Fire Station Field Trip

Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory Unit 3

I do not have many photo’s for this Unit, but I wanted to give an overview of what we learned anyway.

Reading About History / History Activity

For this unit our readings came from Stories of the Pilgrims. Christopher seemed to enjoy this book more that the previous one, which is funny because I prefer the fist book American Pioneer’s and Patriots. Here are some key points from our stories.

• The Brewster family ran an inn in England. The king’s messenger’s came to let William know that Queen Anne was coming to stay at the inn on her way to her new home.
• Patience talked to the Queen in the garden. She told Queen Anne about the secret church meetings that were held at the inn, and queen Anne told her not to tell that secret.
• King James ordered the people of Scrooby to go to his church. He did not want them to worship on there own. He sent a soldier to find out where the secret church meetings were.
• King James caught the people worshiping in a barn and put the men in jail. The people wanted to be free to worship God according to the bible so they secretly planned to leave England and move to Holland in autumn.
• The pilgrims at that time wanted to so what was right in God’s eyes. They were more worried about God than King James.

Christopher played a game with his siblings called King James. They stood in the middle of the room. The front wall represented King James’ court. The back wall represented prison. Each roll of the dice represented something that would either take them closer to prison, or closer to King James’ court.

The point was to show that King James persecuted anyone who did not believe as he did.

Artistic Expression

This is  a wall with rose vines growing on it.

Bible Study

Memory Verse for this unit was 1 John 4:15-16 “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

A few things we discussed about the memory verse; (I record his answers because I like to remember what he says, but rest assured I do explain things to him)

• If you believe in Jesus HOW does he live in you? His answer – He lives in me by my heart
• How can we live the way God wants us to live? His Answer – By obeying him
• Can we be good enough to earn  God’s love? His Answer – No
• Why does God love us even though we sin? his Answer – Because he’s always in our hearts and because he just loves us very much. He created us and loves us.
• What are some ways you can show love to others? His answer – Thank them, forgive them, protect them
• What are some ways you can show God that you love him? His Answer - praying to him, thanking him,
• Who did God send to earth as an example of his love? His Answer – Adam and eve were the first two people to live on earth. (ha)
• How can you be more like Jesus? Hos Answer – reading my bible, feeding hungry people,

Science

We learned about how bees pollinate.

Poetry

Up-Hill

Up-Hill

By Christina Rossetti 1830–1894 Christina Rossetti

Does the road wind up-hill all the way?

   Yes, to the very end.

Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?

   From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place?

   A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.

May not the darkness hide it from my face?

   You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?

   Those who have gone before.

Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?

   They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?

   Of labour you shall find the sum.

Will there be beds for me and all who seek?

   Yea, beds for all who come.

 

I read this poem to Christopher without telling him the title and then had him think of titles for the poem. So without making you wait any further here they are.

• The winding road
• The dark winding road
• The Hotel

Reading/ Story Time

I have not been following the story time schedule and instruction in the HOD manual. I regularly read aloud to the kids. We do what is called 20 minute read. I read to them for 20 or more minutes a day. We are currently reading The Wright Brothers.

I am still thrilled with the Bible reader that Christopher is working through. I love to hear him read the stories in the Bible.

 Math

This week we really worked on Addition Facts for memorization. New concepts this week was Adding money, adding a string of numbers like 2+4+9+6 =

Language Arts

We worked on spelling words he basically knew the ones for this unit, so we worked on using the words in sentences, and I taught him about looking the words up in ghe dictionary on his iPod. It has a function where it will read him the definitions if he can’t.

Geography 

This lesson was a HUGE flop. Sort of. We talked about how people used to think that the world was flat. I took out a map, and showed what would have happed to Magellan’s crew if the world was flat and they kept on sailing. And we talked about several other things pertaining to the world being round instead of flat. Even looking at the horizon etc. At the end I asked him how we know that the world is round and not flat and he says, “Because you can see it from space, duh! That’s a silly question!” So there you have it. He is HALARIOUS!

Beyond Little Hearts for his Glory Unit 2

 

I want to first say that we are loving this curriculum. I am so thankful that the Lord led us to Heart of Dakota.

 

History/Reading about History:

Our history readings this week came from American  Pioneers and patriots. This is not Christopher’s favorite time, but he listens and answers the questions. A few key points from our reading were;

• Men settled in Jamestown to find gold.
• Sally could knit, mend, and babysit. She was a good helper to her mother.
• Sally prayed for God to help her.
• The pioneers could have given up and gone home but they persevered.

 

For the history project this week we talked about timelines. I drew a time line on a marker board and he learned how timelines worked. We talked about Jamestown being settled in 1607, and we added that to our history timeline.

 

Bible Study:

This weeks Memory Verse was Galatians 6:9  ^“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

He worked on this verse in several ways, repeating three times, Saying it while doing push ups, playing scripture verse freeze, and through song.

Here are a few things we discussed;

• What does it mean to grow weary or to give up when you are doing good things? his answer – “well, I give up sometimes and sometimes you make me do it anyways.  What if I had a race and gave up? then they would win”.
• If you don’t give up you will reap a harvest.
• Will things always go well when you are trying to do good? his answer - “No, but sometimes it will”
• How can this Bible verse comfort you? his answer- “It won’t, but if we read it we might learn a lot of stuff about God or something.”
• What are some jobs that you do at home? his answer – “Cleaning my room, watch Liam, clean the living room”
• How well do you do those jobs when no one is looking? his answer- “Like super well…… Well, actually I don’t usually do them if no one is looking”.
• How can you be a better worker? his answer- “By, obeying God, obeying your parents, following Jesus, Cleaning when I’m told to.”

Science Exploration:

For this activity we talked about how the pilgrims did not know what type of animals they would  find where they were going. I had him name animals from different parts of the world. We read about different animals in different climates in God’s Wonderful World. Then we played a game using beanie baby’s. I named a place like “The Rainforest” and he would try to name an animal from there. Then I would pull that animal out of my bag. After we named several animals he and his brother played with them and put on a little play which consisted of the alligator eating all of the other animals until the hippo stomped on him. (I know violent right? LOL)

We also learned about flying squirrels. We watched a video, and then read a section of god’s Wonderful Works about flying squirrels. I had him stand on a stool and drop a crumpled sheet of paper, and a flat sheet of paper to demonstrate the way the squirrels glide.

 

Poetry & Rhymes:

We Thank Thee
By: Ralph Waldo Emerson

For flowers that bloom about our feet,
Father, we thank Thee.
For tender grass so fresh, so sweet,
Father, we thank Thee.
For the song of bird and hum of bee,
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
For blue of stream and blue of sky,
Father, we thank Thee.
For pleasant shade of branches high,
Father, we thank Thee.
For fragrant air and cooling breeze,
For beauty of the blooming trees,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
For this new morning with its light,
Father, we thank Thee.
For rest and shelter of the night,
Father, we thank Thee
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

Christopher made a list of things he is thankful for.

• Parents
• Food
• Grandparents
• Food
• Toys
• Food
• God
• Food
• Oh yeah FOOD!

Geography:

I will explain this drawing in grave detail, but I feel it is important to note the intricate way Christopher’s brain works. It far exceeds my feeble mind. I only wish you could all hear him explain this, but he will not explain it on video.

I think one thing is clear. This lesson was about maps.   Ok, here were the instructions.

1. Read the first six paragraphs from our history book (won’t give everything away lol)
2. At the bottom of your paper draw a brown rectangular wall
3. I the middle of your paper draw green rows of corn
4. At the top of your paper draw a forest of trees
5. Make a gate in the wall leading to the cornfield
6. Draw footprints on your map to show where Richard went
7. Draw red strawberries to show where Sally found Richard

And now you understand to map.

Artistic Expression:

This was going to be a really cool craft where we made bundles of grain etc. However, after explaining this to Christopher he decided that he was not going to do that, he wanted to color instead. this was not a battle I was going to fight.

Math:

We are continuing with Abeka math. This week we really focused on math facts and measuring. We introduced three digit addition.

Language Arts:

We used many different activities to practice his spelling words. His favorite was using the white board on his ipod. We also did a lesson in First Language lessons Level 1 about common and proper nouns.

 

Reading:

Christopher is still reading through his Bible book. I am so pleased with how well he is doing. Several times this week he asked if he could read the Bible study for that night. He is really starting to develop a love for reading.

 

That pretty much concludes our week. We had a blast!

Letter Cc

Letter Cc for Colors of course! What better books than Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Dog’s Colorful Day?

 

I had intended to put up long sheets of plain white paper for the kids to color pictures on, but I found 50ft crayola color pages in the dollar spot at Target. The kids had a blast coloring on the wall.

We had a little fun with these giant Crayola sticker books we found.

Of course we needed a snack and “C” is for Cherries. YUM!

We set up C shaped race track for the boys to play cars on because “C” is for Cars you know.

The boys each located the correct color spot for Dog as I read the story Dog’s Colorful day.

The boys each made paper bag color books

In addition to these fun activities we read Harold and the Purple Crayon at least 10 times.   Sammy also worked on www.Starfall.com letter B

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HOD Creation to Christ Unit 2

We continued to love the layout of the teachers guide. It seems to be a perfect fit for our family. Hailey is able to work fairly independently, and she is liking that. In Unit 2 Hailey did many fun activities.

History

For her reading about history section she is continuing to read The Story of the Ancient World. This week she read and studied about, The Tower of Babel, and The First War. It was really great to dig into these stories and where they fit in history.  She learned all about the Cushites, their language, and about their lifestyles etc.

Hailey enjoyed her projects for the week. She made salt dough and use it to create a signature seal, and a tablet which she etched cuneiform letters on and then used her signature seal to sign her name. (instead of the standard signature seal Hailey made a snail)

  

For her Independent history she continued to listen to her What in the World discs. The delved into Noah and his descendants, Sources and Evidences of Noah and his descendants,  Prophecies about Christ and their fulfillment, The oldest cities, The 10 generations from Adam to the Flood and 10 more from Noah to Abram. And she completed a few pages in her History notebook.

Reading/Story Time/Language Arts

For story time in Unit 2 she continued to work her way through The Golden Bull. She is loving this book. She is doing great with her narrations, and is loving making story connections with Proverbs. We started our first book for Drawn Into the Heart of Reading. A biography. Caddy Woodlawn’s Family. We are liking the layout of the study components for this genre.  She also worked in Rod and Staff Following the Plan, and Write With the Best.

Bible Quiet Time/Bible Study

Hailey truly treasures this time each day, and I am so thankful to help her foster this part of her relationship with the Lord. I have no photo’s as she takes the guide and everything she needs for this up to her room so that she can really focus. In Unit 2 she memorized Philippians 2:2. She is not really liking the CD’s that go along with memorization so we ditched that. She read, Day 1 – Gen. 10:8-12, 11:1-9 Day 2 – Job 1; 2:1-10; 42 Day 3 – Gen. 12 Day 4 – Gen. 13; 14:11-24; 15. Each week it guides her through prayers of adoration, confession,  thanksgiving, and supplication.

For Bible Study Hailey and I are going through Genesis Finding Our Roots. We are really liking this book, and our study time together.

 

Science

Hailey is working through Apologia’s Land Animals of the Sixth Day. I have loved the schedule laid out in the HOD manual, it has kept us on track, and we don’t leave out the fun make it stick stuff. In this Unit Hailey created an animal tracks book to be used throughout the next few units. She added dog tracks to the book that she made. Here are a few key points that she learned this week in science. (I couldn’t begin to record it all)

*Mammals are animals that have hair, are warm blooded, have a backbone, and breath oxygen. They must sweat to cool off. They also nurse their young.

*Within the order of Carnivora there is a group called Carniforms. These include animals like; bears, dogs, raccoons, red fox, and coyote. Wild dogs change over time through breeding and natural selection, but the KIND of creature will remain the same.

*The Alpha Male and Alpha Female are the dominant pair in a pack. This pair has puppies, which are cared for by the pack. A “pecking order” is established among the rest of the pack. The pack hunts.

*Dogs have a sensitive sense of smell, often human’s sense of smell is affected by sight.

I do not have a photo, but the experiment for this was really neat. Hailey took two cups of orange juice. She added red food coloring to one cup and left the other plain. Then she took the two cups and served them to her brother. She first had him smell each cup to guess what was in the cups. He said one was orange and one was strawberry. He then drank each one to see if he was right. He again said one was orange juice and one one strawberry. The conclusion was that sight can in fact affect taste, and smell in humans.

Geography:

Hailey is going through the book A Child’s Geography Vol. II. She is learning so much about Turkey right now and it’s connection to History, and Biblical history. Here are the key points she worked on this week.

* Practice finding and recording the locations of various places on the map of Turkey.

*Share three sights from Turkey

Math:

Hailey continues to work on her Times Tables. (almost there)

Poetry/Art:

Hailey is really enjoying her Robert Frost poems, and studying them. This week she completed a water color project to go along with the poem. This is one of her favorite things about this section in the manual.

The Pasture

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.
I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.

Robert Frost

Letter Bb

We had fun with Letter Bb. Though we are going to continue using Heart of Dakota’s Little Hands to Heaven, we really did not focus on that for this unit. The boys are loving the themes.

This week we did Batman/Bugs

Sammy and Liam both enjoyed  the Batman Pak I printed for them. Hailey tried her hand at instructing them and the responded really well to her. We may do more of that.

After we completed our Batman pak we changed to a bug theme. The boys love bugs and were thrilled with the activities. We kept it simple and fun. We started with a fun game of Swat the “B” Bug.

And that game turned into hide and find the bug letters.

I thought a little sensory play would be fun.

After the boys found all of their hidden bugs we counted them, then separated them by color, then by kind. Then they played freely with the bugs and sand. One word to the wise, DO THIS OUTDOORS. I’m still sweeping up sand. LOL.

Last but not least we read the letter Bb section from our many many alphabet books.

Simple but fun!

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