Homeschooling installment

Oh my gosh!  I mentioned last post that I would do an update on homeschooling post knowing I had not blogged about it in awhile... yall I had no idea I had no posted about homeschooling since Unit 8!!!!  We will be finishing up Unit 21 tomorrow.  Obviously, summing up 13 units would be too long and for the most part, boring.  So, I will do my best to give a short and sweet version.  And as mentioned last post, I had taken more pictures of Hunter actually doing some of these projects and such but computer crash so use your imagination...

Hunter :)

*** And dont feel bad if you dont get through all this... these homeschool posts are mainly  documentation for me! :)

Ok...
Unit 9 ( Sep 20- Sep 26)
Bible- Col 3:23-  focus on hard work and idle hands
History - Landing in America- continued talking about the Pilgrims

Art activity of the Mayflower.

Read- finished up the Early Reader's Bible      and      Daniels' Duck
Storytime- begin a new genre of historical fiction with the reading of Little House in the Big Woods. Though I love Little House on the Prairie books, this book was pretty boring but we tried to make it fun
Science- discussion of the Equator
Math- grouping into items of 10
Language Arts - exclamatory sentences.  Spelling list pattern was long "a" words with silent "e"


Unit 10 ( Sep 27- Oct 4)
Bible- Psalm 118:1- giving thanks to the Lord
History- Pilgrims Settle in Plymouth
Read- Frog and Toad are Friends     and    Katy and the Big Snow
Storytime- Little House in the Big Woods
Science- underwater playdough model of the ocean shelf
Math- tens side and ones side
Language Arts -when to use an exclamation point vs a period.   Spelling pattern long "i" with silent "e"

Unit 11 (Oct 5- Oct 12)
Bible- Ps 143:10- Praying God's will
History- Pilgrims Build Houses in Plymouth

Hunter's map of Plymouth

and a map of Jerusalem during Solomon's day

Read- Owl at Home    and    Dust for Dinner
Storytime- Little House in the Big Woods
Science-
Math- fact family
Language Arts -   continuing with Punctuation including the question mark. Spelling pattern long "o" with silent "e"


 Unit 12 (Oct 15- Oct 19)
Bible- Ps 119:9-11- a young person staying pure and living according to His way
History- Samoset and Squanto Help the Pilgrims
Read- Frog and Toad All Year    and    Snowshoe Thompson
Storytime- Little House in the Big Woods
Science- experiment with how germs and sickness spread and experiment with how the Earth orbits the sun linking with why the Equator area is so hot
Math-Review of numbers to 20, fact families, addition and subtraction to 20, comparing sets, missing numbers in equations...  New material- shapes
Language Arts- Nouns- people, places, things.  Spelling pattern long "u" with silent "e"

Activity with the spelling words this unit

Unit 13 ( Oct 22- Oct 30) --- Field trip to the Pumpkin Patch on Oct 25)
Bible- Rom 8:28- God using ALL things to work together for Him
History-The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth

Basket weave taught by the Indians to the Pilgrims

Read- Wagon Wheels
Storytime-  began another new genre and picked Charlotte's Web for the next 4 units
Science- The Seasons

Art linked with Science

Math- continue with shapes and began patterns
Language Arts- Proper names need to capitals.  Spelling review week

Unit 14 (Oct 31- Nov 6)
Bible- John 14:1-2- trusting in God
History- More Problems for the Pilgrims in Plymouth
Read- Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express    and     A Chair for my Mother
Storytime- Charlotte's Web
Science- Reptiles

Hunter's snake that goes with our Science lesson

Math- measuring/ length/ weight
Language Arts - discuss full names and write down family members full names. Spelling pattern words with "or" like horn

Unit 15 (Nov 7- Nov 13)
Bible- Matt 25:21- being a faithful servant
History- Dutch Pioneers Settle in New Amsterdam

The poem this week went along with History story of the little Dutch boy and his pet cow.

Read-   Prairie School    and    Keep the Lights Burning Abbie
Storytime- Charlotte's Web
Science- Made ice cream which was a success... attempted curds the next day and it was a flop
Math- weight and estimating
Language Arts - initials.  Spelling pattern "er' as in her

Unit 16 (Nov 14- Nov 23)  ---  Field trip to Shielle Museum on Nov 19)
Bible- Prov 15:3 God can see everything we do
History- King Phillip Declares War on the Pilgrims
Read- Helen Keller    and    A Weekend with Wendell
Storytime- Charlotte's Web and we watched the movie. 
Science- Light
Math- subtraction word problems
Language Arts - The word "I" in  a sentence. Spelling pattern "ir" as in girl

Unit 17 (Nov 26- Nov 30)
Bible- I Peter 5:7- Casting our cares on Him
History- Two Pilgrim Children Become  Captives
Read- Helen Keller    and began     First Flight
Storytime- began new genre of mystery and picked Who Stole the Wizard of Oz? Really good book to represent a mystery.
Science- Fish
Math-graphing
Language Arts - days of the week.  Spelling pattern "ar" as in farm  

Unit 18 (Dec 3- Dec 10)
Bible- Review week
History- Trouble in the New Land
Read- First Flight    and began    Christian Liberty Nature Reader

Level of book Hunter is reading.  This is a page from The Christian Liberty Nature Reader

Storytime- Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?
Science-experimenting with the sense of smell
Math-counting and adding by tens... finding missing numbers
Language Arts-   Spelling- Review

Unit 19 (Dec 12- Jan 2)--- this was during on sicknesses and then Christmas)
Bible- I John 4:10-11 Loving eachother.  God loving us
History- Life for the Puritans in Colonial Times
Read-    Christian Liberty Nature Reader     and he picked a super hero book each day to read
Storytime- Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?
Science-Experimenting with hearing
Math- tens and ones up to 100, number patterns, add greatest numbers
Language Arts-    Names of the month.  Spelling pattern long "a" as in day

Unit 20 (Jan 3- Jan 9)
Bible- Prov 12:24 - Diligent vs laziness
History- Colonial Schools
Read- Christian Liberty Nature Reader     and he picked a super hero book each day to read
Storytime- finished Who Stole the Wizard of Oz? a week early and picked one of his LarryBoy chapter books
Science- mimic different kind of animals
Math-subtract numbers to 40
Language Arts-  Names of the month cont.  Spelling pattern long "a" spelled "ai" as in brain

Unit 21 (Jan 10- Jan 17) field trip to The Children's Museum Jan 11
Bible-Phil 4:8- think about good things, pure things
History- Pioneers from France Settle in Detroit

Art project linked with history lesson on the benefits of using birchwood canoes.  Hunter made a canoe of flour and salt and then painted it

Read- Christian Liberty Nature Reader    and    Wagon Train
Storytime- new genre of non fiction and chose How to Travel West in a Covered Wagon

Some of the material we are covering with moving west. Book of the left is our non fiction book.  The middle book is one of our history books.  The book on the right is one of the supplemental books Hunter is reading to me and on the Nook is the game Oregon Trail... tell me that doesnt take you back (all those who are around my age)

Science- clouds

Cloud types

Math-Subracting patterns and subtracting with zerors.  Add 3 or more numbers,
Language Arts-  Birthdates and dates.  Spelling pattern long "e" spelled "ee"  as in tree


And there it is.  I wish I had all the other pictures I had taken and that this post was really 3 posts so you could get a better feel for all we have done.  Hunter is doing great.  I hope that he will be MAP tested next week so I can make sure I am giving him what he needs.  

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.)
.
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.

Homeschooling Units 3 and 4

Sorry for the lack of posting... once I have a free minute, I dont feel like being creative and thinking through a post. 
Homeschooling continues to be 'da bomb. ;)

Here is a quick recap of the last two units.
Unit 3
Memory verse  I John 4:15-16a
History- continuing with religious persecution in England and introduction Pilgrims.
Reading- going well.  never go the easier Bible so we are just sticking with the harder one and he is doing better. 
Spelling- Missed his first spelling word on a test and was insisted that was angry with him.  He did chip twice instead of trip.

spelling list

Math- addition from Singapore.  We also added in a Math Drops Bucket in worksheet for each day (thanks Aunt Joan).  I love these little worksheets because he can do them by himself!

Making a "pizza" using the nine addition family for number sentences.

Example of Math Drops in the Bucket worksheet and Singapore WB.

Poetry

oops, forgot to put this vertical... here is the poem for the unit, "Uphill"

Art

Art projects goes along with History lesson from Day 1 about the rose garden in England.

 Science

Fun little experiment about how bees pollinate a flower.  Hunter's finger is the bee and two plates are different flowers.  The crumbs are the pollen. 

End result

We also talked about light in science and came across this phrase.  I underlined it but in case you cant see it, "Jesus came to giver spiritual light and wisdom to His chosen or elect children."  Love it! 

Unit 4
Memory Verse: Matthew 6:19-21
History:  Pilgrims made it out of England and into Holland after much persecution and jail time.
Reading: We will finish with the Old Testament next week. Hunter is LOVING this Bible now.  He always wants to do his reading first
Spelling: Aced his spelling test.
Math:  By the end of this unit, I decided to incorporate a new math book in addition to Singapore.  Joan gave me her old math books and we are going to start working through that.  The 1st grade book was missing a ton of pages so we are started in the 2nd grade book.  It starts with place values which I think he can handle. If it gets too hard, we will back off.  I might actually pull out the 1st grade math book she gave me as I think the back half is still pretty much together.

Cute math activity from Singapore.  Drawing different objects then making number sentences.  Example: on the bottom, draw 4 ladybugs, then add 1.  Right a number sentence.

 History Activity: We are talking a lot about Holland right now in History b/c our Pilgrims have made it out of England.  We have described how Holland was right at or below water level so they had to built dikes of playdough to illustrate what happens when a dike leaks.

 Poetry:  Daybreak.

The Others! I must admit that I am having a hard time getting Ashton and Shep's lesson in.  I am just beginning Unit 3 with them.

 This was a cute activity A, S, and I did.  Unit 2 we learned about Noah.  We picked objects to test to see if they float or sink.  Here are our results. 

Add caption

Our objects

 Just a funny picture of Ashton.  He drew a picture  of me.  hahaha
 

Ashton's pictures of me.

Homeschoollng Unit 2

Another unit down and it went really well.

We are still waiting on the other Bible to get here to make the reading portion just a tad easier.  I have to admit that he is doing a bit better with the harder Bible- I do still want the other one though for a smoother transition.

Math-  working on the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 addition family (this is still a huge review for him).  We have been making number sentences by using drawing pictures and then using counters for the picture.  For example, I drew two trees and had 8 pieces of dry cereal that we moved to make the number sentences.  You can see our number sentences for 10 in picture #1.

Poetry- The poem this week was Father, We Thank Thee.  We didnt spend much time trying to memorize but Hunter really enjoyed illustrating this poem.  The poem is puzzled together in picture 1 and then  picture 2 is where he illustrated it.

Language Arts-  Another 100 on the Spelling test.  Again, on list 2 instead of list 1.  His words are in  picture 1.  I love how his daily reading has almost every spelling word incorporated.    We also briefly introduced run-ons and the importance of periods.  He directed me where to punctuate run on sentences and told me that Mrs. Dockins (K5 teacher) told them that they forgot to use a period too often.

History-  Love the History selection.  This week we focused on the English settlers coming to Jamestown, VA.   We read a selection out the book that has fictional characters in a real life setting.  I didnt totally love the History Activity this week as it seemed sub par to the rest of the unit.  Basically, we did a timeline of birthdays in our family.  I think it did help him see the way a timeline works though as we will do a continual time line of all important history dates throughout the year.

Science-  No cute Science activity this week.  We read and discussed about different large mammals and rodents.  Hunter loved it because he was able to pull out some Wild Kratts knowledge.

Art- The craft was from the story of Ruth which was the History/ Bible lesson for Day 5.  In picture two below (black fan looking thing) is a field of grain where Ruth was able to pick up the small pieces that fell.  Honestly, dont think they turned out too cute (nothing like the shields from Unit 1).

Bible-  The verse in this unit was Galations 6:9-  "Let us not become tired of doing good.  At the right time we will gather up a crop if we don't give up."  The verse was perfect for our History pioneer lessons and the story on Ruth.  Love hearing him memorize these verses!

Picture #1

Picture 2

There it is - a quick summary of Unit 2.  He did make me chuckle this week.  Over the summer, I have Bible Study on Tuesday  mornings so I told him that on Tuesdays thru the summer we would not do school.  Well, Jodi (my Bible study leader) was out of town this past Tuesday and I told Hunter we would probably do school on Tuesday.  He held me to my original plan of no school Tuesday.  Needless to say, I caved and we played hookie!  :)  Just another benefit to homeschooling!

Homeschooling Unit 1

Though we split the first unit over a week and a half, it has gone by so quickly.

I am beyond pleased (no pun intended) with our choice to use Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory.

Here are some of the goods and the bads of the week.

Let's start with the bads....

1- This breaks my heart but reading was tough this week.  Through BLHFHG, two kids Bibles coordinate with the curriculum (you can use any Bible you want, but they have page numbers and questions mapped out for these two Bibles- The Beginners Bible and The Early Readers Bible. I already had The Beginners Bible, which is a step harder than The Early Readers Bible, so we didnt need to buy it.  Well, it is too hard for Hunter... at least for now. It led to both of us getting frustrated which is the last thing in the world I want him to get--- frustrated over reading. So, I ordered The Early Readers Bible and will add some phonics work to it.  Once we complete the phonics book, we will hopefully pick back in the Beginners Bible.
2- I am going to have been disciplined with the poetry section.  I am just not big into poetry thankfully the copywork each day is linked to the poetry so I know I will not be tempted to skip it.

A close up of the poem that we pieced together.  The poem was The Storm.

Look at how much better his writing was in just a week.  This copywork was over 4 days time- 10 minutes a day.  You can almost see when he starts again each day.

3- Though he loves it, Math was pretty basic in the first unit.  I know it picks up steam (even the last lesson in this unit was a bit harder) and it is good to review, but Ashton could easily have done most of the activities.

The math page.

The goods.

1- Hunter loved the Science and Geography sections. 

Science lesson was on "blubber".  We coated one finger in vegetable shortening and the left the other without.  Put both fingers in the water and felt which finger got colder after 2 minutes.

A fun geography lesson of labeling the continents and the oceans.  Hunter then wanted to take it a step further and draw all the planets.  *** No judgement on the scale- just going for the general idea.

2- BLHFHG offers two spelling lists each unit, Hunter was easily able to go to the second list.  He made a 100 on his first spelling test.  Also, like the introduction to Language Arts.  This unit was a fragment vs a sentence.

First spelling test--- some of his "a" look like "e"

Hunter's shield, the lesson on fragments and sentences, and the unit poem pieced together with pictures.

 3- Love the Storytime and so does Hunter.  The first genre of books is biography.  I am reading Squanto to him and it fits perfectly with our History lessons about the first pioneers.  Though, the curriculum just calls for one genre in each unit, I think we will have enough time to do two. 

The Bible that is a bit too hard for Hunt is on the left and the biography I am reading to him/ them.

Questions Hunter would ask Squanto

4- And the best part, hearing all three of the boys recite the Bible verse for Unit 1- Psalms 4:8.  "I go to bed and sleep in peace, because Lord, only You keep me safe."  Even Shepherd will say it when he doesnt know anyone is paying attention.  Makes me happy!

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And lastly, here are Ashton and Shepherd's activities from their first unit of Little Hands to Heaven.  The letter was "A" and the number "1."  The shields are actually from Hunter's unit as we talked about God being our shield. 

Shep's on the left, Ash on the right... if it wasnt obvious ;)

So, there it is... Unit 1 complete and we are loving it!