Week 28

The letter of the week for Gabriel was R-r-Rock. 

Stone Soup is sure to draw all the kids in for a good read aloud.  Afterwards, we made our own picture of stone soup.  Yummy.

In this science experiment, we tried to grow a stalagmite rock on the green plate.  The baking soda that is mixed in the water was supposed to seep up into the yarn and then drip onto the plate.  It never worked. 

But the baking soda and vinegar volcano never fails to entertain.

And Gabe practiced his sorting skills using our rock collection.

Have a happy day!

School - Week 27

Gabe's week in school focused on the letter 'Z' and the unit study of the zebra. 

Leah did some coloring for Gabe in the top right picture.

We went to the zoo this week and the kids took a picture with the zebra there.

We read the book If I Ran the Zoo which is about a kid who makes up his own silly animals to put in the zoo.  So the boys all made up silly animals too.  These are Gabe's...

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We continued reading in 2 Kings about Elisha and the story about how Naaman was healed from leprosy.  Naaman was an important general and thought that he should have to do something impressive to be healed since he was so strong and impressive, but God, through Elisha, healed him by having him do something so simple that anyone would be capable of doing it.  Exactly like how we can be saved from eternal death by something simple, that anyone is capable of doing...putting our faith in Jesus Christ alone and his gift of salvation.  It's not something that only impressive and important people can do. 

It was neat how just a week or so before we read about this story for school, we read and discussed this story in our Bible study group.  The Bible is so relevant for both children and adults.


We're almost caught up in art.  This first lesson was to copy the picture of the statue on the page, using lines to shade to show depth.  Christopher's is on the left; Matthew's on the right.  And I don't know why Matthew's looks like the man's brains are exposed.

This lesson was about drawing people.  The boys usually draw stick figures, and this lesson added ovals and rectangles to the stick people to make them look a little more real.  Under these pages, the boys drew the scene of Jesus walking on water during the storm. 

Christopher's on the left; Matthew's on the right.

We also started some painting using acrylic paint.  The boys practiced mixing colors and then painted in the picture of a stag beetle, trying to copy the color of the real painting. 

We've also been trying to catch up in science.  We are working quickly through the chapter about plants in our science book.  One of the experiments we did was to grow plants from seeds we have around the kitchen...beans, spices, and herbs.

And we also had our last homeschool co-op meeting of the semester, and the last one that we'll be able to attend with our awesome group.  In the class I taught, we made Easter baskets out of milk jugs and I brought in some eggs to give out as well.

If you'd like to see what other MFW families' school week looked like, click here.  2 ladybugs and a lizard is guest hosting this week.

And I'll leave you with some other zoo pictures from this week...

I love that they are all able to walk around together, hanging out. They walked through the reptile house, following each other around like little ducklings...so cute!

The elephant was really neat to watch this zoo trip.  He kept sticking his trunk into a stream of water and then putting his trunk in his mouth to drink the water. 

I got bombed by a bird while we walked through the bird aviary...yuck!

Part of the group of friends we went to the zoo with.

And should you think that I dress my kids in the same clothes everyday, we actually went the zoo, took bluebonnet pictures, and went to our Bible study Easter egg hunt on the same day!

Have a great day!

School - Week 26

So eight more weeks left of this school year for us!  If felt like it was going pretty slow for a while, but suddenly it seems like the end of the year is very near.

Gabriel's letter unit this week was K-k-Kangaroo. 

In the activity below, I choose the letter of the week plus another letter and mix the picture cards up.  Gabriel has to sort them based on the beginning sound.

Here, he has to cut and paste words to the pictures they belong to.

We read about kangaroos, tried to hop as far as one (only about 37 feet short), and made this cute little pencil box.  Gabriel was really into it when we did it, but when it came time for picture, he got all annoyed about it. 

Christopher and Matthew spent the week reading about Elijah and we read quite a bit about the religions of India, Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as some about their caste system.  We initially read these things about India last year, and one of Christopher's favorite missionary biographies we read was about Amy Carmichael, which talked a lot about the caste system as well. 

The boys finished up their copywork and memorization of Psalm 1.

Matthew's

Christopher's

They only wrote one verse a week, and it's really the only cursive I make Christopher do his schoolwork in (other than a handwriting copywork sheet) but he really just doesn't like to write with it.  I can't imagine taking the time to print all of what I write, so I hope that as I have him do more cursive copywork, he'll get more comfortable, and quick, with using it. 
He did ask me that once he finishes his cursive handwriting worksheets (he's doing one letter at a time), if I could write the words in print and he could copy them into cursive.  It was an odd request, but sure, I can do that!

Matthew was excited to finish up his Singapore Math 2A workbook, mostly becasue he has the next week off from math, except for some fun math games.  And I still need to order 2B, so he may get even longer.  Whoops.

Christopher's Writing Strands assignment this week was to write a story with a problem and a solution.

One of the art assignments this week was to draw household items around the house.  Usually Gabriel wants to do art with the boys, but he didn't for this assignment, so I used the copy I made for him.  Obviously they kids do not get their drawing talent from me, although I think I did quite well compared to usual.

Christopher's is on top, Matthew's to the left and mine to the right.

And on (most) Fridays, I follow the suggestion of MFW and have the boys write a letter to a family member.  A letter with a pencil and on paper.  Not very common these days, right? 

Now, if I could just remember to look up the addresses and get them in the mailbox! 

If you'd like to read about more homeschool highlights from other MFW families, click here.

Have a blessed week!