The Rainforest

I am way behind on blog updating! Over the month of December Noodle and I started work on our Tropical Rainforest unit and did some Christmas Crafts for our bulletin board. I am having internet connection issues with the computer where I keep all our photos so I haven't been able to update much. Bear learned about Knights, Chivalry and Castles as part of his Middle Ages Study. He completed a Knights Lapbook that I will have pictures of in the near future. Now he is working on a Vikings Unit and doing a lapbook. Bear used to fight me on lapbooking, but now that I have figured out the process and how to study/learn by using them he is actually enjoying it.

Noodle and I have moved on from the African Savannah to the Tropical Rainforest. We are learning about the different layers of the Rainforest. We just finished learning about the Forest Floor and are moving on to the Understory. By the time our study is over we will have a large mural of the layers and the animals that live in each layer, as well as a completed lapbook about the Rainforest. I don't have an end date in mind, we are just taking it day by day. Here is Noodle beginning to paint the trunk of our Kapok Tree that is the foundation of our Rainforest Mural.







We made some leaves for our Kapok Tree. One of the books on our Rainforest reading list is The Great Kapok Tree.





We are also reading One Small Square Tropical Rainforest.





More to come when my computer issues are resolved!

What We Have Been Doing

I don't really have a week in review. We have been doing reviews and wrapping up things we have been working on for a while.

Noodle has finished the African Savannah Unit and the lapbook we put together. We used a hodge podge of sources from www.enchantedlearning.com to www.homeschoolshare.com/ This lapbook was not well planned or organized and is what I would call a trial run. I am in the process of getting more organized with the upcoming lapbooks. I have pre-printed them out and I am storing them in a binder for easy use and access. We are currently working on a Volcano lapbook from http://www.handsofachild.com/ and a Rainforest Lapbook using various sources. Here's some photos of the African Savannah Lapbook:

Two days ago Noodle watched an episode of "Sid the Science Kid" and they had "Bug Club." So, I went to the http://www.pbskids.com/ website and wen to the Sid section and printed out the Bug Club worksheet. We headed out to our garden with some magnifying glasses and found some bugs!! He had so much fun. The batteries on my camera died so we didn't get any pictures of the bugs, but we did get this shot:

Wordless Wednesday

Five Senses Lapbook

We didn't do this recently, but I wanted to start a section on the blog about Lapbooking because we plan to do more of it. We actually made this in May of this year. We used resources from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ as well as some clipart from a Teacher Created Resource book I already had. The book The Poky Little Puppy is what we read to get us started.

Renaissance Festival

We drove three hours yesterday to Plantersville, TX to attend the School Days at the Renaissance Festival. We had lots of fun with our fellow homeschooling friends.

Here's Noodle, my adorable little Pirate!

I really loved the authenticity of the buildings. As soon as we walked in it was like we were transported to the Middle Ages. All the workers spoke "medieval" and it was so great.

This is a gentleman that stopped to talk to the children about their outfits. I am not sure who he was supposed to be. A Squire perhaps?

We went to a Jousting event. Noodle loved it so much, he went twice!! He informed me this morning that he and Bear were going to be jousting today! I can't wait to see this. LOL

Noodle in the jousting arena.

Architecture on the inside of the arena.

Dragon swings and Bungee swings. Noodle and his friend shared a swing. Bear loved flipping and flying through the air!

The Blacksmith's shop. The kids watched a demonstration. They look so focused don't they?

Week in Review

Better late than never. Last week 10/19/09 - 10/23/09

History: Bear "designed" a Muslim robe (see photo below). We started reading about the Far East in the Middle Ages. We touched on the Golden Age in India, Early Japan and Prince Shotoku, The Sui and Tang Dynasties of China and Wu Zetian, the Empress of China. Wu Zetian was quite an ambitious woman, to put it nicely. In modern terms she was a power hungry career gal.

Math: Bear is doing a lot of review and practice without moving forward in lessons too far. He just doesn't memorize formulas or retain concepts as well as I'd like so it is slow going. I'd rather go slow and have him "get it" than to push forward when he really doesn't "get it." Noodle is progressing well with single digit addition. He practices number writing and he is almost perfect at counting to 100.

English: One thing we are using this year I just love and wish I'd found it sooner. It is called Vocabulary Vine and it is just awesome. We do one root a day, 3 days a week. Keys to Good Language continues to be a great resource as well as Wordly Wise.

Reading: Noodle and I love our daily "reading lessons" on www.starfall.com Combined with Get Set for the Code he is regularly recognizing 3 letter words like cat, hat, bat, sat, had, has, the, and, bed and pot. Plus others, but it is exciting to see him on the verge of reading on his own. He is good at sounding out words when he hears the sounds put together, but when he sees them in print he won't try to sound them out he will just start making guesses. It's driving me batty, but hopefully this too shall pass!

Science: General Science from Apologia is kicking Bear's behind. I love it and loathe it at the same time. We are about to review Module 5 again and he will retake the test. The thing about this curriculum is it really requires past the surface thinking and Bear just can't stand that. If the answer isn't obvious or in front of him he gets irritated. I keep telling him that like life, all the answers don't always come easy, that he might have to hunt and dig for them. Eventually he will get it. At least with homeschooling speed isn't the first priority. He is however in 8th grade and he needs to master some things before we move on to high school next year.

Wordless Wednesday