Our week in review 11/9-11/09

It's been a long while since I've posted about how our school days are going! That is with good reason too! I've made a promise to myself to stay off of the computer a little more and boy have I done it! I check my email but that's about it! It's been good for me and the kids but tonight I decided to go ahead and blog about how things were going for us here at Ruby Slippers...and once our son officially "starts school" I think I might have to come up with a more "gender neutral" name!

Anyway...we have been learning quite a bit this year about the Pilgrims and this past week we learned a little about what winter was like for them in Holland. It all sounded so cool! Especially the frozen canals on which everyone skated on to get from one place to another. We also talked about how the storks, whom the Dutch thought a lot of, flew south for the winter. One of our science experiements was to figure out why we do not need to migrate for the winter...although at times I wouldn't mind! To figure this out we were to wrap two equal sized pieces of ice, one in a light cotton item and the other in a heavier fabric. We were to predict which one would melt the least after sitting them outside for 15 minutes.


I'm not sure if you can see the ice very well but I'm sure that you know the outcome! The kids really got a kick out of this little experiment!

We have also "paddled" in the sink with a slotted spoon and slotted spoon covered with foil to figure out what the difference between webbed feet and the non webbed feet of the storks that the Dutch were so fond of.
There was also our little canal making experiement. We've had a great time with History and Science lately!

We also talked in depth about how the Dutchbelief that the storks brought them good luck contrasts what the Bible says about putting our faith in God and how every good gift comes from Him. That was an awesome conversation for us!

Story time has continued to be the highlight of our days! Every book that we have read for HOD has been a huge hit!! I chose to read The Sword in the Tree for our adventure story mainly because I couldn't find the others to purchase at a good price but the kids have LOVED this book! We are actually done with it early because they always wanted me to read "just a little bit more" so starting Monday we are going to do a lapbook until it's time to begin our next genre. I'll post a video when we are done. Once thing that we have talked in depth about is how Shan was such a bold boy and not afraid to hold fast to the truth even when it may have been difficult. We were able to tie that in with how we as Christians need to stand tall for Christ, not be ashamed of Him and have boldness in being His witness. Have I said that we are having an awesome time? The Lord is just bringing so much into our days!

Narrations are still hard for the kids but we are slowly working on them. I need to continue to pray for their growth in this area.
Brother is finally "back in school." He has been begging to do his work and has pulled his notebook and the LHTH manual down from the shelf everyday this week. So we picked back up and are on a review week so that we can brush up on his letter skills. Here he is practicing his sounds as he chugs his train along his train tracks shaped in the letters we were reviewing. (I had no masking tape and just saw those tracks sitting there and viola, a nice substitution!

Another activity we do to reivew his letters that he LOVES is called "Letter Knockdown". All I do is stand the letter cards up, say a sound and he has to kick, roll a car or whatever else I find for him to do to knock down the correct letter card. My son, unlike his sisters, is VERY kinestetic! Don't ask him to color, do a worksheet (or at least finish one) or anything else that requires him to sit for too long! With the exception of being read to he just won't be interested so I have had to wrack my "sit down and work" brain to come up with some activities for him. It's going pretty good so far!

Biggest Sis has done so well with her math program! Here are some pictures of her doing a few activities.
Here she is working on her place value lessons with the place value cards...

And here she is copying my abb pattern with her own blocks...
Something new for us this year is the Book-It Program. I remember doing this when I taught so it was kind of a nostalgic feeling to now be doing it with my children. Both girls earned their Pizza Hut certificate for meeting their goals for the month of October...yay!! They really enjoy this and I hope to be able to purchase some small prizes to go along with the certificates as well. The only hard part is remembering to fill in the reading chart!! Here is Big Sis with her certificate...