Week #3

We are learning Leaning on the Everlasting Arms for our hymn this week! It is one of my favorites, so we have been singing it several times during the week!  We read the history behind it  in “Then Sings my soul”, but I thought this link was interesting as well.

http://hymnswelove.blogspot.com/2012/05/story-behind-leaning-on-everlasting.html
Our theme this week has been about Jamestown. We have plans of building the wigwam and a model of Jamestown, so I am picking up supplies on Wednesday for it.
We discussed the King James version bible and are working hard on memorizing the book of James. We may memorize the first chapter at this rate.
Notebooking has been going better this year, with them writing some in their notebooks about what we have read. I think this is going to help them retain it better.
Tuesday – We watched Bill Nye the science guy DVD on Mammals and a Popular Mechanics for Kids about Whales and dolphins to go along with our science studies on Mammals/
We started our read aloud this week…Almost Home by Wendy Lawton
For book basket books we have read- Samuel Eaton’s day, Sarah Morton’s day, Pocahontas and some others…

L. also read a book about some of the different painters around the world.

We also watched Dear America- Journey to the New World
We have taken walks every other day for P.E this week, but also H.  and P. are practicing basketball 3 days a week.
Our reading for history came from many different texts from MFW Exploration to 1850’s  .
L. and H. are both doing Teaching Textbooks for math, with extra math drill sheets.

H. went in for testing this week, to make sure there is no occupational issues with his learning this week, so hopefully I will get the results from that next week.
I worked on making some reading games to play!

Hopefully reinforce some of the blending and speed up T.’s reading.
He has been enjoying doing the program Reading Eggs  everyday for reading, and I am considering extending our membership for the rest of the year. 
Language arts is not their favorite time of the day….but it gets done!

Often in many different ways….

Really?? You are taking my picture now?
Hard at work!

We always need fuel for breakfast or lunch! Yesterday, we worked on putting pancakes and waffles in the freezer. I used some recipes from this book…Not your Mother’s Make Ahead and Freeze Cookbook . We tried the Lemon Flax Waffles and Bulk pancakes made with 100% whole wheat flour that I ground in my new grain mill and flax seed grinder.  I also made some instant oatmeal packets.
The freezer is pretty full!
Thursday- We are adjusting to having classes again. P. has the most this year, but two of the boys have an afternoon writing class.
We raced around trying to get history read, breakfast eaten before he went to do biology labs and algebra class. (He had Writing and Humanities on Tuesday). Labs are twice a month, but so far, I think we are getting into a groove!
After he left and H. for basketball practice, we finished our reading history. We are on track as far as our read alouds.
L. read Katie the Windmill Cat and did a math drill on top of his regular L. Arts and Math.
H. when he got home, had a snack and then did his math. If he gets a lower grade, he has to go back and fix it, so we had a few of those to do.
After Thursday’s writing class, H. typing his writing assignment into the computer before correcting it.
A supposedly fun reading game turned bad. It is certainly a Friday!
The tearful face, hidden beneath a sweater.
 If you can see the book title…it says it is a playful and fun way to teach reading.
 It does seem a little more fun with someone else watching him!
Book Basket reads for the day!
Snack break!
One of our little visitor’s for the day!
Taking a break with the baby….baby is sticking out his tongue at us!
  We got behind a huge semi with a part of a bridge trying to get through the round about on our way to our field trip and class.
Getting set up and listening to instructions!
 He just has fun no matter what!  Taking the quiz! Thinking hard!
 Explaining his point of view for survival in the woods.
 Sitting still for once….
 Working on writing down their answers
!  As you can see, sitting still did not last long
!  Serious faces over here though! Working on a topographic map activity.  It is always more fun working together!  Listening to P. explain what he would take to survive in the woods!
We decided a watermelon might not be the best choice for a food source! He also suggested a weather proof sleeping bag!
V. explaining her plan of action!
T. had some good plans and thoughts!   Listening and objecting to the arguments!
T. actually listened and presented well!
It was a great class and field trip! They learned a lot about the science of watching the weather, the area for survival techniques and reading a map!
It was a long week, with lots of things accomplished and I am absolutely exhausted! See you next week!