Open House: December

It snowed again!

This month has been T-riffic so far. Must be all the excitement about you-know-what. The next few weeks of school will actually be "elf school." I kind of stole this idea from Cocoa. Read more about her idea here.

Here's a little sampling of what ours will be:
Scripture reading (of course)
Geography (elves help Santa deliver presents all around the world, they must know where every country is)
Writing (elves take notes and write reports to Santa in complete sentences about children's behavior)
Math (keeping track of all those presents is hard work. Also, counting down days, figuring distances, dividing presents equally, and using fractions when baking elf cookies)
Music (of course)
Art (duh)
Merry Making (this includes, but is not limited too: making snow angels, dancing, frolicking, pretending, playing, laughing, etc)
Nature Study (it's an elf's duty to take care of nature)
History (we've been reading a fascinating book on Santa/Christmas traditions from around the world and in different times)

Already, the kids have had so much fun with the writing and history part. They LOVED spying on everyone and taking notes. ANNND...guess what? Everyone was really good when they knew it really counted.

Our school prior to this wasn't all that bad. Here's a little of what we've done:

Some of our writing:






























Nothing like a Spelling Bee to motivate reluctant spellers. We are getting ready for our homeschool group's bee. These are Elise's words here. And Sam's words here (which also happens to be an excellent resource for all spellers)


We enjoyed our Outdoor studies. We've been looking at moss and we've been fascinated by the little "homes" we find.

We (by "we" I mean "I") have been really excited about our Story of the World lessons. We have covered a lot in a short time, partly because the kids really like to listen to the stories and partly because we needed to go a little faster. Here's what we've covered:

The English language (soooo interesting to learn about all the languages that contribute to ours. Susan Bauer explains it in the book by comparing it to different colors of play dough that get all mixed together until in becomes one color)

Serfs and noblemen

Stone Castles (see picture below)

Knights and Samurai

The Crusades

Saladin of Jerusalem

El Cid and the reconquest of Spain

Richard the Lionhearted (and Robin Hood)

John "Lackland" and the Magna Carta (see pictures below)

The Diaspora (we are working on a play using the story they gave in the book about the wise Rabbi)

Here is a castle we build out of Styrofoam:







































Special unit study on the Magna Carta:



























For Latin, we've been learning some Christmas songs in Latin, namely "Donna Nobis Pachem" and the medieval Christmas song, "The Boar's Head Carol"

Math: Sam is very good about doing his math lessons. I think he actually enjoys them.
Elise on the other hand....now that she is reading well she'd much rather do this:


















And when I ask her to do her math, this is what I get:


















Yep, I guess she's normal.

Art: well, I'm sorry to say that I don't have pictures of their art work. It is midnight and I am holding sleeping Anna in my arms and just realized I didn't take pictures of them. RATS! Jeremy, the resident artist, did a "still life" study with them. He taught them a little more about perspective and drawing 3D.

Music: Piano is going ok. I think we've kind of hit a wall, but visits from grandparents are the motivation to keep practicing!

Claire: Still practicing her letters and writing. We are still plugging along in this book. She's such a smarty. It is hard for her sometimes when I am working with Sam and Elise. She is getting better at finding things to keep her occupied and is playing more with Anna. It's such a balancing act.

Anna: had been dry during the day 90% of the time!! We are so excited. For some reason, this Sesame street game has really helped her. So have stickers and promises of prizes. Sheesh...

Scripture Study: Through Mark.
We will finish the gospel of Mark tomorrow and then begin Luke. It is interesting to read some of the same stories written from another man's perspective. I remember hearing one time about how the apostles wrote to their audience, ie Matthew to the Jews, Luke to the Gentiles, etc. It's interesting to me to think how and why some details got put in and some were left out. I realize that there was probably more originally. It is AMAZING how much we have of their writings and how much is probably sound. Still, I'm very grateful for Joseph Smith's translations. I'm also very grateful to be able to read about our Savior's life with my children. It makes such a difference in our day when we get to sit down and read about His life and example.

I look forward to reading Luke's more detailed discription of the Savior's birth.

Elise's Candy Cane Tea Party