Homeschool Highlights 2/10/20-2/14/20

I am so excited to announce that I will be co-hosting Homeschool Highlights with Kym weekly for the rest of February, and then I will be taking over the link-up in March! I won't be making any changes other than going back to a weekly format. I hope you will all join me in linking up your homeschool highlights for the week. I enjoy reading them!

This week, we got a ton of rain! There were flash flood warnings Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and our entire parish cancelled school Tuesday through Thursday. Our roads were pretty bad! We even postponed our Valentine Banquet at church from Wednesday until Sunday night. This picture was taken after the water had gone down! We couldn't get out the road we usually travel on. We had to go the long way!

We had our Valentine Skate Party on Thursday! We have to drive an hour and a half each way to get to the meet-ups, so we didn't do schoolwork on Thursday. I had the kids do two days of math and language arts on Wednesday - it was raining and yucky outside, so they didn't mind. Mercie's llama won 2nd place in the contest! The boys didn't win, but I still think they did an excellent job on them.

They had a good time skating! It was only their second time, but they improved a lot since last time they skated. They will still have some bruises and be sore for a few days from the falls!

I had to stop and buy Zeke and the girls some clothes while I was in the city. That's the nearest place I can shop! The kids and I also ate in the mall.

I got the kids a few Valentine surprises to show them I love them!

In science this week, we continued learning about insects, focusing on butterflies and moths. We learned lots of new information! We learned that you can tell a butterfly from a moth by their antennae, that moths are generally dull in color while butterflies are brightly colored, that moths don't eat, and that moths are mainly nocturnal while butterflies are active during the day.

We read about the butterfly's life cycle in this amazing old book - The Bug Book. I love this book! It's truly a living book, with a great narrative style of writing and nice illustrations. The kids enjoyed having me read this to them. We learned a lot about caterpillars as well. It was super interesting to read about! I had the kids draw the monarch butterfly's life cycle.

We also made symmetrical butterfly paintings, which turned out fantastic.

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Today, we will be making a butterfly feeder! I'll be posting a "how-to" about this in a few days. We will hang it up where we can watch to see if any butterflies come and eat! We live in Louisiana, so our winter temperatures feel more like fall or spring, and we are likely to see butterflies year round.

In geography, we traveled to Venezuela. This was probably our dullest week in geography. Our library was closed on Tuesday (because of the flash floods) when we braved driving into town. I had zero books at home on Venezuela, and our atlases didn't provide much information. We did read some fun facts in the atlases and in our other books, and we watched a quick YouTube video on Venezuela, but I felt like it got short-changed this week. Next week, we plan to take a week off and work on our geography fair, so I plan to get the *one* book on Venezuela our library had and extend our study into next week. Here is what we did this week.

The kids are plugging along in their other subjects! They are all right where they need to be or further ahead in their math and language arts books. Titus has almost finished his second grade workbook, so I'm on the lookout for a new one. I did pick one up from Walmart, but I wasn't impressed with it like I was with the one he is currently using. I don't want to buy a new curriculum since we only have 3 months left of school. He has been watching Times Tales and learning his multiplication facts that way, but he isn't very fast at them yet. They love building with Magformers, especially when big brother helps.

Here are a few shots of Zeke this week. We went out to pizza on Sunday, but he ate from the salad bar - cubed ham, boiled egg, cheese, and breadsticks. 

He loved this simple activity - an oatmeal container and Uno cards.

He took a ride with Daddy on the side-by-side before he left for El Paso on Sunday. He'll be gone a few months for a job out there.

Happy Valentines Day! How was your week?

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Reading Through the Alphabet: D

I have been posting about picture books, but I couldn't resist adding one of Zeke's favorite board books this week - "Doggies: a counting and barking book" by Sandra Boynton! He loves this book and brings it to me all the time to read to him. It's a really simple and fun read. You get to "bark" in several different ways throughout the book - "yip, yip", "bow wow wow", "arf arf", and "ar-rolf!" just to name a few. Zeke likes to point to the dogs while I count and loves when I "bark" enthusiastically! I highly recommend this book to any toddler. It would make a great gift.

The next book we read was "Daniel's Duck" by Clyde Robert Bulla. This is "An I Can Read Book", level 3. It's a great story of a boy named Daniel who carved a duck for the county fair. He carved his duck with his head looking back, and everyone who saw it laughed. He thought they were laughing at his duck, but they laughed because they liked the duck. We "rowed" this book when we were doing Five in a Row.

The last book is an oldie but goodie - "Danny and the Dinosaur" by Syd Hoff. This book has a copyright of 1958. I found this original copyright, hardcover book in great condition at a thrift store for less than a dollar. It's been read many times! The illustrations are simple and colored in with crayon or colored pencil. It's also "An I Can Read Book" and my kids have lovingly read it over and over.

Link up your posts - old or new - and let me see what books you're reading with the letter "D"! Please visit some other links and leave a comment or two.

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100 Days of Art: Symmetrical Butterflies (day 10)

 

 

We have been learning about butterflies and moths this week in science. I usually try to tie in our art projects with our science or geography, so I thought it would be neat to talk about a butterfly's symmetry and make a pretty art project to go along with it. We actually did this project in two ways.

The first time, I gave the kids a sheet of heavyweight drawing paper and had them fold it in half and crease it. Then I told them to draw the outline of a butterfly on one side of the crease.

Next I told them to paint the half of the outline that they drew. I told them to make the paint thick, not thin!

Then they folded the paper on the crease over the side they painted and pushed down hard. They didn't rub, they just pressed down.

When they opened the paper, they had a pretty and symmetrical butterfly! The thicker the paint was, the better the project worked.

 

 

 

 

 

Next we took another sheet of the heavyweight paper and folded it again and creased it. Then we squirted paint on one half of the paper.

 

 

We then folded the paper on the crease and rubbed the paper with our fists and hands.

 

When we unfolded the paper we had beautiful symmetrical butterflies again! The kids liked these butterflies more than the first ones, but I think they were all pretty. I plan to frame them!

 

 

 

Check out our other art projects from my 100 Days of Art Challenge!

 

Day 1: Learning to Draw

Day 2: Pyramids

Day 3: String Art

Day 4: Optical Illusion Art

Day 5: Kandinsky Concentric Circles

Day 6: Rainbow Paint Chip Mosaics

Day 7: Llama Valentine Box

Day 8: Minecraft Valentine Box

Day 9: Model Insects

 

 

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Blogging Through the Alphabet: R is for Routine

We don't exactly have a schedule for our homeschool day - my 14 month old, Zeke, would definitely put a wrench in that - but we do follow a pretty predictable routine each day.

I wake up very early every morning, usually around 5, sometimes a bit before that. I've always done this so it's become a habit. I will take my bath and get ready for the day first. Then I will read my Bible, clean up the house, lesson plan and blog until it's time to get the kids up.

I wake up Mikaela and Eli around 6:30. They leave for school around 7:20. While they're getting ready, I am still doing the things I need to do.

I wake up Mercie, Silas, and Titus around the time the big kids leave for school. Zeke is normally up around 7 or 7:30. They eat breakfast, get dressed, brush their teeth, make their beds, and clean up.

We start school around 8:00. The first thing we do is read the Bible. We read a chapter or two and fill out a notebook page. We also work on scripture memory and pray.

Next, we do geography. We are currently using Expedition Earth. It usually takes us around 30-45 minutes to do this. We read books, complete worksheets, do crafts, and learn interesting facts about our country of the week.

Then we roll right into science. We are working through the book "God's Design for Science: The World of Animals." This takes us around 30 minutes. We read, discuss, and complete a notebook page or worksheet. Some days we have hands-on activities and it lasts a bit longer.

It's usually 9:30 or 10:00 by the time we are through with our "together school", as I call it. Zeke gets into everything we do - drawing on our paper, stepping on our books, climbing on the table, fussing while I'm reading, and bringing me books to read to him. It's a challenge to get anything done, but I just press through the morning and try not to lose my temper (and my mind). I try to give him small spurts of attention throughout the morning, especially while the kids are working on their worksheets or doing a craft or activity. I usually fit his "schoolwork" in between theirs - a coloring page here, a story there, a poem here, a song there.

I get the kids started on their independent work, and Titus will read to me and complete his reading worksheet. I have to help him with math and language arts, usually holding a grumpy Zeke. I also try to get my laundry swapped at this time and maybe sweep or tidy up the homeschool area.

I usually lay down with Zeke around 10:30 or 11:00. He will only fall asleep while nursing (I know, I know...I'm ready to stop this but it's so easy to get him down this way).

When he is asleep, I cook lunch for the kids and I, and I help anyone who needs help. I check and correct their work and then send them off for free time. They normally eat and go outside to help their dad with the cows or to play, but if it's raining or bad weather, they'll play inside or watch a movie. I get the house back in order (or try to) while Zeke naps. Some days he will nap for an hour and a half, some days for half an hour. I try to cram as much cleaning as I can into his naptime.

When he wakes up, if the weather is nice, we will go outside and play. If it's not good weather for him to play in, we play inside. I am usually playing with him a bit, sorting clean laundry into baskets, playing with him some more, washing dishes, playing with him, sweeping and mopping. If I have to go run errands, now is the time I normally do this.

If the big kids don't have practice or games they are home by 3:30. I talk to them a bit and start dinner. If I cooked a big lunch, dinner is leftovers. If we ate a simple lunch, I cook a big dinner. Some days, Zeke will take an afternoon nap, some days he won't.

We will go outside for a bit, sit on the porch, clean up, eat, and hang out the rest of the evening. If the kids have a game we will go to that. I try to get some lesson planning and blogging done in the evening, but I don't always get to.

Around 6:30 or 7:00 we start baths and teeth brushing. I lay down with Zeke around 7:30 or 8:00 normally, and the kids will stay up a little later watching TV or reading. They usually go to bed around 9:00 on school nights and a bit later on the weekend.

Having a routine helps the kids to know basically what we are going to do every day so there are no surprises. I do let them know in the morning if we have any appointments or errands to run. Do you have a routine or schedule? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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