Country: France
Science: Generals
Bible Verse:
Matthew 9:37b-38
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened; and I will give you rest.
Our second stop in Europe is France. Our main project was making an Eiffel tower. I had found some kits last summer and this was a lot easier than doing on our own. However, it was tricky to get all the pieces in place and required a little parental assistance towards the top.
We also made homemade soap. Since we used play-doh cookie cutters it was a lot like doing sugar cookies. Pour the soap, let the girls cut them out, put on pan to dry, pick up scraps and re-melt and start over. By the end the girls had lost interest and I just wanted to be done.
The Geography game is harder for Europe than North or South America. Maybe we just need to play more often.
In science we learned the three main ways that animals defend themselves: flight, trickery, and fight. We sorted animals based on their defense mechanism. We also studies caves. We also learned about animals classifications and turtles and snakes.
We are multiplying by 9 now. Multiplication seems so much easier than addition or subtraction for our girls. Does anyone know why this is?
Since it is Christmas time, we have been doing a lot of Christmas baking. So we talked about how the French like fancy little cookies and cakes and truffles.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Grade 3 – Week 14
Country: Norway
Science: Forests
Bible Verse:
Matthew 5:45
That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the eveil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
We have moved on to Europe and our first stop is in Norway. For our craft we made a Lapland Felt Square. I didn’t have quite the exact colors of felt so it is not quite “authentic”.
The girls have had lefsa before so we tried a different food – Fruit Soup. Basically you take dried fruit and cook it in sugar and water with tapioca until it becomes more of a pudding texture. Now if we had made about 1/8 of this recipe, it would have been okay. But there was enough to feed a crowd and while everyone tasted it, no one was demanding seconds, adults included. But the girls had fun selecting which dried fruit to include (I let them taste different kinds) and weighing it to get the correct amount.
Since there are no exciting animals unique to Europe, we are studying grasshoppers, mosquitoes, moths, tuataras, crocodiles, alligators, and other insects.
We also did an experiment that we had skipped earlier. Did you know that the shape of an egg is one of the sturdiest and strongest shapes in architecture? We cut the top off of four eggs – trying to get them close to the same size. Next we placed the eggs cut-side down in a rectangular pattern. We than placed books on top to see how much weight these four egg shells could hold. It was quite fun to guess. We started out with paperbacks and ended up taking them off and using heavier books. At 14 lbs, our’s started to crack. Had they been the exact same height, I think we would have gotten more weight on as the shortest one cracked first.
We are also studying northern forests. The MN forestry organization sent me some cool free stuff available upon request. We have some posters, samples of woods, some lesson plans, as well as a paper making kit. We incorporated most of these extra lessons into our program.
Science: Forests
Bible Verse:
Matthew 5:45
That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the eveil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
We have moved on to Europe and our first stop is in Norway. For our craft we made a Lapland Felt Square. I didn’t have quite the exact colors of felt so it is not quite “authentic”.
The girls have had lefsa before so we tried a different food – Fruit Soup. Basically you take dried fruit and cook it in sugar and water with tapioca until it becomes more of a pudding texture. Now if we had made about 1/8 of this recipe, it would have been okay. But there was enough to feed a crowd and while everyone tasted it, no one was demanding seconds, adults included. But the girls had fun selecting which dried fruit to include (I let them taste different kinds) and weighing it to get the correct amount.
Since there are no exciting animals unique to Europe, we are studying grasshoppers, mosquitoes, moths, tuataras, crocodiles, alligators, and other insects.
We also did an experiment that we had skipped earlier. Did you know that the shape of an egg is one of the sturdiest and strongest shapes in architecture? We cut the top off of four eggs – trying to get them close to the same size. Next we placed the eggs cut-side down in a rectangular pattern. We than placed books on top to see how much weight these four egg shells could hold. It was quite fun to guess. We started out with paperbacks and ended up taking them off and using heavier books. At 14 lbs, our’s started to crack. Had they been the exact same height, I think we would have gotten more weight on as the shortest one cracked first.
We are also studying northern forests. The MN forestry organization sent me some cool free stuff available upon request. We have some posters, samples of woods, some lesson plans, as well as a paper making kit. We incorporated most of these extra lessons into our program.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 13
Week 13 - Moving on...
This was to be our Thanksgiving week with minimal work planned but since we spent an extra week in South America, we are traveling to Norway this week.
We are back to the "Kingdom Tales" book for our read alouds. I am still not quite sure what I think of these. I know they have a point to all of the stories but sometimes, I think they are a little deep for third graders. Some days they seem to understand and other days, I am not so sure. I do reword some things that could be a little scary for them. I wouldn't read these to younger kids.
We decorated our Turkey Pumpkin again this year. The girls really like doing that. We also made some Pilgrim hat decorations. Anything with paint is always a hit.
On a side note, the girls started basket ball last week and had their first game this week. It is a recreational league and they don't officially keep score (and the score was pretty low). But, Anna got a basket (only a few kids on each team did) and she was very excited. This was the first time I have seen Anna run as fast as she could from one end of the court to the other on a consistent basis. She really wanted to be where the action was. She was pretty aggressive and "stole" the ball too. She is so short so that is a disadvantage but she seems to really like. Emma always wants to do the "sports" but I think it is more the social aspect that she likes. She was able to catch a pass in and dribble the ball down the court a few times. She took a couple of shots but missed. It will be interesting to see how they do.
This was to be our Thanksgiving week with minimal work planned but since we spent an extra week in South America, we are traveling to Norway this week.
We are back to the "Kingdom Tales" book for our read alouds. I am still not quite sure what I think of these. I know they have a point to all of the stories but sometimes, I think they are a little deep for third graders. Some days they seem to understand and other days, I am not so sure. I do reword some things that could be a little scary for them. I wouldn't read these to younger kids.
We decorated our Turkey Pumpkin again this year. The girls really like doing that. We also made some Pilgrim hat decorations. Anything with paint is always a hit.
On a side note, the girls started basket ball last week and had their first game this week. It is a recreational league and they don't officially keep score (and the score was pretty low). But, Anna got a basket (only a few kids on each team did) and she was very excited. This was the first time I have seen Anna run as fast as she could from one end of the court to the other on a consistent basis. She really wanted to be where the action was. She was pretty aggressive and "stole" the ball too. She is so short so that is a disadvantage but she seems to really like. Emma always wants to do the "sports" but I think it is more the social aspect that she likes. She was able to catch a pass in and dribble the ball down the court a few times. She took a couple of shots but missed. It will be interesting to see how they do.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 12
Week 12 - Catchup time
We are supposed to moving onto Europe this week but we still had some stuff to do so I decided to spend some additional time in Brazil. We also made a couple of side trips to Venezuela and Argentina. We did a couple of cooking projects: Chocolates from Brazil - they tasted a lot like truflles. Steak and beans and potatoes for our Argentina meal. I was glad Scott took care of this one. I just gave him the recipes.
We have been busy catching up on the phonics, vocabulary, language arts, spelling, etc from last week. Luckily this was a review week for spelling so that helped. It does feel good to catch up!
Our Magic Treehouse book is Dolphins at Daybreak. Another good reader for the kids and not boring even for an adult. Predictable but not totally boring.
At last we have finished our dioramas. I will post pictures soon. We still may add more animals some day.
We are supposed to moving onto Europe this week but we still had some stuff to do so I decided to spend some additional time in Brazil. We also made a couple of side trips to Venezuela and Argentina. We did a couple of cooking projects: Chocolates from Brazil - they tasted a lot like truflles. Steak and beans and potatoes for our Argentina meal. I was glad Scott took care of this one. I just gave him the recipes.
We have been busy catching up on the phonics, vocabulary, language arts, spelling, etc from last week. Luckily this was a review week for spelling so that helped. It does feel good to catch up!
Our Magic Treehouse book is Dolphins at Daybreak. Another good reader for the kids and not boring even for an adult. Predictable but not totally boring.
At last we have finished our dioramas. I will post pictures soon. We still may add more animals some day.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 11
Week 11 - Our last week in Brazil!
This week got off to a bad start as we took Monday off to watch a friend's kids. By Monday night, her kids were sick and by Thursday, our girls were sick. So we only got in two good days of school (Tuesday and Wednesday). Thankfully the girls recovered quickly and Scott and I did not get it. The downside is we missed dad's 90th birthday party. We all were very disappointed.
We continued to work on our dioramas. This is a slow process for the girls. But it is fun and they like the finished product. Our Animals this week in Science are the Toucan, Wooley Monkey, and the Sloth.
We made a little yellow airplane to go with our Read aloud - Nate Saint. He was a missionary and pilot for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). This week we reached the end where he is killed. But his death as well as the three other missionaries with him were instrumentatal in eventually teaching the people who killed him about Jesus. So this is what we focused on.
So we finished most of our math, science, bible, and geography this week but are behind in the not so fun things: phonics, reading comprehension, language arts, spelling, and vocabulary. Oh well, next week can be catch-up.
On a side note, the girls had their swimming evaluations this week. They swam 48 laps (down and back) within an hour. Each lap is about 40 yards. Altogether this was over a mile. They did really well but were starving when they were done. They can to the free style, butterfly, breast stroke, and backstroke. They are cointinuing to work on improving technique and speed. Foss Swim school is excellent, al beit a bit pricey. But, they have been swimming about 3 and 1/2 years and are far more advanced than I am. They will be repeating this level again but will also be swimming on the swim team one day a week, starting in January. They are in the top level now with the exception of the swim team. While you can swim competitively with the swim team, you can also just go to the practices. We have decided that we do not want our children to be on competitive teams at this age. If they want to compete in a sport, when they are older, that will be fine but we just don't want to push it. Just let them play and have fun is our philosophy. Swimming twice a week for an hour is great exercise for them.
This week got off to a bad start as we took Monday off to watch a friend's kids. By Monday night, her kids were sick and by Thursday, our girls were sick. So we only got in two good days of school (Tuesday and Wednesday). Thankfully the girls recovered quickly and Scott and I did not get it. The downside is we missed dad's 90th birthday party. We all were very disappointed.
We continued to work on our dioramas. This is a slow process for the girls. But it is fun and they like the finished product. Our Animals this week in Science are the Toucan, Wooley Monkey, and the Sloth.
We made a little yellow airplane to go with our Read aloud - Nate Saint. He was a missionary and pilot for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). This week we reached the end where he is killed. But his death as well as the three other missionaries with him were instrumentatal in eventually teaching the people who killed him about Jesus. So this is what we focused on.
So we finished most of our math, science, bible, and geography this week but are behind in the not so fun things: phonics, reading comprehension, language arts, spelling, and vocabulary. Oh well, next week can be catch-up.
On a side note, the girls had their swimming evaluations this week. They swam 48 laps (down and back) within an hour. Each lap is about 40 yards. Altogether this was over a mile. They did really well but were starving when they were done. They can to the free style, butterfly, breast stroke, and backstroke. They are cointinuing to work on improving technique and speed. Foss Swim school is excellent, al beit a bit pricey. But, they have been swimming about 3 and 1/2 years and are far more advanced than I am. They will be repeating this level again but will also be swimming on the swim team one day a week, starting in January. They are in the top level now with the exception of the swim team. While you can swim competitively with the swim team, you can also just go to the practices. We have decided that we do not want our children to be on competitive teams at this age. If they want to compete in a sport, when they are older, that will be fine but we just don't want to push it. Just let them play and have fun is our philosophy. Swimming twice a week for an hour is great exercise for them.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 10
Week 10 - still in Brazil and loving it. I would love to go to Brazil and see the Rainforest!
We are really enjoying learning about the Rainforests. I could probably do a whole Blog on just that. We started our Rainforest Diorama. We used three shoe boxes. The bottom one is for the Forest Floor, the next one is the Understory, and the last one is the Canopy. Plus the trees sticking out the top will be the emergency layer. This will be a multi-week project. Anna of course loves reading about all the animals. This week we are studying: Llamas, Monkeys, and MaCaws. We have put up a big sheet of paper on our picture window for each layer and as we read we are adding animals and plants that live in each layer. We will use this as we do our dioramas too.
Our Bible verse is Matthew 5:15, which is a continuation from last week (Matthew 5:14): You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
We are continuing reading about Nate Saint as our Read-aloud. I am probably enjoying this book as much as the girls. Still trying to figure out how to apprach the sad ending. I would recommend this book to anyone.
We are also reviewing Consonant digraphs (yuck) and learning about adjectives.
We are really enjoying learning about the Rainforests. I could probably do a whole Blog on just that. We started our Rainforest Diorama. We used three shoe boxes. The bottom one is for the Forest Floor, the next one is the Understory, and the last one is the Canopy. Plus the trees sticking out the top will be the emergency layer. This will be a multi-week project. Anna of course loves reading about all the animals. This week we are studying: Llamas, Monkeys, and MaCaws. We have put up a big sheet of paper on our picture window for each layer and as we read we are adding animals and plants that live in each layer. We will use this as we do our dioramas too.
Our Bible verse is Matthew 5:15, which is a continuation from last week (Matthew 5:14): You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
We are continuing reading about Nate Saint as our Read-aloud. I am probably enjoying this book as much as the girls. Still trying to figure out how to apprach the sad ending. I would recommend this book to anyone.
We are also reviewing Consonant digraphs (yuck) and learning about adjectives.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 9
Week 9 - Brazil
We have taken our first trip out of North America and landed in Brazil. This is a fascinating country with the Amazon River and the Rainforests. We have big sheets of paper up where we are writing the names of plants and animals for the different layers of the Rainforest (Emergent, Canopy, Understory, Floor). Two weeks ago our Magic Treehouse book was on the Rainforest so I saved the Research Guide book on Rainforests to read while we are in Brazil. I am amazed at how much the girls know about the Rainforest, especially the animals. Diego (TV show for kids) has been quite educational.
We have also learned a couple of songs that South American kids sing. They are quite catchy and I have this song (Brown Girl in the Ring) going through my head much more than I want. Singing and dancing are a favorite part of their day.
We started reading a new Read aloud (a book where I read to the kids). It is a biography on Nate Saint, a missionary in South America. It has been a fun book to read so far but unfortunately he had a tragic death and we will be reading about that soon. Although, Anna has figured out already that he dies at a young age. So, I think that this has helped prepare them. It is a great book that I would recommend to anyone, not just kids. I also was able to get a free book about his life, with great pictures so I will be supplementing our study with this.
Our Magic Treehouse book this week is on Space. These books are nice because they are each a separate story but they tie together. The girls have figured out that we are reading the books in order so they don't need to read the Prologue to each one. Also, since they fit in quite well because they are traveling around the world too, just not in the same order as our trip. Unfortunately, the books really need to be read in order. The only downside is that they are not Christian based and their have been a few references to evolution and stuff so just another thing to explain.
The girls got new bibles in Sunday School this year and have been using these for bible readings. It is nice that they have a more advanced bible than before but still not quite as difficult to read as my bible. Plus, we have two now which makes it easier.
We have taken our first trip out of North America and landed in Brazil. This is a fascinating country with the Amazon River and the Rainforests. We have big sheets of paper up where we are writing the names of plants and animals for the different layers of the Rainforest (Emergent, Canopy, Understory, Floor). Two weeks ago our Magic Treehouse book was on the Rainforest so I saved the Research Guide book on Rainforests to read while we are in Brazil. I am amazed at how much the girls know about the Rainforest, especially the animals. Diego (TV show for kids) has been quite educational.
We have also learned a couple of songs that South American kids sing. They are quite catchy and I have this song (Brown Girl in the Ring) going through my head much more than I want. Singing and dancing are a favorite part of their day.
We started reading a new Read aloud (a book where I read to the kids). It is a biography on Nate Saint, a missionary in South America. It has been a fun book to read so far but unfortunately he had a tragic death and we will be reading about that soon. Although, Anna has figured out already that he dies at a young age. So, I think that this has helped prepare them. It is a great book that I would recommend to anyone, not just kids. I also was able to get a free book about his life, with great pictures so I will be supplementing our study with this.
Our Magic Treehouse book this week is on Space. These books are nice because they are each a separate story but they tie together. The girls have figured out that we are reading the books in order so they don't need to read the Prologue to each one. Also, since they fit in quite well because they are traveling around the world too, just not in the same order as our trip. Unfortunately, the books really need to be read in order. The only downside is that they are not Christian based and their have been a few references to evolution and stuff so just another thing to explain.
The girls got new bibles in Sunday School this year and have been using these for bible readings. It is nice that they have a more advanced bible than before but still not quite as difficult to read as my bible. Plus, we have two now which makes it easier.
Grade 3 - Week 8
Week 8 - Still in Canada
We are continuing to study Canada. This is our final week in North America and both girls know the countries, including most of the islands, in North and Central America. They also know major physical features (Rockies, Applachians, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, Great Plains, Great Basin, Mississippi River, Rio Grande River, Florida Peninsula, Yucatan Peninsula, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, Carribean, Gulf of Mexico). We have a game we play to learn the countries and I created a laminated file folder to learn the other physical features. This way they could reuse it many times as we used a dry erase marker to label things.
We had a "high" tea one day when the girls had some friends over. I served fancy sandwiches (what can you do with PB and J), fruit kabobs, and veggie sticks. And, of course we had tea (the chai variety). They had a lot of fun.
Of course I forgot to take a picture until after they had started eating so the fruit kabobs looked like this:
We had a "high" tea one day when the girls had some friends over. I served fancy sandwiches (what can you do with PB and J), fruit kabobs, and veggie sticks. And, of course we had tea (the chai variety). They had a lot of fun.
Of course I forgot to take a picture until after they had started eating so the fruit kabobs looked like this:
The girls made a couple of crafts: an igloo (on paper) and we carved a bear out of soap. Somehow this was much more difficult than I anticipated. I need to take pictures of these and add them.
Another week over. The time is going so fast.
Grade 3 - Week 7
Week 7 - Canada
Back on our Plane to Canada! Time to pull out some Canadian money, t-shirts that Scott brings us every year on his Canada fishiing trip, etc.
In Science we are studying the Food Chain and Food web. I made some cards that had various animals and plants on, and they could create food chains and than interlink them into webs. We also matched definitions to: Producer, Consumer, and Decomposer and filed the plants and animals under the appropriate category. I think this exercise helped them remember better.
Back on our Plane to Canada! Time to pull out some Canadian money, t-shirts that Scott brings us every year on his Canada fishiing trip, etc.
In Science we are studying the Food Chain and Food web. I made some cards that had various animals and plants on, and they could create food chains and than interlink them into webs. We also matched definitions to: Producer, Consumer, and Decomposer and filed the plants and animals under the appropriate category. I think this exercise helped them remember better.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 6
Week 6 - Mexico
We are continuing our study on Mexico. I have brought out my Mexican Blanket and we sit on this for devotions and reading time. I also have a chicken from Mom that reminds me of a trip to Mexico where we ended up in a restaurant (outdoors) where the chickens were walking around right by the tables. So I told the girls this story and now we "hide" the chicken every day for them to find.
We have also started playing a geography game. Right now we are working on learning all of the countries in North American. The girls are getting pretty good at this and I have learned the names as well. Study a map before you decided to play this with them. As we study other continents, we will be learning the names of most (not all) the countries. This is something Scott has played with them too, which is good.
Our Bible Verse this week is Matthew 4:19
Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Anna was excited about this verse as she remembered learning it for Sunday School last year. The girls also got new bibles at church on October 4th. Our church gives all kids children's bibles at age 3 and than a more advanced bible in Grade 3. They are excited about having their own bibles and now read the Bible selection for the day.
We are continuing our Animal study and this week learned more about Bears. They are really enjoying this book.
We continued working on our Pinatas. They are a slow messy process..... But here is the end result:
The girls enjoyed breaking one and we are saving the other for when we have friends over.
In Science, we are continuing to study Deserts. Did you know there are hot and cold deserts? We have made a list of the differences and mapped the major deserts.
We also reviewed some Spanish words, in addition to their normal Spanish lessons. Choco, our friend in the picture, helps us with Spanish. Choco is a puppet and the girls love them and always want me to "be Choco".
We are supposed to have a fiesta at the end of our travels. I think we will be making fajitas one night and call it a day. But, if you have any good Mexican recipes send them my way!
Update: Scott decided to make us a Fiesta one night. We started out with homemade Guacomole (Anna's favorite of the meal) and Salsa.
We are continuing our study on Mexico. I have brought out my Mexican Blanket and we sit on this for devotions and reading time. I also have a chicken from Mom that reminds me of a trip to Mexico where we ended up in a restaurant (outdoors) where the chickens were walking around right by the tables. So I told the girls this story and now we "hide" the chicken every day for them to find.
We have also started playing a geography game. Right now we are working on learning all of the countries in North American. The girls are getting pretty good at this and I have learned the names as well. Study a map before you decided to play this with them. As we study other continents, we will be learning the names of most (not all) the countries. This is something Scott has played with them too, which is good.
Our Bible Verse this week is Matthew 4:19
Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Anna was excited about this verse as she remembered learning it for Sunday School last year. The girls also got new bibles at church on October 4th. Our church gives all kids children's bibles at age 3 and than a more advanced bible in Grade 3. They are excited about having their own bibles and now read the Bible selection for the day.
We are continuing our Animal study and this week learned more about Bears. They are really enjoying this book.
We continued working on our Pinatas. They are a slow messy process..... But here is the end result:
The girls enjoyed breaking one and we are saving the other for when we have friends over.
In Science, we are continuing to study Deserts. Did you know there are hot and cold deserts? We have made a list of the differences and mapped the major deserts.
We also reviewed some Spanish words, in addition to their normal Spanish lessons. Choco, our friend in the picture, helps us with Spanish. Choco is a puppet and the girls love them and always want me to "be Choco".
We are supposed to have a fiesta at the end of our travels. I think we will be making fajitas one night and call it a day. But, if you have any good Mexican recipes send them my way!
Update: Scott decided to make us a Fiesta one night. We started out with homemade Guacomole (Anna's favorite of the meal) and Salsa.
Next we had some cheese and sauce thing in a tortilla. Scott had a name for it, but I have forgotten:
Next up was stuffed peppers:
The last course (Emma's favorite) was tacos.
Grade 3 - Week 5
Week 5
We are off on our trip around the world. This week the girls got their "passports" and we boarded our plane for Mexico.
Okay, not a very fancy plane but the girls thought it was cool. I had hoped to paint it but the rain has not given me many opportunities for this.
On our plane ride to Mexico, I read about the history of Mexico, geography, and some science. After they left the plane they had to get in line and have their passport signed and stamped (a Mexican flag sticker). We than continued on with the rest of our day.
Our Bible verse for this week is Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered, It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
We are studying deserts in science. There were a couple of experiments to do but we needed a sunny day so this didn't happen. Can you imagine how long it would take to melt ice cubes outside in this weather? I still hope to do some on a sunny day.
For our craft, we have started on a pinata. These are time consuming as they have to dry in between time. We will finish them next week.
Here is our "board" for these two weeks.
Here is our "board" for these two weeks.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 4
Week 4 - United States
We continued our tour of the United States this week. The girls are working hard at learning all 50 states. The little ones on the East coast are the hardest. We have several puzzles of the United States and these have been very helpful. We are also focusing on learning the major physical characteristics of North America: Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, Appalachian Mountain, Rocky Mountains, Florida Peninsula, Mississippi River, etc. They actually had to research some of these in one of our map books to find them. I have created a file folder that is laminated that has a map and the characteristics all have a letter assigned. Than, I have another page that has the features listed and they use a dry erase marker to match them up. This way they can do it many times and aren't wasting a lot of paper, plus they like this a lot more.
In Science we continued our study of forests and the difference between deciduous forests and coniferous forests. We also learned about the chaparral ecosystem.
We did a couple of art projects this week. We did a "paper" quilt. They really enjoyed this and worked on it for a very long time, a couple of days. Today, we read about Alexander Calder, an American artist, who designed the first mobiles. We created small mobiles. This was also a lot of fun.
Here are some pictures:
We continued our tour of the United States this week. The girls are working hard at learning all 50 states. The little ones on the East coast are the hardest. We have several puzzles of the United States and these have been very helpful. We are also focusing on learning the major physical characteristics of North America: Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, Appalachian Mountain, Rocky Mountains, Florida Peninsula, Mississippi River, etc. They actually had to research some of these in one of our map books to find them. I have created a file folder that is laminated that has a map and the characteristics all have a letter assigned. Than, I have another page that has the features listed and they use a dry erase marker to match them up. This way they can do it many times and aren't wasting a lot of paper, plus they like this a lot more.
In Science we continued our study of forests and the difference between deciduous forests and coniferous forests. We also learned about the chaparral ecosystem.
We did a couple of art projects this week. We did a "paper" quilt. They really enjoyed this and worked on it for a very long time, a couple of days. Today, we read about Alexander Calder, an American artist, who designed the first mobiles. We created small mobiles. This was also a lot of fun.
Here are some pictures:
For the first four weeks, we have been reviewing addition and subtraction math facts. I have a number of file folder games for this as well and they enjoy these so much more than worksheets. Plus, now that I have them created, they can do them anytime. It is an easy filler if I need them to be doing something.
For Bible, this year we will be focusing on the book of Matthew. They will have a bible verse every week to learn. This week was Matthew 1:23: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
We are also reading a book called "Hero Tales". This week we read about Harriet Tubman. Our read alouds for this week were from a book called "Kingdom Tales". This book uses allegory to reveal truths about the Kingdom of God. I am not sure how well I like this book and am glad next week we will have different read aloud.
We are continuing the Magic Treehouse series for readers. This week our book was "Pirates Past Noon". All of these books have the same basic plot. Annie and Jack go to the treehouse, pick up a book and say "I wish I was here" and magically they are transported to that location. They have an adventure and return to the treehouse and open the book that has "Frog Creek" (where they live) and say "I wish I was here" and they return home. But the stories are quite interesting and both Anna and Emma really like them.
This week was American music so pretty much anything goes. They did learn a Native American song, actually Anna did. Rest of us just listened to it. Anna has also been on this kick about doing Hawaiian dances.
Phonics, language arts, spelling, vocabulary, handwriting, and reading comprehension are also on our list but not too exciting to write about. Emma is a great speller and Anna has exceptional comprehension abilities. They are enjoying crossword puzzles now. Although they often need help with them yet.
The girls also have an animal book for science. They enjoy reading about one or two animals each day and answering a few questions. We have learned about dogs, cats, horses, frogs, etc. Anna especially likes animals and has a wonderful Animal Encyclopedia (thanks to Scott and Marilyn Clark!) that she can find tons of information on a given animal.
We are doing a leaf collection this year too. We have a tree guide book for MN and we identify one tree per week and put a leaf in our book and to a crayon rubbing of the bark and label it. We started with our one American Elm. We were going to do another one today but the rain.....
I have to say I am learning more this year than other years. Sometimes I wonder how much they will remember but they are doing amazingly well.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 3
Week 3 - The United States
This week we started our studies of countries. We are studying the United States for 2 weeks. Since we spent the entire year studying the United States this is kind of a review. We are working hard at learning the names of all fifty states and other major landmarks, such as the Mississippi River, Mountain Ranges, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, etc. We are also looking at the animals in the United States.
In Science we are studying Forests. We learned the different layers of the forests (emergent, canopy, understory, shrub, herb, floor) and which animals live where. No science experiment this week but we are doing a nature walk tomorrow and will be starting our leaf collection.
We were supposed to make a cake the first week and frost it blue for the oceans and use green frosting to make the continents. We skipped this project as Emma is the only one in the house that will eat cake. And yes she may eat all of it, but I don't think it would be great idea. So this week I came up with the idea of making blue jello and putting it in a large bar pan. We than use whipped cream in a can to make the continents and sprinkled them with green sugar. Now the shapes weren't very accurate - pretty hard to do with whipped cream in a can and we forgot Antarctica until we were eating it.
This week we started our studies of countries. We are studying the United States for 2 weeks. Since we spent the entire year studying the United States this is kind of a review. We are working hard at learning the names of all fifty states and other major landmarks, such as the Mississippi River, Mountain Ranges, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, etc. We are also looking at the animals in the United States.
In Science we are studying Forests. We learned the different layers of the forests (emergent, canopy, understory, shrub, herb, floor) and which animals live where. No science experiment this week but we are doing a nature walk tomorrow and will be starting our leaf collection.
We were supposed to make a cake the first week and frost it blue for the oceans and use green frosting to make the continents. We skipped this project as Emma is the only one in the house that will eat cake. And yes she may eat all of it, but I don't think it would be great idea. So this week I came up with the idea of making blue jello and putting it in a large bar pan. We than use whipped cream in a can to make the continents and sprinkled them with green sugar. Now the shapes weren't very accurate - pretty hard to do with whipped cream in a can and we forgot Antarctica until we were eating it.
We are doing a couple of Native American crafts tomorrow (sand art). So hopefully I can post some more pictures of that.
For reading we are reading the Magic Treehouse book called Mummies in the Morning. There are a lot of great activities on the Internet for these books which is one of the reason I chose this series. The girls like word searches and crossword puzzles.
Last week we got a little behind (more my issues than the girls). So we had a rough day or two catching up. But yesterday and today were two of the best school days we have ever had! I am very thankful for this. The curriculum is fun and even I am learning things, especially in science.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 2
Week 2 of school has come and gone. We continued our overview of the continents and learned the oceans. We also did a couple of science experiments. We created our earthworm niche that we didn't get done the first week and also did an experiment to demonstrate the water cycle. The girls love getting outside and working on this kind of project.
For arts we made a people paper chain using different colors to demonstrate that Jesus loves all the children of the world. The girls gave them all faces and hair, some got clothes. Dad got underwear on the back of his! I have no idea why they thought this was funny to do. Grandpa got glasses.
We are reading the Magic Treehouse series for reading. They are a fairly quick read and the girls really like them. We are reading one each week. This week we read the one about castles - okay I forgot the title already.... The girl, Annie, is 7 and her brother, Jack, is 8. They go on adventures. Annie's personality is alot like Anna's and Jack's is much more like Emma so I think they relate really well to the books.
The girls also have learned a new song - Hello to all the children of the world. They really like singing. And will sing all the time. They also really like the Spanish and Typing so these activities really don't need to be scheduled because they will do them just because they want to.
I read a book this summer that basically said a homeschool mom needs to make school fun for her kids. So, I have been really working on this, especially for Anna. Emma loves school and is happy with the little things but Anna would prefer to just play (wouldn't we all). So I spent a lot of time this summer working on file folder games. I will take some pictures soon. I have some for adding where there are problems and they need to match the answer. Or, one is for language arts and they have to categorize nouns by person, place, or thing. They both enjoy these and it is a nice break from the regular school work. I am also really working hard on doing at least one art project a week.
For arts we made a people paper chain using different colors to demonstrate that Jesus loves all the children of the world. The girls gave them all faces and hair, some got clothes. Dad got underwear on the back of his! I have no idea why they thought this was funny to do. Grandpa got glasses.
We are reading the Magic Treehouse series for reading. They are a fairly quick read and the girls really like them. We are reading one each week. This week we read the one about castles - okay I forgot the title already.... The girl, Annie, is 7 and her brother, Jack, is 8. They go on adventures. Annie's personality is alot like Anna's and Jack's is much more like Emma so I think they relate really well to the books.
The girls also have learned a new song - Hello to all the children of the world. They really like singing. And will sing all the time. They also really like the Spanish and Typing so these activities really don't need to be scheduled because they will do them just because they want to.
I read a book this summer that basically said a homeschool mom needs to make school fun for her kids. So, I have been really working on this, especially for Anna. Emma loves school and is happy with the little things but Anna would prefer to just play (wouldn't we all). So I spent a lot of time this summer working on file folder games. I will take some pictures soon. I have some for adding where there are problems and they need to match the answer. Or, one is for language arts and they have to categorize nouns by person, place, or thing. They both enjoy these and it is a nice break from the regular school work. I am also really working hard on doing at least one art project a week.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Grade 3 - Week 1
We started 3rd grade last week! I started a week earlier than most people, but I have found that in May my kids are ready to be done with school. So we are off.
This year we are using My Father's World for history/geography, science, bible, music, art, and the read alouds. Our theme is: A Trip Around the World. Of course we are doing math, phonics, language arts too but they are not near as exciting so most of my blogs with be on the other subjects.
The first two weeks of the year are an introduction. We are learning all about maps and globes. We did a cool experiment where you draw the continents on an orange and than quarter the orange and peel of each section. Than you try to lay it down on a flat surface. This really demonstrates how different maps look versus a globe and how distorted maps really are. Try it sometime - it was fun.
The girls have also learned a new song, which has helped them learn the different continents. We point at the continents as we sing it. It is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle:
North America, South America,
Europe, Africa, Asia,
Kangaroos hop in Australia and
Penguins waddle in Antarctica.
My girls love to sing so this is a hit! We have also been singing Jesus loves the little children (all the children of the world) and are doing a poster of children from around the world. The girls have a lot of friends that are adopted as well so we are adding pictures of themselves and their friends.
We went to the Arboretum on Friday with Aunt Bonnie and so we picked up a map of the Arboretum so we can practice our mapping skills.
In Science we learned about Ecosystems, ecozones, habitats, and niches. We will be creating our earthworm niche tomorrow.
As we will be going "around the world", the girls completed a passport application, complete with a picture. They will be getting a pretend passport in a few weeks (created by mom) and as we travel through the different countries, we will put a flag sticker in their passport.
We are also using the "workbox system" to organize our school day this year. This allows me to put everything we need for each subject/activity in a box. The boxes are numbered and we do them in order. When they are done with the boxes, they are done for the day. This takes a little more time on my part ahead of time, but there is less "wasted" time in school. I don't have to go find a glue stick, or a pencil. It is all in the box. Some boxes we do together or I do with one of them and others they do independantly.
We are also doing Spanish this year using a CD and book. The girls love it and asked if they could do it outside of school time. We all got to listen to it on the way to church today. The CD says the words in English, than Spanish, and than the kids repeat it. They also have a book to follow along. This gives them the visual spelling of the words and a picture. "Choco" is our puppet that we use for Spanish. The girls love him.
Something else we started this year is learning to type. I bought a computer typing game for kids. They play it far more than I expected and really enjoy it.
For reading, they are doing the Magic Treehouse series. We read about Dinosaurs this week and made Dinosaur Dioramas.
All in all it was a good week. I love the curriculum and the girls are excited too.
This year we are using My Father's World for history/geography, science, bible, music, art, and the read alouds. Our theme is: A Trip Around the World. Of course we are doing math, phonics, language arts too but they are not near as exciting so most of my blogs with be on the other subjects.
The first two weeks of the year are an introduction. We are learning all about maps and globes. We did a cool experiment where you draw the continents on an orange and than quarter the orange and peel of each section. Than you try to lay it down on a flat surface. This really demonstrates how different maps look versus a globe and how distorted maps really are. Try it sometime - it was fun.
The girls have also learned a new song, which has helped them learn the different continents. We point at the continents as we sing it. It is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle:
North America, South America,
Europe, Africa, Asia,
Kangaroos hop in Australia and
Penguins waddle in Antarctica.
My girls love to sing so this is a hit! We have also been singing Jesus loves the little children (all the children of the world) and are doing a poster of children from around the world. The girls have a lot of friends that are adopted as well so we are adding pictures of themselves and their friends.
We went to the Arboretum on Friday with Aunt Bonnie and so we picked up a map of the Arboretum so we can practice our mapping skills.
In Science we learned about Ecosystems, ecozones, habitats, and niches. We will be creating our earthworm niche tomorrow.
As we will be going "around the world", the girls completed a passport application, complete with a picture. They will be getting a pretend passport in a few weeks (created by mom) and as we travel through the different countries, we will put a flag sticker in their passport.
We are also using the "workbox system" to organize our school day this year. This allows me to put everything we need for each subject/activity in a box. The boxes are numbered and we do them in order. When they are done with the boxes, they are done for the day. This takes a little more time on my part ahead of time, but there is less "wasted" time in school. I don't have to go find a glue stick, or a pencil. It is all in the box. Some boxes we do together or I do with one of them and others they do independantly.
We are also doing Spanish this year using a CD and book. The girls love it and asked if they could do it outside of school time. We all got to listen to it on the way to church today. The CD says the words in English, than Spanish, and than the kids repeat it. They also have a book to follow along. This gives them the visual spelling of the words and a picture. "Choco" is our puppet that we use for Spanish. The girls love him.
Something else we started this year is learning to type. I bought a computer typing game for kids. They play it far more than I expected and really enjoy it.
For reading, they are doing the Magic Treehouse series. We read about Dinosaurs this week and made Dinosaur Dioramas.
All in all it was a good week. I love the curriculum and the girls are excited too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
