Week 7, Day 5 in ECC - Science Experiment Day

Light and independent Friday - the day to catch up on science experiments.

We started with Pledge, Awana verses, and then did our vocabulary pages. I sketched, Rabbit wrote and colored. After Spanish, I did a little verse review with the boys, and then told them they were going to help with our experiments.

We did drops on the spoons, to see how the water kind of bulges and holds together. Then we floated the paper clip. That was cool. (I showed that one to Dad when he got home - he didn't think it would work.) Here is a picture of the paperclip floating in a glass of water:

Here is what the "helper" paperclip looks like:

It was a bigger paperclip than the one in the water. I laid the smaller one on this one, and then slowly lowered the paperclip into the water, trying to keep it level.

After that, we went outside with a board, and did our valleys and mountains and poured water and watched the path the water took. The boys loved helping put dirt on the board - that's what boys are good for. I had to kind of prompt Rabbit with some questions to get her to think about what the water was doing. Here is the water rushing down our landscape:

Then, the last experiment was about friction. The experiment said to use a board, but I didn't think it would be easy to tie a rope around a board. So, we borrowed one of Dad's cordless drill cases and two 5-pound weights. We tied the rope around the handle and then put the weights on the case. First Rabbit tried to drag it on the carpet, but it was tough. Then, we dragged it on the linoleum, and it was easy. Then I let each of the boys try. They could barely pull the "sled" on the carpet, but could easily pull it on the linoleum. I talked a little about friction, but not much. I decided the best thing was to let them experience it. These two picture show the "sled" on carpet and the floor:

After lunch, Rabbit did her Gamma Unit Test I - and she got a 100%! Hooray! She knew her math facts very well. She did miss three words in spelling (and the attitude came back again for spelling). But, after she was done, we reviewed all the words missed for the week to get ready for Monday. Then we did reading and poetry and were done.

Week 7, Day 4 in ECC

Ahhh, the attitude reared its ugly head again. Sigh.

But, really, we got through the day pretty well. We started with the usual, and then did geography. Most of the work for that was saved for seatwork time, so we played the geography game. Then, after Spanish, we did our Nature Walk. The ducks are back!. After all these weeks looking for the ducks in the stream through our park, we saw them today. There were 6 - three mallards and three brown ones. That was exciting. Here is a picture of 2 of them:

After lunch, we did math, spelling and reading. Rabbit only missed one spelling word.

We needed to go to the library to pick up some books for preparing for the science fair, so we decided to walk. (It's really not that far.) So, we put the boys in strollers, and Rabbit and I pushed them up to the library. On the way back, we saw a Monarch butterfly sitting on a flower beside the sidewalk. We got down close and could see the probiscus probing the flower for nectar. Even better than this morning's Nature Walk.

Once we got past attitude issues, the day was fine.

Week 7, Day 3 in ECC

We are, or at least I am, just loving this curriculum. Even with throwing Dance in today, we still got it done!

We did our usual routine today. For Geography, we just played the Geography Game, as all of the topics in the suggested activities for the day would have taken a lot more prep time. But, Rabbit needed the review, so that was good. Then, today would normally be a Nature Walk day, but since we had Worship Dance, I did tomorrow's science today. Rabbit decided to draw pictures of water lilies for her science page. We'll do a nature walk tomorrow.

We actually got through all the letters of the alphabet and the numbers today doing our writing eights! Then, rabbit had to write a sentence about the picture I drew on the white board. She didn't do as well as usual, but she hasn't done any since Thursday of last week, so that's okay. Then she did book basket while I made an early lunch.

After Dance, the boys had their quiet time. I put one of them in their room, and the other in my room. That helped tremendously - no one got noisy or bouncing off the walls that way. We reviewed math facts for the up coming unit test - she is really doing quite well - x0, x1, x2 and x5 are pretty well mastered. I'm trying to decide whether to do the unit test tomorrow or do review for one more day. For spelling, she missed "great," "neighbor," and "change." Then we zipped through reading, poetry and music. We were done by 2:30, again.

I'm saving up the science experiments for this Friday. I think it will be fine to just do them all at once. Speaking of which, we need to come up with a science fair project! I keep forgetting, and it's only about 2 weeks away. Aaaah!

Rabbit's attitude has been awesome the last 3 days. I made a point of telling her at breakfast how proud I am of her attitude and how hard she has been working. She hasn't fussed or complained once. I've not had to take away a single paper clip in 3 days. I am just praising God for this wonderful change in her.

Week 7, Day 2 in ECC

Well, considering we didn't quite do things in the usual order, things went pretty well. I forgot to do the pledge, and started with Rabbit's Awana verses. Then I remembered, and we did the pledge. After that, I completely missed Bible time, and plunged into geography. I saved coloring the Canadian provinces for seatwork. After doing geography, I remembered Bible. But, it worked out fine. Then we did science. The pages seemed really complicated, so I just had her tell me some of the things she learned from it, and we didn't do a science page (shhh! don't tell). I also haven't done any of the science experiments. Light and independant Friday is starting to look like "catch up on science Friday."

Then we moved on to Spanish/snack time and recess. We were actually a little ahead at this point, so they had a 20 minute recess. After recess, Rabbit took her seatwork (math drill page, and the provinces page to color), and I did preschool with the boys. I read them a book from this week's book basket, and then we did our "calendar" time. After that, the boys got focused on writing their names. I don't know where that came from. So, I worked with them both. What a challenge! Tigger actually did pretty good - if he can remember to start his letters at the top. He is going to make himself learn it, even if it is hard. Pooh is more of a challenge for me to teach - he is left handed. But, he made each of the letters in his name about two times. I was going to wait until they are 6 to start Kindergarten, but I may have to start next year. (My other thought was to do a year of My Father's World Kindergarten, and then a year of Abeka Kindergarten - or the other way around - just to really get those basic reading and writing skills firmly established.)

After that, it was time for writing eights. We are so close to getting completely through the alphabet! We started at "u" today, and then went to "z," then I did the numbers with Rabbit, and then started again at "a." We got all the way through to "p." That was only 4 letters shy of getting back to "u." Rabbit has been trying so hard the last two days. I am so proud of her and her attitude change. Last night she told Dad she was trying to pretend she was in a real class with lots of kids. Whatever works! Then she did book basket while I made lunch.

After lunch, she worked on her math test while I got the boys down for their nap. She only missed 2 questions, but she got all her facts right. So, the next two days we'll review all the math facts we've covered so far, and then do the first unit test on Friday. We did spelling next. She got yesterday's missed word correct, and then we just went until she missed 3. I forgot to set the timer. She missed "great," "okay," and "snail." There are just a few words left in the long-a sound group. I've been giving her to them in groups (as suggested by Crystal, over on MFW's message boards). So, we did a_e words, then ai words, then ay words, and then the only ea word in this group. All that is left is the eigh words and a couple that don't quite fit any of those patterns (like "change").

We wrapped up the day with reading and poetry, and then it was time for art. We were suppose to do an Inuit Soap Carving. We went Target last night, and I couldn't find any single bars of Ivory soap, so I got a "travel size" bar of Irish Spring. The Irish Spring was soft, but the travel size is small. (We don't use Ivory, and they only had packages of 8 at our local Target.) Then, Rabbit wanted to do a cat. So, we sketched in the cat and started carving. Poor cat eventually lost one of his front legs . My tips for this project: make sure you have a larger bar of soap; do an animal that doesn't have small appendages. Rabbit tried to do the "carving," but her hands were not strong enough, so I did the carving. What are mom's for, eh?

Week 7, Day 1 in ECC

Well, I was worried that the first day back from a 3 day weekend (we went camping, again) would be tough, but Rabbit did great today.

We started out with Bible and working on our memory verse for the week. Today we read about a people group that live in Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua. After reading about Cameron Townsend last week, and how challenging it is to provide a Bible in a native tongue, it was neat to read about a group that does have both the Old and New Testament translated into their language. I think another neat part about Cameron Townsend is how God truly answered prayer and opened doors for him in amazing ways.

Then we did Geography. The first day we go into a "new country" I always include Tigger and Pooh. So, we looked at a map and talked about the different ways we could get from Mexico to Canada. First we talked about taking a boat up the West coast, then taking a train or bus. But, we measured from Mexico City to Calgary, and decided a plane would be the fastest. We set up some chairs, and I was the pilot, and we flew from Mexico City to Calgary. Then, I put the Canada flags in their passports and wrote the date. After this, the boys are "done" with geography and go off to play. Rabbit and I continued on the other geography activities.

Next was science, and about how rivers flow into lakes. She did a great notebook page - I decided to let her use tracing paper. It was only a black and white sketch, but that is okay. I think she really liked today's section, because she talked on and on about it.

After science, we did our snack/Spanish time and a short recess. Then, Rabbit went to work on a x5 drill page I printed off for her, her science page, and her copywork. The boys and I went through their Cubbies story and verse for the week. Then we got out the number pegs toy and practiced counting and matching the numbers to the peg puzzles. They are doing great with it, much to my surprise. I let the boys continue playing with that while Rabbit and I did writing eights and English. She did not complain about them today, and tried to get as far along as possible - we got all the way to "t" today! For English, it was a day to repeat lesson 86. I threw in a couple of extra sentences, to see if she would get the idea, but it hasn't quite sunk in yet.

I hadn't picked up our books on Canada from the library (since we went camping this weekend), so I had Rabbit go finish her seatwork, while I made lunch. No read aloud this week. I am thinking I may have Dad read them to Rabbit at bedtime, as the boys have trouble being quiet through a whole chapter. Plus, the next story isn't quite as gentle as Cameron Townsend.

After lunch, the boys had their quiet time, and Rabbit finished up her seatwork and then we used the right-brained multiplication flashcards to review the x5 math facts. She knows the stories for each fact, she just doesn't have super fast recall. Then, she finished her math page in 10 minutes. Bravo! Tomorrow is our test for this unit. Spelling went well. We only managed to get through the words she missed last week, and she has to re-do one of those. However, I'm glad we'll be moving on. I'm thing about, perhaps on Fridays, having Rabbit study all the words she missed for the week, to kind of help for Monday. We did reading, and then moved on to a new poem: Discontent. I really like it, and I think she did to.

Anyway, after all that, we finished by 2:30. That's really good for us. We started late this morning, and reviewing her new Awana verses took extra time today. I'm pleased about how this day went.

Week 6, Day 5 - Party!

Today, we did Bible, reading, writing, math, spelling, poetry, vocabulary Spanish, and finished our read aloud. Plus, we squeezed in our re-patterning. Then we got ready for our Fiesta!

First, we had to go to the grocery store for supplies. We had read a book called "Cactus Soup" this week. It's a cute story, and the kids wanted to try to make Cactus Soup. Here's my version of the recipe:

Fill 1 large pot about half full of water and start to heat

Add 2 to 3 tsp of chicken bouillon,

1 onion, quartered and sliced,

5 cloves garlic, minced,

1 can of kidney beans (rinsed and drained),

1 can of kernel corn (drained),

1 can of diced tomatoes (drained),

1 can of chile beans (drain off some of the chile sauce),

1/3 cup of lentils (make sure you sort them first),

2 chicken breasts, cut up into cubes,

salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 hours. Top with crushed tortilla corn chips and Mexican cheese. (For those who like spicy, add some hot sauce after you've dished it out for the kids.)

Rabbit couldn't have it with the cheese, but she loved this soup (and she usually doesn't like to try new things). Dad and I thought it was tasty, too. The chile beans added just the right amount of spice. There was enough left over to freeze for later. We also had Taquitos (Delimex Chicken Taquitos are dairy free), Spanish rice, and guacamole. (Monday is usually Mexican night at our house, but we moved it to Thursday this week.)

After dinner, Rabbit gave us a short presentation on Mexico. Last year for our home school support group's Geography Fair, she had done Mexico. So, she got out her presentation board, and read it to the family. Then, we tried to break the pinata. We have an open "balcony" at the top of the stairs, so Dad held the string to the pinata from up there (to be safe - who hasn't seen those videos on America's Funniest Home Videos), and Tigger had the first go. He got 2 or 3 hits, but didn't break it. Next up, Pooh. He whacked the pinata so hard, it pulled it off the string (or yarn, rather), but it didn't break. So then we gave the pinata to Rabbit and let her drop it off the balcony, and it broke. The kids gathered up the Smarties. So, another tip for the pinata - lots of layers around the end where you pull the balloon out, so the string doesn't rip through before the kids break it.

The kids really had fun with the Fiesta. Now, we're off to Canada. Brrr!

Week 6, Day 4 in ECC

Busy is the only way to describe today.

We started with our usual, but Rabbit was not really being respectful when we said the pledge. If there is one thing that gets me, it's that. (Even in college, at basketball games, I would tell guys to take their hats off during the Star Spangled Banner - guys way bigger than me or any of my friends.) So, we started off on the wrong foot. But, we worked through it, and did our Awana verses. The book had a game to use to work on memorizing the New Testament books, so we did that.

For geography, we made Mexican paper-tissue flowers. Here is how ours turned out:

We would have made more, but we ran out of time. Perhaps tomorrow.

Then, we had 4 pages to read in science, rather than 2, but Rabbit did a good science page. Our Spanish book actually had a worksheet today, so we did that together. Then she went off to work on her science page and math drill while I did preschool with the boys. We read a couple of our books from book basket, and then played "alphabet scramble." I have the Laurie lowercase letters, and I hook the blue forms together, and then have the boys figure out where the yellow letters go. It's good for them to learn to match those shapes.

After that, Rabbit did book basket time, while I made our early lunch. We have just one more chapter of Cameron Townsend. I'm not sure reading the read alouds at lunch is such a good idea. The boys are pretty board with it. We have a couple of weeks off before we move to Nate Saint. Since that one has such a different ending, I may ask my husband to read it to Rabbit at bedtime instead.

Then, it was off to dance class. The boys and I went to a park. When we got home, the boys went down for a nap, and Rabbit worked on her math page. Spelling was good - only missing one word today, and another chapter in our reading book. We finished up with music.

And then, we worked on finishing up our pinata. We didn't use tissue paper and decorate it like the book said. We just didn't have time. So, we just painted it with tempura paint. Here it is hanging up off the back porch, drying:

If we had more time, a couple of more coats of paint would have totally obscured the newspaper. But, we learned a lot this time around. When we do it again (she'll be in 8th grade?), then we'll know - or I'll just buy one from the party store!

I think it will be nice if I can get light and independent days to fall on dance class days. We are looking forward to having our Fiesta tomorrow night when dad comes home from work.