My Valentine evening was spent with this goofy girl.
Silly faces.
She’s laughing so hard! Let’s just get 1 nice one…
A bit fuzzy with the low light in the room but it’s still a good picture.
Month: February 2015
Third Grade: Day 100-101
We have reached our 100th day of school @ home and I can’t believe it! Have we really been doing this for 100 days?!
I have really enjoyed the time spent with Isabel teaching and listening to her explain things to me. Her questions astound me sometimes. We both enjoy reading her curriculum books on history, science and general topics. We have also spent more time using our local library. Her favorite subject this year has been science and her least favorite has been creative writing. She does not like to do reports and getting her to do so is a struggle sometimes but she has gotten better. I am very thankful that I can actually stay home with her during this time and teach her. We have had some very inspiring conversations and I look forward to more in the next 80 days before third grade ends.
Today in the classroom we had bumpy start but once we got into our groove we were set.
We finished our week in Bible learning about David, Saul, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua. Even though Saul wanted to kill David and David had the opportunity to kill Saul himself, he didn’t. Saul took his own life and David eventually became king as the Lord said he would.
Also, we continued our lesson on Paul and the early church in Athens. They were worshiping “unknown gods”. Through Paul’s preaching several there became followers of Christ.
Her coloring sheet from her Bible lesson packet.
Below is the memory verse for this week. This is an awesome one from James!
She told me today that she likes doing cursive writing better than her printed penmanship.
Dictation passage for the week from The Aesop for Children, “The Lion and the Mouse” page 19.
Maybe more practice with the capital letters.
This week we also did the spelling test in cursive.
She did a great job!
We went over our map and are learning the locations of the 13 original colonies (and others).
Our map as we move across the U.S. from the East Coast.
In science today we planted more radishes!
Assignment #14:
Making her 4 new planters.
Sealing the seal with tape.
Each planter will get a number 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d.
This time all the planters will be PACKED with dirt.
All previous planters were NOT packed with dirt.
She’s concentrating on getting that dirt packed in to each planter.
Each of the 4 new planters will get 2 radish seeds each.
Assignment #15: Isabel did a tasting of her newly sprouted radishes. She was excited for this lesson and I think she would have kept on eating her seedlings if I hadn’t been there.
Looking inside our greenhouse, she can pick seedlings from 1 of the 4 she planted on Tuesday
(the far upper left corner).
Her chosen radish seedling.
Not at all what she expected from something so small!
Ask her about it, I won’t spill her findings here.
Her assignment was to taste each section of the seedling (separately):
cotyledon, hypocotyl and tap root.
Enjoy your weekend ahead, we have a 3 day weekend due to the holiday on Monday!
Primper
While I was waiting for Isabel in her homeschool science class this afternoon, this little bird paid me a visit. He kept me entertained along with dragonflies, hummingbirds, little green insects and other small birds like the one in the video.
Please be aware there is no sound, the noises you hear are me moving in the car and they can get loud, as I move around. I didn’t realize I was being that loud. Enjoy!
[vimeo clip_id=”119513587″ width=”550″]
I was able to capture this little bird several times.
I actually don’t know if the bird or birds that I saw were 1 bird or more than 1.
Third Grade: Day 99
The first Thursday of the month is usually Isabel’s homeschool science class but for the months of February, March and April, they are the second Thursday of the month. On those days, just like piano days, they are a little out of whack!
So homeschool class was short this morning but we completed everything that we needed to for the day including creative writing, spelling, science and Bible.
Yesterday Isabel’s assignment was to begin a mini-report on a topic of her choosing. She picked the Boston Tea Party. Today she had to complete the assignment and bring the mini-report all together. She did a fantastic job.
Her rough draft.
With yesterday’s assignment, she can now combine the 2 assignments into a great sounding
mini-report.
Her final mini-report on the Boston Tea Party.
Our science assignment today was to add our seedlings and seeds from the 4 environments assignment #5 to the greenhouse and make predictions on the seedling/seed outcomes.
- Before placing the seedlings and seeds into the greenhouse: we discussed the 4 environment outcomes. Isabel really impressed me with her science knowledge and her grasp of what the experiment was about.
- After placing the seedlings and seeds into the greenhouse: Isabel needed to write down 5 predictions of what will happen in 2 weeks when we look into our greenhouse garden and see the changes that have taken place.
Our needed supplies.
She was surprised by the outcomes and 3 of her 4 predictions (from last week) were right on!
(My little photo bomber!)
Her greenhouse is growing.
The plants from assignment #6 “In the dark” have added some chlorophyll to their diet and are starting to photosynthesize! Also the seedlings assignment #9 “Build a greenhouse” have sprouted, all 4 have radicle and cotyledons. Exciting things are happening in the homeschool classroom!
Third Grade: Day 98
Have you noticed that we have almost reached our 100th day of school @ home? We should have a celebration!
If you think about it we have just 4 months of school left before the year ends. Wow! That is totally unbelievable!
Back in the classroom we have been studying hard and getting things done. Just today, we finished 2 of our books we’ve been reading.
“The Cabin Faced West” by J. Fritz
“Toliver’s Secret” by E.D. Brady
Today’s special assignment was for Isabel to draw a picture for the “The Cabin Faced West”
She drew the cabin, the road (which plays a key part in the book) and the corn field.
Yesterday during our science assignments Isabel had to make a greenhouse from her seedling nursery from day 1 of our radish studies. I forgot to take a completed picture of it, see below.
We are adding more plants to our greenhouse today.
Greenhouse outside.
Greenhouse inside.
We “planted” 4 seeds yesterday and they have already sprouted!
The labels that she added to the “plant bed” (paper towel) will be the new location for the seedlings we add from our other experiments. By the time we finish our radish science, this greenhouse will be completely full of radish plants (hopefully).
Back to the greenhouse in a minute; our first assignment for today is to “turn the lights” on from our assignment #6.
Assignment #6 environments; with light and without light.
We took some measurements, discussed her findings and Isabel made a prediction about the plants without light.
What color is the hypocotyl? the stem? the cotyledon?
How high are your seedlings in the light?
What is chlorophyll? Where does it come from?
What is photosynthesize?
Inside the “with light” environment, these seedlings are growing health and are ready to transplant to the greenhouse.
What about the seeds/seedlings without light…
Peeling off the tape and removing the foil reveals a big surprise for Isabel.
What do you predict happened in the dark? See below…
Her eyes her tell a story, she’s surprised!
Her prediction from assignment #6 was that they weren’t going to grow.
However her prediction just before opening the foil was that the seeds had sprouted and they would be small in size. Let’s see if she’s right about of her predictions…
They grew!
Inside the “without light” environment, these seedlings are growing health but their are some things that are different…
Comparing and observing the 2 different environments.
Side by side these 2 environments look very similar however the one on the right is missing the light to help it make chlorophyll. Without it the plant would continue to grow but it wouldn’t thrive and it would eventually die. So we’ll place it in the greenhouse and in the light.
Will they thrive, warm in our greenhouse with food, warmth and light?
We’ll have to see…
Third Grade: Day 97
Tuesday is our odd day in the classroom.
Today was a bit more so because we needed to be at piano practice early to make up for 1 of our sick days last month (next week we’ll make up the other). So our time in the classroom on Tuesday is always later than we like but we do what we can, piano is important!
During piano lessons today, I was able to get some good videos of Ms. G and Isabel practicing together.
I’ll post only 1 of the videos though so enjoy!
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Here they are playing “Yankee Doodle”.
Which ties in nicely with where we are in history in the classroom!
Isabel is learning several different songs right now, I think it’s around 5 or 6. Most of which are small 1 page numbers, with the largest song she’s learning is “God’s Not Dead” from the NBs! I’m getting excited to hear the whole song come together because it sounds awesome!
In the classroom, we are continuing our science studies on radishes. Every day there is a new assignment to either do or observation and study to do. It’s great and Isabel is really enjoying it. She would prefer us to do science all day but that isn’t going to happen, when there is so much more out there to learn!
Before leaving for piano, we were able to get several things completed, which is a huge help in the afternoon.
Isabel’s crazy radish seedlings!
Each morning it’s like Christmas when Isabel stops by to see how much they have grown over night.
Today’s science assignment #1:
Make a greenhouse in preparation for seedlings.
Objective:
To observe and maintain a self-watering greenhouse for radish seedlings.
The supplies for today:
- the empty sprout nursery from assignment 1.
- scissors, a pen/marker, ruler and masking tape
- 3 (in our case 4) paper towels
- medicine bottle
- a pint or quart size jar with lid
- 4 radish seeds (we ran out – because I goofed up on an assignment! – so I had to purchase more)
- plastic wrap
- water
Steps 1 and 2 are complete and she’s reading her instructions for the remaining steps.
Step 3 and 4 is to prep and lay the greenhouse “bed”.
Her “bed” is labeled now, she can finish assembly
(which I did NOT get a picture of!)
Today’s science assignment #2:
Grid work
Objective:
Accurately record growth of seedlings over weekly intervals on a grid.
The assignment states for to use mini-planter “A” for our grid work. However, mini-planter “A” just sprouted yesterday and is not looking well today. Isabel asked if she could use mini-planter “B” instead and I agreed.
Mini-planter “B” is an awesome radish seedling to record for grid work.
Isabel’s completed grid work.
Afterward we stepped out into the backyard for some plant investigation work.
Third Grade: Day 96
It’s Monday and it’s time to get back into the classroom.
Isabel had such a fantastic weekend, it couldn’t have been better. Well, maybe no rain and lots of sunshine! The girls tried to get outside on Saturday, but were back when large raindrops started falling 5 minutes after they got outside. They no sooner got in the house and it started pouring rain for over an hour! A little bit of a bummer but she still had a great time with Ms. M.
In the classroom:
The Bible verse for this week is:
“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
– James 4:17
The Native American prayer focus this week is for the Cherokee tribe. Isabel is really enjoying this prayer focus each week. We are both learning about those awesome peoples that lived in the “new world” before the Europeans arrived.
The dictation passage for this week…
“The Mouse found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to the rope that bound him,
she gnawed it and soon the Lion was free.
“You laughed when I said I would repay you, ” said the Mouse.
“Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion.”
– The Aesop for Children, “The Lion and the Mouse” page 19
During our reading lessons today, I had Isabel work on a little art project, while I read the story aloud to her. Her assignment was to draw a picture that follows along with our book, “Toliver’s Secret” by E.W.Brady that we started last week.
Her finished art work! Toliver is crossing the river along with British troops!
Will she get her “gift” to General Washington in time?
Today’s science assignment was to make a “sigma curve” from last weeks bar graph on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. (sorry no pictures)
First Sleepover – Part 2
Today was a rainy day and Isabel didn’t want to go any where or do anything special. So the girls spent the morning doing different activities before settling down just before lunch to watch a movie.
They built a fort in the front room which was very cozy inside. They said that Daisy and I could both enter but Daddy was not allowed.
“Please, Don’t enter mischiveous”
Entering without the password will not get you in the door.
Cozy inside.
The girls just before we had lunch.
I wanted to get a good shot with my digital camera and I got it!
After lunch we enjoyed Isabel’s choice in cake, a homemade grape-gelatin cake with whipped topping but before the cake we needed to sing “Happy Birthday”
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(turn your speakers down a bit it gets loud toward the end!)
Enjoying some cake.
Another good one, while they were watching “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
The serious faces! Silly girls.