Week of January 12, 2015

Well, last week got hectic. So I didn't have a chance to blog each night. Sorry. So here is one long post to share what we did last week.

Science: CrossWired Science http://www.crosswiredscience.com/
This is a really new program that I found out about at a local homeschool convention. They still have some kinks to work out, and it sometimes frustrates me. But the concept is great. We add to their video lesson and turn each video into 2 days worth of science.

Rocks, Rock Cycle and Type of Rocks:
Our video with Crosswired science was about geology. It was a very entry level introduction to rocks and the rock cycle. I of course added lots to it. We watched about 8 videos, listened to some songs, did worksheets, did experiments, went on a rock hunt and much more. Here are a few pictures from our rock activities.

Our experiment with pumice. 

Pumice, even though a rock, will float. 

This came in our science kit from CrossWired Science. It is a rock board. 

This is a worksheet activity that I got at Homeschool Den. They learn about how rocks are used in building. 

Rock flash cards

Working on the rock cycle

Another worksheet from Homeschool Den. This one taught the kids about 12 popular "rocks". We looked each one up and learned a little more about them. The kids knew about some, but not all of them.

Bryce and Chloe went on a 'rock hunt'. Here is what they found. The picture doesn't show the 'shiny' real well. 

Preparing to make our different rocks

Sediments...

Just to show what we were using :)

When sediments come together, by different means, including erosion, we get sedimentary rocks. 

Here is metamorphic. Change due to heat and pressure, turn sedimentary rocks into metamorphic rocks. 

They put the 'sedimentary' together and smashed it with a book. Making a metamorphic rock. 

They then heated the metamorphic rock and made an igneous rock. 

Mom look, it looks like lava. A real igneous rock.

After it cooled. It lost most of its color, was really hard and shiny!

For Bible we are still digging deep into Philippians. I didn't find the first lesson we were using to really be a good fit after using it for a couple of week. So I searched the internet and found several others to follow. I found a Bible study, a sermon series and some foot note type sheets to use. It made it a bit easier today when we did Bible. Today we read Philippians 1: 3-11. We will continue on these few verses tomorrow. Really digging deep and getting the kids to think about what Paul is trying to tell/teach them. 

The Littles AKA Bryce and Chloe: Last week for our 'fun' lessons, we learned about bears. Different types of bears, hibernation, what they eat and where they live. We did a lapbook from Homeschool Share (http://www.homeschoolshare.com/bears.php) and they liked it. We did a couple different pieces each day and assembled the lapbook on Friday. 

We also did some math with gummy bears. Of course more got eaten than used for math :)

Sorting and graphing with gummy bears

sorting with gummy bears

sorting and graphing with gummy bears

We also did this cute worksheet (I think I got it from TPT) They had to roll the dice and make a check mark above the number that they rolled. Racing to the top of the Page. 

Chloe

Bryce

Part of our language this year is leaning different words. Words we wouldn't normally learn. I bought this set of word cards at the homeschool convention and we are really enjoying them. In a short time the kids have learned 30 new words...words that they are remembering...words that they know the meanings of and synonyms and antonyms of. Worth what I paid for them.
http://www.marieswords.com/

We didn't get to everything that I had planned for the week. I really don't like it when that happens, but life just got in the way. Maybe we will be able to revisit some of the lessons over the next year, as review, and we can do the other activities.

Whales and Swiss Family Robinson

After a very late start due to not much sleep last night...we were able to salvage part of our day.

While everyone was still sleeping, I ran to the store to stock up on Chicken and bacon that was a 12 hour sale. When I got back home, almost everyone was awake.

We made toast with cookie butter for everyone and sat down to do Bible. We continued reading Philippians today. We read the first 2 chapters again and talked about how we can relate some of Paul's circumstances to our own. We stopped a lot to talk about what we were reading and to discuss what the verses meant to us.

We quickly moved into our whale lesson from Swiss Family Robinson. I gave the kids the little bags of goldfish that I bought them. (did you know that Walmart does not have the Whale cheese crackers anymore?? I was very disappointed). But, the kids didn't really care, they were just glad to get a snack that they like that I don't buy very often.

To help them grasp the size of a whale (Blue Whale to be exact) we went outside. I asked Chloe and Bryce to start by the garage and then walk down the driveway and stop when they thought that is how big a whale is. They walked and stopped at the end of the driveway. 

I asked them to come back and I gave them a *whale's tail*. You can see that I am no artist. 

Justin had pre-measured 100 ft of fishing line and he came to stand by the littles. Blake took the other end and started walking. They could not believe it when he passed the end of the driveway. Blake kept walking until he was across the street by the stop sign. 

Can you see him way out there?? Samantha is standing at the end of the driveway, to show how big they thought the whale was. 

Here Bryce and Chloe were just being silly. They thought they were bigger than a whale's tail, I didn't tell them that I didn't make the tail to scale. 

We came back in and each child gave their mini report on their whale. Blake started. 

Paige went next

Then Samantha

And lastly, Justin. Who like always, didn't use his time wisely and was scrambling at the last minute. 

After reports, come videos, listening to whale sounds and reading some information that I had for them, we had a treat...I know it is a stretch, but you can't find much for whales. So we had *blow holes*. 

To end the lesson we simulated whale blubber with an experiment. I put vegetable shortening in a large plastic bag, Justin filled a bowl full of ice water and we ready to begin. 

Each child put their hand into an empty ziplock and then put it into the shortening. We then put the hand in the ice water. They were able to see that the *blubber* helped them not feel the cold so much. Just like it does on whales. 

Lastly, Paige made this really cute Orka, the whale she did her mini report on, out of a cucumber. I thought she did a great job. 

We read 2 more chapters in SFR after our whale unit, had lunch and ran to Walmart. That is when I ran out of energy. We will do a bit more on butterflies tomorrow with the little two and finish up our Atom and Molecules lesson with the older ones. 

Oh, they older kids still did math, copy work, memory work and chores. So the day was not all lost.