LH4HG Week 5

Hello Friends!

Week five of homeschooling has drawn to a close. I cannot believe how fast the weeks are going by! How is your homeschool journey going?

We've finished "unit" 5. The kids had a hard time learning the Bible verse, but we've sung it everyday and then some...I think it is just too long. We learned about Moses and the Israelites. We concluded today's history lesson with some "art". Edible art. Little Hearts for His Glory had us make homemade playdoh...well, we ran out of peanut butter, so instead we used a jell-o playdoh recipe (I'll share it later.) The dough was easy to make, and didn't take long to cool. We read the Bible story of how Moses comes down from the mountain and sees the people worshiping the golden calf. Did you know that to teach the Israelites a lesson, he melted the gold and made them DRINK it?! I had never read that tidbit before! So our "art" lesson was to make a "golden calf" from our edible playdoh and then eat it.

I have to say here...our playdoh was pink because we happened to have strawberry jell-o on hand. We also had orange, and in hindsight I realize now orange would have been a better choice...more "golden"...but I didn't think of that when I was looking at ingredients, I just thought "oh, strawberry will taste better than orange" duh - oh, well. The kids loved the softness of the playdoh, and making any animal is tricky...so I helped a little. Here is dgd6's response to "drinking the golden calf":

She thought it was gross! Well, it is very salty.
Here's the recipe I used:
1c flour
1/2c salt
1c water
1T oil
2t cream of tartar
1 pkg jell-o

Mix together (I wisked the flour and water together first - like gravy - to make it "lumpless") cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it becomes mashed potatoe consistancy. Let cool. Knead with floured hands on floured surface until dry. Cool completely before storing in airtight container.

We had a grand time. We truly have been enjoying our LH4HG experience.

Last week we introduced spelling, and went through the process of dictating a sentence, and having a "spelling test" and all that. It went well, so this week we did it for real. I have an Evan-Moor Grade 1 Spelling book that we are using. We actually began half way through...the first 13 units were all 3 letter short vowel words. So we had our real spelling test today, and the girls both got all the words correct. They were allowed to choose a sticker to put on their paper as a reward. (Oh the joys of homeschooling little ones! lol)

New this week also, ds4 wanted a calendar notebook like the girls. So mommy made him one...he has carried it around much of the day! He is very proud to have one. Of course I didn't include all that I do with the girls, but just encourage him by telling him that next year he will have all of that too...he doesn't write much yet, so instead of writing a number in the calendar boxes, he just colors our pattern...this month is an AAB pattern, so he is coloring the boxes red, red, orange. It is so cute to see him so excited.

We also did our first CalcuLadder drill. Well, just the girls. They did level 2 which is simply adding 1 to a number. We did a trial run to show them how it is done, then did an actual drill. They completed the page and still have 15 or 20 seconds to spare! Wow! Was I impressed. They got a little reward certificate for their efforts.

My sweet brother bought for his daughter 6 or so years ago, the Phonics Game. We brought that out to play with during quiet time this week. The games are all played the same it seems...but that's okay, the kiddos have fun playing and learning anyhow.

Oh! I almost forgot! We also instituted a new "responsibility chart" into our home. I was blessed to get it at nearly half price used from another homeschooling family that had outgrown it. We are loving it. The two little ones get up each morning and follow the cards on the chart and earn a "ticket". They go about the homeschooling part of our day, and follow the cards as needed to earn another ticket in the afternoon. Then at bedtime they follow a few more routine cards and earn a final ticket. If they earn 3 in a day, they earn a sticker towards a long-term reward - a special date with mom or dad. The program is SO AWESOME! It's called Accountable Kids and I have to say things are so much smoother at my house! If I have a child who just isn't being obedient, I can warn them that they will lose a ticket; if the behavior continues, I ask them to bring me a ticket...they hate that! They use their tickets to "buy" special privileges that they have had all along - riding bikes, watching tv or videos...but I also added playing a game from our game closet and playdoh...things I don't usually let them do unsupervised. They can also earn a special "Privilege Pass" for a targeted behavior that they can use to buy computer time. This has been an amazing incentive for my ds4 who was still messing in his pants. This is week 2 of doing the program and the messing happened only once since we began! I am totally amazed...I had offered the incentive of computer time...but for some reason the idea that he can earn the card that he can use to buy computer time just worked better...I don't get it! But, I am not going to question a program that works!

Blessings,
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