unit 28 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 28 HOD Beyond + Extras

Bible Verse:

Train up a child in the way he should go: 

and when his is old, he will not depart from it.

Romans 22:6

We talked about sowing and reaping seeds, both naturally and spiritually {cause and effect}. We talked about some good things we have done/can do and the consequences of our actions, as well as some of the bad things we have done/will do, and those consequences . 


This is a flower to remind us of what happens when we sow good things in our lives. {By:Thomas}

History:
This week's focus was on Daniel Boone and the pioneers going west to Kentucky on the Wilderness Road. 

Thomas showing off his Daniel Boone hat!

A few things we learned about the Wilderness Road:

*it was very narrow

*it was a part of an old Indian trail

*35 axmen helped Daniel Boone clear the road

We thought of how hard it would be to travel with no bridges to cross water, or no tunnels to go through the mountains. We take a lot for granted today!

I placed sticky notes around the house with {X}'s on them and the kids followed the trail. They had a lot of fun pretending to be axmen and chopping down trees. 

 We filled in another part of our timeline with "Daniel Boone" this week!

We read a story about a little girl named Molly. She and her family were leaving North Carolina {our state again}and traveling to Kentucky for good farm land. Molly's mother made her a journey dress for the trip. This was a task but Molly had never had a new dress before so she was really excited. Lots of steps had to be taken before the journey dress was finished. {see science section for steps}

 We looked at a map of the United States and followed the Wilderness Road. We also learned about the Cumberland Gap, which my boys have been to, but we had no clue the history of this place!

Science:
making the journey dress:
*Her father sheared the sheep for wool for the new dress. 
*Molly washed the wool until it was white and clean. 
*The wool was carded {or brushed}, and then put on the spinning wheel
*Next, it was put in the dye pot and dyed {blue}, and then put on the loom and she wove in the woolen yarn 

The kids got a cotton ball each and pretended to pick out sticks, and then brushed it. They rolled it to make "yarn" and then dip dyed it. They had a lot of fun with this.

We checked our clothes and seen that most clothes today are made of cotton, not wool.

While on the journey to Kentucky, Molly's family had hard times. Once Molly and her baby sister were sitting under a tree and a wildcat almost jumped on the girls. Luckily, Molly's brother Johnny shot the wildcat with his rifle and saved his sister's lives. He was proud of himself, and he even earned a gun. 

This is our friend, Nathanael, acting like he was a pioneer.

 

The boys LOVED learning about rifles this week. Of course, they probably know more about guns than I do, and I probably actually learned the most.
We learned that the rifles used back then were 4 feet long.

 We taped a ruler to a yard stick and "made" a rifle.

Storytime:
We finished Mr. Popper's Penguins this week. I think this has been the most enjoyable book so far. However, for some reason my boys have a hard time remembering that it is a HUMOR book.  

Next week, we start a new genre: realistic fiction.

Abeka:
Science: We talked about insects, and their purpose. We also talked about plants and flowers. We seen the different parts of the flower and talked about the purpose of each part.
History:We talked about the Colonist which was a good review for the boys. We talked about what a colony was, and reviewed that there were 13 colonies in early America.



Here are a few extras from the week:
Hattie has been sick all week, and big brother Thomas helped by cuddling her while I got some house work done.

 

Sarah and Thomas enjoying a treat!

 

 Hattie helping Daddy work

unit 27 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 27 Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory + extras

Bible verse:

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: 

and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Luke 16:10

We talked about the words trustworthy, faithful, dishonest, and unjust and what they meant. The boys named some small things they could be trusted with: making beds, following directions without getting distracted, and helping with brother/sisters. We then talked about how working hard at these tasks will lead to being trusted and given bigger tasks as they get older. We also read the story of the boy who cried "wolf" in our Abeka reader. We talked about how one little lie leads to more and more lies.

History:
We are still studying about our first President, George Washington.

We read a story about a little girl named Betsy this week. She was from Salisbury, NC which we found to be really neat because that is really close to where we live. George Washington was coming to Salisbury and there was going to be a parade in his honor. Betsy was really excited because she was going to be a flower girl in the parade. She had a beautiful dress that she would wear, and she just loved looking at it. Her mother brought her some not so happy news.......she wasnt going to be able to be in the parade. Her mother had to go away to tend to her sick aunt, and she {Betsy} had to stay at home to take care of her grandmother who couldnt be left alone. Betsy was sad, really sad with this news, but she obeyed her mother and didnt grumble or complain. While Betsy was working on her sampler and imagining what the parade would be like, she had a visitor.  She fixed cornbread and milk for her visitor, and told him about how she had wanted to be in the parade, but her plans didnt work out. Betsy's visitor was very pleased with the meal, and before leaving revealed that his name was........George Washington!!

Here is our homemade cornbread, and yes, this was my first time making cornbread!! *recipe at bottom*

We learned about how much George Washington loved the land, and the animals that he had. He also loved people, and love to be a "cheerful" giver. He fed the needy corn and fish. He also made sure that the animals he had were taken good care of. We pretended that our living room was a farm, and the boys had "jobs" on the farm tending to the animals and the land. By the time they were done, they both were saying how hard of a job it would be to really have all that work to do.

Geography:
 We also learned that George Washington lived in Mount Vernon after his Presidency. He loved the land and took very good care of it.

I read directions aloud to the boys describing where George Washington lived at Mount Vernon. I made the boys sit apart from each other so we could compare their drawings when they were finished.

Science:
We read about George Washington sharing  herring to the hungry people. 

Some facts we learned:

*herring live in the North Atlantic Ocean

*they swim in schools

*they grow to be 17" long

*they are nicknamed "sawbellies"

I described to the boys what a herring looked like, and Thomas drew as I read the description. Then he colored and painted according the my directions. {Nathaniel decided that he would opt out this time.}

Storytime:

We are still reading our humor book, Mr. Popper's Penguins. We are all enjoying this book still, and look forward to the next chapter every day. We talked about the differences between something that is silly, and realistic humor. And we talked about the importance of humor being used in an appropriate way. We are still talking about cause and effect, and we made a list of cause---->effects of one day's readings.

We talked more about the Godly character trait: JOY.  In the chapter we read that day, the Popper's didn't have money, but they didn't let that depress them. Instead, they decided to let the penguins put on a performing act to make them some money. They never seemed sad or worried at all =)

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Abeka:
Health:
This week we talked about safety during a storm. 

Science:
We talked about baby insects, and bees. We found it interesteing how that bees keep cool in the summer by acting like a "fan". Some of the bees stand at a door of the hive and fan thier wings back and forth to cool the air and a few other bees stand at another door and fan out the hot air. They also keep cool in the winter by "snuggling" together, just like we do in our family!!

History:
We read more about the Separatist, and then about American Indians. We learned about different Indian tribes and where they lived, and all about the different houses they built. 

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Thomas finished another Emerging Reader book this week: Tornado. He really enjoyed this book a lot. He's excited about his book next week to call Animal Adventures. 

Nathaniel worked hard this week to get his work finished. He did get sick at the beginning of the week, but pressed on and with a 104* fever, still finished his school work. 

The boys are excited because on Saturday they are going to take their 4 wheelers to Carolina Adventure World to ride!! They got new, well new to them, helmets and are ready for the trip.

I bought some Bendaroos last week from Amazon. Thomas, Sarah and I played with them some. 

Sarah had spring pictures made at preschool this week.

And I caught a picture of Sarah and daddy taking a nap on the couch.

Here's a few more, I snapped this week......

And before I end with recipe of the homemade cornbread, I wanted to share that I made a facebook page for our homeschool "status" updates. So far, I've enjoyed being able to post from day to day about what we are doing or "deals" I've found online. 

I made a badge at the top right of the blog for the link.  I would love to have you follow my page. 

Have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for reading!!

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 Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 beaten eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

1.5 cups cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup flour

2 1/4 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 450* {or 425* if baking in glass}. Mix ingredients together and pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 20-25 min {or 18 min. for glass}. Its ready when the bread pulls away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm with butter and syrup or honey. And of course, milk.

unit 26 review {BLHFHG}

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory {+extras}

Bible Verse:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galations 5:22-23

The boys had fun trying to remember these verses and all the "fruits". They would earn money everyday for the ones they could remember. It usually went something like: "joy, love, peace, ....ummm.....faith, and long living and we cant remember anymore"
We listened to the song that corresponded to this verse when we were in the van.

History:
This week we focused on George Washington becoming the first President of the United States. He lived in New York City. Later, a house was built in Washington D.C. The house was painted white after the British tried to burn it, and the people started calling it the "white house".
We read a story about a young man named Nathan who rode his horse to New York city to see George Washington become President. When the President was sworn in, the city celebrated. Then, the President went to St. Paul's chapel to pray for help with the job he had to do.
We practiced saying the Pledge of Allegiance. They boys still say a few words wrong, but they enjoyed this activity.

We also added the 1st President to our timeline.

Geography:
We found New York City on a map, as well as Washington D.C.  We looked at a map of what the US looked like back then and talked about how that Washington D.C. was near the center of the US at that time when the White House was built.  

Science:
We learned that horses are measured in "hands". The average horse is 15 hands tall. We measured 15 hands {60"} on the wall.

The boys also "rode" horses.

 We ran out of milk for the science experiment with fireworks. Once I told the boys the experiment, they decided that they didn't want to do it since they had already seen this same thing last summer at Bible school.

Storytime:
We are still reading our humor book, Mr. Popper's Penguins. The boys are loving this book!! One day while reading, the boys would hold their bellies and say "ha ha" when they thought something was funny. We talked about "cause and effect" , and the Godly character trait, JOY again with this book. Thomas also drew his favorite part of this story so far.

Captain Cook is dragging Mr. Popper down 3 flights of stairs.

Thomas:
Thomas finished up his Christian Liberty reader this week. He also started his new book, Tornado. So far, he is really enjoying this book.
Here is Thomas taking his math test.

 Nathaniel:
Nathaniel is pressing on with his math and phonics and is very  ready for school to be OVER.

Abeka:
We talked about insects, and their 3 body parts again.  The boys had fun naming insects and non insects.
In Abeka history, we talked more about the Separatists. We enjoyed looking at pictures of the Mayflower and "scenes" of what it may have looked like on the boat.
In the health part of Abeka, we talked about playground safety.

Extra pictures:
Sarah wearing her brother's boy scout hat.

    And being a butterfly.

  And my baby girl, Hattie, playing with her baby doll.

 She will be 19 months old this weekend. I dont know where the time has gone.

 We stopped by the Dollar Tree to stock our school store again. I also found some other school related things that we "needed".  I always something I think we "need". =)

Here are the kids playing a math game I found on Pinterest after our $ Tree trip. My "love to be naked" kids again.

 Here is Thomas trying to get 25 cent first!!

  

Unit 25 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 25 Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory {+ extras}

Bible Verse:

Greater love hath no man than this,

that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

We talked about Jesus dying for us on the cross. I tried to put a lot of emphasis on telling the boys that even if they were THE only person on Earth that Jesus would have still died for them. I could see their little minds working.  We talked about people that are "self centered", and what we could do to not be "self centered". The boys said they could give money, toys, and time to others when they wanted these things for themselves, and not wanting to share.
We talked about being in God's army, and putting on God's armor. We read in Ephesians where Paul talked about putting on the armor of God. We talked about how we should be ready to fight, not physically fighting but spiritually fighting Satan and his army. If we have on God's armor, we should trust God and not be afraid. Here are the boys animals with the armor of God on, ready to fight. 

History:
Richard was only 10 years old when he joined the Continental Army. His friends laughed at him when he told them he was going to join. Richard's job was to play the fife for the troops, which kept their spirits high.  Richard and his division was taking captive by the British. The British thought it was funny that such a young boy was in the army, and even more funny that he was just playing an instrument. Richard was forced to fight a young English boy, the boy was still bigger than Richard. Richard won the fist fight and he and his colonol was set free. Once he got home, the children weren't laughing anymore, they thought it was really neat that he was in the army.
 Levi, was another young boy who fought in the war. He was chosen to watch over General Washington's bodyguards. Levi did a great job and even helped George Washington give a dinner party for some very important guest.
We read about George Washington going out among the men in the army in a long coat {disguising himself from the men}. He came upon a corporal and his men trying to build a fort. The corporal told the men what to do, but never offered to help them. Just then George Washington ran up and helped the men get the last log up that was about to fall. He asked the corporal why he wouldn't help his men and it offended the man. He then unbuttoned his overcoat and showed his uniform to the men. This was a good lesson for the corporal and to us as well. We will gain more respect by helping others, and not just barking orders at them. 

We filled in the ending of the Revolutionary war on our timeline this week.

Geography:
With the help of  this website  we found the following battle sites of American victories during the Revolutionary War:
Concord, NH
Trenton, NY
Saratoga, NY
Valley Forge, PA {wasn't on the map}
Yorktown, VA  {wasn't on the map}

We also looked in our book at what America looked like back then and learned that the battles were fought in the NE because that's where the colonies were, the rest was unclaimed land. 

Science:
Thomas made a paper cone and experimented with sound. He spoke through the cone, and listened to the cone. We found that the cone channeled the noises.  Boots cupped his hand around his ear and found that he could hear better when the noises were channeled with his hand. We read about sound, the importance of our ears, and the structure of the ear.

We also talked about the sense of taste. Your nose and your tongue work together to help you taste your food. We tried a little experiment with apples and cinnamon.  
First, the boys tasted the apple. Their response:  "it taste like an apple".
Next, the boys sniffed some cinnamon and then tasted the apple. Their response: "the apple taste really sweet."
Last, the boys held their nose shut {like when you have a stuffy nose} and tasted the apple. Their response: "we cant taste, can we smell the cinnamon again and then eat the apple."

Storytime:
We started a new genre this week: HUMOR.
The book we are reading for the next 20 days is Mr. Popper's Penguins. To teach "humor" we wrote alliterations with the boys names.  

Sorry its sideways............

 We also talked about cause and effect after reading one day.  We learned that for everything that happens {cause}, something else will happen because of that {effect}.
 We talked about the Godly character trait JOY and found different instances in the book where the characters showed joy. 
1.Being nice to the penguin
2.Being happy with the penguin


 Other pieces of our week:
 I finally ordered the Melissa and Doug play money set I had been wanting for our school store. I had $10 of Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, the money set was on sale, and I have Amazon Prime so I ended up paying less than $5 total. The boys LOVE the money. They like the new money better because its bigger.

I've been having to make lesson plans since adding more reading and the Abeka stuff to our days. Here's this weeks lesson plan.

 
  
We finished White Fang his week, and picked out a new book, Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridge. We read one chapter of the new book and the boys are already a little confused, since the setting is in a public school and the kids are in 6th grade. I had to try to explain:homeroom, running for class president, and locker rooms.

My boys loved White Fang, and I'm expecting that they will want me to read it to them again.


Abeka
Science: We learned more about beavers and the special way God made them.

Health: We talked about staying safe on the streets by following signs, traffic laws, also bicycle, walking and car safety.

History: We talked more about America's songs, and listened to them on YouTube. We also talked about "the people who built America". This was a great review for the boys and they loved seeing pictures of the people in England. I was really happy that they remembered the stories of the pilgrims being caught by King James on their way to Holland.

Thomas:
Thomas read about lots of animals this week in his Emerging Reader book. This past summer,at my dad's, we kept finding these nasty, huge green caterpillar looking things on my dads tomato plants. Thomas read about those this week, and we found out that they turn into hawkmoths. 
He started xtramath this week, thanks to a blogger friend for sharing this site with us. His "score" started out at 30 and he ended the week at 39. Thomas is good with his math facts, he's just not super fast. He is still working on his Horizons 2nd grade math and is moving right along.
No drawing this week.

Nathaniel:
Nathaniel also started xtramath. His score was a 4 in the beginning and he ended the week with a 7. He is like me and doesn't like to be "timed". For both boys, I had to hide the teacher with my hand when they played "race the teacher".
He worked on his Horizons K math and his phonics this week, and even read a few readers.

We also have a friend, Nathanael, who will coming over and doing school with us on Wednesdays until the end of the school year. This week was his first Wednesday and I think he enjoyed being with the boys. If you would, keep his family in prayer, he lost his mother almost a month ago. He is 7, and his sister 9.

unit 24 review {BLHFHG}

Unit 24  {Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory} + extras

Bible:
The Bible verses this week were reviews of the past few weeks.
On Friday, we read about Saul trying to kill David, yet David sparing Saul's life. David trusted God to guide him and didnt listen to his men.
We made a desert, a crag {a steep, rough rock}, and a cave just like the story, but in the picture its a little hard to tell the dimensions.  

History:
The week started with reading a letter written at the time of the Revolution  from little Tabitha, to her cousin John. John had been visiting several months before and she was "filling him in" on the latest news. She told him about George Washington visiting Mistress Betsey Ross, and asking her to stitch together a new flag to represent all the colonies. Tabitha was a lonely little girl, and Mistress Ross was a widow so the two were very kind to one another. Tabitha told John in the letter about Mr. Washington drawing a 6 pointed star, and how that Mistress Ross designed a flag that would be adopted by congress. 
She described the flag:
*it had 13 stripes {of red and white}
*it had 13 stars 
*the 13 in stars and stripes represented the 13 colonies
*red=bravery
*white=purity
*blue=justice

The boys made edible flags. They enjoyed preparing the icing {butter, salt, vanilla, and powdered sugar}, desigining the flags, and mostly eating them!

Thomas, busy working

 Nathaniel working hard

 I made one too!!

 Thomas loved the icing

 This boy just loves to eat period.

 And Baby Hattie screaming for more!!

Sarah was at preschool, but got to "play" once she came home.

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We also read about a little girl named Prudence. She worked hard stitching a little flag of her own just like the one that Betsey Ross designed. Her neighbor, William, heard that the Redcoats were coming. Her mother was sick, and too weak to hide the silver. When the Redcoats did come, William and Prudence, were brave and went to face them with a drum and the flag that Prudence had made. The General for the Redcoats spoke kindly to the children, and ordered his troops to keep marching. 

The boys practiced military drills, and enjoyed every minute of it.


Science:
In Tabitha's letter she reminded John of the apple tress, and she even gathered some to send to him. We did an experiment to see what foods were made mostly of water and what food was made of mostly fat.

 I cant get this one turned around. On my computer and camera, its horizontal. But here were the results.

Storytime:
We finished our nonfiction  book If You Lived 100 Years Ago. The boys enjoyed this book and even made a little video from a day's reading.
 Sorry its sideways! And I dont think none of us sound "normal".

We are also still reading White Fang, which the boys just love. We should be finished with it in a few days.

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In our Abeka books, we talked about animal habitats, beavers, American songs {The Star Spangled Banner, and My Country Tis of Thee}, Francis Scott Key, and safety away from home.


Each of the boys are still pressing on with their other subjects. 

Thanks for reading!! 

Hattie had a sucker and marshmallows for breakfast......