MFW Highlight Week 6 Creation to Greeks

Themes of study this week...

For the next 10 weeks we will be memorizing the 10 Commandments.  This week we start with

"I am the Lord your God...you shall have no other Gods before me."

Job...

We learned that even though Job is the 18th book of the Old Testament, it occurs much sooner chronologically.  Job most likely lived at the time of Abraham.

We read Job 1, 2, and 42:7-16.

Abraham's Journeys...

Genesis 11:27-12:20

Abraham and Lot...

Genesis 14:21-15:19

In a nutshell we learned that Abraham, who was first called Abram, migrated with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot from Ur to Haran.  They lived in Haran a while before traveling to Canaan, which is now known as Israel.  A famine struck Canaan which forced Abram to travel to Egypt. Abram told Sarai to tell the Egyptians you are my sister and they will treat me well.  The Lord brought serious diseases onto Pharaoh and his household.  When Pharaoh found that Sarai was Abram's wife he gave orders for them to leave.  Lot settles near Sodom, a wicked city, and Abram settles in Canaan.  Lot was taken captive during a war and was rescued by Abram.

We enjoyed learning the geography of Abram's journey and that after Joshua died God used judges to lead his people.  The judges were not like judges we think of now.  They helped the people live together, to rescue them from enemies and to lead them toward the Lord.

 

Dinosaurs of Eden...

We discussed the reasons why animals go extinct: famines, droughts, diseases, people killing them for food, animals killing one another and so on.  We then discussed why dinosaurs went extinct.  Because of sin, the Curse, and the Flood, we now have fires, floods, diseases, famines, killing.  Thus the same reason animals become extinct today are the same reasons that dinosaurs died out.  And it wasn't millions of years ago.

  I told the kids to look at the picture below

 and tell me if it made since with what the Bible tells us.  God made animals and man on the 6th day of creation. 

 "God saw all he had made.  And it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

There was no death, no sickness, no disease.

How did it go from very good to what it is now? Adam and Eve disobeying God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:20-22 that sin affected everything God made.

In the Garden of Eden, God killed  an animal, shedding its blood, and clothed Adam and Eve in the animal's skin. (Genesis 3:21)  He was showing Adam and Eve that now death would be in the world.

Genesis 15-16
We finished up the week reading about God's covenant with Abram, Sarai's servant Hagar and  the son she gave birth to, Ishmael.

Marsupials...

We learned about marsupials.  Hannah made the kangaroo.  We added a Ziploc bag for the pouch and covered it with felt.  The kids wrote on index cards different things we learned and they put them in the pouch.  Each day we went over them.

Additional reads...

 

Just Plain Fun...

 I know this child belongs on a farm not in the city.  Rolled up overalls, boots, and a bandanna for a ponytail.  That's my girl, never one to fit in with others, she is confident in who she is.  I love it!

Just a sweet shot of my babies.


Sharing some sweetness...

Lauren told me she wanted me to make daddy cookies.  She hid the cookies and told daddy not to come in the kitchen when he arrived home.  Then at dinner she covered them with not one but three towels to hide them from him.  Once he finished eating dinner she took them to the table along with a candle and sang to him, "Your the best daddy, Your the best daddy, Your the best daddy in the world."

Cooking Class...

Hannah's

Lauren's

We started off the class with creating our placemats.

The fork was an imprisoned princess, separated from her prince (the spoon) by an alligator-infested swamp (the plate) and a mean soldier (the knife.)

The idea and uncolored placemat can be found at http://www.allfreecrafts.com/kids/placemat.shtml.

Documents I put together and passed out :

http://www.mediafire.com/?38j67mck41qxjlw (pancake mix)

http://www.mediafire.com/?7yrhvztt3bx5g9t (pancake syrup)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ho8hf5abwy0vaeo (wheat vs. white flour)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bcxh2qhbiby4wn0 (wheat is high in...)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bileei7qxjvliqy (how/what wheat & white are made from)

Flipping pancakes

Some girls were adventurous and tried the vanilla yogurt and homemade strawberry syrup I put on the table for their pancakes.  Others opted for the homemade buttered pancake syrup. 

Pen pals...

During the summer one of the MFW homeschool moms thought of the wonderful idea of making a pen pal list.  There were about 70 families that loved the idea and signed their family up for it. 

Today Lauren received a letter.  I hadn't even shared the idea with the kids yet.  So upon Lauren receiving the letter I explained to them that I had added our name to pen pal list.  They were all very excited and wanted to pick someone to write to immediately.  With much enthusiasm Lauren quickly wrote back the young girl who wrote to her and can not wait to receive another letter.   

MFW Highlight Week 5 Creation to Greeks

Themes for our studies this week

Mummies....

We read how the Egyptian kings were preserved.  Preserving something means stopping it from decaying.  Decay is caused by bacteria and mold.  Since bacteria grows best in moist places the Egyptians made a mummy by removing moist body parts and drying out the rest.  Mummies were also wrapped in bandages soaked in an oily resin that killed bacteria and molds.

We inserted a piece of bread with antiseptic cream on it in the first bag.

In the second bag we inserted a plain piece of bread.

In the third bag we put a piece of toasted bread.

Our results after a week:  

• The slice with antiseptic cream had no mold.  The cream worked like the oily resin that the Egyptians used. 
• The plain bread was moldy.
• The toasted bread was the same as when we inserted it into the bag.  The kids learned that bacteria and mold could not grow on the toast because there was no moisture.  This is why the Egyptians dried out the bodies. 

An additional read:

 

Pyramids...

  We took a stab at building a pyramid and our friends joined us.  The kids used sugar cubes, which were not in my opinion the best tool for doing this. The sugar cubes were all different sizes, which made it a little more difficult.  Legos or unit cubes would probably be a better choice. 

While building it gave me a chance to review with the kids how to figure the area and perimeter.

Mapping...

Hannah drew a map of the Middle East today.

Memorization...

We are working on memorizing the books of the Old Testament.

Music & Art...

We listened to Vivaldi's "Spring".  The kids were to create a spring scene while listening.

Something New...

Hannah started a new math program, Teaching Textbooks, this week.  So far it has been a success and Hannah really enjoys it.  Math is her difficult subject and not my favorite to teach.  Teaching Textbooks first gives a chalkboard lecture, has interactive questions, then they have problems.  If she doesn't understand how to solve it or gets it incorrect and wants to see how to solve it correctly you can click a button that will walk them through it.  I believe there are a total of 4,000 problems that they walk the student through.  It also has a grade book.  You can see what they got correct vs. incorrect which problems they watched them solve and the grade they scored.

We also bought the DVDs MathTacular 1,2,3.  They have been a huge hit especially with Micah and Lauren.  Teaching them concepts pulled from several different Math programs such as Singapore, Saxon, and Horizon.

Congrats....

Micah finished his Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  He is now reading at a 2nd grade level.  Way to go Micah!

Playing....

Daddy and Lexi playing ball.

Over the weekend...

We got to visit mama and papa at the farm in Schulenburg.  The kids saw answered prayers.  We have been praying for rain for Schulenburg and the surrounding areas.  Many people are having to sell off their cattle, wells are drying up, it is such a difficult time for many out there.  Well it rained Friday and Saturday!  Lauren told grandma that she prayed for rain and God answered her prayers.

To top it off daddy shot a deer with his bow and arrow.  Thank you to Uncle Roland and Papa for helping daddy track it down at 10 o'clock at night.

  

MFW Highlight Week 4 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

Farmers of the Nile Valley

Ancient Egypt was a long narrow country which stretched along the Nile Valley.  Villages grew along the Nile, because along both sides of the river the land was good for farming.  

Unification of Egypt

Upper and Lower Egypt fought a battle around 3100 B.C. and King Menes of Upper Egypt won.  He united both kingdoms and Egypt became one country.

The kids were given pictures of the two crowns that the Pharaohs wore.  I informed them that they would need to get creative and create their own making sure they could combine them.  I have to say I couldn't of done it.  I'm a mom that needs a pattern or instructions, but my kids pulled it off and did a great job!

Egypt Boats

Daddy, Hannah, Lauren and myself spent about an hour just making the above reed boat. This was messy and the reeds I bought were sticky.  I got about 4 cut wounds from this project. 

Rosh Hashanah

 We are a week behind on our feasts.  Last week I wasn't doing well so we only got around to the basics. 

In preparing for Rosh Hashanah we took some craft ideas from

Through the week we made our own apple and honey dish, Kiddush cup, and paper shofar.  All can be seen in the collage below.

The Hebrew word Rosh means "head" or "beginning."  Hashanah means "the year."  The name is only used once in the Old Testament.  Ezekiel 40:1 says, "....at the beginning of the year..."  The more common biblical name is "The Feast of Trumpets."  This celebration is intended to begin a new "spiritual" year.

We began the morning with me blowing the shofar and spoke:

"Awake, you that are sleepy, and ponder your deeds; remember your Creator and go to him for forgiveness.  Don't be like those who miss reality in their hunt after shadows, and waste your years in seeking after vain things which can neither profit nor deliver.  Look well to your souls and consider your deeds; let each one of you forsake his evil ways and thoughts, and return to the Lord, so that He may have mercy on you."

We will do this observing the ten day tradition of the High Holy Days along with each day reading one of the ten reasons for blowing the shofar.

The shofar is a symbolic signal to God's people that it is time for a spiritual awakening.  The bend in the showfar represent the human heart in true repentence bowing before the Lord.

The challah has a round shape symbolic of our desire for a full and round year.  Lauren made the challah dough and I braided it using the example from http://judaism.about.com/b/2011/09/21/how-to-braid-a-round-challah-for-rosh-hashanah.htm.  Ours didn't turn out quite as round, I couldn't quite figure it out. 

The honey cake was to celebrate the birthday of the world.  We thanked God for His creation. Hannah baked our honey cake.

The Hebrew word for carrots also means "to increase."  The carrots symbolize that God will increase our blessings as we walk with Him in the new year. 

Another tradition is to dip apples in honey.  This is symbolic of the hope that the year will be a sweet one.  Lauren made an apple plate for the apples and turned a red cup into a flower.  She then made a bumble bee out of foam and glued it to the flower.

Moments to Cherish....

• During family prayer Micah asked the Lord to provide food for the homeless and to send rain for mama and papa's farm.  Well God answered both those prayers that same day.  We happen to see one of our pastors place a request to help with a little of the prep work for a mission project the church is doing for the families who were affected by the fires in Bastrop.  They blessed us with the opportunity to serve with Jimmy, who was awesome with the kids, in labeling the food boxes.  The kids really enjoyed this and even asked if we could help every Thursday at the church.    We left so blessed!  Then later that day we saw Aunt Heather post on facebook that they were getting rain on the farm.  Praise God for answered prayers!
• Ok so this is kind of funny.  Every time Lexi has to go potty she pulls down her panties to her ankles, wherever she is, and wobbles to the potty.  I wonder if she knows it's easier to wait till you get to the potty before you pull your panties down. LOL 
• I woke up from a nap and found Hannah cooking in the kitchen.  She was working on her cooking class assignment.  She made homemade chocolate syrup.  It is not often Hannah wants to be in the kitchen, so I was thrilled to see her in there.

MFW Highlights Wk3 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

After the Flood

Most of the history we will learn this year will have occurred in a small part of the world, sometimes called the Bible Lands. The kids drew a map of this region and used the following silly story to help remind them.

A man went fishing one day. This is the front of his boat. His fishing lines are hanging down from the boat and they got all tangled up. The man looked over his boat and fell into the water! These are his two fingers under the front of the boat. He sent up a distress signal to call for help-a balloon with a string, and a mitten tied on the end of it! In this corner is the head of a huge water bug, with two long feelers coming out of his head.

E.T. purrs in the red nile med

(Euphrates, Tigris, Persian Gulf, Red Nile, & Mediterranean Sea)

This saying was to help them remember what most of the areas they drew were called.

Noah’s Descendants

The kids mapped the migration of Noah's descendants.

Tower of Babel

Ok, so they don't compare to the Tower of Babel daddy built last year.  We had fun playing and constructing!

Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia

We learned that the Sumerians were the first to create a written language after the flood.  Do you know what Mesopotamia means?? Well we didn't and now we do.  It is the land between two rivers (The Tigris and the Euphrates).  Scholars believe that Sumer is one of the oldest known civilizations in the world and that Ham (Noah's son) was the grandfather to Nimrod who they believe founded Sumer. 

Greek for the week....

Photos - light

Kids re-enacting one who is photophobia.

For phototropic and photophilia we dug up a plant from

the back yard, hence, the reason why it doesn't look so great and 

watched it turn towards the light.

Science....

We have been discussing mammals in science.  For this weeks assignment they had to choose a mammal of their choice, read a book on that mammal, write a report and draw a picture. 

For Micah and Lauren they used the following notebook page http://www.mediafire.com/?pev8ah6hl4m6304.

Family Read Aloud....

We finished

Moments to cherish....

• Lexi is now pooping on the potty. Woo Hoo!!
• The last two weeks Lauren has put up our grocery cart along with all the other baskets that were left out in the parking lot. She is just like her daddy.  Two of his pet peaves is when people don't put their basket in the cart return or when people just lay things up on the grocery shelves instead of placing them back where they got them from.
• Watching daddy jumping on the trampoline with the kids.
• Hannah is not my child who is usually in the kitchen cooking with me, but she really enjoys making the Challah bread.  She asked to make it this week.  Lauren and Hannah measured, rolled, and braided the dough all by themselves.



MFW Highlights Wk2 Creation to Greeks

Theme for our studies this week....

Genesis 2-8
A few of our assignments below

notebooking page can be found at http://www.notebookingpages.com/

the booklet can be found at http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/

Hannah's second assignment in IEW (Excellence in Writing) to write a poem on

The Great Flood.

Some additional books the kids enjoyed....

 

Greek for the Week....I printed this out for the kids notebook and also created a word document.  I printed the word document, cut out the dinosaurs with the information, laminated and put up on wall for the kids to see through the week.  You can download document http://www.mediafire.com/?2en330u843xnstc.   Lauren and Micah also did a few dot to dot dinosaur pages (on some of the above mentioned dinosaurs) that can be found at www.education.com/worksheets as well as put their minds to work on finding their way through some dinosaur mazes bought from http://www.amazon.com/.

Daddy and Lauren also worked together on building a paper 3D Tyrannosaurus from the Kumon Paper Craft book.  The book says for 7 and up, but I felt it was difficult for our kids to do alone.

Cooking class has begun....
A friend asked if I would be interested in teaching a cooking class and with excitement I agreed.  I am only teaching  it once a month at this time so I don't add to much to my plate.  A few gliches need to be worked out, but I thought the class went well.  All the girls were wonderful and I hope that this class will be informative and FUN!

We went over our notebooks then took a few minutes to watch

http://eater.com/archives/2011/06/06/watch-jamie-oliver-ruin-ice-cream-and-candy-forever.php

Then we made our own toppings for some natural ice creams and enjoyed.

Here are the handouts I created for the first class.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/96d34r4y6g6zqos/A%20Few%20Cooking20Utensils.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/c9vl5ekx19814z5/immune%20system.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/qbmbhtxl37stbwm/Kitchen%20Etiquette.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/6o2jhvqqdm2bohn/Picture%20of%20Me%20with%20Assignment%201.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rk30abyzid7nod7/Recipe%20for%20a%20firs1.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/69d5lua0e5518su/stewed%20fruit%20syrup.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mx9yj5dbdm5kanb/topping%20for%20fruit%20crisp.docxcx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tu6lsex5u9pcycp/CHOCOLATE%20SYRUP.docx

Micah working on....
Copywork of our weekly Bible verse. 

"All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

                                                                                                                               2 Timothy 3:16-17

Extra activity
We took a trip to the library Friday with some other homeschoolers. They went over how the library is set up and how to locate books, then sent the kids on a hunt. This was great because quite frankly we don't make it to the library that oftern, it is just too dificult with Lexi at her age plus trying to assist all the other kids. We usually put our request in through the internet and pick up our books. We are in and out.




A day with friends....

Family read aloud....
We are still reading Amy & Her Bothers.  The kids are really enjoying this book.  Lauren said she loved the book and asked if we could get more like this one.

Moments to cherish.....

• Lauren was folding laundry when she decided to put my clothes on, turn the music up loud and start dancing in the living room.
• The slide was wet at the park and Lexi wanted to slide down, so Lauren suggested to Micah to dry the slide of with his cape.  Micah slid down the slide scooting his bottom side to side to make sure he dried up all the water.
• Lexi loved listening to Vivaldi and when they played the opera piece she tried to sing along.
• We took family night over to grandpa's and he enjoyed some homemade pizza and The Walton's with us.