Learning Log of January 2015

 
 January began cold and soon we had cabin fever. After getting over the colds in December we were ready for some action.
We played lots of games at home; did lots of crafts and science experiments; attempted new cooking and baking recipes and even went on a field trip to the a Science Museum close by.
DD11 turned 12 years old and 2015 here we come!!

 

  

Read aloud Books

* We are reading through the Bible with the children at night, we began at Genesis.

*I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen
* Alex The parrot - NO Ordinary Bird - A True Story by Stephanie Spinner

* Saving Animals from Hurricanes by Stephen Person
* No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young
* Mary's First Thanksgiving by Kathy-Jo Wargin
* Thanksgiving at Obaachan's by Janet Mitsui Brown

* Weird Sea Creatures by Erich Hoyt
* My Librarian Is a Camel - How Books are Brought to Children Around the World by Margriet Ruurs
* Stronger than Steel - Spider Silk DNA and the Quest for Better Bullet proof vests, sutures, and parachute rope. by Bridget Heos - Really cool book about scientific research and how new discoveries come about by utilizing what God has already given us. I read pieces and parts to the kids. Unfortunately not everyone was as interested in the subject as I - I read the whole book.

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!).

All kids listened to the books below:

* A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote - with CD read aloud book.
* Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House with Judy Schachner - with CD - audiobook read by the author.
* Classics of Childhood - Classic Stories and Tales - Vol. I - includes Puss in the Boots; Peter Pan; Wild Swans and more.

DD7 independent reading list: 

 She is also reading aloud  Read with me Bible to us during lunch time.

* Mr Grumpy by Roger Hangreaves
* Little Miss Princess by Roger Hangreaves
* Mr Clumsy by Roger Hangreaves
* Digger and Lew by Malachy Doyle
* I Love Bugs! by Emma Dodd
* Little Miss Tidy by Roger Hangreaves
* Little Miss Star by Roger Hangreaves
* Little Miss Wise by Roger Hangreaves
* Not in the House, Newton! by Judith Heide Gilliland
* The Fisherman and His Wife - A Retelling of the Grimm's Fairy Tale by Eric Blair
* Red Sled by Lita Judge
* The Hole Book by Peter Newell
* The Tale of Ginger and Pickles by Beatrix Potter
* The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding by Beatrix Potter

Read Aloud to her sibling(s):
* Little Miss Late by Roger Hangreaves
* Little Miss Busy by Roger Hangreaves
* Bramble and Maggie - Give and Take by Jessie Haas
* Speeding Up, Slowing Down by Natalie Hyde
* Sound n Hearing by Julie Murray - Buddy Books First Science

Listening and following along books on Storyline Online.  DD4 sits in and watches with her sister. :)

Academically, DD7 began Khan Academy Math. She completely Early Math and we have now moved on to 3rd grade math. She is currently working on memorizing her multiplication tables.
We are working on phonics and spelling by completing a workbook I had at home.
Copy work as well as reading to her siblings or to me out loud as well as quietly to herself. 
Now and again she will fill out worksheets on language arts and math.
Science and History is covered by our reading alouds, documentaries, audio books or videos.
I have assigned her a list of books for her to read to cover History and Science. She gets to pick one and read during quiet or reading time.

DS9 independent reading list:  

* DS9 is reading the Action Bible on his own.

* Calvin and Hobbes -DS9 reads a few strips at night before falling sleep.

* Volcano Rising by Elizabeth Rusch - completed narration as well as watched Bill Nye Science videos on the same subject.
* A Strawbeater's Thanksgiving by Irene Smalls
* The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
* A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
 * The Hole Book by Peter Newell

* No Talking by Andrew Clements

* A Really New School by Jan Fields n Vivienne To - An Up2U Action Adventure
* Tracking Tyrannosaurs by Christopher Sloan - National Geographic Kids

* The Science of Soldiers by Lucia Raatma
* V-22 Osprey by John Hamilton - A&D Extreme - Military Aircraft Set 2
* Destroyers by John Hamilton- Military Ships
* B-52 Stratofortress by JOhn Hamilton - Military Aircraft Set 2
* UH-60 Black Hawk by John Hamilton - Military Aircraft Set 2

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

* Greater Estimations by Bruce Goldstone

* Science Experiments with Liquid by Alex Kuskowski - More Super Simple Science - DS9 read and prepared a few experiments for us to do together. We did the ones about the different liquid densities, hot air moving water into jar and eggs in a jar with vinegar.

Read Aloud to his sibling(s):

Academic Work:
* Doing 5th grade Math on Khan Academy ;
* Learning Coding with Khan Academy;
* Working through Stories of Adventure and Survival by Globe Fearson - it covers reading comprehension, vocabulary and thinking critically.;
* Doing Science Detective from The Critical Thinking Co. covering earth science, anatomy and biology.
* Dictation and Spelling - I just use the vocabulary he's read or seen the previous days, mostly orally now;

DD12 independent reading list

*  The Straight A Conspiracy by Hunter Maats and Katie O'Brien

* Sent - The Missing series - book 2 -  by Margaret Peterson Haddix
* Sabotaged - The missing series - book 3 by Margaret Peterson Haddix
* Torn - The Missing series - book 4
* Caught - The Missing series - book 5
* Risked - The Missing series - book 6


* The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

* A Really New School by Jan Fields n Vivienne To - An Up2U Action Adventure
* Double-Crossed at Cactus Flats by Rich Wallace n Hazel Mitchell - An Up2U Western Adventure

* The Outcasts - Book 1 - Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan -
* The Invaders - Book 2 - Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan
* The Hunters - Book 3 - Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan- This author is fantastic. It's really hard to find 5 star reviews of so many readers all given to one author. This one is it! If your kid likes adventure, you got to try this Australian author.

* Secret of the Lost Settlement - The Duty of Warriors by John J. Horn

* Inkheart by Cornelia Funke


On the Kindle:
* nothing I took note.

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

* How to Train a Dragon - book 1 by Cressida Cowell
* How To Cheat a Dragon's Curse - book 4 by Cressida Cowell
* Half Magic by Eward Eager
* The Lego Ideas Book - Unlock Your Imagination
* The Lego Book - DK
 

Read Aloud to her sibling(s):
* nothing I took note.

Academic Work:

* Doing Pre-Algebra on Khan Academy 64% completed;

* Learning Coding with Khan Academy;
* No longer doing Science Detective from The Critical Thinking Co. It's below her knowledge level and just repetitive.
* We stopped Dictation and Spelling this month. I noticed her spelling improved 400% just by taking notes on her Science book and doing her study guide on Hunger Games.

* Working on Hunger Games study guide by Progeny Press.
* Working through Exploring Creation with Biology from Apologia. Finished module 2 and 3. Scored 70% on both tests. I plan to work on module 4 with her and help her note taking skills.
* Copywork - nothing this month.

Activities at Home

* Quiet time everyday. This time is for reading or doing an activity on their own. Time for thinking, resting and learning to entertain oneself. It's also QUIET time for Mom. Time for me to recharge.

* DD11 turned DD12 this month. We spent her bday at a Science Museum with friends. On her atual day we had another set of friends come over and play.

* Computer play time this month has increased slightly to 2 hours a day. On the warm sunny days we are keeping below 1 hour. I can't wait for Spring!

* Playing princesses, tea party, store, library, board games. Listening to audio books, crafting and watching videos inside.

* Science experiments. Trying to incorporate once a week science experiments. Still hit and miss project. Getting DS9 to be in charge of the experiments we are going to try. Science experiments accomplished: different liquid densities, hot air moving water into jar and transforming eggs into bouncy balls.

* Cooking and crafting. DD4 is constantly asking to help in the kitchen and to paint. So once a week, we bake together and then the next day as a family we do a craft/ art time together.

* Cooking projects: bone broth, homemade yogurt, cookies, cupcakes, banana bread

* Lots of texting with family through WhatsApp. It's been good to keep in touch with so many relatives in Brazil.

* DD12 is teaching DD7 how to play the tin whistle. She is playing the song theme for The Hobbit.

* A friend gave us some old games and we have been playing: battleship; mouse trap; card games; trivia and knowledge flash card games; magnetic building;

* DS9 is helping DD7 memorize her multiplication tables 1 to 5.

* Working with Dad outside cleaning the leaves off the yard. Driving lawn mower and tending to fires.

* I began Spring Cleaning already. The kids are helping me complete 2015 in 2015 challenge. We are almost at 200 items in less than a month.

 Field Trips/ Activities Outside Home

* Homeschooling Meeting. The theme was hobbies.

* Visit to the McWane Center with another homeschooling family to celebrate DD12 birthday.

* DD12 and I are participating in a Sunday School class called A Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel. We are doing this in preparation for DD12 to be in classroom style learning, participating in discussions, and asking questions.

 Websites/ Links we found and used/ Apps

* Brain Pop Jr - DD7 watched videos on Classifying Animals;

* SheppardSoftware - DD7 and DD4 together are using the science and art section. DD4 learned about food chain.

* Khan Academy - DD12 and DS9 are using this site to learn Algebra. We watched videos on Number Sets; multiplication as scaling; we took a break from mathematical reasoning books and they are now using Khan Academy to master all pre-algebra skills.

TV shows/ Videos/ Movies/ YouTube

* Friends and Heroes episodes on IAMflix

* Babies - we have watched this movie many times but it's always a joy to do it again.

* Bill Nye the Science Guy episodes on YouTube - Motion; Friction; Light; Volcanoes; Chemical Reactions

* Prager University videos:

* Cave of Forgotten Dreams - Humanity's Lost Masterpiece

* Barbie - A Christmas Carol
* Minecraft videos on YouTube, Artforkids website; 

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

* The Straight A Conspiracy by Hunter Maats and Katie O'Brien - the authors are genius. They simply repackaged all the most current scientific information about the brain and learning and wrote it for kids. The goal? To motivate students that they can do anything they put their minds to; they have got themselves entangled in a conspiracy that are cutting their dreams short.

* And Now I Choose: A story for those who believe they have no choice by Tam Hodge
* ReAlign: Finding God's Purpose for Your Money by
* Your Mind is What Your Brain Does for a Living: Learn How to Make it Work for You by

* Timothy Keller books samples, sermons on YouTube and free downloadable mp4 files.

* Among the Impostors - book # 2 - Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix - I preview read this series for DD12 and unfortunately I think the content is not appropriate for her age. Check out my review HERE if you like.
* Among the Betrayed - book #3- Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

After lithotripsy, my DH was finally able to expel the kidney stones that tormented him in 2014.

Did 2015 greet you in a warm and friendly way??

Blessings,

Tereza