First Sleepover – Part 1

Since Isabel’s friend Ms. M had gymnastics class, we picked her up afterward and than took the girls out for dinner and yogurt afterward.

2015-02-06 022_edited-1

Mini pizza’s at Mod Pizza.
One ordered cheese, the other pepperoni and then they shared half of their pie with the other.

2015-02-06 024_edited-1

Yummy yogurt for these 2 sweet girls and great friends!

2015-02-06 028_edited-1

After arriving home we let the girls stay up until 9:30 and than it was lights out and in bed.
They spent the time in Isabel’s room playing with Isabel’s new remote controlled jeep from Grandpa.

However… the girls had other ideas! They were up until 1 a.m. (giggling and telling secrets) and than were up at 6 a.m. for the new day to begin! Great fun and awesome memories for Isabel and her first sleepover!

Third Grade: Day 95

We are so close to the 100th day of our school year! I can’t believe it!

Tonight we are having a special guest staying over for a sleepover! Isabel has asked a friend from her old school to come over and celebrate her birthday with her. We will be cutting class time short today in order to prepare for her arrival tonight. We have plans for this evening but tomorrow is open for whatever these 2 girls can come up with. I know Isabel is super excited for this evening to hurry up and arrive but let’s get…

Onto today’s class and science…

2015-02-06 002_edited-1

Again lots of seed growth in our seedling nursery. Today’s assignment we will be planting our sprouts.
Number 17 and 19 have actually stood up on their own and are growing in the paper towel.

2015-02-06 004_edited-1

Our other experiments that we have worked on this week.
We aren’t going to be doing anything with them today just observing what we can see.

2015-02-06 008_edited-1

Last day for the bar graph, we will use this information on Monday.

2015-02-06 014_edited-1

The assignment today is about crowding/spacing in gardening or planting.

7A: has 2 plants from our nursery seedlings
7B: has 12 plants from our nursery seedlings

What effect will all those seedlings have on their growth? Will they all survive?

2015-02-06 015_edited-1

At the end of the day we have 4 different seedling experiments going on in the classroom this week.
The 3 planters on the far right of our water try are for Isabel’s guest,
she can take them home with her tomorrow.

Even though our class time was cut short, we got more completed than I thought we would, which makes for better day on Monday of next week.

2015-02-06 017_edited-1

This week’s memory verse and handwriting.
Beautiful!

2015-02-06 020_edited-1

Dictation passage for this week and handwriting.
Beautiful too.

Third Grade: Day 94

This week’s radish science continues today. We have had some major growth in the last 24 hours.

Today we are graphing and doing another assignment with our radish seeds. So let the day begin!

2015-02-05 002_edited-1

The seeds have really pushed out of their shells!
Only 15 and 20 haven’t shown any sign of growth.

2015-02-05 004_edited-1

Close-up of seedling.
Look at those root hairs!

She needs to finish her graphing and drawing for the week and than we can do today’s assignments.

2015-02-05 006_edited-1

Diagramming and labeling the seed growth.
Isabel was impressed by my drawing skills (I was impressed by them too!).

Special assignment:
You discover a new species of plant in a tropical forest that hasn’t been photographed or documented. You don’t have a camera and only your field journal with paper and colored pencils (and a ruler). How would you document this new finding to share with others and what would you call this new plant? Go!

Objective:

2015-02-05 007_edited-1

Making her graph for her drawing.

2015-02-05 009_edited-1

Graph is completed and now it’s time to capture the beauty of this new plant!

2015-02-05 014_edited-1

She did it! She has captured this new plant on paper and is ready to show the world!
It is called  “power flower” and it can give you energy for a week! That’s a special flower!

Today’s assignment:

Objective:

2015-02-05 017_edited-1

Supplies are ready and assembly of our new environments is underway.

2015-02-05 021_edited-1

Preparing the seed beds for each of the 2 environments.

These 2 environments will be sitting for next 17 days, afterward we will document our findings and record our results.

2015-02-05 024_edited-1

The dark environment with seeds.
What do you predict will happen?

2015-02-05 025_edited-1

Both environments are  completed and sealed.
(the sealing of each cup is to keep her from looking in (sealed) cup before the 17 days are complete )

Third Grade: Day 93

“Even though it’s someone’s birthday today, we are still having school.”

Isabel was bummed that we weren’t taking the day off for her special day however I did let her sleep in and we started class later then normal.

After reading through our Bible lessons the excitement Isabel had for seeing her seedlings in their nursery environment was contagious this morning! So we did all our science lessons first thing.

Yesterdays observation was not a good one because we didn’t see any change in the seedlings from the previous day. Isabel was so disappointed.  So I didn’t take any pictures but Isabel did record her findings on her science graph. (also note: that after watching our “discover and do” video yesterday we decided to wrap our seedling nursery in a blanket)

Which leads us to today…

2015-02-04 004_edited-1

There are 6 growth stages in a seedling.

2015-02-04 002_edited-1

On closer observation into our seedling nursery we can see that some of our seeds have gotten through stages A, B, C and D.
However 2 of our seeds haven’t left the first stage of growth yet.

2015-02-04 005_edited-1

Each seedling stage is determined by growth and gingerly taken out of the nursery for further study.

2015-02-04 011_edited-1

She only needs to draw 1 picture for each stage of growth.
Yesterday, she drew stage growth A. Today her seedlings have gone well beyond that first stage!

2015-02-04 015_edited-1

Filling in her bar graph with her new seedling findings from this mornings observations.

2015-02-04 022_edited-1

Another follow-up assignment for the mini planter seedlings is to check the water levels.
More water was needed in the tray so she filled and measured the depth so it was just right.

Assignment 3 and supplies:

  • 2 paper towels
  • scissors
  • clear cup with lid
  • plastic wrap
  • 12 radish seeds
  • pitcher of water

2015-02-04 024_edited-1

Our supplies to make four environments.

2015-02-04 029_edited-1

After assembling her environment, she’s ready to add her seeds.

2015-02-04 031_edited-1

Wrapping seeds with plastic wrap to decrease the chance of evaporation.

2015-02-04 034_edited-1

Her 4 environments are completed.
1. under the plastic wrap
2. on the lid
3. under the water
4. on the paper towel
She’s excited to see what happens with her 12 seedlings!

Our other science in the classroom and our other new book we are reading for the week is:

2015-02-04 040_edited-1

“The M.S.B. Inside the Human Body” by J. Cole and B. Degen.
We started this yesterday and finished it today, not going into to much depth but learning how and where food goes when it enters our bodies.

With starting later, we didn’t get any creative writing completed for the day but we did get all our regular class assignments completed. Which is totally fine, all the science observation that is taking place we can pick up the writing again next week.

Isabel told me at the end of class today that today was the best day of school ever! Wow! that makes me feel great that she’s enjoying homeschooling so much.

Library Tuesdays

Tuesdays are turning into Library days at our house. After piano lessons we head to the local library to get our fill of books!

This week, our selections included:

2015-02-18 010_edited-1

“The New American’s” by Betsy M.
The words are beautifully captured  in the gorgeous illustrations!

2015-02-18 011_edited-1

“Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin” by M. Henry
Isabel and I both loved this biography of the American Quaker Painter boy and his cat!
(We enjoyed looking up his art online. Isabel was impressed by what he could do)

2015-02-18 012_edited-1

“The Adventures of Myles Standish and the Amazing-But-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony” by C. Harness.

Isabel wasn’t into this book at all. I did read it but didn’t really enjoy it either, it was dark but those times in history were dark. Prejudiced, Pride and Persecution have followed mankind throughout history and we never seem to learn from it. Having said all that, I will give the author another chance, she has another book about the westward expansion, so we’ll see how that one reads.

Happy reading!

Third Grade: Day 91

It’s February! Our January was a good one. We didn’t have much rain in the area and last week we enjoyed some very nice spring like weather. It’s been a mild winter in our little neck of the woods. Let’s see what February has in store…

 

The Bible verse for this week is…

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” – Proverbs 27:17

The Native American prayer focus this week is for the Miami and Shawnee tribes.

The dictation passage for this week…

“Your troubles have come in order to prove that your faith is real. It is worth more than gold. Gold can pass away even though fire has made it pure. Your faith is meant to bring praise, honor and glory to God. That will happen when Jesus Christ returns.” – 1 Peter 1:7

I have begun to give Isabel a creative writing assignment every day and today’s topic was to invent 5 items of winter wear. She could only think of 4.

See below:

2015-02-02 032_edited-1

To hear her explain each item to you brings a smile to your face!

She has the potential to be a great writer, she doesn’t have the drive/desire to write it! We are hoping these assignments give her a love of writing because when she writes, it’s amazing!

2015-02-02 033_edited-1

Her scarf idea is great.

One of our new books to read this week is:
(we’ll finish it next week)

2015-02-02 034_edited-1

Toliver’s Secret” by  E.W.Brady
The story is about a little girl who helps her grandfather, who is s spy for General George Washington.

2015-02-02 002_edited-1

Reading our new book and listening to Isabel read aloud.

This week in the classroom, we are beginning a month long study about radish seeds and the plants that grow from the seed. Today is all about assembly of our planters, nursery and we’ll be planting our first seeds! As we dive into this new exciting lesson, I will post Isabel’s findings and other things. Let the experimenting begin!

Assignment 1 and supplies:

  •  1/2 gallon milk carton.
  • scissors and masking tape
  • paper towels
  • radish seeds
  • ballpoint pen and a quarter to trace
  • pitcher with water

2015-02-02 010_edited-1

Isabel’s completed seed nursery with 20 seeds inside.
I completely forgot the camera while she was making this, so no pictures of the construction.

Assignment 2 and supplies:

  • aluminum foil
  • masking tape
  • size-D battery
  • potting soil
  • radish seeds
  • permanent marker and a pencil
  • Styrofoam® tray

2015-02-02 011_edited-1

The supplies she will need for her assignment.

2015-02-02 013_edited-1

Folding aluminum foil.

2015-02-02 015_edited-1

Wrapping that aluminum foil around a mold (a battery).

2015-02-02 018_edited-1

It’s secured with tape and labeled for use.

2015-02-02 025_edited-1

Two little planters ready and waiting for dirt and radish seeds.
She needs to make 2 more.

2015-02-02 029_edited-1

Both assignments are complete and we set up a table in the classroom below the window for our observations.
(later in the evening I moved the little seedlings because it seemed to cool)