Unit 7- Bigger Hearts

Bigger Unit 7

*IMPORTANT NOTE* 
Starting this week, I have decided to separate my posts.  I have been putting both Bigger and Creation to Christ together each week, but I feel that's making for really long posts, so from now on, they will each have their own post. 
   
      I felt like the focus this week shifted a lot.  In science, we covered the basic parts of a flower, then the formation of fossils, and also the order of the planets.  In history, we started by reading about the wigwams that housed Native Americans, then moved on to the trading of goods and services among the colonists, and ended with a geography lesson about islands, isthmuses, and bays.  Because of all this fluctuating, I will say Bean was not as focused on school this week and it was my least favorite week to teach so far.  But still, good information was presented and she did take some things away from our studies.

Bean worked diligently on building a clay wigwam.  We did make the clay with flour, salt and water, however, it does not dry well if you don't thin it out enough.  The bowl was to help keep the shape as she pushed on the "covering."

Cinnamon Toast Crunch acted as our hides to cover the outside of the wigwam.  I don't have a finished product picture because it all kind of fell apart when we tried to take it off the bowl.  My suggestions: roll the dough out to a thinner piece and keep it on a bowl until COMPLETELY dry.

Bean made a list of things that are goods vs. services.  That one on the bottom of the "goods" side is an egg. :)

Here's the diagram of the different parts of a flower.  I think she did a great job of copying this picture out of the book.  Ok, ok, I'll admit, I MAY have helped with the outline of the left side of the flower, but Bean is such a perfectionist that sever frustration develops if she doesn't think it looks "right."  The point of the lesson is not artistic ability, it's learning the flower parts, so I help when I can.

I forgot to take a picture of the experiment part of this science lesson.  We used store bought clay and different toys with feet to make a "fossil."  The drawing represents the foot of Woody (Toy Story), Barbie, and a Polly Pocket.

      We skipped the activity that was part of the geography lesson for day four.  The lesson called for the student to use a bowl and sand with rocks to make a landscape, then pour water over it a little at a time.  The goal was to observe peninsulas with isthmuses or bays or islands forming.  We were crunched on time that day and I didn't want to consume those supplies when I felt the concept could be completely taught on paper, so we instead used the internet to look up examples of each different concept on maps.

Notebooking covered some of the first things colonists became adept at growing in America.  Rice and indigo were popular crops in the South Carolina region.

Here's a look at Bean's timeline in progress.  This week she added John Winthrop.  She also added Nathaniel Bacon, who was the man that burned Jamestown to the ground, but he's in another column, so no picture this time. :)

      Finally, there was a science exploration that included placing index cards on the floor with the planet's names on them.  They were to be spaced apart using centimeters to represent their respective distance from the sun.  Neptune was to be placed 450 cm away from where you started.  That's 14.75 feet, folks!  We definitely ran out of room and I couldn't fit the whole thing in a picture.  Still, Bean understood the concept...it's really far away from the sun!

     I have to say, I thought the question for the planet project was a little funny.  "What is the order of the planets from nearest to farthest from the sun?"  Um, Bean didn't even know the NAMES of all the planets.  How was she suppose to guess at their order?  Oh well.  I just gave a little more time to the lesson so we could cover "My Very Elderly Mother Just Sent Us Nine P..." wait.... that doesn't work anymore! LOL  I just turned "nine" into "nickles."

    

Unit 6 Bigger and Creation to Christ

Bigger

There weren't as many notable projects this week, I felt.  It did make for a long week since Bean quickly became tired of doing "regular" work.  Hopefully next week goes back to a good balance between the necessary reading/writing work and fun activities.  I'll admit that we did leave out one project.  Perhaps just that one project made the difference.

We did not do the painting project that involved using different fruit juices (day 4).  I could not justify purchasing containers of orange, apple, grape, and lemon juice just to do a painting that I couldn't imagine would turn out well.  Bean was a little disappointed to lose the artistic project of the week, but she recovered quickly.

Also, this was the first week that we started a new spelling curriculum.  For Bean, I chose to use a Christian Liberty Press spelling book that I happened to already have on hand.  Although Building Spelling Skills: Book 2 is technically a 2nd grade textbook, I felt it was a good starting point for where she's at now.  Since spelling is tied with visual memory, and that is something she's getting help with at her occupational therapy, I do not want to make it too difficult for her.

This was a fun activity! To see how well she could have competed with William Penn, a Quaker who enjoyed playing jumping games, we took measurements of her leaps.  I think her gymnastic classes gave her the edge! LOL

This week Bean learned that is took some trial and error to discover which things were effective medicine.  I'm not sure how anyone could ever think that pine cones would remove wrinkles, but I doubt it took many trials for them to figure out it was ineffective!

The supplies to illustrate how the body fights off infection and forms an immunity to disease.

Eventually people did learn that our bodies have the ability to kill some viruses and bacteria and even protect us from getting it again.  Since Bean is more interested in the human body than any other aspect of science right now, she found this extremely intriguing.

The Storytime box on day 3 calls for 10 or more hot air balloon baskets to be drawn ascending on a piece of paper.  I created this document to use and want to share it with you all.  I've never shared a document before, so if it doesn't work, please let me know right away.  You can click here to download it from Google Docs.

I also created this Benjamin West paint palette as called for on day 5.  You can click here to download this document from Google Docs.  Again, please let me know if you have any difficulty obtaining this.

Creation to Christ

Bug made a column like that found in Egypt at the Temple of Karnak.  A trick we discovered to help while decorating was to stick an empty toilet paper tube inside.  That gave it good stability so she was able to do the drawings.

A week learning about primates wouldn't be my favorite week of science, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much Bug learned.  It became evident one night as the family was watching the TV show Cash Cab.  The bonus question included a video of an Aye Aye and asked the contestant what kind of animal was being shown.  Bug jumped off the couch and shouted, "I know this! That's an Aye Aye!"  I was as proud of her as she was of herself! :)

Science also explored the topic of depth perception and its importance to both humans and primates.  Sorry for my shadow in the picture! I'm not a spectacular photographer by any means.  Here Bug first estimated the distance from where she was standing to the car.  Then Bean helped her to do the actual measurement. 

I loved this week's painting! The background colors go together beautifully and the fireflies scattered across the page are so cute.  However, we did have to talk about what trees look like! I think we'll see better branches in future paintings.

I knew some of the reasons behind each plague that God sent to the Egyptians, but it was nice to learn the significance behind each one of them.  It really helped Bug to make sense of this situation, too.

All in all, another great week of Heart of Dakota!

Unit 5 Bigger and Creation to Christ

Bigger

This is the first week that we really got everything done in a timely fashion and didn't feel overwhelmed with the amount of material.  I guess it really does just take a while to find your groove with this program.  If you are struggling, don't give up! It will get better. :)

Bean made this Indian sand painting.  We did not dye salt, as suggested in the guide, but instead used some colored sand we happened to already have on hand.

We started a new genre in our Storytime section: Adventure.  Bean and I were both VERY happy to be done with the biography Ben and Me. It had vocabulary that made it difficult for Bean to understand, thus her interest level was very low.  This is a picture of the activity we did to kick off the adventure book Snow Treasure.  Don't skip this, folks.  I thought it would be a waste of time, but Bean really got a kick out of me making "Buzzzzz" and "Ding ding ding ding" noises as she worked on the "combination."

In science we used glitter to show how germs are on our hands and why soap and warm water are most effective at removing them.  It's amazing all the places the glitter ended up landing (notebook, chair, counter, pencil, clothes)! Wonderful visual reminder of the importance of hand washing in the prevention of spreading germs.

We read about the pilgrims this week and their need for food.  The first column shows needs while the second shows wants.  I hesitated when she wanted to choose money as a need, but ultimately felt that in our culture, it is indeed more a need than a want, so I allowed it.

I loved the poetry activity this week.  There isn't always a paper activity with poetry, but for this poem Bean drew a picture of what she thought the poet was describing.  I've included the poem below for your comparison. :)

At the end of the week we began to introduce the idea of astronomy.  Sailors can use the North Star to guide them, so we drew the Big Dipper using a white crayon on black construction paper.  Word of advice, plan out the whole thing before starting because these stars ending up being a little too big and the North Star is squished up in the corner. LOL

Creation to Christ

I have a secret.  (Well, not for very long since I'm about to tell everyone in this post.)  I like CTC better than Bigger.  I think maybe it's because it's more advanced material, but it may also be because the topics are more interesting and the work seems more purposeful. Not to say that I dislike Bigger.  It's just that if I had to pick, I'd have no problem choosing. :)

Egyptian Palace Bread was the history project this week.  You are suppose to soak the break in honey, but we were fresh out of that, so instead we used some pure maple syrup.  It was a sticky, sticky mess and the bread kept breaking apart.  Then you bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes.

In the end, I think it turned out similar to the original design.  I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Bug and Bean weren't thrilled with it.  I thought it was palatable, but that's about the most praise I could give it.  Always good to try new things, though!

We started a new genre for Bean, too, in the Storytime box.  Adventure is afoot in this book, The Good Master by Kate Seredy.  I was doubtful that it would be interesting, but I gave it a shot since it was a Newbery Medal winner.  I do not regret choosing this book!  From the very first day, Bug and I were both deeply drawn into the book and had a hard time putting it down. 

At the beginning of the week, Bean showed how the continents fit together to form Pangaea.  I used the the National Geographic link provided in the guide to print the continents and then Bug assembled them for her notebook.

Later in the week, she continued her study of animal tracks by making homemade clay out of flour, salt, and water.  Then she used the back of a spoon and toothpicks to make different animal tracks.  Yes, that wild animal that lives in my home even left her own "track."  :)

Well, this is certainly not one of her best poetry paintings, I'll admit.  It's suppose to be rocks with dark shadows at the bottom.  I think the gray is suppose to add dimension.  She also did some scraping with a toothpick which was completely ineffective since the paint had already dried long before she could get to that step.  Yeah, it's...something.  Oh well.  They can't all be perfect! LOL

Finally, these are the completed history notebook pages for the week.  I love seeing these filled with all the information.  Also, I know Bean gets a huge sense of accomplishment at the end of each week.

Unit 4 CTC and Bigger- The "Nitty Gritty"

For the past three units I've shown you all the "fun" activities and projects that the girls get to do during a week of this Heart of Dakota program.  They are absolutely a wonderful part of our day and add a much needed dimension of enjoyment to learning.  Things like art projects, history activities, and science experiments help children learn by involving them in the discovery of new information. 

However, that's not all we do during the week.  There are also the more "basic" lessons that need to be learned and can't all be turned into fun projects.  So this week, I will show you a glimpse of the other work my girls accomplish.  Oh, there may also be a few things that were too fun for me not to share!

**Disclaimer: Not all the picture may be from work that was done during week 4.  I did try to get close to that time frame, but sometimes I just flipped open the notebook and took a picture of something that was representative of their work in that subject no matter the specific week.**

Fear not! This will be the only time I do an entire post dedicated to these mundane topics. I know everyone likes to see the finished projects from each unit.

Bigger Unit 4 "Nitty Gritty"

Bean can't do much of her schoolwork without teacher direction, but one of the things she can do independently is cursive practice.  

Individual letter practice right now, but soon Bean will be writing a short verse.  In A Reason for Handwriting each week ends with a coloring page to display the student's writing and that's Bean's favorite part!

For English, Bean is being introduced to sentence diagramming and also focusing on proper punctuation.

Rod and Staff 3: Beginning Wisely is the first in the series to offer worksheet for some of the lessons.  Whenever those are available, Bean completes them instead of doing the copywork from the text.  That really speeds things along!

At this point, I think we will be abandoning the spelling as assigned by HOD an using another curriculum instead.  That will start with week six, once I have the textbook.

A typical dictation page as assigned in the HOD manual.  I do not feel the words challenge spelling ability.  Bean is able to spell every word ahead of the schedule.  This is a Charlotte Mason approach to learning with which I just can't seem to get on board.

History and geography have written work as well as the projects.  Last week you saw that we do vocabulary words on index cards each week.  We get those words from our history reading. There is also geography work that includes drawing and labeling maps and then adding the routes of different explorers.

An acrostic using the letters from the name POCAHONTAS. 

An ongoing timeline of the people and events studied in history.

Of course, there's math work to be done each day.  This is certainly her least favorite subject.  She is doing Saxon Math Homeschool Intermediate 3 this year.  It is the longest part of our school day since Bug does struggle with it so much.  No matter the program, math will be a difficult subject for her, so I do not attempt to do another program because I feel the change would actually be very detrimental to her.

Sample page of daily math practice.

Working diligently on a practice set.

For Drawn Into the Heart of Reading, she just finished the biography genre with a book about Helen Keller and will be moving on to the Adventure genre with the book The Littles. 

On day one of the Helen Keller book, she asked some questions about the book based only on the cover and synopsis of the story.  On the last day of reading, we went back to answer those questions.

Experiment for the week: discovering why some plants and animals float more easily than others.

A dropper filled only half-way with water will float like a stalk of seaweed due to the air trapped at the top.

When she guessed that salt in the water helps them float, I was pleased to realize that she indeed paid attention the week we studied salt water. :)

Creation to Christ Unit 4 "Nitty Gritty"

During CTC, the student only completes half the English textbook for the year since writing assignments sometimes take the place of an English assignment.  Because of that, she is still near the beginning of the book and only doing review material at this point.

Rod and Staff 4: Building with Diligence.  Worksheets are done instead of text copywork if they are available. 

Bug has also been doing the HOD dictation as her spelling lessons.  Again, I don't feel this challenges her spelling ability as much as it challenges her ability to quickly memorize a passage for transcription. Not sure there is much long-term value in that at this point.

As with Bean, we will be switching to a more traditional spelling curriculum starting with unit 6 (the arrival of the textbook).

Math may not be Bug's favorite subject, but thankfully she doesn't struggle with it the way Bean does.  She is doing Saxon Math Homeschool 7/6  this year.  I teach the lesson to her now, but next year I'll probably buy the DIVE DVDs for her instruction.

Second, some Mental Math and Lesson Practice.

First, a Facts Test.

Finally, the Review Problem Set (side one of two).

As mentioned earlier, some days each week are devoted to a writing lesson instead of an English lesson.  Write With the Best is suggested for use by HOD.  In it, the student studies the writing styles of different famous authors and then uses that method to compose something original.  I apologize, but I had to blank out Bean's real name in the picture. I'm sure you all understand. :)

After studying the descriptive writing style displayed in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Bug wrote a description of her sister.  After editing was done, it was typed and printed.

Drawn Into the Heart of Reading is going great for Bug.  She will be on the Biography genre for a bit longer than Bean since she moves through the program at half-pace this year.

Almost finished with Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.  This was a great character association map.

There are notebooking pages to be completed each week for science and history on top of the fun projects and experiments that are done.

This notebook page was a little lacking, but I let it go since we were in a bit of a hurry that day.  We made corrections later.

You may see history notebook pages featured in future posts since this is Bug's favorite subject and she is always asking me to show you all her work. :)  On these pages, the narration section is by far the most difficult thing for her to do.  A necessary life skill, but she needs a lot of practice for that one.

Geography is MY favorite lesson to complete! I am learning a much as Bug is!  I should have paid more attention in school when I was younger.  Now I understand the value of knowing this information.

The geography book is A Child's Geography.  We are studying Turkey right now with a focus on the Middle East over the entire year.  This is a great time to understand that region considering the current tension our nation has with many of those countries. 

 

Some fun stuff happened, too!  I prepared a traditional "Hebrew" meal for one day's lunch as instructed in Unit 4, day 3.  Bug, Bean, and Sprout were all very excited for this meal!

Served food included yogurt, flatbread with jelly, cheese, grapes, cucumber (with ranch dip), pomegranate seeds, and sparkling grape juice.

Bean wore the shepherd's headband and covering that she made this week.  We used an old receiving blanket for the material.  I loved how perfect the weather was for us to have an outdoor picnic!

This week's painting for poetry was beautiful.  Bug thought is was her best painting to date.

Featured poem: A Passing Glimpse by Robert Frost

That's it for now folks.  From now on, I'll go back to the regular posts about the fun projects and experiments for each unit of Heart of Dakota.