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!!!