going to a youth weekend conference called D-Now. They left yesterday afternoon and will be back on Sunday. Mikaela went a few years ago and a had a really good time. I'm hoping it will give them a nice boost in their spiritual life for this year.

 Mercie completed Unit 18 in Bigger Hearts for His Glory, and Silas completed Unit 1 in Little Hearts for His Glory. You can read about their weeks by clicking on the links. Titus did not do preschool this week, but I pulled out Little Hands to Heaven to start with him next week. I forgot how sweet and wonderful Heart of Dakota is!

I began reading "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Trip this week. It is transforming my parenting habits immensely. Just the introduction to the book was hugely convicting. I've highlighted my way through a few chapters, and I'm using the accompanying parent handbook, which is workbook/Bible study.

I'm also learning to hand-letter. I'm just teaching myself by *blushing* looking through images of hand-lettering fonts. I am pretty good at copying them without directions, but I have a long way to go! Here is something I made this morning. As you can see, I have lots to learn! I used watercolors for the background and a plain Sharpie to letter the words. It is so much fun.

How was your week?

Little Hearts for His Glory - Unit 1

This week, Silas started back using Little Hearts for His Glory. We started in the beginning on unit 1 instead of picking up where we left off. I figured he wouldn't remember anything, and he needs to work on the skills taught from the beginning of the program. It builds on itself, and I didn't want him to miss anything. He had a great week, and he enjoyed Little Hearts so much more this go-round.

In history, we started reading the book "History for Little Pilgrims". Silas learned what history is and when it began. We talked about the creation of the world, when our human history began. He made this collage by tearing blue and brown paper into pieces and gluing them into a mosaic. He then drew and cut out a cross to put in the middle of paper to remind him that Jesus is the center of history.

(He lost his third tooth this week, another bottom one. Those top teeth are hanging on tight.)

We started a timeline. I cut a poster-board in half and stapled it together in the middle. He drew a cross in the center because Jesus is the center of history. He drew an earth on the left side, since that's the beginning of history, and he drew clouds on the right side, since Jesus's return will be the end of history.

We talked about the earth, and I introduced the concept of continents and oceans to him. He loved tearing the paper for the cross mosaic so much, I had him tear blue and green paper and glue them on a circle for the world. He then copied "God made the world" on his paper.

(He was being goofy. He and Titus have a new favorite TV show - Bonanza! They play Bonanza all the time, and try to find outfits to match their favorite character. Silas wants to be Adam Cartwright, and he found an orange button up and a black vest from a suit, and paired with his cowboy hat, he looks like Adam. He has his wooden pop gun, and they ride their horses - the arms of my couch - while watching the show. It's so funny.)

We did a fun rhyme called "God's Creation". We leaped, galloped, and hopped to the different continents.

We played "Adam says", a variation of "Simon says", and he had to move like animals. I would say "Adam says slither like a snake", "Adam says hop like a kangaroo" or "Adam says fly like a bird". We read about animals in his science book.

We read 5 chapters in "Reddy Fox". When we tried the program last year, he wasn't interested in the story. Now, however, he listens intently and can answer questions. He even asks to read "Reddy Fox".

I picked up "The Reading Lesson" (TRL), which we had started  before and quit when it was too much for him. We didn't get past the second chapter last time. Now, we are in the middle of chapter three in only five days, and he is doing wonderful.

For handwriting each day, I had him write his full name along with some words and short sentences he is learning in TRL. He does great with copy-work and dictation! I think he has an easier time spelling words than reading them.

He continued working in Math Mammoth on addition. He loves addition and is really good at it. He got to practice with number lines, which was a new concept.

We read a few devotions in "Devotions for the Children's Hour" and talked about how God made us for a special reason. We talked about how important it is to learn about God. Next week, I will make him memorize the scripture and listen to the CD.

I'm looking forward to unit 2 next week!

Bigger Hearts for His Glory - Unit 18

Mercie picked up in Bigger Hearts for His Glory (Heart of Dakota) right where she left off last year, on Unit 18. She had such a fun week and looked forward to school each day.

In history, we read about Robert Fulton and his inventions. He made the first steamboat that actually worked. As a child, his nickname was Quicksilver Bob because he once bought some quicksilver (mercury) for an experiment. She gets to choose one word to define for vocabulary, and she chose "quicksilver". She wanted to know what mercury looked like, so we did a Google images search, and she drew a picture on her vocabulary page.

She used a plastic fork to paint 'fireworks' on a piece of paper, because Robert Fulton once made his own Roman candles for the Fourth of July. This was a lot of fun! She wrote a sentence about Robert Fulton on this once it dried.

She was excited to add "Robert Fulton 1765-1815" to her timeline.

She also made a Notebooking page that told facts about the invention of the steamboat.

In science, we finished up the One Small Square: Woods book. We compared the wingspan of six different owls by measuring and cutting yarn. Then we measured her arm span and compared it to the owls!

We also used straws to see how an insect sees things with its compound eyes.

She made a Notebooking page with funguses and plants and learned that fungus can't make its own food while plants can.

Her poem this week was "The Harbor". She illustrated it with a cute steamboat and we talked about onomatopoeias. She had fun reading the poem with feeling. She had it memorized by today!

She memorized Proverbs 19:21 this week - "A man can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail." (NLT) We learned about the character trait optimism.

She picked right up in Rod and Staff grammar 2, learning about adjectives. I forget how wonderful this grammar book really is! We do most of the pages orally, but I have her write down one exercise in her composition book. It's usually around 5-10 sentences or phrases.

In math, she learned how to multiply and divide by 4, reviewed clocks, addition with carrying and subtraction with borrowing, and finding the perimeter of a square.

She continued reading "The Mouse and the Motorcycle". I may start Drawn into the Heart of Reading with her - I spotted it in my storage building this week and can't quit wanting to go back and get it!

I found this picture she had taken on my phone of her bed and her stuffed animals and doll. She got the unicorn last year for Christmas, and she still loves it! The thing is bigger than she is, but she sleeps with it every night.



How was your week?