Homeschool Highlights - Week of December 12, 2010

Sunday: 

We woke up to a wintery, wonderland surprise.  At last measurement we had 7 inches of newly fallen white stuff! 

Bible:  No church for us today.  Momma doesn't drive in snow!  Thankfully, it happened after our trip to meet the new baby!

Instead, we made the angel craft from the Christian Crafts from Paper Plates book. 

Verse:  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them... Luke 2:9

Character/Social Studies:  We read aloud, The Value of Patience:  The Story of the Wright Brothers. 

As a side note, Shayla was surprised to hear that I struggle with patience myself.  :)

Phys Ed:  Outside playtime in the snow!  Sledding, snow angels, measuring snow, and an attempt at making a snow castle and snowman.

Monday:

Snow Day for local schools, but not for us! 

Bible:  God Protects His Men:  The story of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace.  Daniel 3:19-29

Devotions:  Come to Me.  Matthew 11:28

Reading:  Beginning new book, Open Windows.  This is book 6 of the 1st Grade level.  At Play:  The Circus and The Blue and Yellow Boats.

Read Aloud:  The Value of Sharing:  The Story of the Mayo Brothers.  (character lessons, social studies, science)

Handwriting:  that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. 

Language/Phonics:  Lesson 76.

Activity:  Practiced drawing six star shapes with dots as point markers.  On each star she wrote a word that reminded her of the month of December.  (fine motor, shape recognition, math, creative thinking)

Spelling:  List 11.  Whew, it seems like we've been working on this list forever.  They are the -oy and -oi words.  She just doesn't seem to get them.  She completed part 3 of the workbook and typed her list words into spelling city.  There she played Match it and Alphabetize (she required help with these games) and Audio Word Match, which is like a memory matching game.  She did this independently with 24 tries.

Phys Ed:  Outside playtime!  Up the hill, down the hill, up the hill......I don't even want to attempt to count how many times we did this, but it was a fun way to get moving (for both of us!)

Bible:  Movie Time!  Watched Phil Vischer's What's In the Bible?  A far cry from the Veggie Tales.  I must say I enjoyed the use of puppets and learned quite a bit about the Bible.

Tuesday:

Bible:  The King Honors Daniel.  Daniel 6:3

Devotions:  Soon.  Revelation 22:20-21

Reading:  Open Windows.  At Play:  The Dime, A Funny Sled

Read Aloud:  The Value of Humor:  The Story of Will Rogers (character, social studies)

Handwriting:  John 8:31-32  Then said Jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. 

This completes Badge 7.  We addressed the envelope to mail it. 

Math:  Lesson 87.

Science:  We are so far behind where I wanted to be on science.  Too bad because we always have such fun.  I try to make it as hands-on as possible, not like what I suffered through in public school.

Forces. 

• Read Forces and Movement
• Read Science All Around Me:  Forces
• Defined what forces are.  Discussed concept that nothing moves unless something acts upon it with a push or pull. 
• Experiment:  Choose a toy with wheels.  It does not move unless you push or pull it.  She tried both pushing and pulling the stroller.
• Looked at the pictures in the books of things in motion.  Identified what was moving and what caused each thing to move. 
• Observe objects in motion around you and tell which force (push or pull) makes them move.  Some ideas to get you going:  writing your name, kicking a ball, opening a jar, lifting a book, going down a slide.  
• Forces in Nature.  The wind or air is a natural force.  Experiment:  Blow in straws to make a cottonball move.  What force is used?  Push or pull?
• What are some other ways of making the cottonball move?  (Sucking air into the straw - pulling.)
• Manufactured Forces.  We learned how the wind-up toy works by force.
• 
• A force can also change the way something moves.  Experiment by pushing a book across a bare floor, first slowly, then a second time quickly.  How fast it goes depends on the amount of force used.  We also learned how friction effects force by running a toy train across a bare floor vs. a carpeted floor.

• Think about times when something was already moving and you used force to change its speed or direction.  Examples include:  pedaling a bicycle, pushing a merry-go-round, skating, playing wth a ball, etc.
• Some objects require more force to move than other objects.  Brainstorm some light and heavy objects.  Is it easier to move something that is on wheels or not?
• Movement.  Experiment:  Played Follow the Leader around the house.  We took turns being the leader with directions like, start, stop, faster, slower, forward, backward, turn left, turn right.

Wednesday: 

Specials Day/Dance Lessons

Thursday:

Bible:  The King Makes a Decree.  Daniel 6:6-9

Devotions:  We Have Been Rescued.  John 1:9-14

Reading:  Open Windows.  At School:  I Can't Find It, Lunch for Bobby

Read Aloud:  The Value of Love:  The Story of Johnny Appleseed (social studies, character)

Language/phonics:  Lesson 80.

Friday: 

Music:  Dress rehearsal for Christmas program at school. 

Field trip:  Bank.  Learned about investments.