Week 10 Highlights

A few HIGHLIGHTS from our week

The girls were sick a few days so we took it easy this week.  I read to them from Twice Freed, we watched Amazing Love The Story of Hosea, did our basics and played around in science.

This week in science we studied the bones.

 

 We cut out our skeleton from The Body Book.  I numbered the bones on the skeleton then wrote the names on index cards and numbered the back side.  The kids practiced identifying and checking their answers throughout the week.

 We made a veggie skeleton and the kids had to choose one vegetable to research the nutritional facts on.

 We constructed a backbone from pony tail holders, a jump rope and pipe insulator foam.
I explained to the kids that we have a total of 33 bones in the backbone. 5 are fused together to form the sacrum and 4 bones make the tailbone.  Our model consisted of the remaining 24 vertebrae and disks.
Pipe insulator = vertebrae
Pony tail = disk
Jump rope = spinal cord
 The idea came from http://www.spelloutloud.com/2011/11/right-now-we-are-on-break-but-i-thought.html

 An image from the book Bones Our Skeletal System by Seymour Simon.

We did the Bend a Bone with Vinegar science experiment found at 

http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/rubberbone.php

 

Science Matters, another blog, had a great idea on how to make model of a bone. 

   http://science-mattersblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/body-systems-skeletal-system-bone-model.html

Supplies needed:

 red and blue yarn, white felt-which I sewed together to make 

a tube, PVC pipe, foam pipe insulator, model clay and Velcro.

The  yarn represents the blood vessels, the felt is the dense membrane.

 The PVC pipe represents the compact bone.

 Pipe insulator is the spongy bone.

The model clay is your bone marrow.

I made bingo cards with calcium rich foods.

Thursday Lexi and I laid on the trampoline admiring the backyard birds
before our friends came over for a play date.

Week 9 Highlights

idea from http://layeredsoul.com/

I found this idea of making eye balls on pinterest.  I figured the kids might enjoy this more than making a paper model of the eye.  Mom guessed right, it was a hit!  I have to say it called for ingredients we don't keep in the house.  Matter of fact the ingredients are no no's at our house, but for the sake of science and having a little fun mom said, "What the heck."
 

The sclera (skleer-uh) is the outer layer and it covers most of the eye.  It is attached at the front to the clear surface called the cornea. We used white bark chocolate for the sclera and saran wrap for the cornea.

The circular membrane behind the cornea that actually gives us the color of our eye is the iris.  The iris is held into place by small muscles that help it control the amount of light that enters into the eye. We used blue gel for the iris.

The little black circle inside the iris is called the pupil, which opens and closes like a camera shutter to let the right amount of light into the eye.  The pupil gets bigger when there in low light and smaller when there is bright light. Information from Nutrition 101: Choose Life   
We used Jr. Mints for the pupil.

There are six muscles attached to each of your eye balls.  They allow you to look up, down and all around. Information from http://www.eschoolonline.com/company/examples/eye/eyeanatomy.html
We used red gel for the blood vessels and Fruit Roll Ups for the muscles in the back.

We found this awesome dissection through http://www.toadhaven.com/Toadhaven/Virtual_Surgery_and_Dissection.html

A fun optical illusion site

http://illusions.org/

Nutrition for Healthy Eye Sight

Nutrients for healthy eye support include: antioxidants, bioflavonoids (bahy-oh-fley-vuh-noid), DHA, lutein (loo-tee-in) and zeaxanthin.

*Anti-oxidants are powerful nutrients that can prevent macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly.  So what foods should I eat?  berries, cherries, pomegranates.

DHA is a fatty acid found in the retina of the eye and can reverse some of the degenerative damage that comes with macular degeneration.  DHA is one of the best sources for clear eyesight and eye health.  So what foods should I eat?  Salmon, tuna, cod, haddock, sardines.

Lutein  is an antioxidant that can help prevent free radical damage specific to problems with the lenses, retina, optic nerves and visual cortex.  So what foods should I eat?  Kale, collard greens, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, avocado, organic egg yolks.

Zeaxanthin  is a carotenoid (kuh-rot-n-oid ) nutrient.  So what foods should I eat?  Red bell peppers, broccoli, collard greens, green peas, romaine lettuce. Spinach, turnip greens and zucchini.

Vision Power Carrots

Carrots are an excellent source of vision promoting vitamin A,

alpha-carotene and beta-carotene.

It is impossible to get my son to eat veggies with the exception of broccoli and green beans, so I am often trying new smoothies to get his veggies in.  This one was a hit!

Carrot smoothie – juice two carrots.  Add to blender the carrot juice, two frozen bananas, 1 cup of ice and 1 cup of mixed frozen fruit of strawberry, mango and pineapple.  Yields about 16 ounces.  These make great smoothie frozen pops too.

Bad Eyesight Foods

Trans fatty acids can cause direct damage to the blood vessels that supply your eyes and brain.  Look for food ingredients that say hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil.  Processed foods such as white rice, pasta, and bread may worsen eyesight, especially as a person ages.  These types of foods can cause age-related macular degeneration.

Information under Nutrition for Healthy Eye Sight and Bad Eyesight Foods is derived from Nutrition 101: Choose Life.

Vocabulary

Antioxidants – substances, found in foods, which inhibits oxidation in the body’s cell.

Oxidation – is a chemical reaction that produces free radicals, they are molecules that damage DNA.

Think of apple slices turning brown .  Exposure to the air turns them brown (oxidation).  Adding lemon (an antioxidant) prevents the oxidation.

Discussion Questions

1.       How can we protect our eyes?

2.       What foods should we try to eliminate or decrease in our diet?

3.       Why should we eliminate or decrease the bad foods?

For further information read Eyes and Ears by Seymour Simon for the inner and middle layer of eye and how the eye works.

Daddy and the kids playing around with the
Magic School Bus: A Journey into the Body science kit.
They were learning about the lungs.

Lexi loves creating her mosaics.


Achievements

While Lauren and I were in the middle of a Barton Reading and Spelling lesson she exclaimed, "Mom, I can spell a lot of words now!"  She was grinning ear to ear.  I can't say enough good things about this dyslexic program.

 Serving Others

Even the little ones can serve and they love it!

 God Moment

All week has been difficult for me.  I struggle with feeling incompetent to teach my kids.  Why?  I  judge myself according to the world's standard, something I know I shouldn't do!  Satan knows where to attack and he came at me hard this week.  I allowed myself to fall victim to his lies, which led to self pity.  You can only guess what that led to... You got it.  A less productive and unhappy mom/teacher.

Thanks to a prayerful husband and friend I got off the pity potty and began renewing my mind with the Truth.  (Ha, Ha!  Guess what our memory verse is this week???)

"Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)

I was reminded that I am his workmanship created in Him for good works, which He prepared beforehand so that I would walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)  If I am his masterpiece who am I to complain about how he formed me or what he has called me to do.  Am I really going to sulk about my weaknesses OR hold onto scripture that tells me that God's grace is sufficient for me, that His power is made perfect in my weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9)   It is not by my doing but through Him and by his grace that my children will be prepared for the calling that He will lay on their life.

The last verse that really made me say, "Darn, never thought of it like that." 

"May the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever." (Hebrews 13:20-21)

If God has the power to raise his Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead should I not trust that he has the power to equip me and work in my life for his purpose also.

I sat down with the kids and apologized for my attitude this week, asked for their forgiveness, and shared with them the Truth that set me free.  They all hugged me tight, forgave me, and said they loved me.

History Timeline

We have tried the Book of Centuries timeline, the Kono's wall timeline, the lapbook timelines and none of them have worked for us.  The Book of Centuries and the lapbook timelines we just never opened up nor can you view them as a whole.  The Kono's timeline just takes up too much wall space.  This week I was thinking of how we could create another timeline that: we could see as a whole, fold and put away, re-use when we come through the cycle again and is inexpensive to make.

So this is what my husband and I came up with.

 Supplies needed: clear packing tape, masking tape, scissors, and a $2.50 trifold cardboard, laminating machine and laminating sheets (optional). Everything we had at home already except for the trifold board.

 

My husband drew the lines on the board, I'm not great at drawing them straight across and I didn't want to get the level out. Can you say lazy. lol.  Anyhow, we then put the clear packing tape down on the lines drawn.  The reasoning behind this is so I can move the timeline figures around without tearing up the cardboard.

  

I laminated our timeline figures then added masking tape on the back bottom of the timeline figure.  You want to make sure to put the tape on the figure where it will only touch the packing tape on your board, otherwise, you will have an oops if you ever want to move your figure.

 

Well, that is it! 

Renaissance 2012

The Texas Renaissance is one of my kids favorite festivals to attend. 

Here is a picture of most of my kids:

Lauren, Hannah and Micah.

 Here is a picture of the whole gang that went.

 Lauren with a barbarian.

 Lady Elizabeth Howard, Ann Boleyn's mother, chatting with the kids.

She was persistent that her daughter would give a baby boy to King Henry VIII.

Henry was quite disappointed  with a daughter whom was born on September 7, 1533, she was named Elizabeth.  

Elizabeth I, ruled over 50 years, building a better England than her father. 

 What is a pirate's favorite letter?  ARR, it is the "C."

 The kids enjoyed dancing the Escargot.

 Hannah and KK dancing.

Cooper in his knight attire.

 My little man trying on the armor.

 We sat down to enjoy the jousting between England and Spain.

We were cheering England on.

 

It didn't end well for England.

 Hannah was devastated!

 We loved the many demonstrations.  This was the glass blowing.

 Don't mess with these pirates!

 Fire Whipping

Charlotte enjoying the scenery.

 Duchess Maria Julich-Berg, mother of Anne of Cleves, was teaching the girls how to curtsy. 

She was probably my favorite to visit, because she had the most historical information of herself to share.

Maria came from a long line of German princesses.

Maria became heiress to her father's estates of Jülich, Berg and Ravensberg after his death.

 The Basye and Ischy girls riding the elephant.

 Mindy, Micah and Cara

Elephants first appeared in the renaissance as lavish gifts of peace and goodwill between Muslims and Christians.  King Charlemagne of France received an elephant from the Moor of North Africa.

 Mindy and Me.

My sweet family.

Snip-Its Week 7 / Rome to Reformation

Snip-its from this week:

BIBLE

This week we covered 

John's birth Luke 1:1-25

Jesus's birth announced Luke 1:26-80

Birth of Jesus Luke 2:1-38

Jesus and the Wise Men Matthew 2:1-12

 All kids added this to their lapbooks.

Hannah wrote a report on John the Baptist.  

I was so thrilled to see that she is really bringing IEW concepts into her 

other writing reports.

Hannah wrote a newspaper article on 

Messiah Born of a Virgin? 

Prophecies seem to line up....

HEALTH

Attentiveness/Ear 

(December we will work on eyes)

Training the kids to be attentive.  All week I kept reminding them

to listen closely and watch carefully.

A. To pay attention

B. To concentrate

1. To listen long enough to know what is being said

2. To look closely enough to notice detail

3. To concentrate without distractions

Proverbs 4:20

My son, pay attention to what I say, listen closely to my words.

Isaiah 55:3

Incline your ear and come to Me.  Listen, that you may live; and I will make an 

everlasting covenant with you.

For Lauren's Auditory Memory and Receptive Language disorder one of the games we play is Follow Directions (this idea came from a friend who is a speech and language therapist).  I thought this tied in nicely with this week, so all the kids played.  

The kids had to repeat my directions then follow them.  Here are a few of them:

1. Hop 5 times, tell me the last letter of your name, and draw a square in the air.

2. Clap your hands under your legs, count backwards from 5, and sing your last name.

3. Name two vegetables, name the 5 vowels and jump up in the air.

For Lauren this is a challenge to remember so many words.  For Micah and Hannah I added more directions.  I have to admit when you add four directions it was hard for me to remember.

We also went outside and made an obstacle course out of it.  You could even make use of prepositions if you are teaching them; I am teaching them to Micah and Lauren right now.  Ex. Go under the trampoline, jump over the swing, and bear crawl to the fence.

For Receptive/Expressive Language disorder I suggest Pirate Talk board game.  

My daughter enjoys this game. 

 

The skills it works on:

• Sentence Repetition
• Answering Questions
• Following Directions
• Categorizing

• Inferencing
• Describing
• Social Skills

All the kids labeled the parts of the ear we talked about.

The kids and I made an ear out of boxes.

They crawled through the canal, which was the box you see.

The ear drum was wax paper.  When they passed through the ear drum there was a spatula (the hammer), and two baking pans (these were the anvil and stirrup).  The kids hit the spatula on the pan and felt the vibration on the other pan.  Next was the gigantic shell (our cochlea).  Following that was a jump rope (the auditory nerve) that led to the brain.
 

 

Micah and Lauren read a chapter a day from Two Great Lives.  

We pulled sentences from this book to work on prepositions and conjunctions.

HISTORY

From Story of the World we read Caesar Fights the Celts, Caesar Crosses the Rubicon,
Caesar and Cleopatra, The Death of Caesar.

We also read from 

The chapter on Julius Caesar

 

Hannah reading Cleopatra by Diane Stanley

Hannah's Book Basket 

The story on Julius Caesar

EVERYDAY MOMENTS AROUND THE HOUSE

 Hannah making bread.  We put it in the bread machine on the dough cycle, 

then transfer it to a cast iron bread pan to cook it in the oven.

Our favorite recipe:

2/3 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

1/4 cup butter

2 cups wheat flour (fresh ground if possible)

1 cup white flour

3 tbsp raw sugar

1-1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

 Lexi's drawing of a "fishy pond" in her words.

Micah sewing a button on his Robin Hood cape. 

Teaching Lauren how to make our dishwashing detergent.

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Kosher Salt 

I keep the citric acid in a separate jar because it will clump up if you mix it with the other ingredients.

1 tbsp of mix per wash

1 tsp citric acid

pour some vinegar in your rinse aid

SERVING OTHERS

 This month is the season to count our blessings and we wanted to let others know that they are blessings.

I am so excited to see how God moves in our hearts and those we say thank you to all month.

Today when I asked the kids who they wanted to make cookies for and say thank you for serving others they said Mrs. Mary Ann.  Mary Ann has served the seniors in our community for the last eight years through Meals on Wheels.  We are blessed to know her and help her through this ministry.

GOD MOMENT

I must confess that this week's study has made me aware of how we need to train ourselves in being more attentive to our Father in heaven.

I was convicted in the moment of telling my children are you listening closely, are you watching carefully??

Hmmm....God whispers to my heart are you distracted?  Are you listening closely and watching carefully?

I have to admit it is easy to get distracted,  but quite frankly there is nothing more important than spending intimate time alone with Him.

Are we in His Word everyday, are we listening closely to the Holy Spirit, are we looking at the world around us with His eyes; or are we simply missing out on so much that He wants to offer us and show us.