Learning Log #8

For science this week our family finished learning about various biomes in Africa.  We learned about the Sahara desert and the minerals that are found there partly from the largest lake in the world that used to exist there.  We also learned about plants and animals that have adapted to live there, and what an oases is.  We also learned about the cape of Africa and why it is a microclimate because of the two different currents that meet each other there.  We learned about currents and winds and how they effect the weather and how the currents effect the biodiversity. 
For history we read folk stories from Africa and watched Wild Kratts about different animals that live there. 
Adam went to his gymnastics and passed off some of the elements he was tested on in his class.  He practiced doing a cart-wheel, keeping his balance on one foot, and swinging on a pole.  Anna, Elsie, and Kimball all went to their music lessons.  They went to Bows and Bridges music school for their string instruments and they went to their piano lessons.  Anna actually finished her 100s chart for Honeybee and got her prize.  She worked hard and is excited about her prize.  The other kids keep working towards their 100s chart as well. 
For Tech Elsie and Kimball finished their Minecraft assignment.  We had some technical difficulties signing in, but eventually we figured it out.  They learned how to take a screen shot and turn their assignment in. 
It was an exciting day for Language arts this week because our Literati packages came in from the mail!  The kids had such a fun time reading new books or listening to new books being read to them.  For Language arts Anna reviewed some words and learned some sight words.  She also went over blends ut, ub, and up.  She read a few short stories such as Tom's Pal and Tub Fun.  She also copied a sentence about the honey badger.  Adam finished recognizing all his letters from Q-Z from Hooked on Phonics.  He worked on figuring out what word rhyme, or have the same ending sound, and what beginning sounds words have and what they start with.  They both listened to some fun books about a lighthouse, a meteorite, and other books about light.  Elsie read some of book 10 of Wings of Fire, about 150 pages.  From her Literati package she started reading August Isle and is about 70 pages into it.  She also wrote her Weekend story and started a new story about a curse with dragons.  She is about 70 pages into it.  She also went to her first book club, where they discussed how to read with purpose and how to find principles in the story and to recognize truth.  They read and discussed a little book called "Your Happily Every After".  Kimball finished Nick and Tesla just in time for the Literati package to arrive.  He read the graphic novel of The City of Ember 10 times.  He also read 5 chapters of Cody and the Fountain of Happiness.  He wrote about his Weekend Story as well and also about the wind and the storms he had experienced the past week. 

For math Anna finished chapter 18 and started on 19.  She practiced counting backwards from 10, subtracting 1s and 0s, and anything equaling 0.  Adam started chapter12 where he is learning what addition is and how to use the blocks to solve problems.  He also reviewed number recognition and how to build larger 3 digit numbers and say them.  Kimball did chapter 13 where he was finding the area of a trapezoid.  He reviewed division and finding the averages of a set of numbers, and converting different measurements.  He also did lots of story problems.  Elise finished chapter 9, took the test, and started on chapter 10.  She reviewed multiplying several digit numbers together.  She is learning to divide by fractions.