Learning Log 23

This week for Language arts I read a couple stories from India to the children.  I also finished reading the Kirsten Learns a Lesson aloud as well.  Elsie also read from Princess Academy and The Boy who Harnessed the Wind - about 40 pages in each.  She decided to start putting together articles and pictures to make her own magazine.  She refined a poem she had written and wrote a joke for it.  She also wrote in her journal once, wrote a letter to her cousin, and copied a verse of scripture.  Anna read from her Hooked on Phonics books.  She went through a chapters and read a book out-loud to me about a barn.  She read lots of Bob books to herself and copied down the titles of all the books she read and rated them according to her liking.  She also did several pages of handwriting worksheets, where she copied a poem, a grammar rule, and practiced writing letters.  Anna loved her American Girl Club where we discussed the Kirsten book and learned how to embroider and sew with a sewing machine around a handkerchief and ate Swedish Creme.  Kimball read about 20 pages from an old book called Discoverers and Explorers and 2 chapters of 8 Class Pets +1 Squirrel /1 Dog= Chaos.  He wrote in his journal 3 times and he copied down his favorite scripture verse and another sentence out of a story we read together.  Adam worked on letter recognition and practiced finding the sounds in different words and sounding out simple words.  We started a new reading curriculum called The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  He also practiced writing a some letters.  We all enjoyed poetry and tea at the end of the week. 
For science we learned about the IndoChina Mangroves.  We learned about what the importance of mangroves and some of the animals that live there.  We learned about the false gharial and the gharial.  We also studied Rachel Carson and learned about her important work. 
For math Elsie finished chapter 18 and started on chapter 19, where she learned how to add and subtract mixed numbers.  She reviewed conversion facts such as converting feet to yards and vice versa.  She also reviewed finding the area of rectangles, triangles, and cubes.  Anna started and finished chapter 24, where she learned subtraction facts subtracting from 10.  She reviewed her addition facts and other subtraction facts as well.  Adam finished chapter 4 where he learned to add zeros.  He did story problems and practiced counting and writing to 20, and built and read 3 digit numbers.  Kimball finished chapter 22, learning to do long division.  He reviewed converting inches into feet and vice versa.  He also reviewed finding the area of different shapes:  trapezoids, triangles, and rectangles. 

For Elsie's tech, she worked on building her restaurant for Minecraft.  It is fancy with an outdoor and indoor eating area and a kitchen.  Kimball built his restaurant, but hasn't submitted it.  He built a pizza restaurant, but had a hard time creating actual pizza in Minecraft. 
Adam worked hard for his PE.  He did push-ups almost every day.  He also went to his brother's wrestling match and learned from watching.  He ran around the track there as well.  He played outside at explorer's club and in the afternoon with friends and ran around and jumped in the snow. 
Anna, Elsie, and Kimball all went to piano lessons and to Bows and Bridges for group lessons.  They all worked hard on their practicing, especially Elsie and Kimball on their strings.  They practiced the piano as well.

Learning Log 22

For Language Arts this week Elsie read 100 pages of Princess Academy and 10 pages of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.  She is also enjoying listening to Little Women online.  She wrote 2 letters to her cousin and another letter to an old friend.  Elsie also wrote a small newspaper she wants to distribute at her book-club.  Kimball finished his book Viking Adventures by Bulla and read about 30 pages from a book called 8 Class Pets=1 Squirrel / 1 Dog = Chaos.  He wrote in his journal 5 times during the week.  Anna did a little bit of copy work, and began copying down a poem about Columbus.  She also did several worksheets of handwriting.  Adam played games where he tried putting sounds of different words together to form the word.  We also played Bingo for letter sounds and we read several books together where he read the words he was familiar with and I read the rest.  Anna read lots of Bob books on her own.  She also read several units to me from Hooked on Phonics and the short stories that follow them.  She reviewed several blends sounds.   All the children worked hard on memorizing part of a poem or an entire poem to recite at poetry and tea.  We enjoyed listening to all the different poems.  I had a fun time reading aloud as well.  I read Kirsten Learns a Lesson, and several short stories from Australia and other islands.
For Science we learned about the Himalayan Mountains and the different lifeforms that live at the various elevations.  We started an animal chart on our wall where we identified the Kingdom/Phyllum/Class/Order/Family/Genus/Species of the different animals we learn about.  We studied the Red Panda, Tigers, and the Snow Leopard.  We also made another trip to Hardware Ranch with our Nonny and Poppy and watched and learned about the Elk.  Adam especially had lots of questions.  Elsie saw a baby elk call out to and find its mama.
For Math Elsie finished chapter 17 and took the test.  She started on chapter 18 where she is learning to multiply and divide mixed numbers.  She reviewed finding the volume of a square and did lots of story problems.  Adam worked at learning what each number coordinated with each manipulative.  He also learned to add by 0s and practiced with some story problems.  He also practiced writing to 20.  Anna took the test for chapter 23 and did a crossword problem.  She practiced reviewing her addition and subtraction problems.  Kimball started chapter 22.  This chapter was a challenge, but he is learning how to divide a two digit number into a 3 digit number.  He is learning the importance of estimating and staying organized in his handwritten work. 
For Tech Elsie worked really hard on Minecraft.  She caught up on all her assignments.  She built houses, started her menu for a restaurant, read about Eric's story to name a few.  Kimball helped Elsie and played on Minecraft.  He learned how to build new things from his next door neighbor friend. 
For music Elsie, Kimball and Anna started up on their piano lessons again.  They each received new challenges and are excited to learn their new pieces.  Elsie earned a Symphony bar by getting all the note flashcards in record time!  They also went to their individual and group lessons for their string instruments.  They were given practice challenges that they are working hard to finish.
For PE Adam went to two of his older brother's wrestling matches.  He is learning about the sport: how to score points and different moves.  He also enjoyed running lots and lots of laps with his older sister, Anna, around the indoor track of the high school during the duals as well. 

Learning Log 21

For science this week the kids had a fun time learning about the Northeastern Siberian Taiga.  We learned about the animals that live there, like the great grey owl, lynx, and reindeer.  We learned about the coal, oil, and natural gas that are found there and how they are formed.  We also learned how global warming is melting the permafrost in the soil, and it is causing gases to build up.  This causes huge mounds to form as well as huge, deep craters.  The biggest of these is the Batagaika crater.  There are craters formed overnight, and sometimes lakes that disappear as well.  We learned that prehistoric mammal fossils and bones are being found due to the melting permafrost as well.
For math Kimball took the test for chapter 20, started and finished chapter 21, took the test, and then took the unit test.  He learned about how to estimate to help one figure out the rough answer to a problem before one actually attacks the problem.  Adam worked on chapter 2 of his Alpha workbook and took the test.  He is learning how to write while counting to 20.  He practiced this a lot as well as reviewed how to build and say 3 digit numbers.  Anna worked on subtracting using doubles math facts for chapter 23 of her math book.  She also reviewed her addition doubles math facts as well as other subtraction problems she has already learned.  Elsie took a unit test and started chapter 17 where she is learning to add mixed numbers with the same denominator. 
For language arts I had a fun time reading stories to the children.  We studied stories from Sweden, and so I read several stories by Hans Christian Anderson (The Fir Tree, The Ugly Duckling, and The Little Match Girl), a Beauty and the Beast Tale from Sweden, and I read the stories of Beowolf and Frioloff.  I also read the American Girl Book Meet Kirsten.  Kimball did three journal entries.  He copied 2 stanzas of a poem he really likes (titled I Am a Child of Royal Birth).  He also wrote a short article for our family newspaper about the board game club he joined this week.  He read 62 pages of Viking Adventures by Bulla.  Anna read 3 pages of a book called Snipp Snapp and Snurr.  She read some out of her hooked on phonics as well.  She learned about the ing, ang, ong, and ung sounds and read the book Chick Chick the Ping Pong Champ.  She had a fun time at our first American Girl Club!  We reviewed the book, packed our own trunk of precious things we would bring if we had to move like Kirsten, ate some dried food, and the girls made their own rag dolls.  They had a lot of fun with them!  Adam reviewed the sounds of letters and practiced some of their blends, such as "en", "od", and "at".  We played lots of games that incorporated reading small words, and he read a short hooked on phonics book.  Anna and Adam also did some handwriting worksheets.  Elsie read the book The Light Princess and went to her bookclub.  She discussed the book and worked on a sampler they are making to remind them of their divine worth.  She also read a little from The Boy who Harnessed the Wind and Princess Academy.  She wrote an article for our family newsletter and wrote a reflective piece in her journal.  She also copied a poem called "Only One Mother" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
For Minecraft Kimball wrote out a menu plan for his restaurant he is going to build in Minecraft.  Elsie found out she was 6 assignments behind in Minecraft!  We made up a plan for her to catch up and she almost finished building her room in Minecraft.  Anna is working on formating our next family newsletter with everyone's articles.
Kimball, Elsie, and Anna started up Bows and Bridges again.  They went to their personal lesson and group lesson. Kimball is working on the song Allegretto right now.  Elsie is working on the Chorus from Judas Machabees, and Anna is working on Oh Come Little Children. 

Learning Log 18-20

For science as a family we went to a Physics Demo Show at USU.  We learned about fluids.  There are 14 3/4 pounds of air pressure per square inch pushing on things all the time.  We saw a bunch of really awesome experiments.  We saw a huge barrel completely collapse from air pressure as they changed the temperature around it quickly.  Another favorite of ours was watching fog come out in circles through the class room from these huge drums they had made.  We also learned about siphoning.  Another favorite was watching a ping pong ball break the sound barrier and blast through a paddle.  It was fun watching a hydrogen balloon explode too!
We also had a fun time going to a place up a canyon that feeds and over-winter's elk.  We learned all about elk!  We were given elk calls and we learned the different elk calls of a bull, calf, and cow.  We also learned about and felt lots of pelts from different animals.  We learned the difference between beaver, bear, otter, and other pelts.  We also saw mountain man paraphernalia and scrimshaw work.  We learned many other things as well, and it was all fascinating!  We even got to make Christmas ornaments out of elk poop, dogwood sticks, sage brush clippings, and other natural finds.  It was a fun family event.
For math each of the kids all had a fun time designing and constructing their own gingerbread houses.  Each was different and unique.  Anna made a stable and manger seen, Elsie made a home, Kimball made a pyramid, and Adam made an A framed home.  They also got back into their math a little bit and each did a couple pages of math. Adam started on a new math book, Alpha in the MUS curriculum.
The kids all had fun writing kind notes to each other and writing down their new year resolutions.  They also enjoyed receiving their literati packages and reading the books from them.  I had fun reading out-loud some of my favorite Christmas stories to the children.   We also had a couple Poetry and Tea afternoons.  Kimball, Elsie, Anna, and Adam, and myself all worked hard at memorizing a Christmas poem.  It was fun to hear all the sweet poems!
For music, Anna, Kimball and Elsie all were kept busy with practicing and performing their music recitals.  Anna ended up being too shy to perform her Jingle Bells duet for piano.  We were all disappointed because she had worked so hard.  She did perform on her violin, however.  She played Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and part of Joy to the World.  She also performed Song of the Wind.  Kimball played We Three Kings and Joy to the World on the cello as well as Perpetual Motion.  Elsie played Joy to the World, Carol of the Bells, and The Happy Farmer on her violin.  Elsie played Silent Night on the piano and Kimball played Away in a Manger, on the piano.
Kimball worked on his Minecraft assignment and answered questions about a business someone was starting in a story he read.  Elsie and Kimball learned how to set up a Minecraft server so they could play as a group.  Kimball created a world he really likes.  Anna practiced cutting and pasting coloring pages off the internet onto word documents to make coloring books for her and Adam.
For PE Adam tried to ice skate.  He practiced going around our neighbor's rink and then skating while pushing a bucket.  He did not enjoy it too much.  He also helped shovel snow at his grandpa's house.  He is a hard worker!

Learning Log 17

For language arts this week I read to the children the story of the First Thanksgiving, by Alice Dalgleish.  At the end of the week they put on a play, and acted out their own rendition of it.  Anna wrote down things she likes about Thanksgiving.  She also read some review words and a book called Fred's Red Hat.  This was the last book in the Level 1 First Grade Hooked on Phonics set.  She also reread the book Good Job, Denis to her Dad.  She started on Level 2 and went over the ch and tch blends.  She read a short story called In My Sketchbook.  Adam learned the blend "ig" and read a short book called Pig.  He practiced reading some review words, and then he learned the blend "id" and read a short story called The Map.  Kimball read a long chapter in Harry Potter, and he read some picture books to Anna and Adam.  He wrote 3 journal entries also.  Elsie read about 10 pages in The Hobbit.  She also read about 70 pages in Princess Academy.  Elsie wrote a chapter in her bear story and she wrote a poem about polar bears.  We all concluded the week with poetry and tea.  Anna memorized a poem called The Song of the Old-Man's-Beard Fairy by Cecily Barker.  Everyone else shared a poem they liked and we listened to some friends share their poems as well. 
For our Explorer's Club, only Kimball and Anna were feeling well enough to participate.  We had a very fun time though!  We went to Old Main Hill and found a HUGE leaf pile we played in.  We even played Hide-and-Go Seek in it.  We searched through the pile and found all sorts of different kinds of leaves:  different oak leaves, maple leaves, willow leaves, beech leaves, and even a tulip tree leaf.  As we were exploring we found a rare and small Monkey Puzzle Evergreen Tree.  The kids had a fun time searching for seeds as well:  Honeylocust, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Horse Chestnut, and grass seeds were found.  They also figured out the difference between spruce and pine trees and their cones, and they found cones from a Larix decidua. It was a very fun club this week!  For science, all the kids studied clouds.  We studied the different types of clouds, identified them outside, and made pictures of them out of cotton balls, and how they are formed.  We did experiments and watched water build up and then rain in a container.  We also learned how lightening was formed and did an experiment for that as well. 
For PE Adam had a fun time going to his brother's wrestling match with the family.  He had a fun time watching and learning about the sport.  He also had a fun time running lap after lap in the indoor track they had at the high school as well.  He played games with his siblings and we timed him to see how fast he could go around. 
Elsie, Kimball, and Anna all went to their piano lessons and Bows and Bridges School.  They are working on their challenges the music school has given them and they are all enjoying practicing hard on their Christmas songs they are preparing to play.
For Math Adam did chapter 21 where he learned to solve for the unknown in addition using the math blocks.  He also practiced counting by 2s and reviewed his other addition facts.   Kimball finished chapter 19 and took the test.  He started on chapter 20 where he is learning how to turn the remainder into  a fraction.  He also did some review work on conversions and multiplication.  Elsie worked on chapter 16 in her math, where she is learning to make measurements in fraction format.  Anna learned how to subtract 8s.  She practiced many problems with 8s.  They all learned about a little about money and budgeting.  They counted some of their money and learned what 10% is. 
For Tech Anna learned by exploration and direction the menus and choices on Paint.  She learned how to use the file menu to get a new page, how to use shapes, different pencils, and fill.  She also learned how to add Text to her picture and how to change the shape and font.  She learned how to save her picture, and then she watched her brother put it on as a screen saver.  Kimball and Elsie worked really hard on their Minecraft class this week and they are almost all caught up.  They built their communities in Minecraft, adding signs and buildings and homes.  They did assignments 3.2 and 3.3. 

Learning Log 16

For Language Arts this week we found the book The Witches and I finished reading it to the children.  Everyone loved the ending.  Anna did some reading.  She leanrned the blends dr, tr, and qu, and she learned how to read two-syllable words.  She went over some sight words as well.  She read a short story, some jokes, and a book called Good Job, Dennis by Amy Kraft.  She also worked hard on copying down a poem of 4 stanzas called The Naughty Ones.  Adam worked on learning the blend ab, and he read a short story called "Dab, Jab."  He started learning the blend ig as well, but we decided to continue to review before moving on.  He worked really hard at the sight words has, is and on.  He continues to work at writing his first and last name with the letters going the correct direction.  Kimball read one chapter from Harry Potter.  He also read Calvin and Hobbs to his younger brother, Adam.  He did four journal entries, where he wrote each time a couple sentences about his days.  Elsie copied a poem called Hat, she wrote in her journal several times, and she wrote another chapter in her dragon story.  Elsie also read The Captive Princess and went to a book club about it.  She discussed the attribute of bravery, and fortitude.  She also read about 30 pages in the Hobbit. 
For Math Anna finished chapter 21, where she learned how to subtract 9s.  She also did some review on solving for the unknown, and previous subtraction facts.  She did many story problems as well.  Adam learned how to count by 10s, and did chapter 19 in his primer book.  He also reviewed counting by 2s and some of his addition facts.  He also did chapter 20, where he learned to add by 100s.  Elsie took 4 tests, chapters 12-15.  She also took and one unit test.  Kimball took the test for chapter 18, and finished most of chapter 19.  He learned how to divide 1 number into a 3 digit number, and found the remainder.  He also reviewed conversions (ie from quarts to gallons), multiplication (3 digit by 2 digit), and adding and subtracting with regrouping.  He also did many story problems. 
For Science the kids learned about the Nitrogen cycle.  They acted out different plants and animals and how they are involved in the cycle.  They also learned about how Nitrogen is broken down from the atmosphere (N2) into plant available Nitrogen (ammonium).  This meant they learned more about atoms, and the triple bond in N2, and what compounds are.  They also learned that lightening can split Nitrogen.  We also reviewed the water cycle, and read a story about a drop of water.
Anna, Elsie, and Kimball all worked hard on their music this week.  They practiced their string instruments at least 5 times each, and they went to Bows and Bridges music school.  They also took their piano lessons and practiced as well.  They all had a fun time (except Adam) going to their brother's orchestra performance at the High School. Kimball said he was inspired to practice better.
Adam had a fun time exercising by playing outside games with his siblings and neighbor friends.  He also worked really hard and raked a bunch of leaves for his grandma and grandpa.  He gathered the leaves up in buckets and hauled them to their large garden.  He worked hard and had a fun time in the warmth and leaves.
For tech, Elsie and Kimball worked on their M inecraft assignments.  Elsie turned in her room to scale.  They both built their houses with escape routes out of them.  They also wrote out a map of their community, including a church, business, highschool, elementary school, and homes in our area.  Anna learned how to format in Word.  She followed directions, and created columns, a heading, and how to change font size and how to bold the font.  She did this to create our family newsletter.

Learning Log 14

For Science this week the kids learned about the Carbon cycle.  They learned about long term and short term carbon reservoirs.  They learned about the biological carbon cycle and the geological carbon cycle.  We also looked at carbon in molecular levels and played with building certain molecules.  We learned carbon is in a lot of things!
For history we learned about the story of Aenaeus and his family and how they fled Troy and eventually settled in Italy.  We learned about how his son married Lavinia and fulfilled a prophecy.
For Math Kimball worked on chapter 18.  He finished everything but the test.  He learned how to do some more division, this time with a 2 digit answer and a remainder, and then how to check his work.  He also reviewed how to convert miles into feet and did many conversion problems.  He did other conversion problems as well as column division.  Elsie did chapter 14.  She measured inches using fractions, and then simplifying the answer.  She reviewed finding the area of a rectangle.  She also did chapter 15 where she learned how to change mixed numbers into an improper fraction and vice versa. She reviewed finding the area of a square.  Adam did chapter 18 in his math, where he learned how to add groups of 10s together.  He did this using manipulative.  He also practiced counting and writing to 20 and counting by 2s. Anna started chapter 21, where she is learning how to subtract by 9.  She learned using manipulatives and also did many story problems.
For Language Arts Elsie read the 3rd Harry Potter yet a 5th time for the month.  She also read A Fish in a Tree and really liked it and about 60 pages of The Princess Academy.  She also wrote another chapter in her story about bears and she memorized a short poem called Ridiculous Rose for poetry and tea.  Adam also worked on a poem called A Little Red Apple, but he doesn't have it perfected yet.  He also practiced writing his name and some letters.  He also learned the blend ag, and we worked really hard on learning the sight words and, the, and no.  He read the book Tag and practiced reviewing previous blends.  He started learning the blend ab, but decided to stop and do a little more review.  Anna learned the blends pl, gr, fr, br, cr, and pr.  She read a couple short stories:  "A Bugs' Plan" and "Fran and the Frog".  She read headlines from a pretend newspaper as well.  Anna also practiced her handwriting and did some copywork and wrote sweet notes to people in her family.  Kimball did four journal entries and two copyworks, copying a stanza from Godfrey Gordon Gustav Gore.  Kimball read two more chapters of Harry Potter, where he read about the midnight dual. 
For music, Elsie, Kimball, and Anna practiced their string instruments and piano.  They also went to their piano lessons and Bows and Bridges school.  Anna can plan all the way through Go Tell Aunt Rhody on the violin already.  Elsie passed off her last song in book one of Suzuki and is officially in book two now in the violin.  Kimball is close to passing off several songs on the piano, and is working really hard.  They are all really excited to be playing Christmas songs as well!!
Adam played outside and went exploring along a the Logan River Trail with his friend.  They also threw rocks in the river.  
For technology, Kimball and Elsie measured their rooms and drew them to scale on paper.  Kimball used graph paper, but Elsie used a 1" to 1' scale on a piece of paper.  They have yet to upload them and turn them in.