Thursday – Today we started with our Bible study time.  My goal was to review Abraham and catch up on some notebook pages.  Our devotional thought was with Abraham and Lot and that when we make decisions we need to look at God’s Word not the circumstances around us.  Though that was my focus the younger children really focused on the blessings coming by letting someone else choose first.  Not a bad lesson for them to get!

 

I have rediscovered a series of Sunday School materials on my shelf – On the Way  .  Though I do not want to do the lessons that are there (though they are good lessons) I have been very excited to find the activities – they are just perfect for our notebooking and even lapbooking folds.  Today the children made a notebook page covering a map from Ur to what is now Israel, pictures of Lot and Sodom and Abraham and cattle/sheep, as well as a little flow diagramme on Making Decisions.  All I had to do was photocopy and they coloured, cut and pasted the rest!

 

We started our Discipline Studies with looking at Pie Graphs and making a sample for our Layered Book (for a Living Math Lapbook).  This was such a neat time – the four kids all learning how to use a compass.  I don’t remember using a compass till I was in highschool and here was Daniel at 7 doing the best circle of them all!  Daniel tried so hard and was so careful – it was so intense it was nearly contrary to all I know about him – There is something there in his learning style and interests that I will persue.   They also reviewed quarters since the pie graph had four parts.  As a little side track I showed them how to colour in neatly and how to get a straight edge while colouring – little snippets from my project days at school.

 

Josh, Jess and Nomi all completed one session with their Math U See while I took Daniel onto Rainforest Math.

 

For Writing, Josh finalised various pieces, printed them off ready to be edited including his letters.  Jess corrected a few of her notebook pages, which had already been edited as well as prepared research for her oral presentation.  Nomi wrote a little more on her monkey research.   Daniel had a short reading lesson and then copywork.

 

We all had reading rests today.  I think we all needed some time out and just to relax with a book.

 

I sat with Jess for 20 minutes or so to start her cross stitch project.  She would like to get some cross stitching done for Christmas presents.  We organised the threads, discussed the pattern, and stitched in the guidelines.    I must learn that it doesn’t take very long to do a little on their projects.  I don’t need to set aside the whole afternoon for one of their creative projects.

 

We then spent time working on their oral presentations for the Co Op tomorrow. 

 

Joshua has joined two poems he wrote the other day into one poem and has been practicing presenting that. 

 

Jessica and I took her notes on Cleopatra and have written a monologue.  It has been a scream actually as the piece is a bit of a gossip by Cleopatra’s hairdresser.  Trying to get Jess to mimic the tones of a gossip is just hilarious – she has no idea!  So we are working from the angle of emotions and making the voice and body actions move with the emotions – proud and boasting, telling a secret, outraged, just chatting! 

 

I typed while Nomi dictated the information she had collected on Monkeys.  Before I got her to tell me we wrote an outline together and discussed how the information needs to flow into a bit of a story.  Nomi wants to tell her report in the first person – she is a monkey!  (No pun intended or maybe there is!!) 

 

Daniel wants to show everyone how to make a volcano.  He doesn’t want to practice he just wants to “make it up as I talk”, so he says.  He also declares “I don’t need help”.  Though Josh did help him get the sand in a bucket and he can build the mountain once he gets to Co Op.  Daniel then insisted that he could use the photocopier, as he wants to give his listeners a handout.  He messed up the first bit – cut off the edge of the page but insisted again that he knew how to fix this problem and has photocopied a set of instructions nice and clearly!

 

Joshua has really picked up the idea of studying his books rather than just reading them for pleasure.  Though he has always learnt from his reading he is being more intentional now.  He is reading “The Adventures of Ibn Battuta” and this is introducing him to Islam, which he wants to know more about.  He is also reading “Banker to the Poor” which has stirred up an interest to learn about the economy.  I can see he may take a little detour from his history studies and do studies on Islam and Money.