Weekly Wrap Up 2014 Week 5!

This week was another great week.  I've been so thankful for these cold and snowy days.  They have kept us inside and focused!  Spring will be a different story, so I'm thankful for successful weeks of school while they last.

Monday

We started out our week by discussing Black History Month.  Carissa at 1+1+1=1 made these really cool calendar cards.  Each day, they highlight another black person in our country's history.  This week we have discussed Benjamin Banneker, Phillis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and John Rock.  Even I learned a few new things (or a lot, really).

We read the first half of the book If A Bus Could Talk.  This is a great book about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

We quickly discussed Groundhog Day and talked about predictions.  We each made a prediction about how much snow we would get the next day as part of the huge snow storm that was coming.  We were also fortunate to catch the Wild Krattz episode that went into detail about what groundhogs are REALLY doing when they wake for the spring.  It was great!  We also made some shadow people :).

In Bible, we completed lesson 22 of Bible Study Guide for All Ages and learned about angels visiting Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary to tell of the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus.

Tuesday

When I read about their playdough and water bead landforms on Unschool the Teacher, I knew I wanted to do the same for our landforms review this week.  I made up a batch of brown playdough and we made the landforms on paper plates.  We do own the pre-made landforms, but I wanted the kids to have a chance to make them, too.  I wanted to go and get blue water beads, but due to the snow I had to use the one colorful package we got a Christmas.  

BTW, I had never used the water beads before.  The box said they 'instantly' grow.  What it meant was they instantly START growing then they take about 12 hours to reach full size.  So, our landforms lesson was extended into Wednesday.

Of course, this set Mustang in motion to measure them and the water levels as they changed during the 12 hours.  She didn't make any scientific discoveries or anything, but she enjoyed her research.

We did go ahead and start our landform drawings, so all was not lost.

We also finished If a Bus Could Talk (right on Rosa Park's birthday-not planned).  And, we read about our 9th president William Henry Harrison.

Wednesday

Our water beads were finally ready to use.  Oh man, those things bounce everywhere!  I was glad I had a warning from a friend!  I would not recommend using plates if you want to pour the beads.  But, everyone still enjoyed playing with them.

We began our Olympics studies.  We are using A Journey Through Learning's Olympics Lapbook  ($1.00) for our main information.  I REALLY like the way their Lapbooks are laid out, and I feel they fit in with our Montessori style perfectly.  Just enough information to answer curious minds, and just enough questions to help them formulate thoughts about what they read.  I DO take advantage of the lapbook part, as I really like the way they have the reader make a journal of the information they learned.  Charger is not doing the lapbook part, Mustang is.  

We are also reading Hour of the Olympics from Magic Treehouse.  Mustang is reading the research guide, Ancient Greece and the Olympics.  She has a research journal that she created when she read her first Magic Treehouse guide and she voluntarily adds information from each book she reads.  She's really enjoying this one, too.

Each Wednesday we read a little about a new state. We go in the order they joined the union and this week was Connecticut.  

Our snowstorm finally ended, but our predictions turned out to be a challenge.  Mustang guessed 8 inches, Charger guessed 9, Mini Cooper and I both guessed 10.  Problem is that with the blowing snow, we don't know exactly how much we got.  The weather man said 8-10, so we all won. Our prize was snow ice cream.

Thursday

We talked about the Greeks thanks to our lapbook and read chapter 2 in Hour of the Olympics.  We also brought out these super cool cards.  They have the athlete, sport, and country of various favored athletes in the Olympic games.  I got them free from Every Star is Different (you will see a lot from her pack).  Mustang and Charger REALLY liked these, and they came in super handy when we were watching the figure skating last night.  

I guess that was it for Thursday.  Seemed longer at the time!!

Chosen Work

Mustang worked on her All About Spelling with the moveable alphabet.

Charger was determined to read books, all week, to anyone who would listen.  

And, he also worked really hard on his landforms booklet-which is great since he is not a fan of coloring.

Next week we will be continuing with our Olympics studies, Black History month learning, and adding in a little bit of Valentine's fun.  Hope you had a great week!

God Bless,

Lisa

Resources we used this week (contains affiliate links in this widget).