Homeschool Highlights ~ Weeks 10 and 11

We have completed 44 days in school.

Highlights from our learning the last 2 weeks ~

Read-Alouds:

{Luke's picks}




Book 1 of the Terrestria Chronicles (Click to see my review of books 4 & 5).

Biblical History:

Grapevine: Unit 6 Review and The Prophets


Nutrition 101: Choose Life 
Unit 4:
  • Ch. 1 ~ The Skeletal System
  • Ch. 2 ~ Joints and The Muscular System
  • Ch. 3 ~ Skin, Hair and Nails
  • Ch. 4 ~ Exercise
{Each chapter covers anatomy, health issues, nutrition, discussion questions, recipes, projects, etc.}

Calcium {Bone Building} Power Recipe: Nut Balls

Sesame seeds, almonds, pecans, dates, & coconut cream concentrate . . .
rolled in carob powder and shredded coconut.

Did you know that sesame seeds are a better source of calcium than milk?

Protein Power {Additional} Recipe: Sun Dried Tomato Chick Pea Dip:

Chick peas, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice. . .
served with organic "everything" crackers. 
After this unit, I really need to consider purchasing a food processor ~ my blender is feelin' the burn.

We skipped the recipe for chapter 3 (cabbage is is a wonderful source of sulfur, which promotes skin, hair and nail health, but I am avoiding raw cabbage right now, because it is goitrogenic).

For chapter 4, I took a nice long walk around the park while the kids played and went to P.E. It felt great! My kids get plenty of fresh air and exercise in the form of playing games and sports ~  not watching T.V. or playing video games helps that. ;-) But, I need more.

We also had the "Exercise Power Recipe" ~ Chicken Nuggets {homemade} for dinner one night. I need to eat more protein, so this was perfect. I modified the recipe slightly ~ I use potato flakes instead of bread crumbs (so hard to find inexpensive organic or natural bread crumbs and potato flakes work great!). Plus, potatoes are a good source of potassium ~ of which I need more of.

Chapter 4 talked about electrolytes and how we don't really need "sports drinks" for regular exercise. The Additional Recipes section offers some alternative electrolyte recipes, but none that I had ingredients on hand for.  So, I am experimenting with my own, which I hope to use throughout the rest of my pregnancy and during labor. The super simple ingredients are lemon juice (a good source of potassium) and a pinch of Real Salt (a good source of minerals and natural sodium) and water. Actually, since I got over my obsession with lemon/lime juice and cucumbers and Real Salt (since no more garden), my pH has lowered (I try to keep it at 7), and I am getting more leg cramps at night ~ which have gotten better since I am eating more potassium rich foods (orange juice, potatoes, bananas). So, this should help more.

Science:
Testing for vitamin C~ or what I caught of the experiment. . .
in lime juice, cranberry juice, apple juice.
Lime juice had the most vitamin C, cranberry had a little,
but apple juice did not have much.
  • J ~ Finished Module 10; started Module 11 ~ The Human Body: Fearfully & Wonderfully Made
  • N&D ~ Finished Lesson 5: Health and Nutrition; started Lesson 6: The Respiratory System
Math:

Doing great with Life of Fred! Have I mentioned how much I love Fred? He really challenges you to think (sometimes outside the box) and my boys love math because of him! I've never had a kid read ahead in their math book just to see what happens and I love that the chapters and tests are one continuous story. ;-) Jordan's math is getting more challenging, but at the same time it is increasing his confidence.

ELA: Preposition review/test, direct objects and plugging away with Daily Grams, Writing Strands and AAS.

Field Trip: Milk ~ from the farmer to our table



Luke took the boys to work with him to visit one of his Y Partners and they got to tour the Meadow Gold Production Facility in Billings, MT. They got to see the whole process from start to finish! The raw milk, supplied by a Hutterite colony, begins its processing in these large tanks. The boys got to see the cartons and jugs being made (which they thought was really cool), then filled labeled and loaded onto the trucks. They called me right after to tell me how cool it was! They also kept saying how nice the guy was and told me about all the free coupons (and chocolate milk~ that was just made!) he gave them. So wish I could have been there! One cool thing they learned is that this production facility, which is only 125 miles from us, is where most of the milk in our local grocery store comes from. The milk in Meadow Gold, Viva, Great Value, and Alberston's milk is all the same milk ~ just a different label. It is all rBST free.  I would rather have raw over pasteurized milk, but it is nice to know where it comes from and that it does not travel too far.

Life/Preparedness Skills: Took place in the form of a game that I got to review this week!

On the homestead: Jordan and Dylan spent 4 days at our property in Montana clearing trees and cutting logs with their dad. It is hard for me to believe that I have not been up there in 3 months (hence no pictures). I plan to make a day trip with them this month to see all their progress ~ which they are excited to show me!

Coming Up: Jordan is elk hunting with his grandpa next week so we will be taking a break from our regular studies. I am planning a unit study for Nathan and Dylan {to "row" a read aloud ~ if I can find the book} and hope to have some fun with it!

Early Learning:

I rowed The ABC Bunny with Malachi and Eliana.

3R's:



Malachi started reading the Bob Books we won from Our Homeschool Fun and is doing great with them! They really boosted his confidence being able to read "a whole book" in a sitting. ;-) I hesitated to buy them because of the price, so I'm happy to have won them!

We picked back up with ETC 1 and he is doing great with it (so happy!). He is still drawing pictures like crazy and asks me to spell words all the time to label them ~ so I write them down for copywork. He is doing math on his own since he completed the goals I had for him for Kindergarten and is mostly doing Mathletics when he wants to (which is still daily mostly).

Eliana is ready for preschool. I worked through a few lessons (orally) in Early Bird math, Language Lessons and Get Ready for the Code and she asks to do them daily now. (I am trying to wait until she is 4).

Eliana's drawing on the board ~ me with baby in my tummy. :-)

She got her first "real" hair cut this week ~ she was a little nervous, but did great! 

I have a few preschool projects that I have been working on and hope to share those soon.

Hope you had a great week!

Delightful Links:

12 comments

  1. Very full week with lots of variety. The Nutrition 101 sound interesting. Where did you get it?

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  2. Phyllis, I share links and more info (my review) here!

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  3. Another great week (or two!) We like the Bob books too.

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  4. I've been meaning to tell you, I love the Nutrition 101 course y'all are doing! It is wonderful. Each post I grow more and more fond of it.

    One of these days when you have the time, I would love for you to email me as far as how exactly you do your history. I've looked at your curriculum resources for it on your blog, but I am wondering if you use a particular book for lesson plans/schedule, another for the "spine" and so forth. I like SOTW and will continue to use it, but lately, I really feel inspired to do unit study based history--not just the next couple months, but long term--my problem is in will my kids be getting what they need, or will I miss things they need for the future. Just my thoughts....

    As always, y'all had a great week, lots and lots of learning and it is always so much fun too.

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  5. Totally forgot!!!! SO glad Malachi is enjoying the BOB Books!! I'd really hoped he would:-). This makes me smile:-)!

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  6. You've done a lot! I'll have to check out those Terrestria Chronicle books---might be something my 10yr. ds will read. I've been having a hard time finding things that keep his interest (since he's not a big reader). Love Eliana's picture that she drew on the dry-erase board! :)

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  7. Almost forgot about this ~ I will go mark this as unread and get back to you this week!

    and thanks! :-)

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  8. Wow, I can't even tell you how much! Thanks again, Susana!

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  9. I'd be happy to pass them along to you when we are done (what we have of the collection anyways!).

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  10. What a delightful couple of weeks :D {as usual}

    I share Susanna's thoughts on history. I am sure there are others as well. Maybe if you get the chance you could do a post about it. No pressure, just if you have the time =) Whenever that may be... The children really like the unit study learning, and they seem to retain more when they enjoy the way they learn about a subject. I need to be more diligent about that with Halea ;)

    Love you! Shavua Tov, my friend =o)

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  11. okay, again you have managed to get in a full week of work! How do you do it all?? Do you have a set time for FIAR and ABC's. Do the older boys work on idependent stuff then? I am in this mess right now, too many great resources, I truly want to do, and well not enough time or energy to keep up.

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  12. Don't forget that this is TWO weeks! When I sat down to write this post I had to ask, "What DID we do?" When you sit down and actually write it out it looks like a lot! My older boys are doing more and more independent work ~ and yes, that is when I work with the little ones. But, often I have one of the older boys help me (whoever is closest to being done with their work). And some days, the older boys take all of my attention (or I am just plain tired) and the little ones just play. :-)

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