Our Westward Expansion

We've studied the Revolutionary time period, and now we've moved on to Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark and Sacajawea. What fun we had this past Thursday! I bet you get tired of hearing how much I love Heart of Dakota! We're still finishing up with Little Hearts for His Glory, but we are really enjoying it!

While we learned about Lewis & Clark's expedition to find a western route to the Pacific Ocean, we cut paper bags into Native American vests, and decorated them. The kids LOVED this activity...see how great the vests turned out:


G drew a tee-pee, a campfire and a buffalo (I think) on the back of her vest.


B put a tee-pee, campfire, trees and a snake on the back of her's.


And ds put mountains, a buffalo and of course bows & arrow on his! Too funny!

While they were busy decorating their vests, I read to them about Lewis & Clark's westward journey. Then while they continued drawing, I set up an obstacle course to re-enact that journey...this was so much fun!

I took a video of the kids "journey", then they had to wait at the "Pacific Ocean" like the original travelers did...no ship came so they had to turn around and follow their route back to St. Louis, the photos are actually backwards because I took the video first...here is the video:


Silly me, I had the camera tipped sideways! I found a program that will rotate it for viewing on the pc, but I guess it is not a permanent fix, cuz here it is, rotated back :o( Oh well!

And the return journey...


Trekking the Columbia River!


Crossing the mountains - I think this was their most favorite part!


Traveling the Missouri River (sit and scooch, scooch, scooch).

This coming week, we've got the American Girl Addy class and bowling again on Monday because of the holiday...ballet on Tuesday (in the evening for me is our TEACH meeting)...and an apple picking field trip on Wednesday (so much fun!) We will be busy little beavers, that's for sure! I can't wait to blog about the apple picking trip...we went last year, and it was great fun!

*Ü* Blessings,

Recent Happenings

Recently we've done some yard-saleing, and have found some great treasures.

I found a science experiment book for ds, and he just loves the neat stuff he can do with it. Here are a couple pictures of the experiment dealing with gravity, air resistance and drag...a clay dinosaur goes for a parachute ride:





We also found an Easy Bake oven. I swore to myself I would never buy one of these since they are such a huge waste of money...but it was only a dollar. Big sister splurged for it...it was meant to be a sister bonding thing. As it happens, the one we bought had all the parts, except the pans! Ugh! A couple weeks later, another yard sale, and another dollar yielded a second Easy Bake oven, this time with said pan. So, yes, now we have 2 ovens and only one pan...but we've only shelled out $2 rather than the $27 they go for new...so not such a big waste...that is until we went to buy mixes for it. What a sham! Nearly $6 later (three times what we've paid for the oven & pan!) We have the mixings for just 4 three inch brownies! Personally, I think the brownies were the best deal...you get to make 4 of them, verses two with the cake or cookie mixes. Still...when it is all done, we'll be using an ounce of REAL brownie mix rather than buying more itty-bitty mixes! Here's dd with her oven and treat:





Lastly, I have to share the fun we had in school today! Can I just say I LOVE my Heart of Dakota curriculum! We are using Little Hearts for His Glory, and finishing up the last few units we did not get done last year. Because I am homeschooling dgd three days of the week, we are doing 5 days of Little Hearts in 3 days of school...this makes for some fun days! We sometimes have to push a couple history lessons together...sometimes a couple art activities! Yay! Right now we are learning about the American Revolution and George Washington. Today we made tri-cornered hats, and added white "wig" curls to the sides...they love these hats! And look how cute they are:



Aren't they adorable? If you haven't looked at Heart of Dakota yet, I highly recommend it!

*Ü* Blessings,

New World - New Faith part 3

Moving on from Europe, we next talked about the settlers who came to the New World.
We read about Jamestown, how it was springtime when the settlers arrived in Jamestown. We painted some lovely paintings of springtime in Jamestown based on a description in our book.

We learned about "Indians" who helped the settlers learn to fish and farm. We did another art project for this, too.

Then we learned about the Mayflower's journey to the New World. This activity was a HUGE hit! We had to go from "Europe" (the playroom) to "America" (the livingroom) by traveling across the "ocean" (linoleum in the schoolroom and kitchen.) The kids were each giving to pieces of paper. They had to step on one, then put the other in front of them and step on that piece. Then they had to take the piece from behind them and move it to a spot in front of them...the process was slow going at first, until they got a rhythm down. They have actually played this more than once! Too funny!





The last part of this week was the first Thanksgiving feast. Even though it is not November, we still enjoyed a small feast, and pantomiming the hard work the pilgrims had to do in order to enjoy the harvest.

*Ü* Blessings,

New World - New Faith part 1

We have finished reading the New Testament - yes, we actually read the entire Bible! (Well, it was a kid's Bible...but still!) Then we began to read about how the gospel spread, first into Europe, and then into the New World.

We learned about St. Valentine and Constantine. We learned about false teachings...and how salt and sugar look the same, but aren't...how cocoa and hot chocolate mix look the same, but aren't...how apple juice and lemon juice look the same, but aren't. How Augustine found pears that looks sweet but weren't and that sin is like that...it seems sweet at first, but the consequences are not. We learned about St. Patrick, and how he wasn't even Irish! We learned about Boniface, Charles the Great and Alfred the Great.

We learned about European kingdoms, castles, lords and rulers. We learned King Richard was imprisoned in an Austrian Castle...then we built our own castle:



We learned about native Americans, and how they lived, hunted and worshipped:



We learned how Columbus thought the world was round when most people in his day thought it was flat. We learned of the Panama Canal, and watch a video of it working that we found on youtube. I'm hoping that at some point this summer, we will be able to visit some local working locks much like those in S. America, but on a smaller scale.

We learned about John Ponce de Leon, and even participated in our own archaelogical dig. You can see in the photos how much the kids really enjoyed this part of our day:





More to come...

*Ü* Blessings,

A Resurrection & An Earthquake

This is an old update...I've been remiss about publishing our school year...

When these photos were taken, we were talking about the Resurrection, and then Paul's missionary journeys.

This was a science experiment we did... using vinegar and baking soda to make raisins rise up... This was SO cool because the author of Little Hearts for His Glory knew how excited the kids would get when the first raisin started to rise and she instructed the parent to feed that excitement with this statement... If we find the raising of a raisin exciting, imagine how exciting it was for the people to see Jesus rise up into the clouds and into heaven! WOW!



We moved through the New Testament, learning about Paul, his conversion and his testimony. How he was imprisoned...



And how he used his circumstances to spread the gospel...even to his jailer!



The kids build the jail with their blocks, chose random dolls for Paul his friend (Timothy?) and the jailer then re-enacted the earthquake:



Afterwards the jailer called out, and Paul replied I am here...then began to share his story with the guard.



We are truly enjoying Little Hearts for His Glory!

*Ü* Blessings,

This Week at Our House

This picture was actually taken last week, but I wanted to include it here. This is our Thanksgiving Tree all finished. The whole family participated to some degree, but dd6 was the most faithful...she really enjoyed watching the tree "grow"!



This week we started up again slowly after having the week of Thanksgivng off...I hope we are a bit faster getting back into the groove in January after Christmas break! My printer is out of ink - again! So for our calendar pieces, I suggested the kids make one each day...they loved this idea! Here's a picture of ds4 holding the flag for the pledge, and another of the kiddos making the calendar cards...





We've started reading the New Testament in history (Heart of Dakota, Little Hearts for His Glory) - I thought "perfect, just in time for Christmas" but no, it moves very quickly, and we are already on the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. This week's art expression was to "paint" with water then add one drop of food coloring and watch the picture emerge. This tied into the story of Jesus turning the water into wine, and I asked the kids if I had just turned water into wine...no. Why could Jesus do it? Because He is the Son of God. I know I've said this before, but I really like the way Carrie (author of Little Hearts) ties everything back into scripture.



Speaking of scripture, this week is a review week of the last 5 verses we've studied, and the kids are doing great remembering them all!

Yesterday we read the story of how Jesus met Andrew and Peter while they were fishing and told them to throw their nets to the other side of the boat, and how the net was so full others had to help them pull in their catch...to which Jesus responded "Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men." Little Hearts then had us on a "rabbit trail" regarding fish and how they breathe and move...we created these fish with gills and fins:



So far, we've had a good week. The kids have done well doing all I ask of them. We skipped spelling this week (no ink in printer, remember?) But our math, phonics (Explode the Code) and handwriting has been accomplished lickety-split! They have been enjoying playing out in the yard even though it's averaged 35 degrees here daily (brrr). We finished the second "story-time" book and I am preparing a lapbook on rabbits for them to do...but again I'll need ink to print those things. The next animal storybook is about Danny Meadow Mouse...I think I should start gathering things now for that one! The idea was for me to have the lapbook ready when we finished the book...but that hasn't happened yet...maybe next time.

If you didn't catch it at the beginning of my post, dd turned 6 this week! She lost her first tooth on Saturday, and turned 6 on Wednesday...I can't believe she is growing up so fast! I did a scrapbook page for her tooth:



For Christmas, I am still knitting the sweaters...the big pieces are all done on the last one, so it's just the ribbing that goes up the front for the buttons, and then put it together and add the neck ribbing and buttons on both...if I took the time, I could finish this weekend...we'll see. I have a special day planned for tomorrow, so I am not sure how much time I'll devote to knitting. Tomorrow will be my family's "second annual ladies shopping trip". Last year my two oldest daughters, and my mom and sister all went, it was great fun. This year, sadly, my daughters can't make it. :o( I'm sure I'll have fun with my mom and sister...but we'll all miss the "family" time.

I've got to run and get school started! Have a wonderful day!

*Ü* Blessings,

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,
*Ü*

LH4HG Week 2

We're making progress, and it is so fun to see!
Last week we missed the art project, and I really didn't like this weeks, so we did last weeks instead! I love the flexibility of Little Hearts!
Here are the kiddos doing their art work:

This week our science discovery revolved around floating and sinking with regards to Noah's story. Well, we had covered that concept a while ago...so I decided to add onto it by having the kids guess or estimate how many counters their "boat" could hold before it would sink...we brought our white board into the bathroom (convenient low sink for this kind of project...and counters to sit on, too!) Here's a shot of the silly kids:

and one more serious...note the guesses or estimations on the white board:

Now, here are the photos I know you have been waiting for...drumroll please...the sinking ship:

And you really can't see it very well...but this is their reaction to the sinking...lots of giggles!

Of course that is not all we've done. The kids have all learned thier bible verse, and can recognize the tune when it comes on the tape in the car - lol. They enjoyed writing a letter to Reddy Fox to warn him of the danger to come. We are learning about coins this year too, so the penny and nickel have been introduced, and the girls are quite adept at counting on from 5 which is a BIG learned skill that they could not do last year. We learned a new rhyme in motion, that they really enjoyed, and I'm curious what next weeks rhyme is.

On Monday as we did calendar, I gave the kids each a piece of yellow paper to put their names on, and I wrote underneath is "thinks Isabella will come today." Then we each put our card into a pocket of our pocket chart calendar. We had to change a couple as two of the kids guessed the next day and the day after...finally we each had a decent guess...Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and her original due date...Isabella surprised us all by coming in between our guesses on Sunday...that's right, the little bundle arrived today! Yipee! We are all so exc ited, and my dgd6 is the most excited:

We get to add baby Isabella's name to our birthday calendar for this month.

I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!
God bless,
merchi

We Finished Week 1

Well, week 1 has come to an end...we did alot! I can't believe how little it looks like on paper, but we really did do quite a bit. I love Little Hearts for His Glory so far, and don't think I'll be dissappointed in the long run...it will save me so much time and energy! Plus it is so neat how it all centers on God...I love that.
Earlier in the week, we did a little activity, acted out the earth's orbit around the sun, then singing "happy birthday, dear Earth" after one rotation...later when I asked the kids how long it took for the earth to go around the sun, they didn't have a clue! Hmmm...I thought, what did I do wrong?? So today, we redid that activity - but this time, with each step we took around the sun, we said a month (well, we actually sang the months) then when we got back around to where we started, the "sun" told us happy birthday.
At first I was the sun, and the kiddos were each an "earth"...but for this activity, someone else was the sun, so I could show them how to move taking one step for each month...I took a video so you could hear the tune of the song, and see how we did it...just in case you wanted to do the same...though perhaps your kiddos got the whole earth goes around the sun in one year thing right off the bat? lol (Okay...perhaps I should explain the blanket and pillows...we picked up our reading area pillows because even though they are square, they are blue and have waves of water and people on them like the earth! - and the sun? no, it's not yellow...but an orangy-yellow...and it does have little suns on it...and the fringe of the blanket is kind of like rays of the sun, right? right? well, I thought it was a good idea, and it worked for us.)

We also started a creation book...it's not really a lapbook...but it is on a video around somewhere...the quarter circle one that opens to a full circle...one quarter circle for each day. The girls are enjoying that, and I wanted them to understand the creation story most fully.
My ds4 has been learning to read using Reading Reflex...we're only on day 2, but we had done bits and pieces of this earlier, so he does have some knowledge...but he is beginning to put 3 sounds together without my help! It's so exciting to watch this happen!

I trust your week was just a productive, and I'll leave you with our "earths" orbiting the "sun" photo:

Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen

Little Hearts for His Glory - Day 3

I so wanted to greet my munchkins with a surprise for the first day of school...and since that didn't work out, I did it on day 3.
Another homeschooling mom had made these really neat little "welcome to 1st grade/preschool" cards placed on top of a pile of school supplies for her little ones, and I was so touched by that it made me want to do the same for mine...so I did:

They were very excited...I asked them to hold up their favorite item, and they smiled so nicely for the photo op:

Today we enjoyed our calendar wall again, and then went outside for the "Rhymes in Motion" portion of our day...which if you are reading my posts remember from day 1 as being a favorite of dd5. At first she did not want to go out doors, but rather wanted to stay in for school...but when I reminded her what we were doing, she was very excited. Again I drew the continents on the driveway:

The girls loved leaping, stomping, hopping, crawling, waddling etc. to the different continents...then I added waves for water, and we went over the names of the oceans that we had learned in our Noah's Ark Lapbook. LHFHG has the kids jump from brown paper to blue paper as the parent calls out a land or sea animal...but my plan was for them to jump onto a continent or into the ocean...instead they began to draw the animals onto the driveway in the appropriate places...and called upon me for some help. It was quite cute!

My dd21 decided to bake today, and since she really enjoys doing this I thought it would be a good way for her to take part in the homeschooling. I had planned to bake with the kiddos every Monday...so now dd21 will do this instead! One less thing for me to remember to do...and a little break for me too. Today she made bread with the kiddos, and we had a "European" lunch (think Heidi) of fresh bread with butter and jam, cheese, apples and milk...yum! yum!

Well, that pretty much sums up our day!