Thursday, July 17, 2014

Learning Log of June 2014

 The Garden is growing. Flowers are blooming and we are busy. We have been going to the our Public Summer Reading Program. The kids are busy with playdates and school in the mornings. I don't think I will see my parents this summer. They decided to stay in Brazil and watch the World Cup over there. I am definitely missing them and only God knows how I will get any respite this year. I am thankful though because God has been working on some issues and I am drawing near to Him. It's better and safer that way. :) I hope you can find some inspiration below.
 




Read Aloud Books

* Reading Bible everyday: Continuing on reading the Proverb of the day right after breakfast. While the kids are still at the table, each one with their own Bible we read a chapter of Proverbs that match the day and talk about it. I don't know why I took so long to do this. It has changed everything in our day. We set the mood for the whole day. The kids are listening more, obeying more, are more pleasant in general. I am more pleasant to be around. :) I can control my temper better and my tone of voice is more pleasant too. It's a miracle from God! Putting Him first has made all the difference. We completed a whole month reading Proverbs and in July we will be doing a Bible study together. The kids will still read Proverbs everyday but on their own.

* In June, we began reading the Gospel of Luke after dinner. Again with everyone and their Bibles, we gather in the living room and read a chapter or part of one. Talk about it and pray. It's been a blessing! We were amiss. We weren't able to establish a routine here due to lots of activities going on in the evenings. Reading Bible/ doing devotionals in the morning works better for us.

* Also reading The Jesus STorybook Bible - DD6 takes it all in since she gets to pick the stories. She sits on my lap and follows along. Good reading practice too. :) Of course, DD4 can't stay behind. So she gets to pick a story too and enjoys being read too.


* Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology - working on the Cardiovascular unit.

* Mama built a little Nest by Jennifer Ward 
* Spring by Stephanie HEdlund
* Red Scarf Girl - A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-Li Jiang - I began reading this book to the kids, but we didn't finish. We should finish it in July. The book gives you great insight on what life was like in China during the Cultural Revolution.

* The Wisdom of Solomon  - A Solomon Lapp and friends Amish Storybook by Wand E. Brunstetter
* The Great Balloon Hullaballoo by Peter Bently and Mei Matsuoka 

* Eye to Eye - How Animals see the World by Steve Jenkins 
* Gravity by Jason Chin
* History Makers - Neil Armstrong by Anita Yasuda  
* Light is all around us by Wendy Pfeffer


DD4's creation decoration the library.
Audio Books

* My kids, one time or another have the files below in their mp5s to which they listen to every night at their choosing: Fairy tales and classic stories , worship music, Story Hour files, The Piano Guys, Jonathan Park and The Brinkman Adventures, The Chronicles of Narnia.

* DD11 - listened to Pollyanna by Eleanor H Porter - for Easy Peasy curriculum.
* DD8 - listened to Five Little Peppers and how they Grew by MArgaret Sidney for EAsy Peasy curriculum.
* DD6 is listening to Story Nory at bedtime.



DD6 independent reading list: 

Continuing this month, DD6 is reading by leaps and bounds. With ease she is reading through her phonics books stories as well as keeping on reading her 100 books. This month we discovered compound words and homophones while reading the books. As well as contractions.
Talking to DD6 one day in March,  I asked her if she was happy to be reading now. She said she was. Then I asked her if she wanted to read Calvin and Hobbes. Her answer: "you can only read Calvin and Hobbes after you read 100 books." So we came up with a plan to list all of her 100 books, because according to her once she reads 100 books then she will be able to read any book. :) How smart is she?

DD6's creation decorating the library.
29) I am Invited to a Party! by Mo Willems
30) If you Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
31) Bunnies by Alex Kuskowski
32) Calves by Alex Kuskowski
33) There is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems
34) Watch Me Throw the Ball! by Mo Willems
35) My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems
36) We are in a Book! by Mo Willems
37) I am Going! by Mo Willems
38) I Love My New Toy! by Mo Willems
39) Today I will Fly! by MO Willems
40) I Will Surprise My Friend! by MO Willems
41) Let's Go for a Drive! by Mo Williems
42) Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
43) Amanda and Her Alligator! by Mo Willems
44) Martha Doesn't Say Sorry! by Samantha Berger
45) When I Get Bigger by Mercer Mayer
46) Grandma, Grandpa and Me by Mercer Mayer
47) Our Friend Sam by Mercer Mayer





DS8 independent reading list:  


NASA is DS8's latest interest.
* Calvin and Hobbes - DD8 routine before drifting off to sleep is to read a few comic strips. He has now a collection of books on Calvin. Although the guy is a little devil, my son is learning what behavior not to use; as well as vocabulary, current events and school issues like bullying, disrespect, grades, tests. As a homeschooler, he only knows about these things from hear say, never first hand experience.
* Five Little Peppers and how they Grew by MArgaret Sidney - audiobook for EAsy Peasy curriculum.
* Chili Cook Off by Dave and Pat Sargent and Family - A Character Development Book
* Chima Heroes Quest by Heather Seabrook

* Discussions books (books that were read in parts or excerpts of and then discussed):
- The Pacific 1941-1954 - World War II Day by Day by Charlie Samuels;
- The Third Reich 1923-1945 - World War II Day by Day by Charlie Samuels

* Ten Boys Who Changed the World by Irene Howat - DS8 is reading one story a day. At first he would read and then he would narrate or answer questions that I had prepared for me. After a while, we decided that he could just read it out loud to me. It's been good for him to practice his intonation, usage of punctuation and pronunciation of words.

 * Ten Boys Who Used Their Talents by Irene Howat
On to book #3... we are learning about many interesting people, not only missionaries, preachers, but everyday people that made a difference with their talents and stance on Christian faith.

* Read aloud to his sisters:
* The Wisdom of Solomon  - A Solomon Lapp and friends Amish Storybook by Wand E. Brunstetter - Really cute book. The book of  Proverbs in action!

One of the last play dates before our friends went back home up north.

DD11 independent reading list

*WRight on Time book #4 - South Dakota - we borrowed it on Kindle and read it for FREE.
* Finished Pollyana for Easy Peasy homeschooling curriculum.
* The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand R. Brinley
* It's Catching - the Infectious World of Germs and Microbes by Jennifer Gardy, PhD
* Bugged - How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee
* Crazy Concoctions - A Mad Scientist's Guide to Messy Mixtures by Dr Jordan D. Brown
* The Chronicles of Egg book#1 - Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey
* Avalanche in the Alps by Betsy Loredo
* Storm at the Shore by Betsy Loredo
* Mystery on the Mississippi by Betsy Lored
* Cleopatra in Space - Book One - Target Practice by Mike Maihack -
Beets from our garden.
* Mad Scientists - The Not-so-crazy work of amazing scientists by Sally Lee
* Hack Attack - A Trip to Wonderland by Jan Fields - book 1
* The Calm Before the Storm - A Night in Sleepy Hollow by Jan Fields - book 2
* Trapped in Stormy Seas - Sailing to Treasure by Jan Fields - book 3
* Lightning Strikes Twice - Escaping Great Expectations by Jan Fields - book 4
* Big City Blues - Back to Wonderland by Jan Fields - book 5
* A Novel Nightmare - A Purloined Story by Jan Fields - book 6

* Greatest Warriors - Greek Soldiers by Alex Stewart
* Greatest Warriors - Roman Soldiers by Peter Hepplewhite
* Greatest Warriors - Vikings by Philip Steele

* The Boxcar Children - Benny Uncovers a Mystery #19  by Gertrude Chandler Warner

* The 39 Clues - Cahills vs Vespers #1 - The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman
* The 39 Clues - Cahills vs Vespers #2 - A King's Ransom by Jude Watson
* The 39 Clues - Cahills vs Vespers #3 - The Dead of Night by Peter Lerangis
* The 39 Clues - Cahills vc Vespers #4 - The Shatteproof by Roland Smith
* The 39 Clues - Cahills vc Vespers #5 - Trust No One by Linda Sue Park


 * Discussions books (books that were read in parts or excerpts of and then discussed):
-  The Pacific 1941-1954 - World War II Day by Day by Charlie Samuels;
- The Third Reich 1923-1945 - World War II Day by Day by Charlie Samuels

* Ten Girls Who didn't Give In by Irene Howat
* Ten Girls Who Made History by Irene Howat

** Take one or two or three (i.e. reading these yet again!)

*Didn't write these down.

DD11's art work


Activities at Home

* Swimming, swimming, swimming.
* Pool Playdates at our house. More swimming playdates. Did I say swimming playdates yet? :)
* Gardening; harvesting English peas shoots, cucumbers, yellow squash, greens, herbs, green beans
* DD11 zinnias are blooming. So much fun to see them grow, bloom and now be able to cut them and use them inside to decorate our tables. Check out the first cuttings at the top of my blog.
* Teaching the kids how to fix breakfast. Trying new recipes like Coconut milk peanut butter fruit salad delight, or Healthy and EAsy Apple Crumble, Soaked oats apple cinnamon cake.
* Cleaning, decluttering, and selling our stuff on Ebay.  
 
Coconut milk peanut butter fruit salad delight


 Field Trips/ Activities Outside Home

* Lego Club
* Summer dance classes for DD4 and DD6 - they are enjoying tap, ballet and tumbling together. So sweet to watch!
* Summer Reading Program at our local Public Library - It's all about science this summer. The first program was with the Sock Rocketz - lots of music, dancing and fun. The second program was about NASA and that lead to so much learning and new discoveries. The kids watched many YouTube videos on how the astronauts live in the Space... and read books, books and more books. The third program was Professor Zounds - a clown who specializes in weird and amazing sounds. The kids had a fantastic time!

* VBS at a friend's church. This is our 3rd year and the kids enjoy it so very much.
* Nerf guns and a birthday boy, what do you get? A NERf gun birthday party! It was a lot of fun and we had some wounded kids! Hahahahha




 Websites/ Links we found and used/ Apps

* Cool-math games - DD11 and DS8 like to play games while they listen to their books on Easy Peasy curriculum.
* Prager University - Here's their motto: "We teach what isn't taught." Some great short loaded videos.
* Sheppard Software website - DD6 and DD4 are using this site to learn science, LA and play.
* BrainPopJr - DD6 learned about contractions



Pool play dates and more pool play dates.

TV shows/ Videos/ Movies/ YouTube
* Bill Nye the Science Guy: Episode on Blood and Cardiovascular System on YouTube

* Magic School bus episodes - All four children are watching these intensely and learning a lot of science.

* Types of Government Explained - a great YouTube video that explains the differences between government and how the USA is a republic and not a democracy. We are stydying about Communism and the Korea War and the foundational information was necessary.
* My Escape from North Korea - riveting true story of a young lady who escaped from North Korea and what her country was really like.
* A video on what life is like in North Korea - I used the story of Brother Andrew to show how governments can use propaganda to brainwash their citizens and hide the truth from the outside world.

* Walt Disney the Story of Menstruation - interesting take on a natural event of life. Unfortunately, the video attributes the beauty of life to Mother Nature instead of the Creator.

* How to EAt a Steak Burrito in Space - You Tube video on how astronauts live in live.

* How do  you use the toilet in space - another YouTube video on astronaut life.

* Opening a Soda on the Ocean Floor - super cool! Physics in motion.

* The Letter Writer - from Netflix - Great family movie. Very inspiring and touching. Everyone in my family loved this movie, even the little kids. :)

* Me Again - from Netflix

* Good Mythical Mornings on YouTube -

* How it's made - Natural Rubber -

* How it's made - Erasers -

* The Lego Movie

* Apollo 13 - I got this from Netflix to complement our NASA Summer reading program. It was exciting and scary at the same time. THe kids loved it! (The movie is PG for bad/ rude language and scary dangerous scenes)


Another DD11 creation.


Books, blogs and other things I am reading...

* Unveliling - Tamar - Francine Rivers - Francine Rivers has won my heart. Her stories are compelling and you just can't put them down. She makes the Bible come alive. I want to read the whole series of the Lineage of Grace women. I highly recommend you pick up any of her books and be encouraged today in your Christian walk.

* The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers - Another beautiful book, this time about abortion. I really liked how she explored the sides of different people impacted by the issue of abortion. People are hurt and wounded people will hurt other people. Fantastic read! Be advised though, very hard to put the book down. :)

* Other stuff I didn't write down. :(

So how was the month of June for you? Anything new happening at your home?

Blessings,
Tereza