Week One

WooHoo! We did it!! We successfully completed our first week of school. It wasn't without a few bumps along the way, but frankly I have come to expect them. As a whole, the week was a great one and I feel like we established a solid routine and got tons accomplished. We even had some fun! Shhh, don't tell ;)

Bible:

This week our memory verse was John 3:16. We dissected this very familiar verse and really dug into what it means. We focused on "For God so loved the WORLD" We read an interesting book called God Speaks Numanggang which was about Bible translators in Papua New Guinea. It took this couple 35 years to translate Psalms and the New Testament into Numanggang. Amazing what Bible translators do. Another interesting fact from this book, is that there are over 700 different languages in Papua New Guinea alone. We will be praying for the work these missionaries do around the world.

Geography:
This week we began learning about maps and globes. The kids learned about compass roses and how to find areas on a world map like the equator, the northern and southern hemispheres, the north and south poles, and all 7 continents. We even began learning about scale. They got to make a map of their bedrooms using a 1 inch = 1 foot scale.

Isaac working on labeling a world map

Julia reading in the book Geograhpy A to Z

Julia working on her world map

Isaac measuring his room to make his map

Science:
The kids learned about ecosystems, habitats, and niches. On Wednesday, they got to mark off a part of the backyard to do some observations of habitats found there. On Friday we got to get dirty as we made a habitat for earthworms. My kids LOVED this!!! They will observe the changes in the habitat for 5 days to discover what the earthworm's niche is.

Backyard habitat observations

Backyard habitat observations

Worms!!! Look at those smiles!!!

 

She wasn't a bit squeamish!

Earthworm habitat

Getting our hands dirty

Music:
If I can get the video to post, I would love to show you the song we are learning right now called "Hello to All the Children of the World" They performed it for Gabe Friday night when he got home from work. So cute!

Isaac:
Isaac worked on multiplication through Math U See, began his Writing Strands book, worked through 3 groups of spelling lists through Spelling Power. The process for Spelling Power is different for Isaac but I think it will benefit him. I like bringing in lots of different ways to learn something. He and Julia both learned about explicit information through our Reading Skill Builders book. Isaac worked diligently through the week. Sometimes he struggles with negative thinking, but we powered through and hopefully built some confidence and character along the way.

Julia:
Julia does well working independently and ever the "student" that she is will work ahead of her assignments. She finished a week's worth of Explode the Code in one day! She is on lesson 20 in her Spelling book (Spelling with Sound and Structure), which we continued from last year. She got all but one word correct on her spelling test! Way to go!! Julia did a lesson of review of place value through MUS and also began her Writing Strands book.

Caleb:
This is Caleb's first official year of school. He really enjoyed doing "school" with Mama, and he was even sick with what we found out to be pneumonia. Caleb learned the nursery rhyme, "Hey Diddle Diddle" and also learned colors through the book Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See? He was happy to sing, color, and paint.

Cereal rainbow

"Hey Diddle Diddle" mobile

Tonight the kids helped plan a presentation for Gabe. He expressed the desire to know more about what they are learning, so we thought this would be a fun way to show him and for the kids to present what they have learned. It was fun to watch them show their Papa all that they have learned this week.

It was a great first week. Now to get ready for Week 2!!