Week In Review

This post is a little late, as all of my posts have been lately, but here it is.  This is kind of my attempt to finally catch up!

History/Geography:

We finished up reading this book, which both Hailey and I really enjoyed reading.  The story of Martin Luther King, Jr hit me a little bit differently this time than it has other times.  He was 39 when he was killed, which is how old Rich is, so it made me think of what it must have felt for his family.  Hailey kept saying, “But why would someone want to kill him?”  It was just so hard for her to understand.

When we finished the book, Hailey did this little book report.  On the head she wrote the title, author and illustrator of the book.  On one arm she wrote about where he was born.  On the other arm she used 3 adjectives to describe Dr. King.  In the middle she made a small timeline of his life.  On one leg she wrote about some of his accomplishments and on the other leg she wrote what she would ask him if she could talk to him today.

Language Arts:

Hailey loves to practice her spelling words on Spellingcity.  I have been considering a change in how I am teaching spelling.  Each week Hailey gets 10 spelling words, we practice them all week and then she takes a test on Friday.  She usually gets all of the words correct on her test, but I don’t really think this is teaching her how to spell.  So, I have been looking over lots of different spelling curriculum choices and I finally ordered All About Spelling.  I am hoping this will be a good change for us.

We finished up learning about penguins in science last week, so this week Hailey wrote a little research paper about penguins.  She spent time thinking, inquiring, planning and finally writing.

Hailey doing a little research about the Emperor Penguins that she decided to write about.

Here is her completed paper.

Science:

Hailey has been learning all about magnets in science.

Working on some predictions about what will stick to a magnet.

Hailey doing a little magnet magic- making the paperclip move around all by itself on a paper plate.

We also did a little experiment to make scissors magnetic.  You rub a magnet across the scissors- making sure to go only in one direction (do not rub it back and forth).  The scissors will become magnetic and will be able to pick up a small object, such as a paperclip.

Hailey also did some testing to see if a magnet could attract another magnet through a variety of materials.  We were both surprised to see it work through a piece of cardboard.

We were also surprised to see it worked through Hailey’s sneaker.

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Week In Review

Here is a short recap of what we did during the week of January 13th. I am so far behind in my posting, I hope I can catch up someday.

History:

We spent the week focusing on Martin Luther King Jr.  Hailey read this book to Hunter.  We also read the book, “I am Martin Luther King, Jr.”  It was so good and we both learned so much about him.

Hailey filled out this Scholastic paper comparing what it was like before Dr. King and after Dr. King.

She also played a game sorting different sentences into before or after Dr. King.

We did so much more, but I didn’t take many pictures.

Language Arts:

We have been working though Hailey’s Reading Notebook and she learned about comparing and contrasting different versions of the same story.

Science:

Our focus for science was still penguins.  Again, I didn’t take a lot of pictures.

Other:

 Hailey posing with some artwork she did at our homeschool co-op.

I am really, really hoping that I will be feeling better in the next week or so.  As soon as that happens I will get back to my regular posting, including a lot more pictures.

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Heart of Dakota- BLHFHG Unit 13

Another fun and busy week of homeschooling has ended. This is actually a review of what we did 3 weeks ago.  I have been so tired that I just haven’t been doing much blogging.  But here is a quick roundup of what we did:

History/Geography:

We learned more about the Pilgrims and we talked about what they did during the first Thanksgiving.  We played some of the games that the kids played that first Thanksgiving.  Hailey stood on a line and then jumped as far as she could.  We marked it with tape and then she jumped again, trying to beat her previous spot.

I had her measure how much further she jumped each time.

We also set up a box and then Hailey took a pair of socks and tried to throw them into the box.  Needless to say, the games that the kids played at the first Thanksgiving are much different from what we do now.

Hailey did a little mapping activity and had to tell me which direction she would need to go to get from one place to another.

Science:

In science our focus was on penguins.  We have learned so much about them!

We also did this simple science activity.  We cut out 2 leaves on paper towels and then Hailey drew the veins onto the leaves.  We put one of the leaves in a cup without water and one in a cup with water and watched the water spread through the veins- it was a great illustration of how the water travels to the ends of the leaves.

Language Arts:

Hailey has been busy reading all about nature in her new emerging reader.

We added to Hailey’s Reading Notebook- she added a page about story structure and we discussed how stories have a beginning, middle and an end.

Hailey made this super cute book about 2014 that I found on Teacher’s Pay Teachers, but I can’t find it now to link to it.

The book is full of pages all about 2014, and Hailey had a great time working on it!

I am really hoping to start feeling better in the next few weeks and I’ll be back to my usual posting schedule just as soon as I feel up to it!

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SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

I am super excited to announce to everyone that I have been selected to be part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew!  Just in case you are not sure what that is, it is a group of homeschooling families who get to check out a variety of homeschooling products, use the products with their families and then share with their readers their thoughts about the products.  So, I am super excited to get to be a part of this group!!  And guess what- today I am going to share with you the first product I was able to review!

I have been able to check out SchoolhouseTeachers.com and see what it has to offer to homeschoolers.  I was given the Yearly Membership Option and I have spent quite a bit of time looking around the site.  So, what exactly is SchoolhouseTeacher.com?  You might be familiar with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine– well, SchoolhouseTeacher.com is a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, so you know you are in good hands 🙂  Basically, it’s a site that is full of lesson plans and fun activities for all of your children.  There are things you can do with your toddlers right up through your high school aged students.  There are so many activities and lesson plans that you can even use it as your core curriculum.  Or, if you’re like us, and you already have a core curriculum, you can use the lesson plans on SchoolhouseTeacher.com to supplement what you are already using.  In addition to the lesson plans you will also find great planning help as well as ebooks.

We had a great time using some of the ideas I found on the site!

I think my absolute favorite part of the site is the Homegrown Preschool section.  There are amazing ideas for preschoolers!  I know I am going to be using this section a lot with Hunter (he’s a toddler, so a lot of the ideas can be used with toddlers too).  Plus, Hailey wanted to join in on the activities we did, so it’s fun for school aged kids too.  We decided to make the Glittery Peppermint Playdough!  We didn’t have any green playdough, but that was no problem, we just made our own.  Then I couldn’t find any peppermint oil to make it peppermint, so that was a bit of an issue.  I decided to just put some cinnamon in it instead and it smells super good!!  So, obviously you can modify the plans as needed.

Hunter worked on cutting up his glittery green playdough.

Hailey made hers into a Christmas tree.

Then we used the pegs from our Lite Bright game and added some decorations to the tree.

Hunter loved it!!  This kept him occupied for a very long time.

Hunter’s finished tree.

Hailey’s finished tree.

The next section I explored was Nature/Outdoors.  For the month of December there was a 4 week study about winter weather in cold climates or winter weather in warm climates, so no matter where you live there is content you can use.  The timing was perfect and we had a nice big snow storm on Saturday, so I did one of the activities with Hailey.  Don’t tell her that she was learning, she thought we were just having fun 🙂

We took a piece of black construction paper and put it in the freezer for about an hour.

Then we brought it outside so we could catch some snowflakes.

We took some pictures of the snowflakes we caught.  I wish I could take pictures like these absolutely amazing Wilson Bentley Snowflakes, but I think I have a bit of practicing to do before that ever happens.

So- what do I think about SchoolhouseTeachers.com?  I love it!!  There is a wealth of information and activities on their site.  I think it is well worth the price- SchoolhouseTeachers.com will let you try out their site for $3 for the first month.  If you like it, you can continue at a monthly rate of $12.95.  Or, once you see how totally amazing this site is, you will probably want to pay for a yearly subscription which is $139 which saves you 10% rather than paying the monthly amount.  Plus, if you sign up before the end of December- you will get a free 1 year membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com to share with a friend!  The only negative I found was that it is a bit hard to navigate at first.  I was kind of overwhelmed with everything available on the site.  But, after spending a lot of time looking around, I really love it!

Want to check out the reviews from the other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew?  Click below: