Homeschool Adventures

June 2013 - Hot air ballooning.  For a about a month we studied tornadoes and going up in them in hot air balloons and the types of clouds.  

This was a week long project.  I didn't think it was going to take that long. Phew I was so happy when I got them up and it was all over.

But they did great and they look cute.

March 2013 ~ Block Canvas'

 

Their canvas' turned out beautiful!

November 9, 2012 ~ Fall Time Crafts. Stain Glass Fall Leaves

 

Alex's 7 with bullets coming out of it

Tony's Leaf Robot Hand

Aliana's Leaf Sun 

 

Then we made a Thanksgiving banner.

 

 

November 8, 2012: Creating an ocean

The kids were learning about water in their science this week.  So dissolving, evaporation & condensation were placed together in this experiment...salt and water, what heat does to its molecules and then what is left over- creating the cycle in the ocean.

6 Tbsp of salt was placed in a glass. 

Then once they all put their 2 Tbsp each in, they were to pour the mixture on a plate.  We chose a blue one to resemble the ocean water and to be able to see the salt better.

No we leave it in the sun to let it do its job, heating up the water, evaporating into the air, leaving behind the salt.

This is what's left over.  Look at all the salt. 

The kids decided to taste it and then couldn't stop, but I found out about it too late and they were so thirsty the rest of the night.  Poor little bodies had too much sodium.

 

 

October 30, 2012 - Fall Art Projects

Hand Sunflowers

 

Fall Placemats  that I placed underneath the glass so that they might last a little longer this season.





Aliana's

Anthony's

Alex's

 

 

March 30, 2012 - Australian Aboriginal Dot Art

We week we learned about Australia - animals, art, places, phrases.  This was one of the crafts.  They had to paint with dots to fill in their Australian picture.

March 29, 2012 - Science Experiments: What will float?

The boys were to gather 4 to 5 different objects, write them down, predict if they thought it would float, do the experiment and then write down their results.  Tony was surprised by 1 object and Alex was surprised by 3.  It was a good experiment.

Next we experimented with absorptions and ranked in the order of most to least.

This was a good one to do!  The amount of liquid that was left over was obvious enough for them to understand and rank.  We used a rag, piece of paper, coffee filter and a tissue.

July 12: Fire Dept & Ambulance Field trip.  I had 16 children and 6 parents arrive for this field trip.

We are sitting at the dinner table talking before we start the tour.

Going over all the doors, drawers & compartments on the fire engine.

Everyone got to go through 2 trucks.

Now they all got to see the firefighter put his gear on and then touch it.  Only the little ones were a little stand-offish.

Here goes the helmet.

This is a little unclear, but I still needed to add it.  I like the way the firefighter and Alex are talking so personally and attentively.  He really LOVED this trip.  It almost became a field trip all about them and their questions.

A second team had just showed up from a run on the field....they got back from a call (I sounded like I knew what I was talking about, lol). So they jumped on this truck and got to walk through it.

Time for the Ambulance

Alex was the 1st one to test out the stretcher.  Check out his face....a little scared, but he still did it and everyone followed.

Tony was next...a little scared too, but he did it.

Then the boys got to run the stretcher for all the other kids.

Now it's time to explore the ambulance. 

They really liked the AED machine. 

They kept taking their own oxygen saturation's with the pulse ox.

The firefighter that was giving the tour brought out the truck and raised the ladder to its fullest ... thanks for asking Alex.

(oh my,  my sons with all their questions.  It's a great learned experience.)

We had a great time!

June 23: Graphing by addition

May 19: This is what we ended up doing with their fingerprints in paint.  It was a "think outside the box" creativity lesson.  How can you make this letter with your fingerprint?  The top was mine for explanation., Red was Alex's and White was Tony's.

May 18: Math

Awesome Work Alex!!

May 17: Paint Fingerprint Letters.  What? The kids were to paint different colored fingerprints on their paper and then once it dried they had to create letters out of their fingerprints.

Next, they traced the hands Jesus made, colored them and said a pray to help their guide their hands for good.

MAY 3: Making a volcano #2 using ingredients and constructing the mountain.

APRIL 26: Science Experiment.  Making a simple volcano #1.  (There will be 2 more in different forms).

They had so much fun making a flour volcano.  The next one will include more ingredients.

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APRIL 4: Following Directions Art Project.  This is funny (my smart little man), I gave Alex all the supplies that he would need for this project.  He just started right up, didn't ask any questions and finished without direction from me.  Hmmm!

She's proud of her American Flag.

Good job.  He learned a little about 1776 and being free after a war.

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MARCH: Spelling/Phonics ~ Math Races ~ Measurements ~ God's Get Well Present for Tony (ended up being a school project).

Alex writes so well. 

A little project for Uncle Robby....shhhh, he hasn't received it yet! 

Tony got really hurt on 3/28 (Robs b-day). He got hit from behind by a child on a bicycle, throwing him to the ground and giving him a concussion/ knocking him out (I saw and heard everything and it was freaking scary). I was in the Children's ER until 3am that night with him. His CT scan came out normal and we were sent home to take it easy for the next couple days with no mental stimulation. He's doing better today with slight irritability, mood swings and fatigue. Each day there is improvement.

Thank you God that I was that close to respond so quickly to aid Tony.

So, while Tony and Aliana were napping one day, Alex and I did school work together which ended up in a get well present for Tony. It was so sweet to see a 5 year old think of his little brother to make him feel better. Alex was so excited to give this to him. Tony was bearly awake while still in bed while Alex was handing him his gift. It was truly sweet. Here he's reading the message to Tony. 

On a different day, We took our math lessons outside. I gave the boys an equation while they were at the other end of the yard.  Once they got their answer, they were then to race to their paper, put the answer down and race back to the starting point.  It was really cute to see Tony try so hard. 

Next, we started measuring objects around the yard and documented them.  Later we will graph the data that we gathered.  This ended up being a good lesson.  The boys learned how to measure, the importance of the correct number, what the numbers mean, inches, what are fractions, writing and making sense of all the data on a graph.

Alex just wrote a fraction.
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February 18: Learning about the 4 types of clouds - Cirrus, Stratus, Cumulus & Cumulonimbus.

 

 

 

Gilly and the butterfly's home.

 

All 5 butterflies have emerged and this is there new home.  Don't get upset with the bloodlikeLOL!)

 

February 17: Butterflies

Aliana and I got to witness this one trying so hard to get out of its chrysalid while on its back.  I had to pull the napkin over a bit to help it flip over on its legs. I'm glad we were there because I don't think it would have been able to flip by itself since they can't use their wings really well.  It looks like a baby trying to walk; they're all over the place. And the wings are wet and don't have blood flowing through them.  The butterflies will climb to the side of the habitat and start to pump their wings forcing blood through its veins.

Above: laying on its back and below it is the empty tan chrysalid.
Below: climbing to the side of the habitat.

Here's just a picture of what the inside so far looks like. 
Can you find the 3 butterflies and the 2 chrysalids?

 

February 16: Gilly our pet tadpole

For Alex's b-day Aunt Stacy and Uncle Scott gave him a "Grow a Frog" kit. We received the home for the frog last week, sent away for the actual frog and last night it came. We all were so excited to see this thing. Already its head is wide, flat and with big eyes and it has two little sprouting feet under its belly. As soon as we get spring water we will put it in its new home and watch it transform.

I really think this is fun. Next, ladybugs & produce.
Here we come spring!!

February 8: Pupal Stage (try to blow the pictures up)

It's time for a change!

The caterpillars are now in their pupal stage. They (most of them) have crawled to the top of the cup and hung upside down. They must stay still during this special time as they begin to change into butterflies. They have harden by now and are beautiful iridescent chrysalids. Within the chrysalid, the old body parts of the caterpillar will undergo a remarkable change to form the new parts that make up the adult butterfly. This pupal stage will take another 7 to 10 days.

The brown stuff that you see is not the caterpillar's waste; it was the food that was at the bottom of the cup that the caterpillar were living in. If any caterpillar fell from the top of the cup when hanging upside down we were to lay them gently on a napkin at the bottom of the butterfly habitat (their new home for when they emerge from their cocoon).

February 7: Graphs

Alex is learning how to collect data, graph it and then analyze it and answer questions based on the data. 

 

Check out all those graphs.  The computer generated ones were with dad for fun.

 

January 31: Science Kit

Alex got a butterfly kit from Noni & Papa L. for his birthday. It is for his school - the science part of it.

It's really neat. You get the kit (butterfly pavilion, larvae in the feeder & an eyedropper to place sugar water on the flowers when the butterflies emerge), set everything up and wait 7-10 days. You get to watch the life cycle right before your eyes. These creatures grow so fast; I can even see a difference as the days go by. So when we got them they were tiny little worms with no hair on them.

Now you can see the different colors patterns on their bodies with many hairs. It's really cool! I'm hoping that they lay eggs so we can see that part of the cycle.

 

January 27: Studying away

Having a really good school session with EVERYONE.  Trying for momma ;-)

He's doing really good with making new words and reading them.

 

January 6, 2011

Reading & Rhyming: A little fun reading, matching, and rhyming.

And we always end with Bible Study in our workbook, a story, a video and the coordinating song.  We all LOVE it so much.  Here Alex had a dance to go along with the song.

December 23, 2010

Their goal was met: Alex was to count to 100 WITHOUT any help or assistance from mom/anyone and to know the letters/sounds of the alphabet.  He is now reading/sounding out words and soon he will start putting words together to make sentences and reading them. Tony was to count to 60 WITHOUT assistance as well.  Because of this they got their drum and instruments that came inside it.

Working together on their school work.  Tony is a good workers.  He doesn't get distracted and just keeps going to complete the assignment.

Alex just finished counting to 100 and is celebrating.

 

Tony is in the mist of accomplishing his goal.

Aliana now brings me this book and starts to point to all the numbers.

Yay!! Tony did it too!
Good Job Boys ~ Lets go get that drum!

November 16, 2010

The Milky Way Gallaxy: still working on our outer space science work.

 

November 11, 2010

Spelling, Writing, Reading & Searching for Words: I found this really cool slyvan work book at our Mardels that I extend the learning lessons a little further to sink it in.  Here is got to choose a letter, make a word, sound it out, read it, and then search for it in the seek and find in the book.  Boy, with all that for each word he was bound to pick it up and HE DID!  The second picture shows his excitement of writing & reading the word. He couldn't believe that he sounded the word he made and read it.

Next, searching for it letter by letter.  He actually did all this by himself after I helped him with the 1st 2 words.  Last picture, pure excitement and he was proud of himself for understanding it and doing it. This was a great game to teach words, reading and writing.

November 6, 2010

Creation: "And God said, "Let there be light in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night," .. And it was so.  God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and lesser light to govern the night."  Genesis 1:14a & 16 NIV.

Alex's science, bible and art project all blended quite nicely this day.  It hangs from string and looks good.

We are slowly making the solar system.

November 4, 2010

Spanish Balloons - We learned Spanish colors today and made them into a art project.  Both boys enjoyed learning new words; well a new language.

 

October 7, 2010

Great activities to learn about God. He's really doing well and retaining it too. It makes me feel content that we made the right decision about his education.

 

Alex told me what it means to do good deeds for others and I wrote it down.  He then decorated it with what each word means to him.  Alex also drew a picture of how Jesus makes him feel.  The big heart is Gods and the little one, inside of Gods, is his.  Precious!

October 6, 2010
Race for 100:  We incorporated exercise and learning all because we had a busy morning of errands and not much outside play.  Which that meant that we would be bringing school outside this afternoon.  Well, this is what we were doing: Alex has a goal, to know, recite and recall the numbers up to 100 and the alphabet too.  When he reaches that goal he will receive a reward - musical instruments. Today we (both of us) were racing for 100.  Every time that he wrote an answer down we were to race from the fence to the patio and back again and then do it again with every number written.  Let me tell you, this kid is competitive.  We started at 30 and he wanted to keep going until he reached 100.  I had to stop him at 70 so that he could get his personal time before the rest of the kids woke up from their naps. 

Love is...

Alex is getting hands on bible art.  We either start or end with Jesus/Bible verses.  I absolutely love it.  Today he learned 1 Corinthians 13:4.  Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is Jesus. He made a love(hearts) and patience (hands) mobile.

 

Word Search

He is learning about the world and the different countries that encompass it.  So far he's learned about Chile, Argentina, Antarctica, Brazil, North America & South America. And today he did his 1st word search about Brazil.  I was hesitant since it looked hard but he wanted to do it and he sure did, by himself.  He looks proud that he completed it.

 

September 30, 2010

Alex and I had a rough spell for a couple days, but we have that under control and he is doing wonderful.  Look at all the hard work he has accomplished since yesterday.  My favorite so far was the flower.  It had so many learning elements that went into one art project: addition, spelling, word/number recognition, numbers/letters & gross/fine motor skills.  Now that I think I'm making it exciting again, he is so eager to learn and participate fully; distraction is another problem we're working on, but I bet that's to be expected ;-)

 

September 21, 2010

It took alittle longer to understand subtraction than addition, but he has gotten it.  WooHoo! Now I think I need to keep testing him to make sure he can retain it. 

 

September 17, 2010

I am soooo incredibly proud and surprised that Alex knew Math; it's coming so easily to him.  I tested him today on our dry erase board just to see if he would be ready and boy was he.  I wrote down the addition problems and read it aloud to him as I pointed to it and he knew and wrote down the answer with NO help from me.  I sat back in my chair, turned my head to look at him and just stared, he then looked at me, lifted one eyebrow as to say why are you looking at me like that.  I said in a whisper and with a big smile, "I am so proud of you.  I can't believe you know how to do this.  You are so smart Alex"  and then I went very slowly to give him a kiss.  He got so tickled that he got embarassed.  (I'm not sure K-G's are doing addition; Amanda S. a question for you- do you teach addition in K-G?

September 16, 2010
  We always finish up our school time with Jesus and as we did we learned what the Armor of God was and wanted to share it with you.  It was fun to pretend that we were putting on God's Armor as I read the passage and discription/a little explanation had to go with it.  Feel free to use it to with your children!

   If you can image this on paper, there is a knight all dressed for a battle on one side and on the other side are all of his warrior attire. 

We were to dress the knight for a battle to conquer the evil one.

 

- Breastplate of Righteousness

- Gospel of Peace (boots)

- Shield of Faith

- Belt of Truth

- Sword of the Spirit

- Helmet of Salvation

Explanation (stand up for this):

   Stand firm then, with the belt of truth around your waist (put it on), with the breastplate of righteousness in place (attach the belt), and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (pull on your boots).  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith (hold up your arm to battle and block the devil), with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation (put on your helmet) and the sword of the spirit (hold up your arm and hold that sword), which is the word of GOD. This is how we should walk through our day; ready to speak and walk in the word of God and to be ready to battle when the evil one approaches us-with the Armor of God. ~ Amen

Here's a poem you can print out and post anywhere to pretend you are God's Warrior.