Weekly Report...Week 3

Woo Hoo! What a great week! Attitudes were better (from all of us). Ideas were flowing. Opinions were expressed. All was good.

History (Both)
I decided to read a book about explorers to lead into our Colonial unit. The boys listened intently as I read Betsy Maestro's Exploration and Conquest. Love her books. We are doing something different this year...narrations. I never included them into our homeschool as I didn't see the benefit of them. That has completely changed as I have been reading more about Charlotte Mason's ideas. The boys both narrated after each reading and they actually liked it! Bonus!


(Be sure to click on the images so you can read what they narrated!)

Magnus has really been struggling with the events that took place when our nation was young. The thought of settlers coming here and forcing the Natives from their homes is wretched to him. I remember struggling with the same ideas. Especially when I saw the commercial with the old Native American filled with sadness as he looked at the trash and pollution.



Science (Both)
We read a simple explanation of the scientific process scientists use to conduct experiments. Then, of course, we conducted our own scientific experiments and utilized what we learned. Be sure to click here to read the Mad Scientists post for this week. It was a good one.

Never a dull moment when Thane is around!

Bible (Both)
Still learning about Joseph. We read about him interpreting the dreams of the Cupbearer and Baker while in prison and then his interpretation of the Pharaoh's dream. The boys completed their worksheets, timeline, and maps. So glad we are all doing this together!

Language Arts (Magnus)

Grammar...He completed a lesson a day.

Spelling...This was a big week for him. He was able to move on from list 2 to 3! He was VERY proud of himself!

Writing...Haven't added this in yet. I am still waiting to receive my curriculum.

Copywork...He is doing beautiful work...when he takes his time.

Literature...I didn't have him read any specific book this week, but that doesn't mean he didn't spend hours with his nose in a book!

Language Arts (Thane)

Grammar...Still working with common and proper nouns. This week he had trouble with the concept even though he understood it last week. Not quite sure why. We'll just have to keep at it!

Phonics...I've decided to alternate between ETC and OPGTR. We are doing one or the other each day. This seems to be a good compromise even though he whined about having to read, "the silly (meaning stupid) sentences" in OPGTR.

Copywork...He is really taking his time and producing beautiful work. Having to only concentrate for 5 minutes really helps him.

Math

Can I just say, "I love Right Start Math"!

Magnus...We worked some more with roman numerals and reviewed partitioning 15.

Thane...Learned how to use side 2 of the abacus. He understood it very well.

Latin (Magnus)

Would you believe me if I said we reviewed the songs? Well, we did. But that was all. Don't judge.

Nature Study (Both)
Gotta get on the ball with this.

Fun Day Friday (Both)

Okay...I will be the first to admit that it wasn't really "fun". But, it will be once I plan out our Artist and Composer studies. I had been doing so much planning leading up to the school year, that I just don't want to plan anymore. I know that'll change soon and I'll be itchin' to plan. No worries.

We did do Unit 2 from Artistic Pursuits Book One. It was about how artist use their imaginations to create their works. The boys used their imaginations and created their own work using watercolor crayons. I was pleased with the attention they gave it.

Activities

Monday...Had a science party with a bunch of our homeschool friends. It was a total blast!


Wednesday...Fencing Lessons (Magnus). Thane has declared that he would like to take fencing lessons too. You have to be 7 years old to do it, but maybe our instructor would make an exception.
Friday...Mad Scientists!

We won't be getting much done in the form of "seat work" next week. One of our dearest friends is coming to visit. We haven't seen him in over a year and we have some fun things planned. Check back to see what we did! Thanks for stopping by!

Mad Scientist...Week 3

Tina and I have come to the conclusion that although the boys are learning and having a good time, we might actually be getting more out of it. Chemistry is interesting stuff! I think if my high school science teacher was able to explain the periodic table and the scientific method using the juvenile, living books we are using AND if he had us do the cool experiments we are having our boys do, I may have actually learned something! I am not as intimidated as I had been before we started. That is a good feeling! This week we read a simple explanation about the scientific method scientists use to perform their experiments. We also learned solutes + solvents=solutions. Below is Magnus' narration... Magnus narrated while I wrote it down. This is working really well for us!

Thane's narration includes a visual representation of a molecule and an atom...
For our experiments this week we watched molecules in motion.

Experiment One: The boys were really involved in the first one. We gave them a cup full of room temperature water and had them observe them as we placed 2-3 drops of food coloring into them.
Next we walked them through the scientific method. For the final part of the experiment, we placed a cup full of hot water and a cup full of ice water in front of them and asked what they thought would happen. They hypothesized that the food coloring would spread faster in the hot water and spread slower in the ice water.
The experiment was conducted. You know what? Their hypothesis was right on!


When asked why that happened, Ameer and Thane said it was because the "cold water made it freeze" and Magnus answered, "Because the hot water molecules are moving faster than the cold". Aren't our boys brilliant! It's so exciting when they all use their brains to figure stuff out.

Experiment Two: We placed one tablespoon of water (added food coloring) in one test tube and one tablespoon of rubbing alcohol (with food coloring) in a second test tube. We asked the boys what they thought would happen when we placed them together.

Magnus: The water would float on top of the alcohol and make 2 tablespoons of liquid.
Thane: It would create 3 tablespoons of liquid.
Ameer: They would mix together and make 2 tablespoons of liquid.
Tamir: They would make 2 tablespoons of liquid.
So we poured them into each other...
and...

nothing. It didn't work right. It was suppose to only create 1 1/2 tablespoons of liquid, but created 2. So, I guess Magnus, Ameer, and Tamir were correct. Tina and I conducted the experiment again but still got 2 tablespoons of liquid.

Experiment Three: We gave the boys a coffee filter with a drop of red, blue, and yellow food coloring mixed together.
They then placed the tip of the filter into water.


Look what happened...
The colors separated and climbed up the filter. Pretty cool.

Needless to say, we are having SO MUCH FUN with science this year! It really helps to have a friend hold you accountable. Thanks Tina!

New Hobby

Magnus gets to play with swords!

(He is in the camouflage shorts.)

Almost...forgot to extend his back arm.

Not quite...the arch in his foil is going the wrong way.

Nice!!

Weekly Report...Week2

I learned something about myself this week. I am not flexible. If I have a plan or an idea of the way something is suppose to go and something happens to throw it off, I have a hard time bouncing back. It is especially difficult when you are the mother of a child who has his own ideas about things and is just as inflexible as you! Hopefully this will be a year of growth for the two of us.

History (Both)
I've decided to not continue our pirate study. The book I was using became rather detailed in it's description of pirate life and I (and Collin) didn't think it would be appropriate for the boys to hear. So we finished up a few mini books and began piecing our lapbook/notebook together. I am not prepared to start our Colonial Unit yet, so I am not quite sure what we are going to do for the next few weeks. Maybe we'll do an Orchestra Unit I have worked on or complete the Giant Panda Lapbook from homeschoolshare,com Thane has been begging me to do.

Science(Both)
We did some great projects and cool experiment with atoms, molecules, and elements. Click here to see what we did!

Bible (Both)
We are using Bible Study Guide for all Ages for the first time this year. The boys are really excited about it because Dad is joining in. We open with a reading from The Book of Common Prayer, we pray together, and then Collin reads the selection from the Bible. I complete the timeline, maps, and worksheets with them. We're learning about Joseph right now and the boys are retaining a lot of details.

Language Arts (Magnus)

Grammar...completed a few lessons in Growing With Grammar.

Spelling...List two of Phonetic Zoo level A is giving him some trouble. However, he is persevering and not letting it frustrate him...too much. He is determined to get the "ie" rule down.

Writing...I ordered IEW US History Based Writing Projects and am waiting for it to get here. Not sure if we will use it or just do our own thing using the SWI A.

Copywork...I wrote a post about how we do copywork here.

Literature...Magnus read Robinson Crusoe last week and then created a scence from the book using his Playmobil guys. Who says Playmobil isn't educational?

Language Arts (Thane)

Grammar...Still working on common and proper nouns this week. He is catching on pretty quickly. He recited The Caterpillar several times again this week and is very proud.

Phonics...I am not ready to post about our plan for this yet because I still have to figure it out. I bought him a first grade reader from the Pathway Readers and he has enjoyed reading that too me. He also completed a few sheets from his ETC workbook.

Copywork...If you missed the link under Magnus' LA section, you can get to it here.

Math

Magnus...Learned about Roman Numerals

Thane...Learned how to add 4 digit numeral together. I was amazed at how fast he understood. He said it is fun.

Latin (Magnus)
Did I say we were going to add this in this week? I don't recall ever saying that!

Nature Study (Both)
We observed some really cool spiders...

Fun Day Friday (Both)

Composer Study...We have been listening to Bach all week.

Artist Study...Still working on this, but we did look at and discuss some pirate pictures painted by Howard Pyle.

Art Project...The boys drew some squiggly lines with pencil, traced over them (hard) with crayon, and then painted the design with watercolors. The finished products were lovely.

Activities

Monday...Played some fun, organized games with the group of homeschoolers we get together with for weekly play dates.
Wednesday...fencing lessons (Magnus)
Friday...Mad Scientists!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week! :o)

Mad Scientists Week 2

We read a book about Atoms this week from a series called Simply Science. I was very pleased with the boys' narrations and Thane would not let me forget that "everything is made of matter".

We did a few different things with the boys this week. My friend, Tina, came up with a great atom model mobile for them to create. Do I dare tell you that she had a dream about it and then pieced it together the next day? They all turned out awesome!

Here Magnus is threading his electrons (plastic beads) onto the "path" (pipe cleaner).

Thane is creating his protons and neutrons (clay).

Ameer and Tamir are carefully piecing their atoms together.

The finished products!

Next, Miss Tina explained molecules to them...specifically water and carbon dioxide. I am not sure how much they got out of it, but I finally understood it pretty well by the time she was done!

Magnus showing off his carbon dioxide model. I think they really enjoyed eating the elements (marshmellows)!

Next the boys created CO2.

They were each given vinegar and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda...I didn't know that was it's "official" name.)

Mad scientist at work!

Copywork

I can only offer a few hints on the teaching of writing, though much might be said. First, let the child accomplish something perfectly in every lesson––a stroke, a pothook, a letter. Let the writing lesson be short; it should not last more than five or ten minutes. Ease in.

Charlotte Mason~vol 1 pg 234

Copywork is not something we have done regularly in our school. To be honest, I never saw a "need" for it. I viewed it as "busy work". That has changed since I spent this past summer sitting at the feet of Miss Mason.

My purposes in using copywork are these:

1. Handwriting practice

2. Establishing the Habit of Attention

3. Exposure to well written literature and character building selections

(This is a sample of Magnus' work from the Book of Common Prayer.)

I create my own copy sheets using this tool from Zaner-Bloser. I love that it allows me to choose the line size and to type in my own words. I have Thane using the first grade level and Magnus is working on the second grade level.

I read on another homeschool mom's blog (forgive me, I can't remember who) how she has her kids working on a different selection of copywork every day. I liked that idea and thought it would change things up a bit.

Here is the schedule we have adopted:

Monday-Poetry

Tuesday-Selection from the Book of Common Prayer or the Bible

Wednesday-Famous Quote

Thursday-Great Literature

(This is a sample of Thane's work on a quote from George Washington)

Let's say it is Tuesday and they are working on a selection from the Book of Common Prayer. If they don't finish it that week, it gets put into the folder until next week and they pick up where they left off on the famous quote on Wednesday.

I have explained to the boys that I want them to concentrate on forming their letters correctly and proper letter/word spacing. They are to give it their full attention for 5 minutes. I set the timer and away they go! I sit between them with eraser in hand. If I see a letter that is "off", it gets erased and they must do it over. If I notice them "rushing", I remind them to stay on task. After the timer goes off, the boys (me too) encourage each other by picking out 3 perfectly formed letters on their pages.

Wanna know something? This is working! Thane has asked to do his copywork everyday and claims it to be his favorite subject. Magnus hasn't complained about it either.