School Days Summary - The Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Saul

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A Summary of January 14-25

Some good news and some bad news... First, the good. I finished creating lesson plans through the end of our year. Yea! The bad news... I realized that I didn't allow enough time to get everything done. Some fancy copying and pasting and a little adjusting and I fit everything in. To finish up at the end of May, I decided to double up our MFW weeks this past week.

Here's what we did for school:

Things that were scheduled as usual:

Math

Language Arts (Grammar, Spelling, Penmanship, Reading, and Writing)

Tenor had a week off from writing and then jumped back in to begin the next lesson in his "Ancient History Based Writing Lessons" to correspond with our learning about the Trojan War.

Electives:

Typing

Spanish

Civics: They read about Sales Clerks.

Geography: They did an Asia worksheet.

Health: Discussing "what is a healthy diet?"

My Father's World Creation to the Greeks-

We completed weeks 18-20 which focused on the time of the judges in the Old Testament as well as Ruth and Samuel.

Bible: We finished memorizing Psalm 23.The younglings each wrote out Psalm 23 at the end and did very well. We also reviewed the Old Testament books and the 10 Commandments.

Science: They finished studying Day 4 of Creation (Sun, moon, and stars) by making match rockets (which didn't work) and making balloon rockets (which did work.) Then they began Day 5 (fish and birds.) They did the see-through egg demonstration 

and the potato sponge experiment.

They used fruit roll-ups to talk about the food chain in the ocean. They tried the squid experiment and did the toolbox classification exercise and bird-watching camouflage game.

The rest of the scheduled experiments they read about with Bass but didn't actually attempt.

History: We read about the Hebrews and people of Canaan. We talked about the civilizations that surrounded the Israelites at that time, the Hittites, the Sea Peoples (who became the Philistines), Aegeans, the Minoans, and the Mycenaeans. We also began our study of ancient Greece by looking at Greek mythology and reading about the Trojan War.

Other MFW: 

Music: We listened to a few more selections by Bach: 4 violin pieces and 2 movements from the Magnificat. We also listened to and compared a clavier piece to 3 harpsichord pieces.

Art: They practiced drawing and shading a flower and other outdoor finds. We also learned about Fra Angelico and practiced drawing clothing, painting scenes for a monastery, and coloring with symbolism.

Extras:

Web:The Story of Gideon (Children's Bible Story)

The Judges Twelve (song)

Samson (Moody Bible Story)

The Four Traditional Shofar Blasts
The Canaanites

The Hittite Empire

Theseus and the Minotaur

Knossos - the Palace of Minos

Knossos Palace Reconstruction Crete 3D

The Mycenaeans (part 1 and part 2)

The Trojan War (song parody)

The Odyssey (song parody)

The Call of Samuel

Ancient Mysteries Minoans

History of Ancient Greece 1500BC

Ancient Greece 101 - an Empire of City-States

Ancient Greek Music - Delphic Paean

Demeter and Persephone

How Apollo Got His Oracle

Perseus and Medusa

Videos:

Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Egypt

Eyewitness Bird

Eyewitness Fish

Eyewitness Insect

What's in the Bible? Volume 4: Battle for the Promised Land

Veggie Tales: Gideon, Tuba Warrior

Veggie Tales: Duke and the Great Pie War (Ruth)

In Search of Myths and Heroes: Jason and the Argonauts (On Netflix; We only watched episode 4.)

Favorite Books:

Blue Sky Bluebird by Rick Chrustowski

Crinkleroot's 25 Birds Every Child Should Know, Crinkleroot's 25 Fish Every Child Should Know, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths, and Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds by Jim Arnosky

What Makes a Bird a Bird? by Mary Garelick

I read through a ton of mythology books to pick out titles that were not too graphic, gross, or inappropriate for an 8 and 10 year old. There are a lot of just plain yucky mythology books out there. Here are the titles we ended up choosing from the library this week:

Hercules: The Man, the Myth, the Hero by Kathryn Lasky

King Midas by John Stewig

Persephone and the Pomegranate by Kris Waldherr

The Hero and the Minotaur by Robert Byrd

Theseus and the Minotaur by Warwick Hutton

Theseus and the Minotaur by Leonard Everett Fisher

Here are a few things that looked good but that we didn't get to:
Making a Philistine hat
Homer movie (subscription or free trial needed)

They also had the opportunity to attend a free presentation about Owls in our local area. Part of the talk included being able to dissect an owl pellet. Perfect timing for our bird studies.  

School Days Summary - Leaving Egypt & Joshua's Leadership

A Summary of January 2-11

Christmas break was waaaaayyy too short. I would have loved to take another week off to recover from all of the holiday festivities but I also want to take a few breaks in our spring semester and finish before June so we jumped back in.

We had a short week after New Year's Day with just the basics. That helped us ease back into the school routine. The following week we were back to the regular schedule.

Here's what we did for school:

Things that were scheduled as usual:

Math

Language Arts (Grammar, Spelling, Penmanship, Reading, and Writing)

Electives:

Typing

Spanish

Civics: They read about Doctors.

PA History: State Explorers

My Father's World Creation to the Greeks-

We completed week 17 which focused on Joshua leading the Jewish people and some more ancient Egypt.

Bible: We started working on memorizing Psalm 23. The teacher's guide gave several Bible versions to choose from but since I know it from the King James, that's how I'm having the kids memorize it. There is definitely a more poetic sound to the KJV in some passages.

Science: They are still studying Day 4 of Creation (Sun, moon, and stars.) This week they did a demonstration of an eclipse, talked about how craters are formed, and let Barbie go bungee-jumping. They also read about how God has perfectly positioned planet earth in our galaxy for life to be sustainable.

History: This week was about the end of Egypt's prominence as the major civilization. We learned how to play Senet and made our own Senet game. We also talked about King Tut quite a bit.

We added the Trojan War to our timelines since it fit chronologically. We won't study it for a few more weeks.

Other MFW: 

Music: We listened to a few more selections of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos this week.

Art: They talked about and practiced coloring and shading with warm colors and did some sketches of outdoor finds.

Extras:
Here are a few things that looked good but that we didn't get to:
Playing Senet
How to Draw King Tut
Egyptian Pharaoh's game

Web:

Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho (song) 

Ramses II, Ramses III, and Cleopatra 1 of 3

Ramses II, Ramses III, and Cleopatra 2 of 3 

Tut's Tomb Discovered

Nefertiti

Time Warp Trio: Tut, Tut 1 of 3

Time Warp Trio: Tut, Tut 2 of 3

Time Warp Trio: Tut, Tut 3 of 3

Views of Tut's Tomb

Inside Tut's Tomb

King Tut-The Boy King's Treasures

King Tut Unwrapped Paternal Line

King Tut Unwrapped Name Change

Akhenaten, Tut, Seti, Ay 1/3

Akhenaten, Tut, Seti, Ay 2/3

Akhenaten, Tut, Seti, Ay 3/3

Videos:

Veggie Tales: Josh and the Big Wall

King Tut's Final Secrets

Favorite Books:

God's Creation: Space and Time by Michael Carroll

The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle by Claudia Logan

All righty --- we're more than half way done the year! Let's go!

Doll Bunk Beds and Bedding

For Christmas this past year, we weren't 100% sure what to get Soprano for her 'gold' gift. Then we found this super cute, bunk bed set at Goodwill. It's made to fit 18" dolls and was only $6.97!
We knew it would be the perfect gift for her and her special doll.


It did need a little bit of dressing up though. The wood was in good shape except for some crayon marks on it. So Bass gave it a good sanding and replaced a few of the wood screw cap pieces. I gave it a couple of coats of white paint (that matches the trim paint in our house as well as Soprano's bedroom furniture.)

After the painting was done, it was time to tackle the bedding. I got some 1" foam to make mattresses for each bed. I used a soft, lilac gingham flannel to make envelope cases to cover the mattresses.

The pillow were left-over foam cut down and then covered with some clearance fabric. I sewed three little buttons on each pillow to keep them closed.

Then I made a top sheet from the same fabric as the pillows and stitched a strip of ribbon about 2.5" from the top for interest. The blankets are made of flannel too. I channel stitched it to create a quilted look and then finished the top edge with satin blanket seam binding.

A little more left-over foam and embossed fleece worked for the shams.

Two bedding sets perfect for a pink and purple doll-loving little girl! She loved it!   

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming;
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tutes and Tips at Home Stories A to Z; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor and Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring;

DIY Martial Arts Belt Display Holder

In my homeschool summaries, I mentioned that Tenor and Soprano have been taking Tae Kwan Do at a local martial arts academy. It's run by a Christian police officer (with a 5th degree black belt) in our area for free! It's been a wonderful blessing for the kids to be active, learn a sport, and fufill our state homeschool PE requirements. Soprano has been too shy to test in front of the whole class so while she's been learning, she hasn't been progressing up the belt ranks. She did finally agree to test just in front of our family and Master Wolfe so she's now a white stripe belt.
Tenor on the other hand has eagerly been testing each time and has worked his way up to being a green stripe. He has earned quite a few belts and we're very rpoud of the effort he's put into it. To honor that, we wanted to put his belts on display.
After checking the web, we thought that we could possibly make our own rack.
Using some scrap trim along with a 1x4 pine board and a dowel.

After I showed Bass what I wanted (something similar to this one), he took over with all the measuring, cutting, fitting, and assembling.

He cut the 1x4 and drilled holes into one side for the dowels to sit in. Then he attached the railing molding to the 1x4. (That molding had a cut out edge on the backside like a cap molding that sits on top of the 1x4.) Then he added the thin casing trim to the bottom of the 1x4.
He made the top and bottom piece the same way except that the holes drilled for the dowel are on the railing molding side on each.

After he assembled (glued and nailed) everything, I painted it with some black paint we had on hand. It happened to be Rustoleum paint so it has a glossy finish. I like it though. It'll work well in Tenor's room. I like the molding that Bass used too since it gives the holder a slight oriental feel.
We wrapped Tenor's belts around the dowels and secured them in the back with a binder clip (like you get at the office supply store.)

Now we just need to add his green belt and make one for Soprano!

 

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming; 
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tutes and Tips at Home Stories A to Z; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor and Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring;

Meal Planning Made Easy - Pick a Card

Meal planning is truly the bane of my housewife existence. Ugh! I can cook but it's not my favorite thing so I try to put off the 'what's for dinner' question as long as I possibly can. However, five o'clock keeps rolling around.
The few times I've attempted meal planning things have gone really well and I loved it... while I kept up with it. I tried and liked the 5 dinners in 1 hour program, the once-a-month cooking thing, just making meal plans in Publisher, crock-potting everything but I haven't found a system that I could continue with for more than a few months at a time. I've come up with something new though. I'm hoping this will do the trick.

A friend shared an idea that had been given to her about making each night of the week a particular type of meal so that you don't really need to think about what you're going to make. Ex. Always serve chicken on Thursdays or have Meatless Mondays. Using that idea and keeping our weekly schedule in mind, I came up with Pasta on Mondays, Chicken on Tuesdays, Beef on Wednesdays, an easy meal on Thursdays, Pork or Fish on Fridays, and easy meals or left-overs on the weekends.

Pasta on Mondays (brown), Chicken on Tuesdays (yellow), Beef on Wednesdays (green), Easy Meals on Thursdays (white), Pork or Fish on Fridays (blue), and Easy Meals or Left-Overs on the weekend (white)

The next step was to go through my recipe box and list my go-to favorite (family tested and approved) recipes. I made a template in Word for 2" boxes. Then I typed in the name of all the meals that I make on a regular basis. Since I'm a visual person, I assigned a color to each meal category. I printed the category name and the meal cards on the same color of cardstock. I printed lots of extra left-over cards (and a few eat out cards.)

After trimming them to 2" square, they fit perfectly in a pocket chart. I originally had gotten it from the Target dollar spot. I had picked up two pocket charts for our homeschool room but we ended up not really needing both.

I tucked in my days of the week cards and then put the corresponding meal category card in the next slot down. Below that, I put one meal card in for each day of the month.

All of my extra meal cards go in the bottom slot. Now when the new month rolls around, I can quickly rotate my meal cards which will hopefully give us more variety in our dinners.

My new menu planner hangs out near our laundry room Command Central (right off the kitchen.) It's on the back of the door between the laundry and the kitchen so it's totally accessible but can be hidden away just by opening the door. Our calendar is there too so while I'm planning out meals, I can see at a glance if we have a busy night that might need an easier dinner or if we're having company or if we're going to be company somewhere.

Here's hoping this is the solution for my meal planning frustration!

 

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming; 
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tutes and Tips at Home Stories A to Z; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor and Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring;