unit 23 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 23 Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory {+ extras}

Bible Verse:

A soft answer turneth away wrath:

but grievous words stir up anger. 

Proverbs 15:1

We talked about how situations can change by the tone of our voice.  We also read about Abram and Lot in Genesis. Abram gave lot the first choice of land to stop the arguing. 

History: 
We started out the week by reading about a little boy named Eli. Eli was a young boy who lived in the wilderness by the Blue Ridge Mountains. A young surveyor, named George, came by to spend the night. The Indians were mad about their land being surveyed and surrounded Eli's house with plans to burn the cabin. Eli bravely and  approached the Indians outside {and spoke softly} and showed them a little pair of moccasins that belonged to the Chief's daughter. Eli's mother had taken care of the little Indian girl when she strayed away from her camp. Years later, Eli found out that the surveyor, George, was actually General George Washington. 

The next story we read was about a little girl named Patience Arnold. She was left in charge of the barn door key by her mother. She was busy making her sampler, but longed to play outside. She was obedient and worked hard on her work. While working, some soldiers came and demanded the key of the little girl. She spoke softly, but refused to give them the key.  The soldiers tore the house apart looking for the key and they also trampled in her mother's herb garden.

Geography:
We learned about  the British system of describing land and how it was used to outline a person's property. We made our own outline of our property.

 

We also cut out a 3 foot piece of yarn which equaled a "chain length". We measured our kitchen by the yarn.

 The boys also enjoyed acting out an Indian war dance followed by an Indian welcome dance.

In our Bible reading, we learned about measuring.
 Length means how long something is. 
Breadth means how wide something is.

Thomas measured our dinning room by his own feet. Next we drew a scale of our room.

You cant see it, but we wrote down the measurements on the orange paper.

Science: The boys made their own herb gardens. Sarah colored a princess.

Storytime: We are still reading parts of our nonfiction book, If You Lived 100 Years Ago.
We have read some very interesting things about New Yorkers 100 years ago. 
We made a bubble map of our reading one day. {This was acually an activity from week 22 that we didnt get to}.
The topic we read on this day was clothing for girls. The boys thought the most important idea was that they dressed different for different events.

Thomas:
math {Horizons math 2}: multiplication tables, fractions,  line graphs, equations, solids, shapes, odd/even numbers, measurements, and patterns
drawing: 3 little pigs
By the time he finished the 3 pigs, he was too "tired" to color or write.

Nathaniel {Horizons math K}: adding, subtracting, recognizing equal parts, and counting by 2's and 3's

Abeka health: we reviewed the first 11 lessons

Abeka science: We talked about different animals learned about animal instincts and their "purposes". Some animals give us food, and some catch harmful insects and animals.

Abeka history: Topics this week were Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day {which they loved}, and America's patriotic songs. We talked about the song "Yankee Doodle". 
Did you know that Yankee Doodle :
* was written by an English army doctor?
*was actually making fun of the Americans?
*a doodle means something foolish?

Nathaniel wrote his own words to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

A little boy whose name is Boots

is a very happy boy.

He loves his daddy very much

and loves his mother too.

I also started setting a timer {10 min} for each of the boys and they read on www.starfall.com, and we started a new game at www.zoowhiz.com. So far, no complaints from either one!!


Extras:

My tired princess taking a nap.

 Thomas and Hattie. Hattie is 18 months now. At her doc appt., she was 19 pounds and 31 1/4 inches tall.

 Baby Hattie loves to draw.

Unit 22 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 22 Beyond Little Hearts {+ extras}

*We had a very slow week this week, and didn't get a whole lot done, and didn't go in depth like we normally do. I also have a prayer request, we had a friend {wife, and mother of 2 young children} who went on to her Heavenly home this week, please keep her family and friends in prayer, the Hall family*

Bible Verse:

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 

2 Corinthians 9:7 

We talked about being cheerful givers. We remembered times that we have given things or our time or talent cheerfully, as well as times we gave grudgingly. We know that God loves a cheerful giver, so we are going to try our best to give more cheerfully. 

History:
We read about Benjamin Franklin and learned that he was a very kind man and a cheerful giver. He enjoyed sharing his inventions with the people of Philadelphia. He invented the lightening rod and he even made an iron stove for a family that needed to stay warm in the winter.
We also learned of Deacon Drowne, a copper smith in Boston. The children {one was Samuel Adams} loved to stop by and see his creations. One favorite was a  large copper grasshopper. 
Peter Faneuil, was also a very giving man. He gave the city of Boston a new public hall. We searched youtube for videos of Faneuil Hall and found a few that were interesting. The grasshopper that Deacon Drowne made was placed as a weather vane on top of the new market. {We didn't get to make the replica of  Faneuil Hall, and we hope to get to that next week}.

Science:
We learned about the lightening rod and about lightening and how to count how many miles away the storm is by counting the seconds after the lightening strikes until the thunder sounds.
We studied insects in our science book. We learned that they have 3 main body parts: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. We made some homemade peanut butter play dough, and turned it into grasshoppers. 

Geography:
We found some things on a map:
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
the Atlantic Ocean
Lake Erie
Pittsburgh

Storytime:
We didn't read too much from our nonfiction book If You Lived 100 Years Ago. We will make the bubble map next week, since I think my boys would enjoy that.
We finished Lisa and the Drainpipe Prayer. And we read an Amelia Bedelia book.

Abeka:
Science: We talked about having good hygeine, and keeping our skin and teeth clean. We also talked about getting enough exercise, sunlight, and rest.

Health: We talked about our nose and how our nose is used for smelling, and the different parts of our nose. We talked about getting enough vitamin C and drinking lots of liquids to prevent colds. We also talked about the importance of brushing our teeth and going to the dentist. We talked about our household chores and why we should keep our house "straightened". We also talked about what type of clothes we wear in each season.

Our America: We reviewed the 4 states that touch our state {North Carolina}. I quizzed the boys on facts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and they did really well.  We read about Memorial Day and Flag day. We also read about Betsy Ross, and learned more about the American Flag. We read about the Fourth of July, the Liberty Bell, and Labor Day.

Extra:

self portrait of Boots

 Hattie caught on the table {again}.

 This is where Thomas loves to sit while I read.

 Hattie and mommy {I sure am going to miss this one day}

 We took Friday off, and went to the local science center and then to McDonalds with some friends.

Unit 21 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 21 Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory {+ extras}

Bible:
Our Bible verse this week was Philipians 4:8

We talked about keeping our minds thinking on the positive things of life {as the verse says things that are: honest,just,pure, lovely, and of good report}. We talked about how our minds set our moods so if we think on the good things, we'll have better attitudes and better days. Our minds records the things we read, watch, and hear so we need to be careful of what we do because we dont want to record ungodly things. If we read the Bible, and listen to the messages {which we try when we can}, we will have good recordings in our minds. We also talked about having a conscience and knowing what was right and wrong. And, of course, Thomas got confused and asked how people were sometimes knocked unconscious. =) After a few sentences, he understood the difference.

History:
We read about the French settlers going to Detroit. We read a story about a little French girl {Marie} and her journey to Detroit with her baby doll, Lady Claire. She met lots of Indians and even let them hold her doll. One Indian lady even made her a pair of tiny baby sized moccasins for her dolly. The settlers traveled in canoes so the boys made their own canoes out of flour and water. {We didnt have toothpicks}.

We traced the Mississippi River with our fingers,and  found Detroit on the map. We pointed out and talked about the Great Lakes.  As the settlers came to Fort Detroit, a rainbow appeared in the sky. They took it as a good sign.

Health:
We talked about taking baths and showers. And talked about making sure we wash every inch of our bodies and keeping clean {and wearing deodorant for Thomas}. We talked about bad habits such as biting fingernails {this was a good one for Boots, his poor nails are really small from biting}. We also talked about our eyes and our ears. We went over again the different parts of our eyes and what each does, and the same for our ears. We also talked about using our eyes and ears for God.

Science:
{Beyond Science}
When Marie was in the woods she seen a hummingbird sipping nectar from a flower. We read about different kinds of birds and how they each have unique beaks for the type of food they eat. I set out different kinds of food and different kinds of  "beaks" for the boys to test out and decide what beak was best for getting what type of food. 
Birds:
woodpecker: tweezers~rice
sparrow: clothespin~popcorn seeds
pelican: fork~marshmallows in water
hummingbird:eye dropper~ yellow water

Once all were tested they laid down the "beak" by the food they thought it was easiest to get, and they were exactly right!! 

While traveling to Detroit, a storm came up. We read about the different types of clouds and tried to make our own.

{Abeka}
 We talked about teeth. We learned about how babies dont {usually} have teeth when they are born and they only need milk to drink. Toddlers have 20 teeth, and  full grown adults have 28-32 teeth. We talked about baby teeth falling out for stronger teeth. Also, we learned that teeth are stronger than bones. Our teeth have different jobs and are all important.

My America:
We talked about American freedoms such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the freedom of religion . We also talked about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We also reviewed the states that are around our state.

Storytime:
We started our nonfiction book this week, If You Lived 100  Years Ago. They boys are enjoying reading about how people lived in New York 100 years ago. They are learning about how the rich lived vs. the poor and middle class. On Friday, we acted out parts of the book that we've read so far, and the boys had a good time and lots of laughs.
We also started another book Lisa and the Drainpipe Prayer. The chapters are longer in this book, so we'll finish it next week.

Thomas:
He is still reading from the Christian Liberty Nature Reader, and has read about wasps, eagles, bees and butterflies . He is still doing multiplication facts, fractions, adding, subtracting, counting $ and this week ratios. His drawing this week was a little red hen.

Nathaniel:
He's still moving right along in math and phonics. He also read to me a book on my Kindle Fire called I Love Boots. I picked this book for him because he LOVES Boots~thus his nickname: Boots.  He had a few word problems in math this week, and also worked on liquid measurement, time and couting by two's. He finished lesson 3 of the Bunny Lesson.

The boys have been drinking hot chocolate this week in the mornings while I read. This day they were eating livermush with their hot chocolate.

 

unit 20 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 20

Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory {+ extras}

Unit 20, now that sounds like we are getting somewhere!! We are having lots of fun this year!!

Bible:

This hand of the diligent shall bear rule:

but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Proverbs 12:24

We looked up the words diligent, slothful, and tribute on Monday to get a clearer understanding of those. We talked about things the boys think they do in school diligently and things they think they do lazily. We talked about working to be more diligent with our school and chores. We learned how some parents were slothful by not sending wood to school for the children to stay warm back in the colonial days, and the children had to suffer and be cold.

History:
We talked about the schools in the colonial days and even pretended to be a student of that day. The boys stood with their toes on the crack of the floor and I quizzed them on some past geography terms. {They did okay remembering,  not as good I had hoped}.
Back in those days, students wore a dunce hat if they were misbehaving, my boys found one of my photography props and wore it as a dunce hat.

 
We read a story about a little boy named Percival, who was trying hard to get a reward ribbon at school for good conduct. The boys made their own ribbons for good conduct. 

Percival did get his good conduct ribbon, but to save him and a schoolmate, he gave his ribbon to the Indian Chief, Big Hawk.

Science:
 In our history story, it said that Pervical said to Deliverence, his schoolmate to run like rabbits. I called out different animal names and the kids pretended to be those animals. We also read about the differences and similarities of rabbits and hares. 

Storytime:
We finished our mystery book Who Stole The Wizard of Oz this week {thank goodness}. We had picked another mystery book from the library and finished it, it was called The Bald Bandit. The boys loved this book and we were all surprised at the end!! Our next genre is Nonfiction. 
In the mornings we read the book John Billington A Friend of Squanto. The boys kept begging for me to keep reading, I had to drag this one out to last 5 days. They really enjoyed this one too.

My America:
We reviewed the continent, country, state, and city that we live in. We also learned about the American Flag this week.


Health and Science:
We talked about hygiene , minerals and vitamins, protein foods, and energy.


Thomas:
Thomas is learning more shapes {octagon, pentagon, and hexagon}. He is working on roman numerals, and multiplication also. He's moving along with his reading learning about spiders this week. I was really proud of his writing that went along with his swan drawing from last week.

Nathaniel:
Nathaniel isnt learning anything new, still reviewing. He's enjoying the Bunny Lesson computer work.

I had several {more} pictures to share this week, but for some reason, they are showing up gray again when I upload them. 

Extras:
 My dad came over and read to the kids. The book he is reading was my favorite childhood book. My kids LOVE their PawPaw.

  
Hattie has figured out how to slide the chair out from under the table, and climb up to the table to sit.

  We found a gingerbread man to decorate at Aldi's for $1.99. They had fun decorating, but they didnt like the cookie.

 

unit 19 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 19

Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory {+extras}

We added in some new things this week to use until we finish up Beyond in May.

Both boys:
*Abeka health 1
*Abeka science 2
*Abeka  history/geography 2
*copywork:the weekly Bible verses
 
*Thomas: Abeka language 2
Here is Thomas opening up his "mail", his new book when it came on Wednesday.

 

*Nathaniel: The Bunny Lesson {on computer, no bookwork}
Here is Boots {1/2 clothed} doing his lesson

 

We are also reading 1 story a day from the Chicken Soup for the Kids Soul book. 
Lastly, we have a little prayer bucket with slips of index cards with names written on them of our friends/family. The kids take turns each day picking 1 card without looking. We say a special prayer for that person, during our morning prayer. 
Here are some different shots of our prayer but drawings.

Bible:
Our Bible verse for this week was 1 John 4:10-11. Sometimes we find it hard to love one another, but this verse tells us that God loved us and sent his son to die for us even though we are unlovable and since God loved us we should love one another. We read in our little book Morning Bells that God can "speak" to us by his written word, the Bible. 

History: 
We read of a little girl, Remember Biddle this week. She was a young Puritan girl that lived near Plymoth Rock. Her mother and father were gone for a few days, and left the young girl at home alone. It was close to Thanksgiving Day and Remember wanted to spend that day as a family. She kept busy by cleaning and making soap, but was sad that she had no food to cook for the big feast. An Indian came to capture her, but the newly made soap caught his eye and he took her soap and left her 2 turkeys. Soon after he left, her parents returned. 
This is a "floor" with sand {colored salt} like the one Remember Biddle did after cleaning the floors.

 
We also talked about the Puritans beliefs about keeping the Sabbath day holy. The children were not allowed to play after the sun had set on Saturday evenings. Their church services were long, the sermon itself was known to be about 3 hours long. The girls/babies sat with their parents in church and the boys sat on the other side. If anyone misbehaved or fell asleep, the tithingman {like a deacon} would get them with a rod.
  
Our poem this week was titled Monday's Child. We all enjoyed this one. After reading the poem, we figured out what day of the week we were born and "labeled" our days.
 Mondays child is fair of face, {Mommy, Daddy}
Tuesdays child is full of grace, {Nathaniel, Sarah}
Wednesdays child is full of woe, {Hattie}
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living, {Thomas}
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
  
 Storytime:
We are still reading Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?, and they boys are still confused. Its back and forth with lots characters, but we are pressing on until we finish. 
We also started reading another mystery we picked up at the library called The Bald Bandit. They are very interested in this, and Im sure we will be finished in just a few days.

The extra Abeka items we added in are fun for the boys. We dont do any written work on those, I just have the teacher manual and they share the student book and we read 2-3 pages a day and answer questions.

Thomas:
Thomas is learning Roman numerals, reviewing shapes, patterns, multiplication, carrying and borrowing in math.  He's reading the Christian Liberty Nature reader and is enjoying that.  Since, we are adding in the Abeka language book and having to double up lessons to finish in May, I am not making him do the Horizons spelling. 
    This is Thomas's drawing for the week, a swan. He struggles some with his drawing capabilities. It gives him easy to follow, step-by-step directions, but he doubts himself. I've tried to get him to take his time with the coloring, but it always turns out "sloppy". If anyone has any suggestions how to improve this, please leave me a comment!!

 

Nathaniel:
Nathaniel is doing measurements {ruler, and liquid}, before/after, and addition in math. He is also doing the Bunny Lesson on the computer and is enjoying that.
Boots working on his writing {Bible verse}.

The boys still do their other daily work, but  these were just the new/exciting things.  
Here is my audience on Monday, waiting for our morning reading/Bible time. Sarah was at preschool.

  

Sarah started back to preschool this week, boy scouts started back, and we also went back to the gym {I havent been going because we've been extra busy}. Hattie is picking up words and humming songs and has even start to walk fast/run some. 
Sarah had given Hattie a blow pop, and she was enjoying it so much, that I let her keep it. She was a MESS to cean up!!

  

  

Christmas break 2012

 Christmas Break.....

We needed a break and I counted up how many lessons we had left in our Horizons books, and how many weeks we had left in HOD and found that if we took 2 weeks off at Christmas, and 1 week in April, that we would be finished with everything the first week of May. We enjoyed the break and slept in {me until around 9, and the kids til around 11}, and the kids played while I cleaned and didnt worry about lessons.
We've never done a "big" Christmas with our kids. I bought them 1 gift to open on Christmas Eve. I always buy the same gift every year.....pajamas. They get 1 gift to open to calm the excitement, and they can wear them to bed and I know they'll be clothed the next morning.
On Christmas day, this year, the kids had 1 gift each to open. Last year, they each got 5 smaller ones.

Christmas Eve, getting ready to open their gift.

 Thomas and Sarah

And finally getting ready for bed

 Thomas's gift was a little different. It wasn't "new". I had bought a Kindle Fire right before his birthday in late August. Its been "the family Kindle" and stayed mostly with me. He loves it and wanted one so I wrapped it up, and sent him on a scavenger hunt to find his gift. I changed the title in the corner to say "Thomas's Kindle", and gave him a $25 gift card. He was as happy as can be.

 
Nathaniel got an iPod touch, and was thrilled. When he opened it, he started rolling around on the ground and I couldnt get a good picture of him.

 
 Sarah got the Leap Pad 2. She didn't know what to expect besides a "present". She didn't really understand to tell me what she wanted. My kids dont normally want things, we dont usually go to the toy sections in stores {unless we are buying a gift}, and we dont have a TV to watch commercials.

And since everyone else got electronics, I bought Hattie a VTech "smart" phone. It has letters and numbers you can push and it sings lots of songs.
 This was the best picture I could find of her with it.

  We spent our break spending time with each other, visiting family, and of course, eating {I gained 10 pounds....ick}. 
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and break, we enjoyed ours but were ready to get back into school.