local adventures: snoqualmie

i don't know about you, but some days just beckon for outings. you know those days. days when you should be responsible, tackling that long to-do list, getting things done...but instead, you blow it off for some fun. well, that was totally yesterday. the sun was out, the day was warm, and i felt like doing a little adventuring. i figured math, writing, and all the usual table work can wait another day. it was time for a field trip.

i was trying to think of a place we haven't been to before (or been to in a while), but that also wouldn't require us to spend a whole lot of money. i had a few places in mind, but many required admission of some sorts. not quite what i had in mind for my impromptu field trip. so, 50 minutes later, we ended up in snoqualmie. the last time we were there, we only made it to the falls, before the projectile incident (a.k.a. kid throwing up in the middle of the people bridge on the way back to the car). needless to say, we never got a chance to explore the rest of the area. i'm so glad no one got sick this time around! we were able to spend some time exploring the falls again, and then had enough time after to stop by the northwest railway museum, just 1 mile south of the falls.

january 2015 was the last and first time we were at snoqualmie falls. we went on a day shortly after some massive rains in the area, and the falls were huge! the roaring water sounded like constant thunder, and there was so much spray coming from the waterfall, that it felt like you were getting rained on when we were at the lower lookout point (even though it wasn't rainy at all).

yesterday's falls experience felt so different. the sun was out, we weren't shivering or getting soaked from the sprays of water, and the falls seemed tiny in comparison to the last time we saw it. we spent a little more time reading the signs, talking about the falls, observing, and practicing our nature knowledge of the plants we saw along the nature trail.

after a little lunch break, we packed up and made our way to the northwest railway museum. the museum is located in snoqualmie's historic downtown. just a look down the main street makes you feel like you just stepped back in time. restaurants, boutiques, and other shops make their home in historic buildings lined up and down one side of railroad avenue and the area around the museum. the depot at the museum also adds to that feeling of nostalgia and charm.

admission to the museum grounds and the depot are free. you can also get guided tours and train rides for additional fees, and they have a few train-centric events going on at the museum like railroad days, day out with thomas, and the santa train. the kids were happy to just roam the grounds. they loved being able to run along the tracks, hopping the rails, climbing up on the trains, and having time to just play.

we popped into the freight room, where we learned about some of the railroad's history, and the kids got to fiddle around with an old cast iron stove and an old machine showing the diagram of the tracks and signals.

i would have loved to stay a little longer to explore the shops (and snack on kettle corn), but i knew better than to stick around longer than i should and risk getting caught in traffic. side note: this here is my go-to site before we travel anywhere requiring a trip on the freeway. if there's a back-up, we know to take the back ways!

snoqualmie is an easy drive from seattle, so i'm pretty sure we'll make it back there again soon for another daytime adventure. i'm so glad we decided to take a break from our usual weekday grind. it definitely hit the spot!

rediscovering seattle: cherry blossom and japanese cultural festival

this past weekend, we decided to head over to the seattle center to check out the 40th annual cherry blossom and japanese cultural festival. the cherry blossom festival is part of seattle center's festal, which is a year-long series of cultural festivals all held at the seattle center.  there's quite a variety, and it's a great opportunity for the kids to get a taste of different cultures without necessarily having to travel the world (at least not yet, right?? *sigh* someday...). plus, an added bonus: i can totally count this for school!  can you say geography + social studies + history + art + music + science + whatever else you want to add?  oh yeah!

so, i was a little apprehensive about going at first, because festival type events that we've experienced in seattle before have always been packed.  i remember going to bite of seattle years ago, and feeling SO crowded, i wasn't really sure i wanted to deal with that.  but we decided to give it a go anyway.  we've never been to this festival, and wouldn't know how crowded it would be until we tried.  if it didn't end up turning out well, then we'll know for next year.

as it turned out, it wasn't overly crowded at all. parking was a little more full than usual around the seattle center, but not so bad that we had to park blocks and blocks away.  we also got there around 11 a.m., which was an hour after they started, so there weren't too many people there yet.  we noticed that when we left at around 1 p.m., there was quite a bit more people, but it was still a manageable crowd to navigate through.

the festival was held in three locations at the seattle center: the seattle center pavillion, the armory, and the fisher pavillion (along with the outdoor space right outside). the event itself is free, and the only thing you have to pay for is parking and food. i can't believe that this event has been around for 40 years, and we've just now heard about it?? where have i been (besides the 8 years we were out of state...ha!)?

we really liked getting there on the earlier end of the festival, because it allowed us to explore and try things out without having to deal with much of a line.  there were a few booths/stations set up in each of the buildings, with the bulk of the booths set up in the fisher pavillion. the older kids also picked up a "passport" shortly after we arrived, which they took around to various spots to get stamps.  while they didn't get all their boxes stamped, it was a great way for them (and us) to participate in some of the activities and learn new things about japan.  you can check out this year's schedule here to get an idea of what events and activities were offered.

we discovered the seattle kobe sister city association booth on the second floor of the armory, which hosted a kimono/yukata dress up. the girls were immediately drawn to it, and got a chance to try one on.  they had some for men and boys too, but our boys didn't seem too keen on trying one on.

after dress up time was over, emma was set on getting her first stamp so we stopped over at the seattle go center station, where she learned (and mommy and daddy too) how to play the ancient game of go and got a stamp in her passport. i've never heard of the game, but we thought it was very interesting, despite its seemingly simple appearance.  there's quite a bit of strategy involved once you really get the hang of playing, but the game itself is simple enough to learn that the kids would enjoy playing it.  i can see this being a fun family game night.  we just have to get the boards and stones (or make some temporary ones in the interim).  if you are interested in finding out more about go, you can check out the american go association.

using our handy-dandy festival map, we decided to head over to the fisher pavillion to check out the goings on there, and get more stamps of course.  by this time, there were more people at the event, so it was starting to get a little tricky to navigate through with all four kids.  side note: typically, i would wear the youngest kid (backpack style) for events like this one, but i spaced out on bringing my mei-tai for some reason.  i hate taking strollers to any event that draws a crowd, because it makes it so much more difficult to get around, so i've always worn the littlest. add on 2 or 3 additional kids to keep an eye on, and wearing the youngest really does simplify things (i think lani has ridden in a stroller twice in her lifetime just because it was always easier to wear her). anyway, back to the cherry blossom festival and the fisher pavillion...we made our way there and were taken by the outdoor bujutsu demonstration.  there were swords involved, and this particularly had gibson quite captivated.  especially since he's currently taking tae kwon do. i think watching the demo gave him a little inspiration.

more stamps were needed in the kids' passports, so we finally made it inside the fisher pavillion for a stop at the origami booth.  emma has recently taken an interest in origami, so having the origami booth at the festival was perfect timing.  and mommy also enjoys doing a little origami so that was a bonus for me!

as it neared the lunch hour (as indicated by the mass of little hands digging in the bag for snacks and any form of edible yummies), our plan was to make our way outside to finish the snacks we packed, and let the kids kind of run around in the grass before heading home. but we couldn't just head straight outside, because there still many things going on inside that drew our attention.  so, the next stop as we tried to make our way out of the building was a booth on traditional japanese toys. this one was a fun one for all the kids, and the people at the booth were so sweet and patient with them. i love that the toys were all wooden and simply designed but engaging at the same time...my favorite kinds of toys.

after prying our kids away from the toy booth, we tried to re-direct everyone (including the parents) towards the exit, but another activity caught our eye.  there was a sword sharpening demonstration right across from the toy booth, and we spent some time observing the gentleman as he began the process.

and once we made it outside, we were entertained by some awesome music by a taiko performing group.  this group was unique (at least to me), because i noticed a couple of its members were quite young, close to emma's age it seems. i thought that was pretty neat, and loved that the kids got to observe other kids participating in unique activities (and not just sports...nothing against sports, mind you).

we had a great experience at this festival, even though we only stayed for 2 hours (the parking meter said it was time to go, and we kinda didn't want to pay $10 for parking), and the whole thing was very budget friendly for our family of 6. there were a few other booths and stations we stopped at that were not mentioned here.  and certainly more things we wanted to try out but didn't have time for like the kite making, the paper airplane contest, and i kind of wanted to try the japanese calligraphy. but it's a good thing they have this event every year, because i think this is one we'll probably come back to again next year.

learning together: AOY3 // AOY0 {week 4}

ok, i know i just got started posting these weekly school roundups and i already skipped one week.  i have no good excuse except that life happens.  on the plus side, there's not really a whole lot you'd miss in one week.  we try to stick to a routine, and these weekly roundups are really for my records so i know these posts aren't very exciting to read.  

maybe one of these days i'll write a nice narrative about our typical week of learning.  one of these days...

EMMA

history (books in brackets):

emma read about france explorers who sailed to the new world, and settled for a little while in florida [this country of ours].  this was an interesting read, particularly because the topic of cannibalism came up at the end of the reading (don't worry, it wasn't graphic).  the french explorers who had settled in florida pretty much didn't want to hang out there anymore (because their captain never returned as he had promised), so they decided to build their own boat to sail back to france.  you can guess how well that turned out...and out of desperation they drew straws to see who would be, umm, dinner.

and then there was king henry and his 6 wives [our island story].  she did very well on her narration, and we had some good discussions on king henry's character. emma was not overly impressed by king henry's choices from this section of reading, and thought he was kind of a selfish guy.

natural history/science:

emma read chapter 4 in Pagoo, and i had her list 4 facts about a hermit crab that she learned from her reading.  she loves that book, so that comprehension activity was pretty easy for her.  but i love that she's excited about her school books, and that she's read the whole thing through already yet is willing to re-read it a little bit at a time for school.

language arts:

i ordered a print practice and cursive practice book for emma through handwriting without tears.  i decided to order the 2nd grade print book for her as a quick refresher course on print writing.  we're breezing through it (she even likes to do extra pages), so we'll be starting cursive soon enough!

emma's been alternating between doing the HWT print book and copywork from her copywork notebook.  her print writing has actually improved just from a few weeks of doing the HWT book.

this year, i doubled the number of spelling words emma has each week.  we are on the second week of spelling, and still using mcguffey's eclectic spelling book to source the weekly word list.  this weeks words are belt, deer, dear, whine, wine, quite, quiet, bear, bare, beer.  we discussed the "qu" sounds, letters that make the long e and the long i sounds, and rule-breaker words for the long e sounds (a.k.a. jail words). 

math:

emma did a couple more chapters from her life of fred book, and i two worksheets from homeschoolmath.net focusing on solving for missing addends and place values (larger numbers).

poetry and literature:

we have been lagging in our daily poem readings.  i suppose i can just have emma read one to herself, but i do enjoy reading it to her.  plus, they're pretty short, and reading them together gives us an opportunity to discuss the poem together afterwards.

she read about pecos bill from her american tall tales book.  i had her tell me 5 questions she would ask pecos bill if she were to interview him.  i wish i had written down the questions, because they were pretty creative, and showed that she understood the reading well.  she also went on and narrated many parts of the story...i think she enjoyed learning about pecos bill.

she read chapters 10 and 11 for the week in The Princess And The Goblin.  she was looking forward to reading more, but we had a pretty busy week so there didn't end up being enough time to read ahead.

she read the mechant of venice from the book Tales From Shakespeare.  she narrated pretty well, but had difficulty remembering everything that happened.  the story was pretty long, and i should have had her spread it out over a few days.  that would have made more sense, and she would have retained more of the reading that way.  oh well.  next time!

ballet (p.e./performing arts):

things are going well, from what emma has told me, and she's halfway done with her 7 week session.  the studio is on the upper level, so there isn't really any space for parents to watch, and i don't think they really like parents peeking either.  i don't blame them.  i usually didn't care for having parents watch during class time, because it can get distracting for the students.  according to emma's latest class update, they practiced tendus, and "ballet" skips (a.k.a. skipping with pointed feet).  she has made a sweet little friend in class, and i'm hoping that they can stay in the same class for the new session.  

GIBSON

so, our printer head for the black ink is a little mucked up, and i couldn't print out the sheets to make his letter of the week notebook page.  booo.

fortunately, that didn't hold us back.  gibson continued a few more pages in his HWT print book.  like emma, he is really enjoying doing his handwriting practice.  the HWT books are different from the typical handwriting books i've seen, and the kids love it.

we also did a little math.  nothing big, just adding some numbers with 10 as the highest sum.  gibson started adding numbers before he could write them, and i came across the best idea online (i wish i could remember which blog it was i saw it on) to encourage kids who can add, but haven't quite mastered writing them yet.  i use little round stickers with the answer to individual addition problems written in each sticker.  all gibson has to do is find the correct number that matches the answer to the addition problem and stick in the blank.  that way, they're not slowed down (or discouraged) by their lack of mastery in writing the numbers.  it's a pretty brilliant idea.

CASH and LANI

these two babies are going to end up starting school at the same time.  they do well playing on their own most days, and sometimes they'll want to join in with big brother and sister so they'll pull out some papers to draw or a coloring book to color in.

lani thinks she can use scissors, so she sneaks in my room and digs around in the school supply box until she can find the scissors to cut things.  so far, she's been trying to cut just paper.  i'm hoping that's as far as she goes right now, and doesn't move on to cutting hair!

ALL KIDS

bible:

this week, we read from Luke 2:1-40, Exodus 2:11-16, Acts 7:23-34, and Hebrews 11:24-28.

our memory verse for the week was Genesis 2:7, and since we're using this system for scripture memorization we also review memory verses from previous weeks.

french:

i've been trying to make sure we do french at least 3 times a week, and we managed to fit a french lesson 4 times this week (we were out and about more than usual this week, and that pimsleur audio cd really came in handy).  some new and old words/phrases that stood out this week include j'e vais bien, comment allez-vous?, tres bien, chaud, merci, bonjour, quest-ce que c'est?

nature walk:

i kept lessons short on thursday, and we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon exploring volunteer park.  there was some drizzling involved in our stroll, but the kids were totally excited about it because they got to use their umbrellas (which the boys sometimes turned into weapons *ahem*).  the park is quite big, with plenty of places to explore.  i will have to save a more detailed post about volunteer park for next time.

we also took some time to check out the park's conservatory, modeled after a victorian area glass greenhouse.  the building reminded us of the book misss rumphius, which is currently one of the children's favorite books (it was one of mine when i was a kid).  it was actually really neat to come home and look at the illustration of the conservatory in miss rumphius, after experiencing a real-life conservatory.

inside the conservatory, we had the opportunity to observe plants that aren't commonly seen here in the PNW - many unique, tropical plants that thrive best on year-round warm, humid conditions.

it was an excellent nature day.  sometimes, all we need to refresh us is some good, quality time outside, with freedom to explore, run, and experience at your own pace.  i'm glad we played hookie that day!

learning together: AOY3 // AOY0 {week 2}

EMMA

history (books in brackets):

emma was introduced to the Spanish explorers Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, Hernando Cortes, and Pizzaro [child's history of the world], and their discoveries in the new world. we reviewed the places discovered on the map, and also identified some of the native peoples that were already inhabiting those areas (aztecs, incas and maya peoples).

i am still behind in getting things ready for emma's improved timeline.  i'm mostly trying to gather some pictures of people we read about last year, and pinpointing the dates.  i'm not going to print out a picture for every single person we read about last year, just a handful is enough, i think.

geography:

emma read another chunk from marco polo.  according to her narration, marco polo has been introduced in the story as a boy.  i found she was a little distracted during her narration, but maybe it was because i had her do this while we were waiting for gibson's swim class to be done.  next time, i think i'll save this reading for when we aren't going places.

i couldn't resist throwing in a few episodes from travel with kids this week.  they had a couple of episodes in mexico, and one in peru, which tied in nicely to what emma had read in history about the spaniards discovering mexico and peru, and the aztecs, incas and maya peoples.

emma and i had a brief discussion on latitude and longitude lines as we were finding the places the spaniards discovered on the map.  we also talked briefly about time zones, the prime meridian and the equator.  i'm thinking that the next time we buy an orange, i can tie in the discussion on latitude and longitude lines somehow.

natural history/science:

this week's cultivated crop was the pumpkin.  we managed to harvest 1 pumpkin from our little garden, before the rest of the pumpkin leaves got taken over by powdery mildew. boohoo.  this week, emma decided to use the oil pastels to do her drawing, and taped a leaf sample in her nature journal.  she also recorded 5 things she observed from the pumpkin plant.  side note: i only asked for 1-3 observations to record, but she had "too many, so how about 5?" ha!

pagoo came in during the end of week 2, and just as i thought, we are already caught up for week 3.  emma is in love with the story of pagoo the little hermit crab, and reading 2 chapters worth didn't take long.  she also enjoyed narrating what she read, and was very detailed.  you can tell she really likes this book.  i'm looking forward to visiting the beach and the aquarium to observe the tide pools (again), so i can tie in what she's learning from pagoo with real life experiences.

copywork:

it's worth to note this week, that emma did copywork all 5 days.  i ordered the 2nd grade level handwriting without tears workbook for her, and we will alternate between that and regular copywork once the workbook comes in.  she has legible penmanship, but it's been kind of sloppy these past few weeks.  i'm not sure why.  so, i think it's worth investing some extra time to re-examine the basics again.  she'll be starting cursive this year as well, so i'd like her to have a good hold on print writing before she takes on cursive.

math:

emma did another two days of review, which included telling time and putting larger numbers in numerical order.

her life of fred book came in at the end of week 2, and she immediately planted herself on the chair and began reading. she won't officially start the book until this week (week 3), but she likes to read it for the story. have i mentioned how i love life of fred books? i love how the book incorporates math concepts within a fun to read story, and that students have the opportunity to do all the lessons in the book independently.

poetry:

we did better in week 2, and emma read 1 poem each day. on one of the days, we had a great discussion about race, martin luther king, junior, biracial parents (and mixed kids), and how God made each one of us unique, after reading a poem titled "the little black boy." it's moments like those, that are like an encouragement for my heart.  teachable moments can happen at any time, and i'm so glad i get to be a part of it.

literature:

emma read chapters 7-9 from princess and the goblin, and narrated what she read with ease.  did i already mention that she has fallen in love with this book.  i'm pretty sure she's going to go back and re-read this story again, kind of like what she did with the book, the little duke (part of her history reading from last year).

i forgot to mention from week 1, that emma will be continuing pilgrim's progress by john bunyan this year.  it's a lengthy and heavy (in the figurative sense) book, and the kids aren't expected to finish it in one year.  we do an audio version of this book, and she listens to about 10-15 minutes of it each week. i'm actually pretty surprised by how much she understands, but i think it's been helpful to take it in very small chunks.

ballet (p.e./performing arts):

emma started her first week in ballet.  she's actually going to the studio where i sometimes used to take class when i was in college.  it's a funny feeling to come back as a parent and not as a student.

she's now past the pre-ballet age, and she's at the age where a little bit more formal ballet training will be starting.  she had a great first class, and said that it wasn't all review for her (that's a good).

GIBSON

this week's letter is the letter "j." he completed the "j" notebook page to add to his alphabet binder, and he practiced writing both the upper case and lower case "j." i ordered him the kindergarten level of the handwriting without tears workbook, so i can keep all his letter printing practice in one place.  i also like the handwriting without tears method (though we're only using the workbooks at home...no slates, right now), and the lessons are short and simple.

the workbooks have kind of gone by the wayside, and gibson has shifted much of his attention to drawing and coloring. but he did do one activity, which had him identify pictures with a "j" sound.  he seemed to enjoy that one, and actually did pretty well.  i was surprised, because i haven't spent much individual time with him working on letter sounds aside from when he's working on his notebook page.    there was something i read in charlotte mason's volume on home education that talked about how a child will retain whatever information they feel is important to them at that time (isn't that still true for adults too, though?), and that they will naturally make their own connections.  i feel like that idea can be illustrated in how gibson managed to automatically know how the letter "j" sounds like.  i didn't need to spend any extra time working with him on letter sounds, because he was making connections in his head about all these things.

gibson started his first week of swimming class.  despite his sometimes shy disposition, he was not at all shy about being in a new class environment, and happily participated in class.

CASH and LANI

these two "worked" on their letter j coloring sheet, and a dot sheet with pictures that started with the letter "j."  sheets were sourced here and here.

cash has been really into drawing things too, just like gibson.  and his drawings have started going beyond the regular crazy scribbles.  there are specific stories/things/creatures in his drawings, and it's so cute to listen to him explain it to me.

ALL KIDS

bible:

we read exodus 2:1-10, Acts 7:17-22 and Luke 1:26-45.  i printed out a few activity sheets for the kids to do while listening to the scripture reading, but they were more into playing with legos which worked fine too.

memory verse:

our memory verse was genesis 1:27. we are using this system for scripture memorization so we also reviewed last week's memory verse on the odd days.  i am really liking this method of memorization.  it's simple and only takes 5 minutes a day (at the most) to do...which means i'm more likely to do it consistently.

nature walk:

we had a very enjoyable walk/bike ride around our neighborhood this week.  while it was not a nature walk, per se, it was nice to be outside, breathing in the fresh air, seeing the lake and some of the mountains.

we also spent saturday exploring a couple of local farms, which tied in perfectly with this term's nature study them of cultivated crops (that will be saved for a later post).  i love when i don't have to plan things, and they just kind of fall into place.

we also spent some time playing in the beach, and taking a quick stroll while we waited for emma to finish ballet class.  there was lots of sand playing, climbing and running.

french:

we did some lessons from muzzy on our home days, and the pimsleur CD on our "errands/outing" days (we've "graduated" to lesson 2...woohoo!).  words and terms we learned this week (that the kids actually retained!): "qu'est-ce que c'est," "c'est une ___," "bonjour," "est-ce que vous ette american," "merci," "mademoiselle," "oui," "comment allez-vous."

hymn/folksong:

our hymn for the week was actually one we've sang at church, so the kids recognized it immediately: "abide with me" by henry francis lyte.

our folksong this week was "barbara allen," an american folk song, which (from what i read) originated in England and brought over to america early european settlers.  the kids don't seem too interested in this one.  maybe it's because it's a ballad?  i don't know.  i play it daily, but they're just not into this one.

we had a very full week with gibson and emma starting extra-curricular lessons.  i'm sure it will be even more busy once emma starts swimming class again in october.  i will be looking forward to our month long school break in december!

wordless wednesday {sort of} :: outdoor school

it has been such a great spring here in seattle.  our first spring back in the PNW, and we've been treated with more sunshine before july than i would expect. 

i'm definitely not complaining!  on sunny days, we've often cut our table work (i.e. any school work that requires being inside, sitting at a table) short in exchange for some outdoor learning, playing, and exercising. we love sunny days in seattle!

join the fun! more wordless wednesday here and here.

remembering the man that had a dream

for the past few years, i've tried to plan a little something on martin luther king, jr. day.  since we homeschool, we really don't get a day off for this holiday, so we could easily let the day pass by without even bringing it up.

but i feel it's important for my kids to know who he was.  the man with a dream.  a dream that made such a great impact in our country.

i always have grand plans for activities we can do together...after the fact. but simpler does end up being better, and i'm glad i didn't make things too complicated.

we watched three videos together.  the first one was a brief kid-version synopsis of dr. king's life.


the second was more of an audio-book type video from the book, martin's big words.


the last video was of his "i have a dream" speech.  we didn't watch the whole thing, but i think being able to see him in action made an impression.


we talked a lot about how people look different from the outside, and how God made each of us unique and special. we talked about how within our own family and among our friends there are people with different colored skin, and how we treat one another.  my favorite example that i use every year is about their daddy and his arm-covered tattoos.

i tell them that when some people see a person with lots of tattoos, they automatically think he/she is bad and/or mean.  "is that what you think of your daddy when you see him?"  i would ask.  just watching the kids' expressions, seeing how they're working it out in their minds, is amazing.  the response is always a resounding "no," with a look of shock on their faces-why would anyone think their daddy is a mean person?

our activities were simple (i got some from here).

my favorite (and i think it was the kids' favorite too) was coloring a chain of people with different colors.  i love how each of them had their own interpretation of "different colors."

i'm thankful that my children love people for who they are on the inside, not by how they look on the outside.  while i may not judge people based on the color of their skin, i think that if i'm honest with myself, i can still be quick to judge people on outside appearances in certain situations.  sometimes i wish, i was more child-like in that respect, and not so quick to pass judgement on people merely on how they look.

i'm thankful for the reminders today brings me: the privileges we enjoy today that are often taken for granted, and what it looks like to really love your neighbor as God commands me to do.

happy martin luther king, jr. day!

learning together: W16Y01 and Y0

tax season! tax season! this means i'm gonna give you a rundown of week 16 as quickly as possible.  if you noticed, i added year 0 to the title for gibson.  he has been so responsive to learning letters and doing copywork these past weeks that i think it's time we make it "official."

you can go here to find out what year 0 is all about, and here to check out the booklist. we've read many of the books on this list (though there are still more we have yet to read), and all the kids enjoy listening to the stories.

bible:

we read 1 samuel 31 and emma tried her hand at a crossword puzzle (lesson 81 from the calvary curriculum site) for the first time.

our scripture memory verse was john 3:16.  this was easy-peasy for emma since we've had this as our memory verse before.  but reviewing it was nice, because it gave gibson a chance to try and memorize it.  we also watched the rizers video for this particular verse and the kids liked it a lot.

french:

the kids watched lessons 1-3 from youlearnfrench on youtube.  bonjour!

language arts:

copywork for emma was our memory verse for 1 day and an excerpt from the poem us two by a. a. milne for 2 days.

we went through mcguffey lessons 57 and 60.

spelling words this week were on, ox, lot, got and snot (this one got a laugh).  we only spent 3 days on these words.

similar to emma's letter of the month when she was younger, i will be doing a letter a week for gibson.  all of his activity sheets pertaining to that letter will be kept in a folder for easy access, and to allow him to work independently if he chooses to.

this week we did the letter g (i plan on going through all the letters in his name).  i'm primarily using these sites to put his folder together: tot school printables (also for cash when he wants to join in), raising rockstars and homeschool creations.

he has been so into doing his own school and wanting to trace and learn his letters.  i love it. and i'm thankful that this transition was low-key and painless (which i think it should be).  it was just 6 months (or so) ago that he was uninterested in learning letters or numbers...it's funny to see the change.

math:

we are almost done with the life of fred book so we only did one chapter (17)  this week to stretch it out longer.

history:

we read hengist's treachery from our island story.  new vocab word: treachery.  i forgot to read inchcape rock from fifty famous stories so that will have to be tacked on to week 17.

art and music study were the same as last week's.

literature:

we read the leap at rhodes and the wild boar and the fox from the aesop for children.  the kids listened to the sing-song of old man kangaroo from just so stories.  from beautiful stories from shakespeare we read as you like it.

we didn't read any poems from a. a. milne's book because emma had misplaced it somewhere.  we found it in the car hidden underneath a bunch of stuff on sunday.  yay!

science/nature study:

mammal of the week was a pig.  we read over some brief information about domestic and wild pigs, and emma drew her rendition of a domesticated piggy.  oink, oink.

we read peter learns something about spooky from the burgess bird book, and looked up some information about screech owls.  we listened to their sound and watched a couple of short video clips on them.

life skill:

emma continues to be a natural helper (for the most part) around the house.  she has been promoted to putting away the clean plates from the dishwasher so that gibson can take over her old job of putting away utensils.  now i just have to make sure to give them more opportunities to practice their new skills.

other things:

it snowed last week so the kids had some time enjoying the snow.

inside the kids busied themselves with books, games, and playing together and independently.

cash has been wanting to join in the table work fun, so i've been giving him his own sheet to complete. i think he is quite proud of his work.

more next week!  a bientot!

learning together: W15Y01

so it looks like the next few weekly updates are going to have to be a condensed version.  i'm preparing to do our tax return, and it is impossible to do that and maintain these updates on top of all the other stuff we have going.  i also like to have a clean home and clean clothes to wear every once in a while, so it's time for me to prioritize, friends.  once our tax returns are done, there will be plenty of words added back to these posts.

but before i start, let me just say our week started off like this...

bible:

we read through 1 samuel 23:14-24:22.  our memory verse for the week was from psalm 25:4-5.

french:

we went through youlearnfrench lessons 1-3.  it was very cute listening to the kids repeating back the words in french.

language arts:

emma did 3 days of copywork from our memory verse. spelling words for the week were is, sip, tip, lip, slip.  we only did them for 3 days.  in mcguffey's first reader we did lessons 47 and 55.

gibson did his own "copywork" again.  i think i'll probably start him on a little bit of daily table work pretty soon.  he seems ready for it (as long as it's not too long).

i cannot recall what she did for her free reading...she read a whole lot of books though.  a.lot.

math:

we did life of fred chapters 15 and 16.

we had a good discussion on pricing products, which stemmed from her plans of opening up a shop where she was going to sell bookmarks.  we discussed how to price items in groups versus just a single item.

we also had a brief discussion on sale and clearance prices during our trip to target, and why stores do that.

history:

we read whitington and his cat from fifty famous stories retold over the course of 2 days.

emma worked on her timeline and we are caught up to week 14.

art study:

jacob van ruisdael's view of haarlem with bleaching grounds, circa 1665.

music appreciation:

we're still on passion of st. matthew, and i still can't get into this one...pretty intense and lengthy piece of work.

geography:

no paddle again, but as emma was doing her timeline we used the atlas to locate some of the countries mentioned.

literature:

we read the ass and the load of salt and the lion and the gnat from the aesop for children.  then we read prince hyacinth and the dear little princess from the blue fairy book, which i spread out over two days.

science/nature study:

the mammal of the week was a horse.  emma filled out the basic information sheet, which listed the horse's habitat, diet and an interesting fact (or facts), and did her best drawing of a horse in her nature journal.

life skill:

i had her address a package i am planning to send out to salty not sweet.  now we just have to purchase postage and stick it in the mail.

other things:

there was snow this week, so the kids played in it quite a few times.

the boys and emma built themselves a "house" in the corner of the dining room.  they shoved that house full of stuff...all essential things for the home, of course.

the older two continue to do well in habitually taking their plates to the kitchen once they're done eating.  i have even caught cash putting his cup in the sink once he's done with it.  clean up after play has been going well too, and it's nice to see them working together as a team to get it done.  i'm highlighting these things in this post, because i feel that these are important habits to develop which will be helpful for them down the road as they get older.

the boys found the jar of coins and really enjoyed dumping them out and putting them back in.  i did some coin ID with gibson while he was putting them back in the jar, but it didn't last too long.

that's it from our schoolhouse!