Homeschooling Units 5, 6,7,and 8

 Warning- This is one of those ridiculously long posts....

Where has the time gone?!?! Has it really been over 4 weeks since I blogged about homeschooling... Geez!

It is hard for me to believe that we are 1/4 of the way done with Hunter's 1st grade year.  It has really flown by.

These past 4 units have been so much fun.  I think we are both learning a lot and I have seen growth in him.

Here is just a quick recap of Units 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Unit 5
Bible Verse-Psalm 139:13-14

History- English Pilgrims settle in Holland

Poetry-  This week, by far, was the best week for Poetry.  It is so fitting for our life right now.  It is called "Song for a Little House" .  I will blog the words another day.... they are just too good and will get lost in this mammoth post.

Hunter's picture to go along with the poem "Song for a Little House"

Reading (child read)- We finished up the Old Testament section in his beginning reader's Bible

Math- Decided to add some additional math.  I am totally satisfied with Singapore but need to add a bit more to meet the state's daily time requirement. Thanks to Aunt Joan, I had some material.... so we are going to do the first unit of the 2nd grade SC book.  After that we will hit later parts of the 1st grade SC book (the 1st grade book she gave me is missing the first few chapters).

Reading (teacher read)-We finished up Squanto (Biography) last unit and began our Adventure book.  I knew Hunter was going to enjoy this book.  I decided on "Sword in the Tree." 

An example of a journal entry.  We did a circle map just for you Jodi.

Language Arts-   Started using a Journal this week. 

Science- One lesson this week we talked about storks and water birds and talked about webbed feet vs non webbed feet.
The other lesson we wrapped a cube of ice in a thin cotton dishcloth and another cube of ice in a wool sock.  We left them sitting on a plate for 15 minutes and looked to see which melted the least and why.

Art- We have been talking about all the tulips in Holland and made a 2-d flower pot with tulip that grows.

Unit 6

Bible Verse-  This week we just reviewed the previous week's verses

History- Continuing on with our Pilgrims as they settled into life in Holland.

Poetry- The Months

Hunter illustrated each month's specialty.

Reading (child read)- Began the New Testament.  He was so excited to reach this milestone.

Math-

LarryBoy and Hunter working on additional and subtraction sentences.  The green tape is numbered 1 to 10 and we act out the sentences.

Hunter working on his math problems.

Reading (teacher read)- Continuing on with "Sword in the Tree." 

Hunter draws a picture of a sword in a tree. :)

Language Arts-  We are talking about question words this week.

The spelling list was patterned with words ending in a double consonant (you will never guess how long it took me to spell consonant... haha... ironic, since I am talking about spelling.)
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Science- The highlight of Science this week was talking about how a baby's heartbeat can be heard very early even inside of the mommy's body.  I have a doppler, so we listening to baby's heartbeat and talked about how fast the baby's heart is compared to ours.   This lesson fit in perfect with his memory verse of being formed in your mother's body and being fearfully and wonderfully made.

Art-   Made a heart with a strip to show a clean heart that has been forgiven by God and a black spot that has been soaked with sin.

Unit 7
Bible Verse- Psalm 119: 9-11

History-The Pilgrims move from Amsterdam, Holland to Leiden, Holland and prepare to go to the New World.

Poetry- Mother's Jewels. 

Each day, Hunter does about ten minutes of copywork from the poem.  Here is an example from this week.  This is definitely his least favorite part of the day.

Reading (child read)- Continuing on with Bible.  We read from where Jesus calms the storm to the story of Mary and Martha.  Each unit we are completing about 60 pages. 

Math-Still working on place value to 100 and basic addition and subtraction

Reading (teacher read)-  "Sword in the Tree" is reaching the climax and we have diagrammed different problems that have occurred and add additional problems when they arise.  Refer to Unit 8 to see the completed diagram.

Language Arts- This week was a review week of our previous spelling lessons and an introduction to command sentences. 

Science-  As the Pilgrims had to load the ships with their barrels of supplies, we talked about the easiest ways to do accomplish that.  We used Mantis and Queenie's steps to make ramp push the cans up the steps.  We also talked about a pulley system.

Art-

I drew "Hunter" and then he colored it in and we put the verse Ps 139:14 in the pocket. Please no judgment on my artistic ability

Unit 8
Bible Verse-  I Thess 5:11

History- English Pilgrims Travel to America
*** Just a side note, I had forgotten or never really learned about this whole process.   I had forgotten about the Speedwell and the Mayflower starting out together but the Speedwell started leaking and had to go back.  Good to have a refresher.

Poetry- Where the Land Lies
*** kind of boring poem. I bet GrandpaGordie would appreciate it though!

Reading (child read)-  Read from The Prodigal Son to the Last Supper.  Over the next 5 days (Unit 9), we will complete all 508 pages of this Bible.  I think it will be bittersweet for him since the first thing he wants to do every day is start with reading his Bible.  We may read back through it while doing the other material...

We also are going to start adding in the recommended Supplemental book.  The book this week was, Floss. And it was a beautiful book about a border collie.  The pictures in it were just amazing plus Floss looks a lot like Molly so we were immediately hooked.

Hunter reading the Bible

Hunter reading "Floss" to Ashton

The cover of "Floss."  Isnt it pretty? And doesnt that look a lot like Malls Balls?

Math-

Though this activity was for Hunter - naming 1st through 10th place and finding hidden objects through clues, Shepherd has loved these cups.  They have been stacked, thrown, rolled, and played with.  Who knew?  Cups!

Math-Hunter had a big review/ test week in Math.  He did great scoring 90's and 100's throughout the week

Here is an example of 3 questions from the 2nd grade assessment.  This book is from public school... what he will be doing next year.  We are not going to start the next unit in the 2nd grade book yet though.

And this is an example of 2 pages of the review from the Singapore 1A book.

Reading (teacher read)-  Finished "Sword in the Tree" and colored in green each problem that was solved by the end of the story.

Language Arts-  Spelling words are getting a tad harder but he is still doing the harder list of words.  He did great this week and easily got 100.

Science- I liked both Science days this week.  One day, he talking about oil and water dont mix but when salt is added, the oil becomes heavier and will merge better with the water.
We also compared a pen spinning on the floor vs a person... which one is faster and why.  We then compared a person to the earth spinning.  We talked about how long it takes the earth to spin one time and how long it takes the earth to go around the sun.

Art- Constructing the Mayflower. 

Ashton was in on this activity with his ship being on the left and Hunt's on the right.

 As you can see, we are busy.  But, it is so fun.  I have not been good about getting Ashton and Shepherd's lesson done.  I need to find a way to fit it in for them as they need the time with me and need the exposure too.  So, hopefully next time, I can have some of their work up here too.