Learning through fun!

I decided to change our routine up a bit.  We needed to do something different because what we were doing was dragging and I felt a little resistance starting from the girls.  I made sure that we were pretty busy this week.  We did many little projects and activities that made learning fun.  Our week seemed to go a lot smoother and the resistance from the girls was gone!  It was a very good week! 

Reading
Mackenzie is reading Anne of Green Gables (a child's version).  We still read poetry and stories from the Bible daily.

Math
Mackenzie has been working with fractions.  After doing a few fraction worksheets, we did some hands on activities.  We made a cardboard pizza and used that to discuss fractions.  We also used an old milk carton to talk about what fraction of the carton was full.  We played fraction dominoes.  We did activities so she could understand that a fraction is a part of a whole.  Lorel played with marbles for Math.  She sorted into groups, counted, made addition problems using them, and made them into patterns.


Writing
We did many fun little writing activities everyday.  The girls loved it!  I was so excited I found some things to do that involved writing that they enjoyed.  We cut out pictures of people in magazines, glued them on a paper, and wrote a fake biography for that person.  We made a dream cloud mobile.  The girls cut out clouds and wrote their dreams or hopes on them.  We then tied them to a hanger.  We wrote a different ending to Cinderella.  We listened to the first sentence of a song, stopped the music, and then wrote the line down on paper.  We wrote a story influenced by Dr. Seuss.  We made quill pens out of feathers and dipped them in paint to write like people who lived long ago.

Science
We did many fun little science experiments this week.  We made a Cartesian diver out of a soda bottle.  We made raisins dance using water, vinegar, and baking soda.  We made a rocket match stick.  We made glue from milk.  Our favorite experiment was when we made a diet soda geyser.  We dropped Mentos in diet soda and it shot up!  The girls liked it so much they want to do it again when Daddy is home to show him!  Check out the video!  I was really surprised how high it got!

Social Studies
This week we studied different cultures through food.  Each day we made a recipe from a different country.  We made cinnamon scones from Britain, Moussaka from Eastern Europe, Sweet and Sour Chicken from Asia, onion soup from France, and Baklava from Greece.  The girls liked most of the things.  It was a fun way to learn about other cultures.  It was also fun to have the girls in the kitchen helping me cook.

Art
We did a little art project everyday.  We made tape resistant birch tree paintings.  We made birch trees out of masking tapes, painting water colors around the tape for a background, then pulled the tape up after it was dry.  We made a hex design using markers.  The girls colored their names and made patterns and designs on all around their names.  We made a turtle out of clay.  We made season cubes.

Physical Activity
We placed all of our pillows on the floor.  The girls had to jump from pillow to pillow without touching the floor because it was "lava".  We had races.  We danced.  We played the human wheel barrow.  We crawled like a crab.  We strode like a giant.

Music
We made a couple of homemade instruments.  We played the water glasses with spoons.  We made rice shakers.  We learned how to play the rim of a water glass with our finger.  We had a lot of fun!

 

Today we went to see the Justin Bieber movie.  The girls loved it!  He is a great kid and a good role model for kids to have.  Our week was awesome!  We plan to have many more like this one!

And we are back!!!

I haven't blogged in a while because our computer was broken.  It took a while to get the part and get it fixed.  But it is working now so I have internet again!  Yay!  We have been very busy these past few weeks. 

This week Mackenzie worked with synonyms/antonyms.  She also is starting with multiplication.  She is able to multiply the 1's, 2's, and 3's.  We just started this week and I am very happy with how quick she has caught on.  She is well on her way.  She has also started learning cursive.  She is doing ok with that.  She also learned about Diogenes.  He was a philosopher from Greece who believed in living simply.  He lived in a barrel.  He lived to prove that social class is of no importance.  She also continues to learn about the history of Great Britain.  We read a story about bee's and how they are all born the same and the only reason that the queen becomes the queen is because she is housed and fed differently from the other bees from birth.  We read a folk tale about how the camel got his hump.  We continue to read a poem and the bible everyday.  We are currently learning about Mose and the Israelite people and their journey from Egypt.  I am proud of Mackenzie and how much she is learning.

Lorel continues to read.  Her reading is improving.  She practices writing everyday.  She also practices addition.  She continues to love working on the computer.  Her favorite thing to do is paint!  She is doing very well!

Last week we took a trip to Lubbock, TX.  We went to the Children Science Museum.  It was so neat!  The girls had a blast and learned a lot.  We then went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner.  It was nice to get out of Hobbs.

On Monday night we also had our own dance/light party at home.  The girls had so much fun!  We turned the lights out, turned the flashlights on,  put glow sticks around our necks, blasted the music, and danced.  The girls also had fun watching their shadows on the wall.  So we talked about shadows this week.  Here is a short video of our fun!  It is hard to see  the video but I LOVED the girls laughing so I had to put it on!

We had a good week!  The girls learned and accomplished a lot! 

Our holidays were very merry!  For Christmas we got to visit with Brad.  For the New Year we got to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Peterson.  It was nice to be with family for the holidays.  We were excited to get to spend time with them.  It was a nice long break from school.  It was hard to get back into our routine!  The girls enjoyed their break and so did I.

This week the girls have worked hard.  I found this really neat book.  It is called The Children's Bible in 365 stories.  It takes the stories of the bible and adds pictures.  We read from it everyday.  This week we read about the creation of the earth, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, and Noah's Ark.  The girls really enjoy it!  We also read a recreation of Beauty and the Beast.  We continued with learning about birds.  This week we read a fictional story about a wren and a sparrow.  We learned that sparrows are bullies even though they aren't as big as many of the other birds.  We read about Alexander the Great and his story about how he became a great ruler.  We continue to read Aesop fables.  The morals are a little hard for the girls to understand but after a little explaining they usually get the point.  We read a poem everyday from a book called A child's garden of verses.  The poems are about children and their imaginations while playing or dreaming.  They are beautiful!  The girls practiced writing everyday.  Mackenzie's is starting to look very neat.

We continue to work hard.  It is a tiring job for me.  But it is worth it.  I am ready for all of the outside activities to start back up.  Art class and story hour start back up next week.  Soccer starts again in March.  It was nice with these activities.  It got us out of the house and gives the girls a chance to be with other people.  I sometimes wish that we live in a bigger city with more to do.  We have done everything in Hobbs and it gets a little boring.  But we make do.  We all have everything that we need and that is all that matters!