Our Weekly Wrap-Up

October already!! I can't believe we just finished our 7th week of school....I'm still trying to get over the fact that summer is gone.


In our life this week..
We cleaned, donated some more stuff, went shopping for a birthday party Princess P has, attended First Friday Mass (Lego Man wasn't feeling well..cold or allergies not yet sure), and decorated for Halloween and Fall!
On Thursday, I created a new wreath for our front door.

 This cost me only $10 to make!

I got the ribbon and leaf garland at Hobby Lobby. All three items were 50% off. I got the wreath, flower and berry sprigs (2 of them) at Joann's. They were 60% off and I got an additional 25% off! A lot cheaper than buying a fancy pre-made one!
On Friday, I sent out another bag to Thred Up. The last bag I sent I got over $50 for our outgrown clothes. Of course I spent the credit on more clothes for Princess P since she has grown since last year.

In our homeschool this week...
Monday we had co-op. You can head over here to see what we do at our CCM co-op.
The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. We continued on with our lessons. We finished up our New Hampshire state study and got books out for our next state...New York!


What the kids are reading.....
Lego Man is reading Mossflower by Brian Jacques for fun.



He's reading Father Marquette and the Great Rivers for our history study.



For his co-op history class, he is reading My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier.

He has to read the book and then write a book report on it. So far he is really enjoying the book.

Princess P just started reading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild.



For our history co-op class, she is reading Squanto.

Our our little homestead....
Well, we finally lost a chicken. Oddly not to some wild predator.

Sweet Miss Pepper is gone.

Our lovable bird dog got a hold of her and sadly she couldn't be saved. Princess P was upset since they are like pets to her but thankfully she understands that it's all part of life. Now she wants a rooster, so we can add to the flock.

Linking up with.....My Week in Review, The Homeschool Mother's Journal , Weekly Wrap-Up, 7 Quick Takes, Friendship Friday, Homeschool Review, Family Fun Friday, Live and Learn, Random 5, and Hearts for Home

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

Taking a walk along the river.

Collecting seashells along the bank of the river.

Summer seems to have gone by too quickly! It still feels like it should be July, but here we are already in October.

{happy}

We went for a walk last week for our nature study and to just walk the dog. She loves playing in the creek. A few weeks ago, we found crayfish in our creek. A certain young man was rather excited.

Lego Man even found a nursery for baby crayfish. Look how tiny they are!

{funny}

Our gentle boy.

Mr. Toughy likes to take naps in the chicken coop. We found him asleep in the coop last week. He was sound asleep sitting on the eggs. 

Thankfully the girls don't seem to mind him. They don't like the other two cats, but I guess they have gotten used to him.

He would have made a great barn cat!

{real}

We are finishing up our our 7th week of school. We have 1 more week before we take our week off. I had planned to school for 6 weeks and then take a week off but Grandma is coming done so I decided to finish up our 4th week of CCM and then take a break. We have only missed 2 days of school so far from illness. Princess P was sick two weeks ago and Lego Man is fighting allergies. I am so thankful  I added sick days into the schedule this year! Seven weeks into school and I am already making a few changes. Lego Man is switching Spelling books. We were doing Starting a Spelling Notebook which is recommended by MODG, but it just was not working for us. So we are now using Seton. I wanted something a little more challenging than what we had used in the past. Last year, we used CHC spelling and it was too easy for him. I think Seton will work. I'll let you know what we think about it in a few weeks.

Classically Catholic Memory~ Gamma Year Week 1

Religion~
This week, we talked about What is the Church? We recited the question and answer everyday. I dictated the answer for the kids to write down in the religion  notebooks. We talked about Baptism, the Seven Sacraments, and the Pope.


Geography~
The Seven Continents

We labeled the CCM map the first day. The rest of the days, I had the kids point to the map and say what the continents were.
We did worksheets daily to reinforce the location and the spelling of the continents.

Continent Worksheets We Used
Super Worksheets
Crayola Worksheets
Worksheet Works- This site is great because you can show what you wanted included. You can have the continents labeled, oceans labeled, both or none at all. I chose to not have anything labeled and used it as a quiz for my kids!

Science~
Atoms

We did various science experiments to introduce the kids to atoms and matter.

We read about Atoms in our Focus On Middle School Chemistry Student Textbook (softcover)
We watched Bill Nye the Science Guy DVD about atoms.



History~
Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan

We checked out a DVD from our library called Explorers of the World: Christopher Columbus. It's geared for grades 5th-8th grade.



A DVD geared for younger kids that would be great is Columbus: Adventures to the end of the World from CCC of America.



We filled in our explorer notebooking pages from Homeschool Share. We traced the routes of the explorers and added the maps to our history binder.
For fun, I had the kids create their own map of the New World. We used brown paper and watercolors.

Latin~
Salve Regina

Everyday we listened to the Cd from CCM. We would sing along with the Chant Kit Cd after practicing the 2 lines we were learning. We bought this Cd set last year and have loved it. You get two discs and a book with the words to the prayers and hymns. It is a hit with Lego Man since it is monks singing, so no high picthed notes. It's very easy for everyone to follow along...even non singers.

I created a worksheet for the kids to put the Salve Regina in order. I also created a Hail Holy Queen worksheet, so they could match up the Latin sentences with their English meanings. I want my children to know the Latin prayers, but I also want them to understand what they are saying.

Math~
Since my kids are older and have mastered or almost mastered the multiples. We just listen to the Cd for reinforcement.

Great Words~
The kids have started working on their Christopher Columbus poem. I gave each one a copy and told them they are responsible for memorizing it. We go over it two times during the week, but I want them to take charge and learn it on their own. At the end of the poem, I will have child recite it. I offered a prize to them if they have it down pat....a trip to Sweet Frog's!

Early Explorer Notebooking Pages

While preparing the lessons for the first four weeks of our history this year, I realized I wanted a way for the kids to record some information about the explorers we would be studying. I went online in search of what I needed. I was able to find notebooking pages for some of the explorers, but not all.
I was able to find notebooking pages for most of the explorers over at Homeschool Share.
Unfortunately, they didn't have 7 of the explorers needed for the CCM weeks.

So what's a mom to do?
Create them herself!

I created the sheets to be similar to the ones I had found at Homeschool Share. I wanted the sheets to basically have the same information.

Here are the notebooking pages I created.

Samuel de Champlain

Robert de La Salle

Louis Joliet

Jacques Cartier

Francisco Pizarro

Henry Hudson

Father Marquette

I also created a Father Marquette Journaling page so the kids could write a brief summary of the book, Father Marquette and the Great Rivers.

                                                               

Till Next Time,

Monique

Our State Study Scrapbook~ South Carolina

We finished South Carolina last year, but I never got around to posting about. South Carolina was the 8th state to join the Union. I visited Hilton Head, South Carolina as a child. I don't remember too much about it except that the ocean water was warm...which I liked. I hate it when the water is freezing! Maybe one day soon, we'll get the kids down there to the beaches.

For our study, we read a variety of books about the state. I always try to get a few books that discuss the history of the state, as well as, the state today. I do not expect the kids to remember the population or any other numbers, since they will change as time goes on.

Here are few of the books we used.


                                                                     
                                                   

When choosing books to read, I pick out some that we read together and then a few the kids can read on their own.
After the kids learned. a little about South Carolina, they filled in their state notebooking pages. We like to use the ones from Harrington Harmonies.  Once all the state facts were filled in, we moved onto the scrapbook.

State Coloring Page
State Flag Coloring Page
State Quarter Coloring Page

We colored in South Carolina on our United States Map coloring page.

We learned about the state bird, the Carolina Wren. We read about its habitat and listened to it's call.

Source~ Wikipedia Commons

Carolina Wren Coloring Page

Source~ Wikipedia Commons

Yellow Jessamine Flower Coloring Page

Here is a beautiful coloring page of the state flower and state bird.

Postage Stamp Coloring Page

Some fun recipes to try!

Old Charleston Style Shrimp and Grits

Slow Cooker Carolina BBQ

and for a yummy dessert...

South Carolina Peach Cobbler