Desert Scene

We have been continuing our study of different habitats around the world and the animals that live in those habitats.  Our latest stop was the desert.  We learned about where the deserts are located, the weather in the desert, the animals that live in the desert and their classifications and what kind of food they eat.

 One of the animals we learned about was the camel.  We did a little demonstration to learn why camels have such big feet.  First, Hailey took a small circle of cardboard and pushed it into some sand.  It sunk right down into the sand.

Then she tried the same thing with a larger cardboard cut out, representing a camel’s large foot.  It did not sink into the sand, just like camels feet do not sink into the desert sand.

Hailey also created a representation of the desert.  She mixed some white and brown paint to create a sand color.  Then she mixed in some sand to give it some texture.

As we learned about different plants and animals, Hailey added them to her poster.

 Hailey’s completed desert scene.

Grapevine Studies Review

We start each homeschool day with Bible as our first subject. I have really wanted to be able to combine Hailey and Hunter for Bible to save myself a little time. But, with their age difference (5 years) it is hard to find something that really works well for both of them. Then I tried Grapevine Studies, where I am able to do one lesson with both of them.  There are, of course, different requirements for children of various ages, but it can be used with a wide range of ages.

We were given the chance to review the Birth of Jesus: Multi-Level which is geared for children ages 7 and up, as well as the Traceable for Multi-Level which is geared for ages 3-6.  I received a digital download of the teacher book, the multi-level student book, and the multi-level student traceable book.

The Birth of Jesus Studies covers the time leading up to the birth of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, and the Wise Men, Shepherds, and angels. We decided to do one lesson per day, which comes out to 24 lessons.  If you were using this as a curriculum for your Sunday school class, it can also be done as 5 weekly lessons.

This is a sample page from the 64 page teacher book.  I did not print it out, but rather used my laptop as my guide when teaching. Each lesson gives a read aloud from the Bible to do.  Then there are some notes about what to discuss with the students.  There are drawings to show the teacher what to draw on the white board for the students to copy onto their page.  There are different activities for the kids to do depending on their capabilities.  There are words to look up in a Bible Dictionary, there are memory verses, and review questions and answers.

This is an example of the Traceable student version of the Birth of Jesus.   I used this with Hunter (age 3).  Hailey’s pages were exactly the same but without the gray scale drawings to be traced.  Both the traceable and the regular version have 48 pages each.  For each day I printed out a copy for each of them to have to do their work on.

So, how did we use The Birth of Jesus Studies?

Each day we went over the Bible story, verses, and discussion.  Then the kids would do their stick figure drawings about the story.  This seemed to really help them to remember what we had been learning about.  It is great for them to be able to look back over their past work, see the pictures, and remember what they learned.

The first day we used Grapevine I did have to use a little bribery to get Hunter to participate.  But, after the first day I never had to bribe him again- he came right away when I said it was time for Bible.  Some days even Buzz & Woody, and Mr. Incredible and Dash came to hear the Bible story 🙂

Both Hailey and Hunter did really well with listening to the verses and drawing their pictures.  Hunter became quite fascinated with Herod and that he wanted to kill baby Jesus.  He talked about it over and over again, and was rather relieved to find out that Herod died.  Since the lesson on Herod, anytime we discuss something from the Bible he wants to know if Herod was involved haha

This is a sample of a page of Hailey’s work, her stick figure drawings are about when Mary found out she was going to have a baby.

Here is a sample of Hunter’s work, the gray scale drawings there for him to trace.  There are also lesson review questions which Hailey and Hunter were both able to answer, as well as a suggested memory verse.

We had a lot of fun using Grapevine Studies!  Drawing the stick figures really helps the kids to remember what the lessons were about.  I would definitely recommend Grapevine to anyone looking for a good Bible curriculum.

Want to see more about Grapevine?  Check these out:

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Review of Eat Your U.S. History Homework

One of our favorite subjects is most definitely history! When I was in school if someone had ever told me that I would one day love history I would have thought that person was crazy. I was taught to memorize dates and information, which was very boring and I do not remember much of anything about the history I learned in school.  I knew I wanted to teach my kids in a very different way, and keep things fun and interesting so that they will remember what they learn.  When I saw Eat Your U.S. History Homework I thought it would be a really fun way to learn some history, and it definitely fits into my hands-on teaching approach.

Ann McCallum is the author of Eat Your U.S. History Homework, as well as several other books including Eat Your Math Homework, and Eat Your Science Homework which you can learn more about at Ann McCallum Books.  The book we reviewed was Eat Your U.S. History Homework: Recipes for Revolutionary Minds, which is geared for children in grades 2-5.  It is a 47 page, hardcover book that includes 6 recipes.  Several historical events that occurred between 1620-1776 in American history are highlighted throughout the book.  These include when the Pilgrims arrived in America, life in original 13 colonies, the French and Indian war, Slavery,  the Boston Tea Party, and the Declaration of Independence.

Each historical event has three parts to it:

First, there is a short, one page history lesson.  This particular recipe, Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies, highlights America in 1773 and goes over the Boston Tea party and some of the events that happened at that time.  There are several bold words throughout the lesson which can be looked up in the glossary in the back of the book.

The next part is the recipe.  All of the ingredients and equipment needed are listed.  There are step by step, illustrated instructions.

The last part gives some brief, interesting information from the time period.  Then it ends with some thought provoking questions.

So, how did we use Eat Your U.S. History Homework?

Hailey is studying U.S. history this year, so this book fits in perfectly with our studies!  It definitely works as a great supplement to add some fun things into your U.S. history studies.  In the example I am sharing- we read about the Boston Tea Party and it reads more like a story than a boring history text book.

Hailey looked over the recipe for the Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies.  All of the ingredients were regular items that we already had at home, so I did not have to buy anything.

Measuring some honey

Stirring some of the ingredients

Super delicious Honey- Jumble cookies

This is not a typical history book as it just highlights a few events.  I think it makes a great supplement to your history curriculum to add some fun cooking with kids.  The book is written in an entertaining manner, with cute illustrations, that keeps the readers attention.  It is very interesting to learn the origins of some familiar recipes- for example we learned that the Honey-Jumble cookies are now called snickerdoodles, one of our favorite cookies.   The recipes are simple and most of the recipes in the book use ingredients we already have at home.  Hailey, age 9 and in 4th grade, was able to follow the directions for the recipe and make the cookies entirely on her own.  While it is recommended for kids in grades 2-5 I think it would be fun for younger and older kids as well.

Hailey’s review of Eat Your U.S. History Homework: “I thought it was really interesting to learn about when they ate the cookies.  It was really fun to make cookies!”

I would definitely recommend Eat Your U.S. History Homework as a fun addition to your U.S. studies.

African Savanna Diorama

We are using Sassafras Science this year, and so far we are both really enjoying it! We have been studying Zoology and it has been so much fun!  The first habitat we studied was the African Savanna.  It worked out perfectly with our trip to Disney World, where we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 Hailey made an African Savanna diorama to show what she had learned.  She painted, created trees, made some green grass for the wet season, and colored printables for the African Savanna animals.

 Hailey’s completed African Savanna.