Friday, September 12, 2014

Learning Log of August 2014

 I love the month of August. I used to hate it because in Brazil it's one of the coldest month of the year. It's winter time there. 

But here in the US, it's hot and muggy. It's summertime! I love it!

However, this August was pretty mild and not so hot! My eggplant is not in full production yet because the weather is so mild. 

God did give us some surprises in the garden. We harvested 5 beautiful cantaloupes that I did not plant! That was fun to reap these yummy fruit!

The kids had lots of fun while we waited for the grandparents' visit in September.




Read aloud Books

* While, DD11 and DS9 are still reading the Proverb of the day on their own, we have begun reading the Psalms together for our devotions in the morning.

* Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology - We took a break and didn't do any of this book this month. We still did science though. :) Check out the rest of the post.


* Out of My Mind - Sharon M. Draper - we finished it at the beginning of the month. The kids really enjoyed seeing life from the perspective of a 11 y.o. girl who has cerebral palsy. Life at home, school and in general is just hard when you can't communicate. I would recommend every family to take time to read this book. It's a great read aloud book. Questions for discussions are at the end of the book. DS8 told me one night, "Please don't turn the music on. I want to digest and think over what I heard of the book tonight."

* Explaining Cerebral Palsy by Sarah Levete - we read this after we finished Out of My Mind so the kids could understand a bit more of what causes cerebral palsy, the diagnosis, and treatments.
* Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
* Old Mikamba Had a Farm by Rachel Isadora
* A Dragon's Tail - The Little Mermaid's Treasure Chest


* Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher - Click on the link to read a great review on this book. We read this out loud and the children looooved this book! It's a wonderful book to talk about how a character changes and grows throughout a book.

* George Muller - The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans by Janet and Geoff Benge - we began this book toward the end of the month. We will probably finish it in September. Highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what's it like to live by faith and rely on God for all your needs.

* The Birthday Tree by Paul Fleischman - read to DD7 and DD4.


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 and Story Nory (lots and lots of FREE audio goodness: Bible stories, Classics, educational stories even ones for non-English speakers wanting to improve their English. We love this website!).


* DD11 listening to Rush Revere and the Patriots.
* DD9 - nothing that I know of.
* DD7 is listening to Sparkle Stories and Story Hour on her mp3.



DD7 independent reading list: 

Continuing this month, DD7 is reading by leaps and bounds. With ease she is reading through her Abeka readers 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.


67) Who Dug this Hole? by Anita Holmes - We Can Read about Nature!
68) Eloise Skates! by Kay Thompson - Ready to Read - Level 1
69) If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff
70) Flowers and Friends by Anita Holmes - We Can Read about Nature! series
71) Dixie Loves School Pet Day by Grace Gilman

Listening and following along books:
* The Princess and the Pea with CD by Usborne Young Reading
* Pinocchio with CD by Usborne Young Reading
* The Beauty and the Beast on tape.
* Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel on tape.
* Best Friends - The True Story of Owen and Mzee by Roberta Edwards

Watching books read out loud on Storyline online. Captions are on, so she is following along as the actors read the books. Check out the link to the site below. 



DS9 independent reading list:  

* Reading a chapter of Proverbs everyday and highlighting and copying the verse that spoke the most to him. He is practicing narrating what he has read.

* Calvin and Hobbes - We have now a collection of Calvin and Hobbes books. Calvin and Hobbes is relaxing to DD9. He will read a few strips before dozing off.

* Ten Boys Who Made a Difference by Irene Howat -
* Bionics - Cool Science by Judith Jango-Cohen
* The Lonely Book by Kate Bernheimer
* The Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett

* Greek Myths for Young Children by Marcia Williams - DS9 is fascinated with Greek mythology at the moment.
* Medusa - Monsters of Mythology by Bernard Evslin
* The Hydra - Monsters of Mythology by Bernard Evslin

  Read Aloud to his sisters:
* Llama Llama and the Bully Goat by Anna Dewdney
* Pirates Love Underpants by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort
* Everything but the Horse by Holly Hobbie
* The Best Fence Painter by Mark Twain - The Adventure of Tom Sawyer - Easy Reader Classics
* The Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett



DD11 independent reading list

* Reading a chapter of Proverbs everyday and highlighting and copying the verse that spoke the most to her. She has now a wall covered in post it notes.

* The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss - DD11 loooooved this book but she did not finish it. Here is her explanation "They are going back to civilization. I didn't want them to go back. I wanted them to stay in the island." I said, "So this is your way to keep them in the island in your head, huh?" She smiled and confessed, "Yes." Smart little thing! :)
* The Pirate Meets the Queen by Matt Faulkner

* Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks - the author of the Indian in the Cupboard
* The Adventures of King Midas by Lynne Reid Banks
 * The Return of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks - book 2 of the Indian in the Cupboard series
* The Secret of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks - book 3 of the series above.
* Tikta'Liktak - An Eskimo Legend by James Houston

* Dogs and Puppies by Nolon Stacey - Drawing Made Easy
* Colored Pencil by Eileen Sorg - Drawing Made Easy
* Dragons and Fantasy by Kythera of Anevern - Drawing Made EAsy

* Gabby Douglas - Historic Olympic Champion by Sarah Tieck
* Dogs HAve the Strangest Friends and Other True Stories of Animal Feelings by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
* Dolphin Adventures - A True Story by Wayne Grover -
* Imprisoned in the Golden City by Dave and Neta jackson

* Buffaloes by Sheila Griffin Llanas - Animal Icons
* Gray Wolves by Sheila Griffin Llanas - Animal Icons
* Bald Eagles by Sheila Griffin Llanas - Animal Icons

 * The Dolphins of Shark Bay by Palmer S. Turner - Scientists in the Field series - for my animal lover daughter this book was a treasure. She learned so much about dolphins!

* Exploring The History of Medicine - From Ancient Physicians of Pharaoh to Genetic Engineering by John Hudson Tiner

* Blood and Guts - A Working Guide to Your Own Insides by Linda Allison - book is full of illustrations (drawings) that are fun and engaging. Experiments and fun facts fill this book. Great book for a curious or uninterested child.

* Fun Stuff Cupcakes - This book got DD11 creative juices flowing. She wanted to start a business selling cupcakes. WE talked about a business plan, laws concerning opening a cupcake business and settled on just trying out recipes for now. WE made lots of cupcakes in just 10 days. :)


** Take one or two or three (i.e. reading these yet again!)
* The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks - we got the following books of the series.
Summer with the Moodys by Sarah Maxwell - DD11 read these 2 years ago and now she is re-reading them. These are great books with lots of godly examples in it.

Read Aloud to her siblings:
* The Pirate Meets the Queen by Matt Faulkner
* The Rooster Grows - A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles by Maud and Miska Petersham
* The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen


Activities at Home

* Swimming, swimming, swimming.
* Pool Birthday Party at our house - DS8 is now DS9!
* Gardening; harvesting okra, greens, herbs, green beans, tomatoes and more.
* Building a swing with Daddy!

* Cleaning, decluttering, and selling our stuff on Ebay.  
* Making videos for YouTube
* Working on editing Mom's videos.
* Making Stop motion videos.
* Trying new recipes like Chicken pancakes and Flaxseed Coconut Cereal for breakfast. Mom is doing The Plan and is teaching the new concepts to the children. 
* DD11 wants to start a cupcake business. So we began testing recipes. Check out her cupcakes' photos above. 
* Playing MInecraft. Playing a lot of Minecraft.Playing Lego Chima on line.
* Learning Code on Khan Academy website for FREE.


 Field Trips/ Activities Outside Home

* Lego Club
* Church Picnic with slip and slides, hot dogs, burgers and lots of fun.
* Bowling with another family to celebrate a friend's birthday. DQ treats afterwards.
* A Back to Homeschooling Party hosted by our local library - a meet and greet event with games and crafts. Fun, fun, all around fun!!
* Feeding a friend's cat and enjoying their tire swing as well as harvesting blueberries.



 Websites/ Links we found and used/ Apps


* StoryLine On Line - books read online by actors. My DD7 is really enjoying these as she perfects her reading skills. We have the captions on so she is actually reading along as she listens to the actors read.

* Khan Academy - We watched videos on exponential numbers; long division; multiplication and division with decimal point. DD11 and DS9 are learning code.

* Minecraft - we purchased the game and the kids are now fully capacitated to create their own worlds, and play in adventure maps and servers. Will they ever do anything else but minecraft???? :(

* Easy Peasy Website - We are back to using Easy Peasy site as our guide for our homeschooling. We are doing 2nd, 4th and 6th grade. We are skipping Science altogether for now because we are covering this subject with the Apologia Human Anatomy Curriculum. If you need a FREE and flexible curriculum this is it! check it out!





TV shows/ Videos/ Movies/ YouTube


* Frozen - about a 100 times. We love this movie! :)


* Heaven is for Real - a Christian movie from Netflix - the book is so much better.

* The Croods -

* Brain Game -

* Episodes of Ruff Ruff Man, My Little Pony episodes- season 2; Magic School Bus

* The Indian in the Cupboard - VHS movie

* The Boy Who Dreams in Code - YouTube video

* The Gabby Douglas Story - movie from Netflix




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


*The Gospel and Materialism - part 2 - sermon by David Platt

* A Thousand Rivers - what modern world has forgotten about children and learning. 

* Schooling the World - something I have thought of on and off. Take the time to watch the film and think about what are we doing to the world. Are we really helping the poor?


* A Lineage of Grace - Five Stories of Unlikely Women who changed eternity by Francine Rivers - I began Mary's story. Unfortunately it's not as interesting as the others. I am having a hard time finishing it. Mary's character is not developed as in dept as the others. Feels like the author is hesitant in adding to the real Mary. Afraid of showing some lack of character or weakness.

* I Will Carry You - The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy by Angie Smith


* In a Heartbeat - Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy with Sally Jenkins - If you watched the Blind Side and found the Tuohys inspiring, you really have to read this book to find out what they are all about. I loved how Leigh Anne and Sean individually told their stories going all the way back to their childhood, upbringing and college times. Very inspirational!

* Slavery in America: The MOntgomery Slave Trade - Equal Justice Initiative

* Footprints of a Pilgrim - The Life and Loves of Ruth Bell Graham - I love to read biographies. It fascinates me to discover the background of the everyday life of people that are in the limelight. Ruth Bell was an ordinary woman living for an extraordinary God. :) I highly recommend anything on her.

* The Plan - Eliminate the surprising "healthy" food that are making you fat by Lyn-Genet Recitas - I will be doing a couple of post on this book. I lost 7 pounds in 5 days! I was able to kick the sugar cravings to the curb once again in just 3 days!

What have you been up to? What new discoveries have you experienced with your kids?

Blessings,
Tereza