Learning Log of July 2013

July is an important month. It's the month my parents celebrate their wedding anniversary, on the same day that America celebrates its independence day! July was a full month. My brother and his growing family came to visit. WE went many places, did lots of things and the time flew and I forgot to record lots of activities, websites and books read. Oh, well... Hope you find something useful!
Enjoy!
 

Books Read Aloud to All

* My First Ballet Book by Kate Castle
* Ballerina - A Step-by-step Guide To Ballet by Jane Hackett - DK book   
* If the dinosaurs came back by Bernard Most
* Nim's Island by Wendy Orr -  
* Good Night Sam by Marie-Louise Gay 
* Good Morning Sam by Marie-Louise Gay 
* My Wild Sister and Me by Iris Wewer 
* Ballet Sister - The Duckling and the Swan by Jan Ormerod
* I'll Save You Bobo! by Eileen and Marc Rosenthal
* The Badger and the Magic Fan by Tony Johnston
 

  

Audio Books

* The Hobbit, Jonathan Park, The Brinkman Adventures and The Chronicles of Narnia.

* Finished Laura Ingall's Little House on the Prairie CDs. 

* The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander

DS7 independent reading list:

* Science Works - The Rock Factory - A story about the rock cycle by Jacqui Bailey and Matthew Lilly
* Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
* Giant Dance party by Betsy Bird

DD10 independent reading list:

* The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel by Thornton W. Burgess

* Scare a Ghost Tame a Monster by Jeanne Bendick

* The Adventures of Thor The Thunder God - retold by Lise Lunge-Larsen 

* The Dragon of Ord by David McAdoo

* Brothers of the Knight by Debbie Allen
* King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Sir Thomas Malory 
* Frindle by Andrew Clements
* Who was Harry Houdini? by Tui T. Sutherland 
* Half magic by Edward Eager - After a show of Magic at our PUblic library and a workshop where the kids learned a few magic tricks, it was only natural for DD10 to read a few books on magic. Edward Eager is a new author to us. His books were published over 50 years ago but they are fascinating to kids. I recommend you check this author out if you kids like fantasy and good literature.

* Pony in a Package by Ben M. Baglio's Animal Ark
* The Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth
* Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes
* The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo - I found this book at a thrifty store and brought it home, although DD10 already read the copy from our library. She picked our copy up and read it again. :)
* Oh, Brother...Oh, Sister! - A Sister's Guide to Getting Along by AmericanGirl Library
* Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
* Highlights for Children - magazine of October 2002 - These are great magazines for kids, even the older issues are educational and fun. 

 

Activities at Home

Magic Program at our Public Library

*Playdates, lots of playdates. We had some new and old friends come to visit. They played with our chickens, we swam together, we ate and talked together. We had a great time. We wished we could do playdates everyday. :)

* We did our first official Unity Study on the book Nim's Island. I have blogged about it here complete with our reading schedule and what activities we did. I also have links for the lapbooks and resources I used from other sites and moms, as well as links to videos and other educational resources. This was great fun for the kids. I hope to do more of these. We covered Figurative language, vocabulary, Zoology, Biomes, Food Chain, Oceans, earthquakes, Human body, Social computer skills and more.

* We also began using Easy Peasy Homeschooling. DD10 is doing the 5th level, DS7 is doing 3rd level and DD5 is doing Getting Ready 2. I decided to give this "curriculum" a try because I am looking to get my children to do more formal independent work.

* My brother, his wife and 2 y.o. daughter came to visit. We literally did not do any school during the 2 weeks they were here. The kids were too busy playing with their cousin and enjoying the pool and other fun activities like going to the Water Park and the Zoo. I think the only "schoolish" activity they did was 10 min. of XtraMath during the week and a few books we kept on reading.

* We had lots of rain in the month of July. Very unusual for our area. My tomatoes had awful blight but my beans, okra and basil did wonderfully. I am even growing potatoes in 2 containers. I hope to harvest them in August. :)   The kids, on the other hand, enjoyed the rain very much. They played in the puddles whenever it rained. The rode their bikes, they danced in the rain. They swam in the pool. My best memories as a child was of playing in the rain. I am glad my kids got to make wonderful memories too. :)

Field Trips/ Activities Outside Home

* Karate classes and another pool party promoted by the Karate School at our local Water Park. The kids had a ball.

Mixed Media ARt Journaling Class that I taught at our library.

* Tumbling Classes.

* Summer Reading Program at our Library - we had a gentleman come visit and talk on his extensive collection of Native American artifact. It was a great lesson of hard work and patience.We also had a Magician, who is a comedian, do a program. Afterwards he held a magic workshop and DD10 and DS7 got to participate. They loved it and learned many new magic tricks. We also had a 4H program.

* I led an Art Journaling Class at our local library and DD10 came to help me and participate. 

* DD5 turned 6 y.o.! So she is officially DD6 now! We went to Chuck-n-Cheese to celebrate.

* We took a family trip to the Water Park again. We also took a family trip to the Zoo.

Websites/ Links we found and used/ Apps

* Fantastic Website with great resources of Figurative Language, Poetic Devices and other Literature resources. I used the Figurative Language pages during our Nim's Island Unit Study. Check it out if you need a review on simile, metaphor, personification and other figurative language terms.

* We began using Easy Peasy All in one Homeschool Website. I am so excited about this site and so happy to have found it. Overall I am enjoying the way the creator of this curriculum has it laid out. It's comprehensive but not intensive. If a student wants to dig deeper into a subject there is enough information on how to do so. My children are learning a lot and covering a lot of ground. I also appreciate that the writer is a Christian and refers to a Biblical point of view often. You can read more about the creation of this site and why it's FREE here.

* Web Rangers -  Really fun and educational website put out by the National Park Service. Covers History, Geography, Science and lots more. The kids have explored Native American culture, Railroads, American History and more.

* Stickman games - All games are made with stickmen. Some games are not my favorite,

some are the same my kids use to play but with stickmen instead. Preview before letting your kids use the site.

* Lego.com - DS7 and DD10 watched Chima videos.

* XtraMath.org - I found this website through Easy Peasy homeschooling website. I got DD10 and DS7 working on it daily and improving their math facts. If you got kids that need help with their math facts or just extra help memorizing their multiplication table this site maybe helpful. It's FREE!!!

* Currclick Live - Lego Club and Magic Tree House Club - Both DD10 and DS7 enjoyed the Lego Club and Magic Tree House Club this past month. These clubs are FREE and are interactive over the net. It was a great opportunity for my kids to interact with others over the net in a safe and monitored environment. We are definitely doing this every month.

TV shows/ Videos/ Movies/ YouTube

* More Salsa videos.  DD3, DD5 and DS7 love to watch these. Great videos if you are wanting to teach your kids Spanish.

* Pete's Dragon - a Disney movie

* Pistachio - The Little Boy that Woodn't - a lesson in listening to Your parents - Veggie Tales movie

* Colossal Squid - Discovery Channel

* Mythbusters - A Blast Collection

* Jackie Chan Adventures on Netflix again!

* Galileo biography - animated movie on YouTube.

* Alexander Graham Bell - animated movie on YouTube. It includes a link to activities for the kids. A great summer program!

* Lots of videos related to our Nim's Island Unit Study. See my playlist HERE.

* Kung Fu Panda videos on YouTube;

* More movies: Megamind; Barbie Rapunzel; The Return to Nim's Island; Brave (I loved Brave... maybe because of the conflict between Mother and daughter and how it depicts the power of change.) 

* Barbie Marathon: Every Barbie movie under the moon! 

 Mom's Eclectic Reading List

* Orphan Train Rider - One Boy's True Story by Andrea Warren - I don't know why but I am fascinated by the stories of the children that rode in the Orphan Train.


* What a Son needs from His Mom by Cheri Fuller

* George Washing Carver - Scientist and Symbol by Linda O. McMurry - I had no idea that people had turned Carver into a legend. This book is fascinating as I am learning so much about Carver. Did you know he had a very high pitched voice? Some people think he might have been castrated when young. Others say his vocal chords suffered with the croup and other diseases he had when a child. Who knows? Carver was a very industrious young man and resourceful too. Lots to learn with him.

* Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas - I had heard good things of this book. I found it at a thrifty store recently and I am enjoying it very much. I highly recommend it.

* Changing Gears by Nancy Sathre-Vogel - The true account of a bike trip all the way to the end of the world.

* No More School - An American Family's Experiment in Education by Howard S. Rowland

I thought I would never publish this learning log. I am hoping to slow down A LOT, LOT in August. Yes, school starts but I am going to slow down some. :) Can I hear an Amem??

Are you ready for the new school year??

Blessings,
Tereza