Shareable-Homeschool-Moment:
I approached this week with greater enthusiasm after hearing our Sunday sermon. “God makes the extraordinary out of the ordinary”. Well, to be perfectly honest, our history and science lessons were quite dry and I was staring at a pile of lemons. We were in deep need of “extraordinary” lemonade!
Our textbooks didn’t magically transform into exciting novels, although my attitude was adjusted. Funny how that is usually the piece that needs fixing. Most days were filled with the necessary rigor; however, we had “fun and memorable moments” along the way.
If God called us on this learning journey, and He has, He will equip us! Keeping our eyes on Jesus makes life sweeter. Lord, thank you for the “extraordinary” lemonade!
BIBLE:
I printed the 16th-19th tracer page of our Psalm 103 printable.
You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.
The boys traced two verses on Monday and two on Tuesday. We continued to memorize all nineteen verses.
Starting Strong:
This week, we read the story of Peter and John standing before the Sanhedrin. The old Peter, who denied his Lord, was bold and unashamedly courageous.
I love this book. It really provides “talking moments” that are applicable to them. The boys continued to add their thoughts and doodles at the end of the chapter.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
My friend sent me a pin of US History printables to use this week.
Civil War:
We wrapped up our discussion on the civil war.
The boys color-coded the Union and Confederate states on their map. It always a good geography opportunity. We used directions, such as “north of Texas” rather than “above Texas”.
They HAD to re-enact their own version of the civil war, brother against brother. They wanted to set the mood with “the western stand-off” music (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly theme).
Cattle Drives:
This week, we read about cattle ranching and cow towns.
The boys designed their own brand (thank again, Kate).
Cornbread & Chili:
It’s an easy and delicious dinner to fix on a school night. If you ask the kids, it’s delicious as long as I don’t add vegetables to the mix…
Oil Drilling:
This week we also learned about the oil business. Petroleum was first called “Seneca oil”, “rock oil” and “black gold” (insert pop-culture lesson).
We HAD to watch the Beverley Hillbillies intro! The first part of the song matched closely with our history reading. The boys saw “black gold” or “rock oil” bubbling up from the ground. The poor pioneer man barely kept his family fed until he struck oil.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
Grammar:
I created a Apple Farm grammar grab bag (GGB) for this week’s language arts activities.
You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.
Spelling:
I set out Parker’s spelling cards, letter tiles, and mat (in GGB).
First, Parker read his spelling rule.
Next, he used his letters to build an open and closed syllable word.
Afterwards, he used his spelling cards to practice writing his spelling words.
On Tuesday, Parker used his spelling cards to complete his spelling sentences.
Syllables:
I placed his apple syllable cards (in GGB) in a dry-erase pocket.
Parker used his dry-erase marker to slice the apple syllables.
Long & Short Vowels:
Parker read each word and sorted them by long or short vowel sound.
Grammar Ace:
This week, we continued to learn about adverbs.
I set out our last “In a Nutshell“ vocabulary leaf.
Parker matched the leaf to the definition.
I added an “abbreviations” leaf and wrote two sentences.
I asked Parker to use the abbreviations to identify each word in the sentence.
Read-Aloud:
Across Five Aprils started out really slow, but my friend told me that it would get interesting. She was right. This story has captivated the boys’ attention. We’re really rooting for Shad and Jenny, proud of Jethro, and waiting to see how this family endures the Civil War.
Bub pulled out our bag of wheat and began sifting in hopes of making flour. Everyone wanted to join in the fun. This kept their hands busy, like farmers, while I read aloud.
Reading:
This lapbook entry was a great adverb wrap-up activity to reiterate the function of adverbs in sentences.
We read more books from our seasonal picks.
SCIENCE:
TOPs #6:
The boys worked together to complete this week’s TOPs experiment.
JUST FOR FUN:
Apple Tasting Tree:
We continued to add apples on our Apple Tasting Tree.
Haley showed Parker how to use shading while coloring his Envy apple.
He added it to our tree in the classroom.
Apple Cake:
Parker and I read The Apple Cake together. This was a wonderful story about kindness, giving, and receiving.
We headed to the kitchen to make the recipe on the back of the book.
We covered it with a clean towel and waited for it to rise.
We added our apples and let it rise again!
It made the house smell amazing while it baked!
It turned out beautiful and tasted delicious!