Turkey Leftovers

It's always hard getting back into the swing of things after a long weekend. Well, the turkey leftovers are all eaten and the last of the apple pie is almost gone. Yum Yum!

We had a busy school week last week with crafts, cooking and other thanksgiving hosting preparations. We opened up our home to a total of 13 family members. A merry and filling time was had by all.

The rest of the weekend was spent resting and having fun as a family. On Saturday we saw the new movie Enchanted. It was very well done. Coco was a dreamy state all day long after seeing the movie.

We put off decorating the house until next weekend. I just needed some down time before decorating for the next big major event Christmas. Luckily, our Christmas shopping is going very well. We are a lot further ahead tan compared to last year. Even with adopting a family for Christmas through the Salvation Army this year hasn't set us back, timing wise. There are still packages to be wrapped and other home made gifts to be started and finished along with my long list of to dos. I hoping to really savor the season this year. To do this I'm looking into studying different Christmas hymns with the children. This should really help us get into the Christmas spirit around here and keep is grounded in why we celebrate this blessed event every year.

This week we off studying about Washington in our State unit adventure. I will try to post this Saturday about our week. It should be fun!

Enjoy this time of year! Sip some hot cocoa for me and watch a good old Christmas favorite.

Hugs,
Amy

California Study: Bridges and Earthquakes

Saturday November 17, 2007

This is our last week learning about California. We have spent just four weeks learning about the history, natural resources and extra stuff about our state. Four weeks just isn't enough time to accomplish everything. Sadly, I never got to have an orange party for the oranges that are grown here. I guess I can save the idea for our study on Florida.

This week the focus was on bridges and earthquakes. I wanted to tie in a little more Science. Our unit was heavy on history so I thought this would be a great way to sneak in some needed Science. Since our week was short with a holiday, field trip and co-op I had to pick ideas that would get to the point quickly.

Here is what we learned about earthquakes:

I taught the kids about the interior of the earth. For instance, the inner and outer core. Then we talked about the plates. I showed them how the plates are drifting an pushing together using play-doh. Then we reviewed earthquake safety. What we do in the event of an earthquake. We still need to update our earthquake bins with fresh water and throw out expired food. If we have time this coming week during our Thanksgiving break we will try to get this done.

At co-op on Thursday the kids got to make a seismograph. We still need to test it out on the spin cycle on our washing machine.

We had fun learning about the different types of bridges. The kids learned how caissons were made with a quick Science experiment. They learned that the Golden Gate is a suspension bridge. The construction and history of it. They even had to construct it using our dining room chairs and string. Here are some pictures to share:

Here are the books that we read this week:

-Golden Gate Bridge by Jennifer Fandel

-Bridges by Carol Johmann

-Earthquakes by David Harrison

- Pop's Bridge by Eve Bunting

-Francis the Earthquake Dog by Judith Ross Enderle

-The Earth Dragon Awakes by Laurence Yep

_ We also finished The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman this week..Yeah!

Next week will be a light week of reading and fun Thanksgiving crafts and prep for the big day. I'm hoping to get back to our Vincent Van Gogh study. I had to put it on the back burner with all the busyness around here. The week after Thanksgiving we will be learning about Washington. It's my week to lead co-op too. I'm thinking I'll have the kids construct a volcano. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Take this time of the year to reflect on the many blessing the Lord has provided for you this year. Praise His name! For He is Lord!

Eureka! California Gold Rush

November 10, 2007

This past week in school the kids learned about the California Gold Rush. We had a fun and creative learning with this one. On Monday, after I read to them a little about the California gold rush I had them try their hands at gold digging. I got the idea from a teacher book to give the kids a store bought chocolate chip cookie and a toothpick. They were to use the toothpick to pull out as many gold nuggets(Chocolate chips) as they could. Baba even wanted to try this one. What kid could pass up chocolate chip cookie crumbs.

I expanded on this concept a bit further by using a plastic Math scale to have them weigh their findings. Our scale weights only had gram weights to be used so we needed to learn how to convert grams into ounces.
We found out that an ounce of gold back then was priced at $21.00. I had my oldest, Chip do the conversions and weighing. The winner would be named the best "forty-niner" in the family.

Chip learned that there are 28 grams in one ounce. After weighing he discovered that each kid did not even have an ounce or a half ounce. Coco had a quarter of an ounce. He calculated roughly $5.25. Baba from what I remember had earned $3.33. Chip had $2.25. I think more eating and less digging took place with the boys. Coco was our mighty "forty-niner"!

When the kids were finished they got to eat their gold and some more yummy cookies!

After writing about the Gold Rush on Tuesday the kids wanted to dig in the backyard in search for gold. All they did find was rocks and a rusty old nail.

On Thursday we had a field trip to the Western Heritage Museum. We enjoyed a docent led tour about the Gold Rush and the Indian Culture. The Gold Rush event was educational and hands on for the kids. The lady was impressed that our kids were so knowledgeable. The kids got to outfitted as gold miners and to experience panning for gold. If you are ever in the Los Angeles area you must visit the Western Heritage Museum. You must preregister in advance to do the docent led program.

Here are a list of books that we read this week:

-Boom Town by Sonia Levitin

-The Story of the Gold at Sutter's Mill by Conrad Stein

-Paul Bunyan by Eric Blair

-Paul Bunyan by Brian Gleeson

That's all Folks!

Our Classroom Mascots

November 10, 2007

Reluctantly, we had to get rid of our previous cat that we had adopted. He was a male Tabby, Spike. We adopted him from a no-kill shelter. He had many issues that our family couldn't take anymore. We put the inevitable on hold. Praying about it and waiting for our daughter, Coco to give us the OK. He became more aggressive and neurotic. We finally had to explain to her that he needed to go. We explained to her that we tried to love him the best we could but he just wasn't willing to return the affection. God provided a great learning opportunity in this.

About three weeks later we adopted to kittens. Two brothers from a very affectionate home with a mother who loved and cared for them. They are so lovable and the difference is like night and day. Our daughter Coco says it was hard for our old cat, Spike because he was an abandoned kitten and lived at the shelter. The kittens we have now had a mother that cared for and loved them. She is so right. Here are few pictures of our two rascals...

More about our Mission Study

November 3, 2007

I'm actually posting this a week later. After the kids were sick two weeks ago I ended up getting a sinus infection. My head was so stuffy and it was quite painful. We still managed to do school even if it was from my bed. The kids enjoyed it and asked the following Monday if we were going to be doing that again. Here are some photos from our California study on missions and Halloween snapshots of the kids.


Here are the kids pumpkins that they carved. Baba had the most fun. He wanted to save all of his seeds to replant them for next year. Sadly, each year I keep forgetting to plant seeds in the summer. One year I did it with the kids our pumpkins were huge. Hopefully, this year I will make a better point to do this.






Here are the two boys in their costumes. Coco was too sick to join in the fun at church that night. I stayed home with her. We watched movies and ate candy. I was too cold that night for a young girl with a terrible cough. Baba's costume will come in handy when we study Lewis and Clark in a few weeks. I will have to save this costume for Baba's kids one day.

For our California Mission study I had the kids build a model in conjunction with a report. They chose San Juan Baptista Mission. I opted to get a package model from the craft store. I am so glad I decided to do this. Less stressful and with the kids being sick it was a quick project. Here are a few photos.

We added sand to the paint for the walls. It help give it more texture. Just the two older kids worked on this project.

Chip also wrote a report about the San Juan Bautista Mission. We added a board with pictures from our trip to the mission too. Coco wrote a report on Father Serra.

Next week we will be learning about the California Gold Rush. Here is a list of books:

- Mission San Juan Bautusta by Allison Draper

-Father Junipero Serra by Sarah Bowler

-How they Lived a Mission Padre by David Stienecker

-Nine for California by Sonia Levitin