This is the last week before our Christmas break! The kids couldn't be happier. For math this week Elsie finished chapter 24. She had to redo a bunch of the problems with me and understands a little more clearly long division and multiplication and the importance of place value. She took the test and is about ready to move on to chapter 25. Peter finished chapter 24 and started chapter 25 on multiplying factors, for example, (x + 4)(4x+5). He also took a final test in his Pyramid Project, and was tested on things he hadn't learned yet. He was able to figure much of it out, however. Kimball did chapters 19 and 20. He learned how to skip count and multiply by 8s. He also reviewed other multiplication facts, addition with regrouping, and did many story problems. Anna also worked on her math. She finished the chapter on how to add zeros, and started on the chapter learning to add 1s. She is moving quickly through these early chapters.
The kids enjoyed reading this week. Peter finished the last half of A Swiftly Tilting Planet and enjoyed it. He also wrote a short story about 2 boats, where he worked on expanding the use of personifications. Elsie read about 30 pages of Railway children and 70 pages of Little Britches. She worked on her spelling where she learned about the final Y rule when adding suffixes. She also did 3 pages of handwriting. Kimball read Dinotopia to me for about 15 minutes Monday -Thursday. He is practicing sounding things out and recognizing compound words. He also read his scriptures on his own. He also worked on his spelling, and almost got a spelling test perfect. He did several pages of his handwriting as well. Anna read 2 chapters from her primer book. She learned about the blends "ink, ank, onk, and unk". She also reviewed many of the other blends and sounds she has learned previously. She did several handwriting pages as well, practicing her print. One big milestone we all met was that we finished memorizing The Living Christ. It is quite a long document, and we have been working on it for months. We recited it in front of their Nonny and Poppy.
For science Peter finished putting together his science project. He took times on how each of the boats he had built could travel from one point to another, and compared those times to the power of the motors they each had. Peter learned about Ohms Law, and learned how to use his dad's multi-meter. He found the amps and voltage from the multi-meter and used that information to figure out how much power the motors had, using watts.
The other kids watched a Nature show about cats. They learned about all sorts of different kinds of cats. Kimball said he liked learning about the Palace cat, which looks a lot like Garfield, and that it can live up high in the snowy mountains. He also liked learning about the Fishing cat, which is small and can fish using its whiskers. Elsie liked learning about bobcats, and how much they are built like the animal they eat, the snowshoe hare. They have big paws that help them land on the snow without sinking in. She said she also learned about her favorite cat, the Sand cat, which lives in the Sahara Desert. It eats rodents that can jump 10 feet, and stays hydrated by the blood of other animals. Anna liked learning about the leopard because it is such a good swimmer! It can hold its breath for 30 seconds underwater. It is a good hunter as well.
For Peter's mindcraft class he learned how to draw pixel art on the computer. He used some software and created Santa Clause. Elsie, Kimball and Anna all worked on their business. Peter even joined us. We learned about principles that are valuable as an Entrepreneur and they all picked one that they could work on throughout the week. Kimball chose Time management, Elsie chose the power of small and simple things, and Anna chose work. We also discussed their motivation for starting their own business, how it could impact their life, and made a goal of how much money they wanted to make. We also took a test to assess our personal readiness for business ownership. Through the test, we could see our strengths and our weaknesses. We watched a video which helped us understand how important it is to commit to the goals we will be setting and decided as a family to support one another. They are going to find a friend that will also support and motivate them.
For music the kids were really busy this week! Peter and Elsie went to 2 of the 3 rehearsal practices for their recital for Bows and Bridges. Anna and Kimball went to all 3. Peter worked really hard on practicing his songs up to the last day. In the end, he had them nailed. On Saturday they performed, and they all did well. Anna is very shy, and we were all so proud of her because she decided to play in front of everyone, which is the first time she has been willing to try. They all did really well on both their string instruments and piano. Peter also did a duet on the piano as well. They also had a couple choir performances on Friday, where they went to a nursing home and a retirement home. They sang wonderfully and Elsie also did her violin duet with her friend, Ruby. They worked really hard on their music this week, and it paid off! Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 17, 2018
Monday, December 10, 2018
Learning Log #16
This week the kids all worked on their math. Elsie did chapter 24. She had to do most of the problems, doing long division, dividing double digit numbers into 4 digit numbers. She is working really hard on writing out all of her work so that she can keep everything straight. She also reviewed long multiplication and worked out some story problems as well. Peter finished chapter 23 and took the test, which he did well on. He also started chapter 24 where he is learning to find the volume of a cylinder. Anna did her math as well, and she is learning to add 0's. She also did some review and story problems as well. Kimball did chapter 18 for his math, learning to multiply by 7s. He also reviewed greater than/less than, and did some story problems.
For Language arts this week Elsie read some more of The Railway Children, about 60 pages. She is now on page 190. She practiced her cursive from her workpages, and she worked hard on writing her stories. She wrote a Christmas story and worked more on her WWI story. Anna read a chapter from her book primer book. She learned about new blends, like "ing, ang, ong, and ung", "ue" as in blue, and "ow" as in low. She also learned about compound words and practiced reading some. She practiced her handwriting from her workpages as well, and she helped me write my grocery list. Kimball continued to do some reading on his own, reading the scriptures. He also read outloud to me, reading the book Dinotopia. He read 2 pages a day for 3 days. It has some harder words, but he is enjoying the book and narrating to me what he reads. He also practiced his writing, doing his workpages. Peter enjoyed reading about half of A Wind in the Door this week. He also wrote a very short story with a moral. Peter went to his debate class and watched 12 Angry Men. He really liked it, and learned the persuasive power of debate. As a family we started reading A Christmas Carol, and are really enjoying it.
For Science, Peter worked hard with his friend at building a boat. He went to our neighbor's house who has an indoor pool, and tried it out, only to find it didn't work. They had to make many changes. They went home, did some research on good ole YouTube, and found out what they needed to change. They found a stronger motor from one of his old rc cars and took it apart, a battery from an old laptop, and put everything together to build a boat. When they took it to the neighbor's to try it again, they realized it was a little top-heavy. With some slight changes, they were able to get the boat to go, and it drove very well. They were really pleased. Then they started to work on writing up their materials and methods and conclusions. They still have some tests to run though. Peter also went to his forensic class and reviewed what they have learned. The other kids, Anna, Kimball, and Elsie, watched a documentary on Nature. They learned about people who help abandoned wildlife and nurse them back to health so they can reenter the wild. They learned about a sloth with pneumonia in Costa Rica (they also learned about the amazing digestive system of the sloth), a walabi from Australia, and a koala from.....we can't remember. The kids didn't even know walabi's existed, so it was fun to learn about them as well.
Peter worked hard on his Mindcraft. He made the deminsions for a house and drew it out. He had already built it though, so he didn't need to build it. He also learned a little about pixels and drew a picture of a Christmas tree on graph paper. He just needs to turn these assignments in. The other kids did not get to their business class this week.
The kids are also working hard at finishing learning about all the states. We are about done learning about the Rocky Mountain States, and only have the Pacific Coast states left. Also, they are working on memorizing states and their capitols through a song.
The kids also worked on Spanish. We are learning to say in spanish, "I take the soap. I turn on the water faucet. I scrub my hands with the soap. I wash my hands well, the right hand and the left hand. I turn off the faucet. I dry my hands on a towel." We act it out and the kids repeat the phrases in spanish after me until they can say it with me.
For Language arts this week Elsie read some more of The Railway Children, about 60 pages. She is now on page 190. She practiced her cursive from her workpages, and she worked hard on writing her stories. She wrote a Christmas story and worked more on her WWI story. Anna read a chapter from her book primer book. She learned about new blends, like "ing, ang, ong, and ung", "ue" as in blue, and "ow" as in low. She also learned about compound words and practiced reading some. She practiced her handwriting from her workpages as well, and she helped me write my grocery list. Kimball continued to do some reading on his own, reading the scriptures. He also read outloud to me, reading the book Dinotopia. He read 2 pages a day for 3 days. It has some harder words, but he is enjoying the book and narrating to me what he reads. He also practiced his writing, doing his workpages. Peter enjoyed reading about half of A Wind in the Door this week. He also wrote a very short story with a moral. Peter went to his debate class and watched 12 Angry Men. He really liked it, and learned the persuasive power of debate. As a family we started reading A Christmas Carol, and are really enjoying it.
For Science, Peter worked hard with his friend at building a boat. He went to our neighbor's house who has an indoor pool, and tried it out, only to find it didn't work. They had to make many changes. They went home, did some research on good ole YouTube, and found out what they needed to change. They found a stronger motor from one of his old rc cars and took it apart, a battery from an old laptop, and put everything together to build a boat. When they took it to the neighbor's to try it again, they realized it was a little top-heavy. With some slight changes, they were able to get the boat to go, and it drove very well. They were really pleased. Then they started to work on writing up their materials and methods and conclusions. They still have some tests to run though. Peter also went to his forensic class and reviewed what they have learned. The other kids, Anna, Kimball, and Elsie, watched a documentary on Nature. They learned about people who help abandoned wildlife and nurse them back to health so they can reenter the wild. They learned about a sloth with pneumonia in Costa Rica (they also learned about the amazing digestive system of the sloth), a walabi from Australia, and a koala from.....we can't remember. The kids didn't even know walabi's existed, so it was fun to learn about them as well.
Peter worked hard on his Mindcraft. He made the deminsions for a house and drew it out. He had already built it though, so he didn't need to build it. He also learned a little about pixels and drew a picture of a Christmas tree on graph paper. He just needs to turn these assignments in. The other kids did not get to their business class this week.
The kids are also working hard at finishing learning about all the states. We are about done learning about the Rocky Mountain States, and only have the Pacific Coast states left. Also, they are working on memorizing states and their capitols through a song.
The kids also worked on Spanish. We are learning to say in spanish, "I take the soap. I turn on the water faucet. I scrub my hands with the soap. I wash my hands well, the right hand and the left hand. I turn off the faucet. I dry my hands on a towel." We act it out and the kids repeat the phrases in spanish after me until they can say it with me.
Monday, December 3, 2018
Learning Log #14
It's back to the grind, now that Thanksgiving is over....These holiday weeks sure are a mental teaser! However Peter has started with renewed energy and vigor! He has some aggressive goals, and so far this week, is working hard on following through. For his math, he took his chapter 22 test, as well as a unit test. He did well on both. He also started chapter 23, and did most of that chapter as well. He is learning how to add polynomials, and how to build them as well. He is also reviewing finding the surface area of cubes and pyramids. Elsie started and finished chapter 23, and just needs to take the test. She is dividing single digit numbers into 4 digit numbers. She also did several word problems and conversion problems as well. Kimball did chapter 17 where he learned to count by 7s. He also reviewed solving for the unknown in multiplication problems, regular multiplication facts, and greater than/less than problems. Anna worked on chapter 3, which was mostly review. She is reviewing what numbers the math blocks represent. She is also reviewed writing to 20.
For Language arts Peter finished reading his book about the Periodic Table. He said it was a tedious book, and is glad to have it done for his Pyramid Project class. He also wrote a concrete poem of a birdhouse and other types of poems with different rhyming schemes. He also prepared for and did a debate about snickerdoodles vs. chocolate chip cookies. Kimball read several Dr. Seuss books and lots of scriptures. He is really loving reading the scriptures from his new MP3 player. He also did several pages of handwriting. Elsie read about 70 pages of The Railway Children. She also practiced her cursive handwriting and started a new story about a girl in France during WWI. She is using information she learned and read about a month ago. She studied various French names, French maps, and has a good outline going for her. Anna read another chapter of her primer book. She is reading better and better. she learned the blends "ay", "th", and the long i. She also learned the sight word "do". I also finished reading Pilgrim's Progress to the children. We all loved it and refer to it often!
For science, Peter did a short crime scene of a bank robbery for his Forensic class. He took sketches and made diagrams of the scene. other groups took fingerprints and photos. He also worked on a science fair project with a friend. They are building a boat with a motor and looking how weight and aerodynamics effect speed. Elsie and Anna made outside observations as the weather changes. She noticed certain true bugs on a tree trunk. some of them had frozen, but they hung out mostly at the base of the tree. She wondered if it is the warmest spot there? Kimball watched a Labrakazam about the food web. He learned about what is at the base of the food web, and what top predators are.
For Tech, Peter built his room in Minecraft and attached it to a building he had previously built. He also worked on turning in all his assignments he has done so far. All the children had a good lesson on business this week as they helped clean and make repairs on a rental home we own. We talked about how an entrepreneur can sell a product or service, but that renting was another branch of business as well. We learned the positives and risks associating with renting, not just homes, but any product.
For their music classes, the kids started getting ready for their Christmas recital for Bows and Bridges. They are working hard to polish their songs. Peter is trying to get Gavotte all ready for the viola and Short Story for the piano - it's crunch time for sure for him! Elsie is working on her Minuet 2, and will be playing Etude on the violin. For the piano she is playing Musette. Kimball is playing Cuckoo for the piano and still deciding on the cello. He is continuing to practice Go Tell Aunt Rhody. Anna will be playing her Twinkle songs on both the piano and violin. It is a swarm of sounds at our house with various instruments going all at the same time as they practice and polish their songs.
We are also having a lot of fun learning about the states. We finished learning about the Southwest states, and are learning a song from the Animaniacs that has all the states and their capitals. We learned about the Anasazi Indians from Arizona, and that the southwestern states were aquired from Mexico after the Mexican American War.
In Spanish we also learned how to respond to questions like "Puedes caminar?" or "Can you walk?" this is good exercise in learning to conjugate verbs, and review the verbs we have already learned.
For Language arts Peter finished reading his book about the Periodic Table. He said it was a tedious book, and is glad to have it done for his Pyramid Project class. He also wrote a concrete poem of a birdhouse and other types of poems with different rhyming schemes. He also prepared for and did a debate about snickerdoodles vs. chocolate chip cookies. Kimball read several Dr. Seuss books and lots of scriptures. He is really loving reading the scriptures from his new MP3 player. He also did several pages of handwriting. Elsie read about 70 pages of The Railway Children. She also practiced her cursive handwriting and started a new story about a girl in France during WWI. She is using information she learned and read about a month ago. She studied various French names, French maps, and has a good outline going for her. Anna read another chapter of her primer book. She is reading better and better. she learned the blends "ay", "th", and the long i. She also learned the sight word "do". I also finished reading Pilgrim's Progress to the children. We all loved it and refer to it often!
For science, Peter did a short crime scene of a bank robbery for his Forensic class. He took sketches and made diagrams of the scene. other groups took fingerprints and photos. He also worked on a science fair project with a friend. They are building a boat with a motor and looking how weight and aerodynamics effect speed. Elsie and Anna made outside observations as the weather changes. She noticed certain true bugs on a tree trunk. some of them had frozen, but they hung out mostly at the base of the tree. She wondered if it is the warmest spot there? Kimball watched a Labrakazam about the food web. He learned about what is at the base of the food web, and what top predators are.
For Tech, Peter built his room in Minecraft and attached it to a building he had previously built. He also worked on turning in all his assignments he has done so far. All the children had a good lesson on business this week as they helped clean and make repairs on a rental home we own. We talked about how an entrepreneur can sell a product or service, but that renting was another branch of business as well. We learned the positives and risks associating with renting, not just homes, but any product.
For their music classes, the kids started getting ready for their Christmas recital for Bows and Bridges. They are working hard to polish their songs. Peter is trying to get Gavotte all ready for the viola and Short Story for the piano - it's crunch time for sure for him! Elsie is working on her Minuet 2, and will be playing Etude on the violin. For the piano she is playing Musette. Kimball is playing Cuckoo for the piano and still deciding on the cello. He is continuing to practice Go Tell Aunt Rhody. Anna will be playing her Twinkle songs on both the piano and violin. It is a swarm of sounds at our house with various instruments going all at the same time as they practice and polish their songs.
We are also having a lot of fun learning about the states. We finished learning about the Southwest states, and are learning a song from the Animaniacs that has all the states and their capitals. We learned about the Anasazi Indians from Arizona, and that the southwestern states were aquired from Mexico after the Mexican American War.
In Spanish we also learned how to respond to questions like "Puedes caminar?" or "Can you walk?" this is good exercise in learning to conjugate verbs, and review the verbs we have already learned.
Learning Log 13
The week before thanksgiving, our family had a fun time experiencing
the last of the good weather before the snow hit. To begin, all the children worked hard on their math. Peter started and finished chapter 22. He learned how to find the greatest common factors and how to find the prime factors for numbers. He reviewed solving for the unknown side of a polygon setting up proportions, finding the square root of numbers, and finding a certain percentage of numbers. Elsie finished her math chapter 22, where she divided 2 digit numbers into 3 digit numbers. She also reviewed finding the areaa of various polygons. She did lots of story problems, and practiced reading less known graphs. Kimball did chapter 16 in his math book (last week I got off, I had said he did chapter 18, but it was really 15. Sorry). He worked on multiplying by 4s. He also reviewed his other multiplication facts and did several story problems. He found the perimeter and area of different rectangles. Anna recieved her new math book, Alpha, in the mail this week. She was so excited, she did the first 2 chapters! She worked on building and reading large numbers, and practiced writing to 20.
For Language Arts, Peter read about 50 pages of his book about the Periodic Table. He also wrote a short story about a guy in Minecraft, and he did his debate about the Olympics he had prepped for. Elsie read about 50 pages of The Railway Children. She also practiced her cursive handwriting, and finished a story she had started a while ago called The Girl and the Dragon. She is planning on giving it to Anna for Christmas. Shhhh. Kimball finished reading his book, Climbing Higher! He was very happy about it. He also did several pages of his handwriting. Anna worked on her primer book, and read a chapter outloud to me. She also read a couple Dash into Reading books (books 4 and 5 I believe). She also did several pages, practicing her handwriting. All the kids also made certificates for one of there siblings, discribing a quality they liked about them.
For Science Peter went to his Forensic's class and did another lab on fingerprinting. He also went with his Pyramid Project class and toured a facility that designs and builds robots. He really liked watching this one robot that is being designed to help carry soldiers off a battle field. He was inspired as it being a career possibility. All of us had a fun time watching a you tube channel about a guy, Steiner, who holds the world record at rock skipping. He has skipped 88 times! The YouTube channel we watched, called wired, had a guy who met up with Steiner. We recognized the place they met as first dam, right in Logan! They met in Logan because USU has, possibly the only, splash lab in the country. The clip showed them skipping rocks and then them going up to USU to talk to a professor there and run some tests. We learned how important Gyroscopic Rotation (spin)_, is when you skip a rock. We learned the best angle rock can skip at, and how rock skipping research is applicable to space research. Then we all went to First Dam and tried our own hand at rock skipping, trying to apply the new principles we had just learned. Peter and Kimball found some rocks that looked exactly like the rocks Steiner had brought with him, from Lake Eerie by his town in Pennsylvania. They kept them as souvenirs. Elsie and Anna had fun feeding the ducks the scraps of their lunch. Elsie even caught and held an extra friendly duck!
Peter worked on Minecraft for his Tech. He took demensions of his room and printed off some graph paper. He drew out what his room would look like to size. The other kids worked on their business class. We watched a short movie clip called He Polished My Toe and we learned that there is a solution to every problem. We talked about how it's important to be creative when thinking of solutions.
For Music Peter, Elsie, and Kimball worked hard! They had an extra choir practice and they performed at the Logan Tabernacle after a Tree Lighting festival. They sang Christmas songs they had been working on. They sang some in English, one in Latin, one in Italian, and one in German! Elsie even did a duet on her violin with a friend, and played Joy to the World. They all worked on practicing their string and piano pieces as well and went to their prospective lessons. Anna is getting to where to can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, with all the variations on both her piano and violin.
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