Learning Log of March 2015

 Spring is here! I finally get to garden and grow some yummy food! I bought some plants because I just couldn't wait to see things grow! this year I'm growing Swiss chard, arugula, lettuce, onions from bulbs and lots of strawberry plants.

I had so many strawberry plants that I offered the kids plants for them to sell in exchange of their help in the garden. We began by cleaning the strawberry beds and transplanting plants into cups to sell. Check out the photos and links below.

Read aloud Books

 * We are still reading through the Bible with the kids. Reading Exodus but falling by the wayside.

* Just the Right Size by Nicola Davies

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!).

* DD12 is listening to  The Spiderwick Chronicles.
* DD9 is also listening to the Story of the World - Vol. I
* DD7 is listening to the Story of the World - Vol. I
* DD4 is listening to Story Nory

DD5 independent reading list:

DD5 has been asking me to learn to read, so I finally decided to work with her. We began ClicknKids Phonics program. This is a software that you download to your computer and your kids have daily lessons. There are 2 programs: a phonics and a spelling one. I used this software with my 3 oldest to remedial spelling and to help DD7 learn to read. As with all software, after a few lessons my kids get bored because the program is too repetitive or they have already mastered the skills they need to proceed on their own. Not one of my kids finished either programs.

DD5 has done lessons 1 to 10. I sit with her on my lap in front of the computer and together we do the lessons. I am also using printable lessons from BOB books free worksheets created by a diverse group of homeschooling moms. One of my favorites is Walking By the Way. I used these with DD7 when she was beginning to read. I am also using phonics books from Abeka and other books I find at the library.

She is also using Starfall website to help with the sounds of letters and practicing putting words together.

DD7 independent reading list: 

 She is also reading aloud  Read with me Bible to us all during lunch time. Also Calvin and Hobbes books are a favorite before bedtime.

* Calvin and Hobbes comics

* The Lizard Man of Crabtree County by Lucy Nolan
* Daisy Dawson and the Secret Pond by Steve Voake

* Daisy Dawson on her Way by Steve Voake
* Daisy Dawson at the Beach by Steve Voake


Read Aloud to her sibling(s):

* Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize by Marjorie Winman Sharmat
* Nate the Great and the Pillowcase by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Rosalind Weinman

* Khan Academy Math- 3rd grade math;
* Singapore Math 2B
* Working on memorizing her multiplication tables.
* Reading chapter books and completing a workbook on phonics, spelling, grammar, reading comprehension, etc.
Copy work as well as reading to her siblings or to me out loud as well as quietly to herself. 
Science and History is covered by our reading alouds, documentaries, audio books or videos.

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.


* The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo - once he finished the book, we watched the movie and DS9 made comparisons between book and movie: how different they were; how much was added to the movie, etc.

* Call of the Wild by Jack London
* Hack Attack - A Trip to Wonderland by Jan Fields
* The Calm Before the Storm - A Night in Sleepy Hollow by Jan Fields

* Bugged - How Insects changed History by Sarah Albee

* The Titanic - An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple - You Choose Books

Read Aloud to his sibling(s):

Academic Work:
* Finished 5th grade Math on Khan Academy. Began 6th grade Math on Khan Academy.
* Also doing Life of Fred - Fractions;
* Learning Coding with Khan Academy;


* Doing Science Detective from The Critical Thinking Co. covering earth science, anatomy and biology. When he gets tired of this, he picks an Usbore Internet-Linked science book, reads and researches it online. I am letting him pick his own subjects and interests.
* Spelling and vocabulary based on the books he's reading. Mostly done orally.

DD12 independent reading list

 * Ripley's Believe it or not! - The Remarkable, Revealed. - Can be creep at times, but really interesting.

Fantasy books:
*  Erak's Ransom - book 7 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
*  The Kings of Clonmel - book 8 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
* Halt's Peril - book 9 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan

* Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis - Dragons in our Midst series - written by a Christian author; he has been compared to CS Lewis.

Historical Fiction:

* By the Big Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman - A Gold Rush Adventure
 * Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
* The Titanic - An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple - You Choose Books
* Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell


* Welcome to Kit's World - 1934 - Growing Up During America's Great Depression - American Girl book - this was a great find at our library. I highly recommend as a complement to this past of American History. The books are filled with lots of photos of the time and interesting descriptions and facts.

* A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck - if you like Southern humor you will enjoy this book. DD12 did!
* A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck - the sequel to A Long Way from Chicago - even funnier than the first!

Animal books:
* Prince Rabbit by A.A. Milne
* The Anne Marie by Israel J. Parker - for the animal lover.

** Take one or two or three (i.e. reading these yet again!)
* The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins

Read Aloud to her sibling(s):


Academic Work:

* Doing Pre-Algebra on Khan Academy 70% completed;
* She began Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra with Biology book;

* Learning Coding with Khan Academy;
* Began learning Java Script with Code Academy;

* Finished The Hunger Games study guide by Progeny Press; we began listening to the audiobook for The Bronze Bow with the intent to do a study guide on it, but she couldn't go past chapter 2.
* Working through Exploring Creation with Biology from Apologia. Reviewed modules 1-4 and took Quarterly Test on them and scored 90%.

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.

* Computer play time has increased to an hour this month.

* Spring Cleaning. We took the first week of March to declutter and clean house. School work decreased to one picked subject for about 20-30 minutes only.

* More crafts and painting projects.

* Cooking: teaching DD12 new recipes: gluten free cornbread muffins, beans, oatmeal. DD5 andDD7 are helping in the kitchen more often. We are cooking and eating vegan most every day of the week. I lost 8 pounds in a week. :)

* Cooking projects: milk kefir, vegan suppers, oat soaking and oatmeal making.


* Gardening: thinning our strawberry beds and selling the extra strawberry plants; building a new box, filling with dirt and prepping to plant;

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

* Keeping with the 2015 in 2015 challenge.

 Field Trips/ Activities Outside Home

 
* Homeschooling Meeting. The theme was animals. DD12 shared about    , DD7 talked about habitat and the series she is reading about a little girl who can talk to animals and DD5 shared all about horses that she learned while reading a book with Mom. DD9 decided to just watch this time.

* McWane Trip - they had a new exhibit called Mindbenders with lots of games and puzzles. Another opportunity to reconnect with another homeschooling family. We had a fun time.

* Game day at the library.

* Story Hour for the young ones.

* I had to renew my driver's license, so we used the opportunity to have a picnic at the park and enjoy some sunshine.

 Websites/ Links we found and used/ Apps

* Blog full of fun Unit Studies - 

* BrainPop - videos on Copyright, Martin Luther King Jr.; Math games; food chain games;


* Khan Academy -

* Code Academy - DD12 is learning Java Script here for FREE. I joined her because everyone needs to learn how to program. :)

* Starfall - great website for learning to read. DD5 is using this one.

* ClicknKids - a program that teaches phonics and spelling. DD5 is using it also.

* Dance Mat Typing - a free resource that teaches kids how to type.

TV shows/ Videos/ Movies/ YouTube

*  Studio C - Family friendly, clean sketch comedy tv shows produced by BYUtv. Super fun on YouTube for FREE. We have spent hours watching these videos as a family.

* A Tale of Desperaux

* Planes and Rescue

* The "Drop Box" full story on YouTube - the Korean man who rescues abandoned babies tells his story of conversion and what God has done in his life.

* On programming videos:

* The Amoeba Sisters on YouTube - science videos.  DD12 using it to complement her HS Biology curriculum. She watched the videos on Osmosis,

* Big Hero 6 - the bomb!!!

* Encounters at the End of the World - very liberal film with very interesting images.

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


* What Women Fear by Angie Smith

*Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers - audiobook

* Timothy Keller - Prodigal God mp3 files.

* Bought - movie about vaccines

* Positive Parenting Solutions

* The Pleasure Trap - Ted Talk. Want to find out why you eat so much and of the wrong things? Watch this short talk and begin a new healthy journey in your life.

* The Starch Solution by John McDougall MD - begin with this talk and if you got health issues purchase the book by the same name.

* Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr Caldwell Esselstyn - Amazing results and research to show for it too.

Blessings,
Tereza Crump

Learning Log of February 2015

I know we are in April but I'm still trying to catch up with my learning logs. Hopefully next week I will post March and then we are all catched up! You won't be seeing snow photos in Spring. :)

February brought snow and lots of indoors activities. We don't usually have snow where we live, but this winter we had a little over 1 foot of it and it lasted about 3 days. So the kids enjoyed 3 days of playing in the snow, building forts and snowmen, eating snow ice cream, snowball fights and lots of wet and cold body parts. :) Other than that, we stayed indoors and cooked, played, crafted and even had "the school experience".

Read aloud Books

 * We are still reading through the Bible with the kids. We finished Genesis and we are now tackling Exodus.

* Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Pope Orborne

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!).

* The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

* DD12 is listening to  Jonathan Park episodes.
* DD9 is also listening to the Story of the World - Vol. I and Story Nory
* DD7 is listening to the Story of the World - Vol. I
* DD4 is listening to Story Nory

DD7 independent reading list: 

 She is also reading aloud  Read with me Bible to us all during lunch time. Also Calvin and Hobbes books are a favorite before bedtime.

* First Science Book: Color by Julie Murray
* First Science Book: Sound and Hearing by Julie Murray
* The House on the Maple Street by Bonnie Pryor
* Annie and Snowball and the Thankful Friends  by Cynthia Rylant
* My First Ballet book by Kate Castle
* Nate the Great and the Big Sniff by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat
* Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise by Marjories Weinmann Sharmat and Craig Sharmat

Read Aloud to her sibling(s):

* Stellar  Stargazer! Fancy Nancy book by Jane O'Connor
* I Know and Old Lady edited Ann Owen
* Ariel's Painting Party - Little Mermaid's Treasure Chest
* A Slippery Deck -  Little Mermaid's Treasure Chest
* Detective Sebastian - Little Mermaid's Treasure Chest
* Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
* Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird


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

* Khan Academy Math- 3rd grade math;
* Singapore Math 2B
* Working on memorizing her multiplication tables.
* Reading chapter books and completing a workbook on phonics, spelling, grammar, reading comprehension, etc.
Copy work as well as reading to her siblings or to me out loud as well as quietly to herself. 

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.

* Frindle by Andrew Clements - finished the book and answered a batch of questions related to the book.
* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Firearms by Ian V. Hogg
* Bodies from the Ash - Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii by James M. Deem
* The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo

Read Aloud to his sibling(s):

Academic Work:
* Doing 5th grade Math on Khan Academy - 80% completed ;
* Learning Coding with Khan Academy;
* Finished Stories of Adventure and Survival by Globe Fearson. We moved on to classics and other chapter books.
* Doing Science Detective from The Critical Thinking Co. covering earth science, anatomy and biology.
* Spelling and vocabulary based on what he's reading. Mostly done orally.

DD12 independent reading list

* Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
* Inkspell - book 2  by Cornelia Funke
* Inkdeath - book 3 by Cornelia Funke

* The Ruins of Gorlan - Book 1 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
* The Burning Bridge - book 2 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
* The Icebound Land - book 3 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
* The Battle for Skandia - book 4 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
* The Sorcerer of the North - book 5 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
* The Siege of Macindaw - book 6 - Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan

* On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson - The Wingfeather Saga - book 1

Academic Work:

* Doing Pre-Algebra on Khan Academy 70% completed;

* Learning Coding with Khan Academy;
*Working to complete The Hunger Games study guide by Progeny Press;
* Working through Exploring Creation with Biology from Apologia. Finished Module 4 and scored 12 out of 13 on the test. This module took longer than the previous ones to study because of the extensive note taking she did, but it was worth the extra hard work for she did really well on the test and was proud of her accomplishment. There will be a quarterly test for modules 1-4.

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.

* Computer play time has increased to an hour this month.

* Ballet and dance practice at home.

* More crafts and painting projects.

* We  got a rare one snow day. WE build snowmen, sled down the hills, threw snow balls at each other and then we came in and had hot chocolate with marshmallows.  :) It was fun but I am glad it's just once a year not months on end. :)

* 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.


* 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 just 2 months.

 Field Trips/ Activities Outside Home

* Homeschooling Meeting. The theme was games. All my kids shared their love for Minecraft and DS9 shared about Clash of Clans. We got to celebrate DD4 who turned 5 y.o.

* Visit to the dentist for some baby teeth pulling.

* 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

* Ted Talks - Can we domesticate germs; How Bacteria "Talk"; What Humans can Learn from Semi-Intelligent Slimes: - these talks complemented DD12 Biology Curriculum so well.

* BrainPop - videos on Abraham Lincoln, Ada Lovelace; Math games; food chain games;

* SheppardSoftware -

* Khan Academy -

TV shows/ Videos/ Movies/ YouTube

* Indiana Jones - The Raiders of the Lost Ark

* Sherman and Mr. Peabody movie - 

* Genesis 7 - episodes from this series on IAMflix - a series about Creationism and the Universe.

* Episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy

* Episodes of Wild Kratts; The Magic School Bus;

*  Studio C - Family friendly, clean sketch comedy tv shows produced by BYUtv. Super fun on YouTube for FREE. We have spent hours watching these videos as a family.

* The Great Raid - The most triumphant rescue in US military history. Based on an amazing true story during WWII on the Pacific Front. I highly recommend it. My DH and I watched, really not appropriate for kids under 14 y.o., just too much violence.

* Mom's Night Out - again! LOL

My new toy or should we call it my working tool?? :)

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


*  Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran - the terror caused by the one child policy implemented in China as well as religious ignorance that causes baby girls to be killed as soon as they are born, or abandoned by their parents. In reality not much different from America's policy on the value of life. :(

* Timothy Keller sermons on YouTube - I really like him.

* Crystal Meth: They Call It Ice by Mary F. Holley M.D.

* Mockinjay by Suzanne Collins


* Among the hidden - Shadow Children series - book 1

* And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers

Blessings,

Tereza

Now that Spring is here, do you remember what your winter was like? I always forget how hard it is until it's here. :) Bring on summertime!!!