Week #1-2 -- ECC in MFW

Here I am folks, as promised, bringing you our first blog post for the new school year.  For third grade, we will be spending 2 or 3 weeks on a given subject.   I will be writing a blog post at the end of our studies for that theme/topic.   Exploring Countries and Cultures, otherwise known as ECC, is the name of our curriculum for this year.  In my preparation and studying before we got started I saw many posts by other moms saying how hard these first two weeks were for them.  Now that we have those two weeks behind us, I would have to say that I agree.  Let's admit it.  The first couple of weeks of school are always hard anyway after having been off for a long summer break.  The first 3-4 days of school, even I was dragging by the end of each day and my eyes and mind were screaming for a nap.  We pushed through though and did really well.

Caleb and I have very full school days.  The grid I use to look at each day/week is literally full of things we try to get done.  I didn't think to take a picture of my marked-up grid for this first blog post.  Maybe I will do that for the next update.

Here is a day in the life of Pam and Caleb as they delve into ECC:

*Bible

*Language Arts

*Spelling

*English

*Math Drills

*Math

*Geography

*Book Basket

*Science

*Music/Art

*Reading

*Foreign Language

*Read-a-Loud

*The Complete Book of Animals

If you want a little more detail and would like to check out our pictures, keep reading......

Bible:  We read from our Windows of the World, Properties of Ecosystems Book, God Speaks Numanggang books for our bible time.  Lots of interesting topics.  God Speaks Numanggang was fun as we learned about a missionary family and their quest to create the written language and then the bible for the Numanggang people.  Very cool.  We talked about John 3:16 and made a poster to go along with the verse.

Language Arts:  We are going over all the letters of the alphabet and Caleb writes them out on notebook paper.  For example, he practices a row of Upper and Lower Case "A"s.....This was supposed to take three weeks to finish, but in standard form for my son he asked to double up so we could finish them sooner.  Much sooner.

He also has vocabulary words every Friday.  They are science terms and he is to write the term on one side of an index card along with an illustration of the term.  On the back side he is to write the definition.  I didn't take pictures of these, but I will as some point.  He was dragging his feet quite a bit on this, but afterwards he was quite proud of the result.  

Spelling:  We are back to using the same spelling program we were using for the latter part of 2nd grade, All About Spelling.  It was really working well for Caleb and I can still see that it was a good choice.  It teaches him how to break down words and sound them out.  So, right out of the shoot, he can write words like these that he has never "worked" with before:

Let me just mention that these words are easy words.  Caleb can read them fine.  It's the going back later and writing them without looking at them that he would struggle with.  All About Spelling is helping him so much in learning to do that.

English:  We're using our Queen's Language Lessons workbook.  To start off the year, Caleb has been doing copywork every day.  Not his favorite thing at all, but in small doses, he does great.

Math and Math Drills:  Since we're just at the start of the year, we're mainly sticking to math drills for now.  Working through addition and subtraction facts, trying to help him get a little quicker on the answers.

Geography:  For the first two weeks in geography we have been studying maps and globes.  Caleb filled out a passport form and we "mailed it" to the passport office a.k.a. Daddy.  We talked about n/s/e/w on the map/globe, equator, the hemispheres, distance and the scale on the map, latitude and longitude, elevation-depth, physical and political maps, local maps, and various other kinds of maps.

We watched a video on youtube showing how globes are made.  We watched another youtube video on the Continents - a song singing the names so Caleb can try to learn them by memory.  And we watched another video on-line about latitude and longitude.  I am very fortunate to be part of a homeschool on-line group where mom's who have previously taught this curriculum have added links to lots of on-line resources to help our kids learn these topics.

One day we discussed globes and maps and talked about how hard it was for map makers to take the earth and lay it flat on a map.  So, we used a dollar store ball, drew the continents on it, and cut it up and tried to lay it flat.  I think it made a pretty good visual for him.

Book Basket:  I have initiated book basket this year in a way that I have not done in the past.  This year, Caleb has to spend 10-15 minutes looking at books - on - his - own.  No mom reading to him, just Caleb by himself looking at books.  I encourage him to read them, but if he doesn't want to read, that's okay.   But he has to be involved in looking at books that go with our topic/theme for the week that we're in.

Science:  Our science topics are always going to be connected in some way to the area of the world that we are studying at the time.  The book we are using is The Properties of Ecosystems and boy, it is advanced.  It was suggested that for younger kids, 4th grade and under, that we not even use the book for the first two weeks of school.  I opted to try and whatever Caleb got out of it was gravy.  It was hard, that's for sure, but he had fun with some of the activities and so I think it was worth the time we spent on it.

Habitats:  We discussed habitats and marked off an area in the yard.  He was to look at it as he stood up and then again with a magnifying glass to see what he could see up close.  He had a worksheet to fill out and list everything he saw and heard that was in our habitat and the area around us.

Worm Niche:  Okay.  So.  Last year we tried the worm niche and it was a major flop.  This year?  Success!!  Yay!!

Worms.....

Black dirt......

Sand.....and then more black dirt (we didn't show the 2nd layer of black dirt going into the jar.)

Oats......

Worms.....We used red worms this year instead of night crawlers.  I'm not sure if that was why we had success, but whatever it was, these little guys were very active.

A cover for darkness......

Day two.....  Tunnels

More tunnels....

And more tunnels.....

Day three.... even more tunnels....

Then they were toast.....sorry worms.  Not sure why, but by the 4th day we had mold in the jar and the worms were no longer happy campers.  But, we did get to see how they moved around in their niche and move the dirt to aerate it, etc.

Water Cycle:   Caleb put dirt in a jar along with some plants and then he watered everything in the jar, without making it soggy.  The concept is, watch the water form as condensation on the top of the jar and then "rain" back down to water the plants.  I just realized I didn't take a picture of that part of the project, but it did make condensation and it was fun to watch.

Music/Art:  

*We listened to our Wee Sing cd - Hello to all the children of the world

*Created the John 3:16 poster (here it is again for you to see.)

*Made some paper dolls depicting "children of the world."  I was surprised how much Caleb enjoyed the paper dolls and wanted to draw faces on them.

*Made a world Cake

Caleb mixing the cake batter.....

Caleb spreading the batter in the pan.....

Caleb icing the cake..... okay....so half way to being done I remembered we were supposed to make the icing blue/green.  Doh!

So, I remembered a can of edible spray "paint" for cakes that I had in the cabinet.  And as it would happen, it was BLUE!  So, Caleb spray painted his cake blue for the water on the earth.

I drew the outlines of the continents because I knew that would be way too much for him to do considering he'd never even squeezed an icing tube before.  And, his perfectionism would come out and he would get frustrated.  He was much happier filling in the continents.

Caleb and his finished cake....

The cake....

Reading:    Our list --

Me on the Map

Somewhere in the World Right Now

Gilbert and the Lost Tooth

From Here to There

Miss Rumphius

Mr. Whistler

What a Wonderful World

The Schmutzy Family

Sherlock Bones and the Missing Cheese

People

DK Children of Europe

Inch and Roly and the Very Small Hiding Space

Nine O'Clock Lullaby

How to Make an Apple Pie & See the World

The Great Animal Search

Foreign Language:  We have not started this yet.

Read-A-Loud:  Kingdom Tales is our read-a-loud book for 3 weeks.   We started this in week two and I have to say that the stories are quite interesting.  They are quite different though and it's really hard for me to even try to explain them.  But, the easiest way is to say that they are fictitious and in some way are meant to show a connection to our Lord.  At the end of the 2nd story, we were reading the review questions and it blew my mind that Caleb was able to see the connection to the King in the story and that of OUR KING in heaven.  He even pointed his finger towards heaven as he answered a question and said "the King, mom."  Amazing!

Book of Animals:  Not every day, but most days I have Caleb complete a page out of the Complete Book of Animals.  So far they have consisted of a couple of paragraphs to read and then 4 questions to answer.  We've done dogs, ducks, horses, frogs, to name a few.  I have him underline the answers in the text and then write them out on the line.  He isn't liking these so much, BUT, it's because of the writing.  He likes learning about the animals though.

And this concludes our first two weeks of school.  I'm excited to see what's in stores for weeks 3 and 4 as we move out of the introduction phase and into the study of the United States, Forests, and Moody, Tubman....

Please be in prayer for our family as we have a sick family member who has needed some extra help from us.  This has taken away some of the time we spend in school.  But, as homeschoolers, the compassion Caleb is learning to have right now for others is a very important learning experience.

Educating in Christ,

Momma Pam

3rd Grade Update

Well, here we are.  The first day of 3rd grade.  We've been anticipating this moment for a while now.  Looking at the books on the bookshelf.  Talking about it.  Finishing the inside of our school room.

It was sort of like everything has been leading up to this pivotal moment.  And then today -- it was finally here.  I think as adults, we have times where we feel emotions building up, whether it's nerves, or just excitement.  And most of the time we stuff them to the side, and act like an adult.  Well, at least I do anyway.

I can't quite explain how it felt to start a new year, teaching 3rd grade.  I've been pretty overwhelmed with it all for a few weeks now.  I wanted to start school two weeks ago.  But, our school room wasn't quite done and even though it was SO close, I made myself wait, knowing with all my heart that an area set aside for us to work and have a great sense of focus was more important than our kick-off day.  And while I remained nervous that I had the ability to even teach 3rd grade, I also held onto my faith that God WAS going to provide me with exactly what I needed to get this job done.

The first day is sometimes the hardest.  Just getting started.  Delving into that new, unknown territory.   All new books, a new teachers manual, new themes.  Something that completely surprised me though, was to see some pretty serious emotion come out of Caleb.  We started our day like most.  I let him have about 20 minutes to "wake up."  Then we had some breakfast together and after lugging two office chairs across the wet yard (drizzled this morning), we sat at our table and looked at each other.  It was a "what now?" moment.  I'm laughing now.  But that was how I felt, not sure if Caleb recognized it or not.  Then I said, "okay.  let's pray."  He said "okay," and he bowed his head.  I told him, "i'm going to hold your hand."  And I prayed.

Now.  I have the sweetest little boy sometimes.  I've prayed before and most of the time IF I am having an emotional prayer, he hears it in my voice and when the prayer is done, he will come over and pat me on the back or hug me to help me feel better.  Well, immediately when I finished praying he came around the table.  At first I thought to myself, do I sound like I'm crying?  But then, HE climbed into MY lap, curled up and just cried.  I tried to talk to him.  I tried to ask what was wrong.  But, it was like he didn't have the words.  And maybe, he didn't quite know himself what all the emotion was about.  Maybe his little heart and mind were having the same build-up inside of them that I was feeling and that was his way of finding release.   I'm not certain.  But, ten minutes later, he wiped away his tears, "shook" himself off and went back to his chair, in his PJ bottoms and t-shirt.  We then went about our day.

I had a lot of expectations for today.  I was concerned they were, too, high.  But, I also wanted to be sure he was challenged.  We spend a portion of the day reviewing and as we did, I became pretty comfortable with the fact that he didn't forget quite as much as I was worried he might have.  I can only stress to you how proud of him I am.  He had a lot more writing than at the end of 2nd grade.  And with a few complaints, he mustered the strength to do it and get through.  He did great....and I'm so proud.

As I write this, I realized my 2nd grade blogging is behind.  I have high hopes of finishing it up, but with the amount of time I currently have available, it seems more relevant to stay with what we have going on right now.  So, maybe I will get to that.  Maybe I won't, but either way I rest in the fact that it's okay.

Educating in Christ,

Pam

THE School House

As a homeschool family, something we talked and prayed about was having a location to "do school" where we could focus and get the best out of our school days.  Well, we took the plunge and purchased this portable building.  It took us a short while, but we transformed it into a beautiful school house.

The outside is absolutely adorable?  Don't you think?

June 26, 2013

It comes complete with two rafters.  It will be great for storage. 

July 27, 2013

Room with A/C installed and rolls of insulation waiting to be put into place.

Caleb vacuuming up the dirt and dust. 

A less than attractive picture of me installing insulation.  Thank you Caleb... :)

Dad up high, putting in the insulation.

Mr. Strong Man.   Of course, we won't tell him these rolls didn't weigh very
much.  That would take the fun out of his excitement.

Pam's very swollen and aching knees at the end of a long day kneeling
to cut strips of insulation to size.  Um, yeah, they hurt.

July 29, 2013

The ceiling going in.  Or is it up?  Hmmm.

Steps so momma doesn't twist an ankle trying to get up and down.

August 5, 2013

Paneling going up. 

Ceiling.  That's a wrap!

August 10, 2013

Any building has to have scripture in the walls.  Just has to....

August 11, 2013

Whoop, whoop!!!  Walls done!!

At last, the floor...!

A bit of silliness!  <3

Caleb's Big Joe and ottoman for the school room.

August 18, 2013

Here goes the trim work...

August 20, 2013

Yes.  I built them myself!  Love the shelves!

August 21, 2013

Taping in preparation of painting.

Here you can see the green paint we chose for the trim.

August 22, 2013

Yeah!  We're done!!!  Up goes the decor!

Our Finished Room!!

Thank you, Johnny, for giving us an absolutely beautiful place to have school every day.  Love, love, love having all our stuff in one place.

Educating in Christ,

Pam

MFW 2nd Grade - Week #26

BIBLE:  Our new scripture verse for this week is, "...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Matthew 20:28

Readings were out of Isaiah and Philippians.

SPELLING/ENGLISH:   Caleb is cruising right along in his AAS book and cards.  Doing great!  This week we had an intensive lesson in English all about winter and Caleb had a lot of writing of sentences to do.

We continued in our "On the Banks of Plum Creek," novel.  I'm thinking Caleb will be glad when we get to the end of this story.  

HISTORY/STATE STUDY:  The only state for this week was California, but we did read a lot in our Pioneer and Patriots book.  We read about the Santa Fe Trail, how a blacksmith worked, the Oregon Trail, and the California Trail.

SCIENCE:  Our topics of interest this week were a discussion on solids, liquids, and gases.  Again, not a favorite of Caleb.  

MATH:  Still more worksheets completed.

MUSIC/ART:  We read and sang, "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean."

HEALTH/MANNERS:   This weeks health and manners lesson was a review on the previous few lessons.  They throw that in every few weeks so we can go over the previous topics and refresh our memories.

And this brings this week to a close...

Educating in Christ,

Momma Pam

MFW 2nd Grade - Week #27

BIBLE:  We continued with our study of Matthew 20:28 and read scripture in John and Matthew.  

SPELLING/ENGLISH:  We continued with AAS and PLL.   Nothing of great importance to note....we're just doing our customary lessons each day.

And we are finally finished with "On the Banks of Plum Creek."  What a sweet, fun story.  Even if it was about little girls.

Reading List:

Chicken Sunday, Patricia Polacco
All the Places to Love, Patricia MacLachlan

Chicken Sunday was an amazing book.  We enjoyed it so very much.  It was about an older, black lady who takes care of three kids.  They mistakenly get in trouble and in the process of trying to fix things end up surprising the older lady with something she had been looking at in a story window.....Such a precious story and I believe it was based on a real story.  I would read it again and would buy it if presented with the opportunity.  

HISTORY/STATE STUDY:  This week we talked about Minnesota and Oregon.  And we read for a couple of days on Abraham Lincoln.  We both really enjoyed learning about him.  Since this is actually being written a couple of months after the fact, I can say that anytime Caleb has heard Abe's name, he says, "Honest Abe."  :)

SCIENCE:  Caleb enjoyed our science experiment this week.  He put various food items into an ice cube tray.  We froze them, and then dumped them onto a plate to see if they froze, or not, or how their consistency changed with the coolness.  I really thought we took pictures of this experiment, but I can't seem to find them. :( 

These poor blog posts seem so bare and skimpy.  :(  I misplaced, or lost, my camera charge while on our trip in Louisiana.  So, I'm only able to use my cell phone camera for pictures during school.  And, those aren't always being taken it seems.  Without pictures, these posts just seem dry and hum-drum...

Until next time...

Educating in Christ,

Momma Pam

MFW 2nd Grade - Week #25

BIBLE:  This week we studies lessons pertaining to Revelation 17:14 and read scripture in Mark, Romans and John.

SPELLING/ENGLISH:  We continued with AAS and Caleb is really doing well with it.  I'm pleased to have made the change to a new spelling program.  It will be something we can continue on through 3rd grade, so good choice there.  

Our read-a-loud is still "On the Banks of Plum Creek."  It's a very long book and we read only a chapter a day as scheduled in my teachers manual.

Reading List:

Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express, Margaret K Wetterer
The Raft, Jim LaMarche
Extra Cheese Please, Mozzarella's Journey from Cow to Pizza, Cris Peterson
Gold Fever, Rosalyn Schanzer

Our favorite reads this week were The Raft (which we read last year in school.  We liked it SO much I bought the book and so we were able to pull it out again this year.  And the story about Kate Shelley, because it was a true story and such a wonderful story about a very brave girl.

HISTORY/STATE STUDY:  This week we talked about Iowa and Wisconsin.  Our history lessons were about the Gold in California and the Gold Rush.  Very interesting topic for Caleb as he likes to watch the show on the history channel called The Gold Rush.  

SCIENCE:  Our science topics this week included reading in our First Encyclopedia of Science book all about atoms and molecules.  Caleb did not find this very interesting....  

MATH:  Worksheets for math were completed this week.

MUSIC:  We read and sang the song, You're a Grand Old Flag and Stars and Stripes Forever.

And another week comes to a close...

Educating in Christ,

Momma Pam