Weeks 17 & 18 (1/2/12-1/13/12)

We have started a new unit of study.  We will be learning about the regions of the United States, starting with the Northeast (which will include the Mid-Atlantic states).  While our focus for Social Studies will be learning about the states as they are today including things like climate, industry, natural resources and symbols, our focus for reading will be placing the history of the state on a timeline through an examination of historical fiction.  I want the girls to get a sense of the state through a variety of literary experiences, including journals.

Reading:  

1. C&C - Read Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne.  The girls learned about the first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts. 
2. Madelyn - Reading A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 by Joan Blos.  This book has challenged Madelyn's reading ability due to the dialogue used.  We are reading it together.

Social Studies:  We made a timeline to hang around our dining room.  We will place historical reference points along it as we learn about each region and other significant historical dates.

Math:

1. C&C - We continue to do double math lessons as we attempt to catch up with our texts' schedule for the year. The girls have completed Unit 5, Chapter 2 as well as Review 5 and a cumulative test.  They have also completed Unit 6, Chapter 1.  Their focus is multiplication and division.
2. Madelyn - Finished Unit 3, Chapter 6 as well as completed Review 3 and a cumulative test.  Also completed Unit 4, Chapters 1& 2 about right angles and measuring angles.  Started Chapter 3 on perpendicular lines.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Weeks 12 and 13 in Writing with Ease.  Sometimes this program is a real struggle for them, especially oral comprehension, but I've come to appreciate how it is preparing them for the rest of the their education.
2. Madelyn - Completed Lesson 4 from IEW.  She is working on adding strong verbs and -ly adverbs to dress-up her writing.

Science:  We've started learning about the human body.  We are using Janice VanCleave's The Human Body for Every Kid.  We have completed the first four labs regarding cells and the function of the brain.

Preschool:  The boys completed Weeks 13 & 14 of their Pre-K Sonlight program. They are working on printing lowercase letters using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Weeks 15 & 16 (12/12 - 12/23)

Scripture:

1. Boys - ORDERLINESS: I find a place for everything and put everything in its place.
2. Girls - Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne. Catherine has been a fan of Magic Tree House books since this summer. Now Chloe is too! I like that it introduced us to the Revolutionary War in simple terms and allowed us to talk about how our nation was formed.
2. Madelyn - Finished reading Morning Girl. She constructed a diorama depicting the setting in this book. She also read In Their Own Words: Christopher Columbus by Peter and Connie Roop. These two texts have given her different perspectives on life around the time of America's 'discovery'.

Social Studies: In our version of homeschool, reading is social studies and social studies is reading. Sometimes there are different assignments but they generally address each other. So, in addition to the learning they did about our nation's beginning in reading, the girls also learned about the Constitution. We read A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy and Giulio Maestro. We did worksheets to support this and today, we learned about the National Anthem. Our goal in this unit was to learn something about government but I think we've more accurately addressed the larger theme of patriotism.

Math: We have doubled up on math as we found ourselves on Singapore Math's Week 11 and our own calendar's Week 16.

1. C&C - Completed Unit 3, Chapters 4 & 5 on length. Also completed Unit 4, which was on weight. Finally, they completed Unit 5, Chap. 1 on multiplication. All math is from Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 3, Chapters 1 through 5 and some of chapter 6 in Singapore Math 4A. She is becoming a fraction wizard!

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Weeks 9-11 of Writing with Ease.
2. Madelyn - Continued to do reinforcement paragraphs from Lesson 3 in IEW. Also started on Lesson 4. Now that she is adding more 'dress-ups' her writing is starting to differentiate itself from the original text.

Science: We have completed a unit of study on matter. We used Experiments with Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Salvatore Tocci as our guide. We did all the experiments in this book and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Preschool: The boys completed Weeks 11 & 12 of their Pre-K Sonlight program. They finished learning to print their capital letters and have now moved on to lowercase letters using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Weeks 13 & 14 (11/28 - 12/11)

We did it! We started a business. Check it out...

Here's the letter I sent to help get us started. It outlines the process we went through.

Good Morning Friends & Neighbors,

This weekend our girls will have the experience of going into (and out of) business. We have been studying entrepreneurship as part of our homeschool curriculum. For the culminating learning experience, the girls were given the task of starting their own business. After great debate on whether to offer a service or product, they decided to do what they do best and that is craft. They secured a loan from the Bank of Mom & Dad, procured all the materials, created MANY products, and finally worked on an advertising campaign and now they are ready to share it all with you!

So, this Saturday 12/10, The Crafting Kids invite you to our home starting at 9 a.m. for a Holiday Bazaar. They will offer handmade crafts such as bracelets, soaps, ornaments, and games. In addition there will be a mountain of yummy treats like fudge, old-fashioned peanut brittle, and buckeyes. There is much more however supplies are limited, so come early.

Finally, because this is a school project, each girl has selected a charity to donate her proceeds to. Madelyn will be donating her share to Animal Humane New Mexico. Catherine will be donating her proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure (in honor of her Aunt Kelly), and Chloe will be donating to the Roadrunner Food Bank.

We thank you all for your support of our girls and their learning endeavors! We hope to see you tomorrow.

-Heather

Our girls waiting for business! They did a great job selling for two days in 40 degree weather.







The business broke even on the first day and made a $75 profit on day two. Each girl donated $25 to her charity. They learned something in every content area during this experience. For example, they observed how glycerin can change from solid to liquid then back to solid again during our soapmaking. They also did quite a bit of mental math when figuring totals and calculating change. They practiced public speaking and we got to know our village a little better. The best part for them was the crafting though! We are very proud of all their efforts.

Week 12 (11/21-11/25)

Catherine made these neat patterns all on her own one day. I love self-directed learning!

Scripture:

1. Boys - DILIGENCE: I work hard to finish a task.
2. Girls - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 10:4
   

Reading:

1. C&C - Finished Piper Reed. They both discussed liking the characters in the book. Piper taught us that you can be too entrepreneurial.
   
2. Madelyn - Started Morning Girl by Michael Dorris. I've asked her to really focus on the setting. I'd like to explore with her what the United States was like prior to its 'discovery'.

Social Studies: We didn't do a lot this week in Social Studies. We will be doing mostly Social Studies over the next two weeks as we launch our small business venture. The girls have selected their crafts. Now it's time to execute!

Math:

1. C&C - Completed Unit 3, Chapters 1, 2 & 3 in Singapore Math 2A. This unit is about length.
2. Madelyn - Finished up Unit 2 in Singapore Math 4A and did a cumulative review and test.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 8 in Writing with Ease.
2. Madelyn - Completed a keyword outline, draft, edit and final composition on Pearls. While she is doing well with this program, I learned this week that she needs a little more teacher supervision to ensure that she is understanding the content of the texts she is working from. Regurgitation of information does not equal understanding.

Science: We did labs this week on solar heating and on food energy. For solar heating, we made sun tea. For food energy, we made a food pyramid showing how energy is passed from a producer through a chain of consumers.
Preschool: The boys completed Week 10 of their Pre-K Sonlight program. They learned to print capital C, O, Q and G using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 11 (11/7-11/18)

At the High Desert Museum in Bend. We learned a lot about Oregon history!

It's taken us two weeks to get a week's worth of schooling done. We travelled to Bend, Oregon for 9 days. We tried to fit in some schooling there but learned quickly that playing with our 1-year-old niece/cousin was much more fun!

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Chapters 9 & 10 in Piper Reed.
2. Madelyn - Finished Toothpaste Millionaire.

Social Studies: We visited the High Desert Museum in Bend. We also spent a lot of time in the car estimating distances and direction.

Math:

1. C&C - Took the Unit 2 Cumulative Test. The girls are so excited about test for now. Also completed Unit 3, Chapter 1 from Singapore Math 2A.
2. Madelyn - Took the Unit 2, Chapter 2 Test. As a 4th grader, Madelyn has developed a healthy amount of test anxiety. It's a good thing she takes them often. Also completed Unit 2, Chapter 3, Lessons 1-3 from Singapore Math 4A.

Writing:

1. C & C - Finished Week 7 from Writing With Ease. Started Week 8. Still a little behind on this one.
2. Madelyn - Completed Week 2, Lesson 2 from IEW Program. She's really liking this.

Science: We learned about renewable and non-renewable resources. We built a terrarium to demonstrate the second.

Natural gas is non-renewable as demonstrated in this lab. The girls were more excited that it worked after a delayed response.

I love when the girls take charge of their learning. While in Bend, they took samples from all the trees and identified them with a field guide.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 9 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital X, Y and Z using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 10 (10/31-11-4)

Happy Halloween!

Reading:

1. C&C- Read Chapters 8 & 9 in Piper Reed Gets a Job.
2. Madelyn - Read through Chapter 16 in The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill.

Social Studies: We decided to have a holiday bazaar as our business venture. We'll be on a tight timeline for this but I hope the girls will enjoy it. We also volunteered at the food bank.

Math:

1. C&C - Completed all the tests I missed in the first two units. They did a great job!
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 2 in Singapore Math 4A.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 7 in Writing With Ease. I can definitely see improvements in their comprehension and dictation skills.
2. Madelyn - Completed Week 1 in the Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Writing Intensive A. She likes having her own writing teacher even if he is on a DVD.

Science: This week we learned about currents, batteries and magnetic potential energy. I wish I took pictures of our labs. The only one to fail so far was the battery one and that's one they've done a million times at our local science museum.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 8 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital V and W using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

Week 9 (10/24-10/28)

Scripture:

We decided that last week's Scripture lesson merited an extra week of study.

Reading:

1. C&C - Read Chapters 6 & 7 from Piper Reed Gets a Job by Kimberly Willis Holt.
2. Madelyn - Started reading Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill. She's reading two chapters a day.

Social Studies: Interviewed Mr. Brian, the home builder. The girls were sold on his homes. Mark introduced charisma as a vocabulary word. He explained that owning your own business takes charisma.

We also brainstormed possible kid-friendly family businesses. We categorized them as either products or services. I'm not sure how much time we're going to have for this but I hope that I at least planted the seed to entrepreneurship.

Math:

1. C&C - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 5 from Singapore Math 2A. The concept is subtraction with renaming. We did a lot of block work this week in order to construct meaning before introducing the algorithm.
   
2. Madelyn - Completed Unit 2, Chapter 1 from Singapore Math 4A. The concept was Addition and Subtraction with an emphasis on estimation and mental math. Madelyn scored a respectable 92% on her end-of-chapter test.

Writing:

1. C&C - Completed Week 6 in Writing with Ease. Mini-lessons were given on 'drop the -y + add -ies' as well as on the structure of poetry. I love that homeschooling allows you to do unplanned, on-the-spot mini-lessons!
   
2. Madelyn - Completed Wordly Wise: Grade 4 Lessons 1A through 1D. She did a great job with the vocabulary work offered by this program. I think we'll take this program up sporadically and what we don't finish during the formal 180 days of instruction, we'll complete over the summer.

Science: We're still investigating energy. This week we learned more about thermal energy. I'm hoping to pick up the pace on science next week.

Preschool: The boys completed Week 7 of their PreK Sonlight program. They learned to print capital H, K, L and U using Handwriting without Tears. They continue to work from Essential Math and Developing the Early Learner.

The girls performed in their first piano recital on Friday.