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!