Little House In The Big Woods - Chapter 6

Language Arts:

Spelling:

Quivered

Eagerly

Frightened

Icicles

Vocabulary:

Eaves

Quivered

Calico

Eagerly

Mending

Questions:

What sort of things do you hope for when your parents make a trip to the store?

What sort of things might you hope for if you had lived in the same time as Laura?

Do you think the girls were frightened waiting for their father to come home? Why or why not?

Father and mother each had funny stories about trying to fight a bear. Who do you think was braver? Why?

Word Search

Science:

River Otter Print Out




Rabbit Lapbook

























Art:


Make tin can lanterns:

1. Fill an old can (family size soup cans work best) with water and put it in the freezer.

2. Have your child draw a simplistic drawing of something they would like to have on their lantern. You really only want a silhouette so that it will be recognizable once you make the design.

3. Use a rubber band to hold the paper with the drawing on it onto the tin can.

4. Take a hammer and nail and make holes at regular intervals all around the outline of your drawing so that you end up with wholes in the shape of your drawing when the paper is removed.

5. Run hot water over the can to remove the ice, dry the can.

6. Paint the can with acrylic paints.

7. Put a candle inside and enjoy!!!!

Makeup Monday

Instead of menu Monday I thought I would try something different this week. I thought it would be fun to share my current favorite makeup or beauty product, since a lot of my friends consider me somewhat of a go-to girl in this area.

First of all, let me tell you that I love love love makeup! I have spent a ton of money on makeup products, and there isn't much out there I haven't tried. I am a card holder at Sephora and Ulta, and visit them both at least a couple of times a month so that I can at least browse what new products are out there. Sephora is fun because if you have a points card there they even give you a free gift on your birthday!

This week I decided to talk about foundation. Foundation has been the hardest thing to find for me. I have probably tried 50 different foundations (or more) searching for one that made me happy with the way I look. I finally decided to give in, spend the money, and try Bare Minerals after a couple of friends told me it would be worth it. They were completely right. I have never been so happy with the way my skin looks in my life as I have been since I started using this foundation. If I get a pimple or something I don't worry as much as I used to because it is easy to cover without looking caked-on.

A few tips:

1. Go in store to have someone match your complexion when picking out the foundation. You might really be surprised by the color that they pick for you (I was, and so was at least one of my friends!)

2. Make sure you apply the concealer BEFORE the foundation or it will not look right.

3. Go light on their bronzer, if you get it.  I think it is way too dark (of course I am an extremely pale girl).

4. Have fun with it! Makeup is supposed to be fun, not a chore. Bringing out your natural beauty is an art. If you find yourself overwhelmed there are tons of books to help you learn how to apply makeup in the most flattering way, try it out! Just like any other talent, the art of makeup application must be learned! I read books about it and then just play with my makeup trying different things to see what works best with my bone structure and coloring.

Little House In The Big Woods - Chapter 5

Spelling:


Deserved
Noisy
Sorrowfully
Solemn
Knelt
Ceiling

Vocabulary:


Skins:
Sorrowfully:
Solemn:
Knelt:
Fidget:

Questions:


What are the white bears Pa talks about in this chapter, do you know?

Why do you think the girls weren't allowed to play in certain ways on Sundays?

In the bible the day of rest also began at sundown the night before and this Day of the Lord had a special name. Do you know what that name was?

Did you know what naughty thing grandpa and his brothers were going to do even before it happened? How did you know?

Word Search

PE:


Go sledding (Weather permitting)

Home-Ec:


Stitch a sampler. I got a cheap cross stitch kit from JoAnn's to teach my little girl with.

Make a doll dress. 18' Doll Dress pattern


Science:


River Otter Printout

Science - Week 4 - Oceans and Whales

Activities to go with Pages 31 - 34:

Orca print out

Orca Connect the Dots

Beluga Whale Print Out

Beluga Whale Connect the Dots

Narwhal Print Out

Narwhal Connect the Dots

Sperm Whale Print Out



Activities to go with pages 35-38:


Krill print out

Gray Whale print out

Right Whale print out


Humpback whale print out

Humpback whale word search

We also visited this website with fun interactive pictures and information about the ocean and creatures that live in it: Deep Sea Strangers

Thematic Units

I am so excited! I am working on so many thematic units right now, and I can't wait to share with everyone. I am working on a thematic unit about gardens for grade 3, a unit on rainbows for K-1st grade, and I have finished up (on paper) my Little House in the Big Woods unit and Science units so now we just have to physically do the activities so we have pictures and post them on here! Exciting, isn't it?

I thought I would post some book lists so that you can go ahead and get the books you need for the units you are interested in (Especially for you library-goers, those waiting lists can be killer!)

Books for Little House in the Big Woods:


Sugaring Season: Making Maple Syrup (Photo Books) for Chapter 7

and
for Chapter 8












Chickens on a Farm by Abbie Mercer

Pigs on a Farm by Abbier Mercer

Farm Animals. Pigs. by Cicilia Minden

for Chapter 9









for Chapter 10













for Chapter 11

Books Needed for the Science

and

Paper Ocean (Make Your Own), also:

Books Needed for the Garden Unit Study:

(I may still add to this one)

for art, language arts, math, etc.

For science:

Experiments With Plants and Other Living Things (Science Lab)

The Books for the Rainbow Unit Study:

(I haven't decided on my LA book for this unit yet, so I will definitely be adding more to this one as I progress)

 

For the last 3 books I am only using a few pages of each book. There is a lot more about rainbows out there then I had imagined!

for math, and I am considering whether or not the following book would be age (and topic) appropriate for social studies and haven't really decided yet. 

It's Just Another Day in the Park

Well it has been one crazy week! Our laptop's hard drive crashed and I lost all of my homeschool books, documents, resources, and all of my pictures. It was a little rough, and I am just now starting to be able to regroup.

This week is my spring break, so we have done a few fun things in addition to our regular school work. Although it was snowing on Monday, by today it was 80 degrees (crazy weather we have here) so we managed to go to the park and the zoo this week, in addition to visiting Chuck E Cheese for a cousin's birthday and competing in our last JBQ match of the season.  Here are a few highlights from our week:

Isabella won 6th place in bible quiz!

My niece, Aubrey, on the swing!

At the park (Alex loves the penguins!)

The new polar bear at our local zoo!

Isabella eating pizza at her cousin's birthday party.

Alex could hardly eat because they had a show on the stage and he wanted to hug Chuck E Cheese!

Art- Sewing Purses!

I have been teaching a sewing class at our homeschool co-op for weeks now and yesterday we finally finished our purses! I am so proud to share what these girls have done with you! We got the patterns from a book called I made it Myself which has tons of cute craft ideas for young girls and teenagers...

 

Aren't they all so adorable? Most of these girls are around 8 years old, they did a great job!

Review - Dr. Seuss' Super Stretchy ABC Game

This game is fantastic! If you do not own it you need to buy it, now! My kids both love to play it, and beg for it to be in their workboxes frequently!

The concept is like the game Twister, but you use the ABCs with corresponding "right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot, ear, etc." It gets pretty crazy! In addition to the ABC's the game will use things that start with the letters so that you learn your beginning letter sounds.

This game is great for reinforcing ABC and beginning letter sound concepts, I love it! Also, who wins the game is actually decided by chance, which I always find to be a nice thing with young children. All in all, this is my favorite game that I have purchased for my kids!

Little House In The Big Woods - Chapter 4

Language Arts:

Spelling:

Stout

Gilt

Ravine

Gaiters

Vocabulary:

Gilt:

Bobsled:

Muffler:

Ravine:

Snarling:

Gaiters:

Flatirons:

 Questions:

What special gift does Laura’s sister get for Christmas?

What does Ma get from Pa?

What do the other children get?

What form of transportation does the family use during the winter?

What did they put by their feet to keep them warm on the journey home?

How is the way this family celebrated Christmas the same as the way your family does?

How is it different?

Science:

Minks http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/weasel/Minkprintout.shtml

Wetland Animals (American Habitats) 

Chipmunks http://www.homeschoolshare.com/chipmunks.php

A Chipmunk's Inside Outside World

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/rodent/Chipmunkprintout.shtml


Physical Education:


Make pictures (snow angels) in the snow!

Home Ec:

Make Maple Candy

Try your hand at a woodworking project? They have kits at wal-mart and craft stores. It might be fun to make your own wood gifts like Pa did!

Art:

Make a paper sled! http://miniatures.about.com/od/christmasminiatures/ss/printsleigh_2.htm

And as always, 

Have a great time!!!

A new Unit Study! I need Your Help to Decide What it Will Be!

I just got my homework assignment in from my children's literature class and I get to work on another Unit Study, and do it for a grade! Yippee!

No, I haven't forgotten about my Little House in the Big Woods study, and I plan on resuming work (and posting) on it this week. We had been doing modified (and greatly reduced) school work due to my surgery and then illness.

I normally work on my own curriculum (my unit study, science, living math, and activities to go with expedition earth geography) and then I fit in textbooks and worksheets in between to fill in time and to make sure there aren't any gaps in learning. However, with all of the changes we have been going through I have just been having Isabella work solely from books and worksheets.

The upcoming unit study will be a nice kick-off to getting us back on track for our last quarter, and it will be fun for me to do something new and challenging. I know that Isabella and Alex are ready for me to go back to being the "fun exciting" homeschool mom that I normally am instead of a boring person who hands out "paperwork" for them to do.

So, now the dilemma is what to do my unit study on? Some suggestions were whales, clouds, weather, trains.


I had thought about doing rainbows or something of the sort because spring is coming and I want to do something spring-y. Do you have any suggestions for a theme I can pick that relates to spring and that I will be able to find books and come up with lots of ideas for different curriculum areas? If so, please comment! 

 It's warm outside! Finally, we are getting 60 degree weather and that means parks, picnics, and more!

 We are so excited around here. I can't stand winter. If it were up to me we would probably move somewhere warmer. Until then, we must make do with vacations and fantasies. 

I always try to re-vamp my physical education program in the spring, now that it is warm enough to get outside.

Some things that we are considering: A homeschool PE program at a local community center, swimming lessons, ice skating lessons, PE cards from confessions of a homeschooler.

Some fun things we have found to do inside are nickelodeon fit, and just dance. We actually got a Gamefly membership so that we can get the different Wii games and then switch them out when we get bored. It has been a lot of fun!

Review of a New Favorite Game - Kinder Bunnies

Lately my little ones have a new favorite game. Usually we have to play it every night after we get our pajamas on to help bribe, erhm, motivate, us to go to bed afterwards. My entire family loves this game. Our 8 year old plays the older version, Killer Bunnies with us, but it is too hard for our 3 year old.



Kinder Bunnies is actually easy enough that my 3 year old could play without help after only about 3 games. We like to have him add up the cards at the end to see who has won so that it is educational for him, as well!

















Alex loves KinderBunnies!

Here is a picture of him throwing a weapons card on his daddy! The weapons cards are all things like matches, balls on stairs, electrical outlets, so we have used them to teach about what things around the house are dangerous! Alex always yells "you shouldn't touch a hot pan, bunnies!" When he throws a card. He walks around the table like he is playing "duck, duck, goose" to decide who he will put it on instead of just throwing it across the table.

Bella really concentrating on her next move...

Alex rolling the dice to see if his bunny survived an attack! He always shakes the dice in his hand even though they can't move in his tiny fist!

 Alex has chosen who he will put his weapon on! Watch out!