Friday, January 25, 2013

Weekly Wrap- Up: Winter Week 4

It has been truly a light work week here! It was so welcomed and we enjoyed learning every bit as we had much more time with just us. I always wondered how our school week would feel like if I wasn't working at the same time. Let's just say by Wednesday we were missing our preschool friends. The whole dynamic of me working while they are schooling plays a major role that we have come to appreciate. They love sharing their lessons and helping just as much as I do! I guess since they have grown up this way this is just what they are use to. The weather was too cold to enjoy some winter fun, hopefully this weekend we can take advantage of the snow and go sledding:) We are definetly going to make it to the library since we having gone in over a month, this is a long time for us.

We changed our morning routine a bit by doing Bible Study first instead of reading.

It worked well except we will have to change it to the afternoon because Michelle will like to join in. Michelle leaves for school in the mornings and returns back at 12:30 so we will be doing Bible Study after lunch. A positive change I must say because if she wants to be a part of Bible Study that is a good thing!     

Language Arts was very exciting this week as they delved deeper into their work inspired by The Story of Writing.

Making paper was a success. This activity led Ken to start writing a research paper on Paper. Ken is trying to find out did paper first originate in Egypt or China.

Both of them have been spending a great deal of time learning about the telegraph and writing Morse Codes.          

They loved learning the first steps in Chinese Brush Painting.
DJ was able to write how old he is in Chinese by using some flashcards I had available. I forgot to take a picture of those cards, but they are from a Hooked on Chinese kit that I purchased years ago when Michelle was five or six, she has always loved learning to speak and write different languages. I was happy to have them for use again. Actually that is how it normally goes here. Many times I have purchased things that they may not have been ready for or interested in and then when the interests arrives I am all set and ready to follow their lead. It is very important to me to be prepared when the moment arrives so I can assist their needs immediately, sometimes it works:)
                                                                      
We reread and read a lot out of the books  A Little History of Our World" By Gombrich and Ox, House, Stick: The History of the Alphabet by Don Robb.  They also took a spelling quiz given by each other using words from the All About Spelling program level 5.

Math was full of Binomial equations, Division and From Drawing was added in as well.

                                                  Using Bead Bars to illustrate the equations.

 The division equations had DJ figuring out the divisor, so he had to remove the skittles after completing the rows to find the answer. I didn't take a picture of just the two skittles showing after he completed the problem. I am a visual person and I think that if I had included the picture you may get a better understanding of this work. The equations cards come from Montessori For Everyone with detailed explanations on how to do this work.

They both worked on divisibility rules by playing this fun game from here.
 In order to make a touch down they had to answer the problems correctly the other player checks it by using a calculator, the amount of yards you move if they answer was correct was determined by the Yard Card you pulled. Fun stuff !                                                                         
                                                                               
 To say that they enjoyed Form Drawing would be an understatement.  

Here are other activities that I was happy to capture on camera too.

                       Learning the names and location of the internal organs

                                                  Exploring clothing from around the world.

                                                     Learning names of countries in Africa
                              
And of course they have been trying to figure out more ways to make more money with their Popcorn business,

                                 
    I am linking this post to What's New hosted by Vibrant Wanderings and Weekly-Ups hosted by Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.                                                                     
                                                                             


                                                         
Homegrown Learners
         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

8 comments:

  1. Wow! So much good stuff again! Love the Chinese writing. Bear did some Chinese Writing several years ago when he did a history fair project about China.

    I love Ken's Hello Kitty shirt!

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  2. We have enjoyed brush writing and telegraphs/Morse codes too. What book are you using for the form drawing (and where did you get it)? I would like to use that, too.

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  3. I got the Form Drawing book from Math By Hands. It is full of drawings from first grade through 4th. Since we are just starting we are doing the first grade drawings.

    Now that you mention it, I do remember reading your post on Morse Codes. I am going to revisit it to get some inspiration.

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  4. You guys always amaze me with how productive you are and how cooperative the kids are! I'm jealous!! Anyway...I think I missed something. When did Michelle go back to school part time?

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  5. The telegraph machine looks like so much fun. You all did so much great learning.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  6. A light work week in your house is still quite busy! I'm really taken by the form drawing. I'm going to have to dig around and look into that more! I'm so looking forward to seeing where the popcorn business goes, too. Such entrepreneurial children you have!

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  7. Looks like such a great week. Enjoying reading your post.

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