Adventures ~ Week 16

I should apologize for these brief weekly summaries. If I had written them a few months ago when we had actually done the work, they probably would be more interesting. Don't let my poor writing and descriptions discourage you from TOTALLY loving MFW. It is an awesome program and has been a lot of fun for the kids (and for me too!).

On to Week 16!

This week we learned about Jesus as Immanuel/Emmanuel. We studied and memoried the first verse of the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. It's one of my faves and I had fun belting it out, though I think Sydney might have been mortified. Sadly, there's no video to convince you of my wicked awesome voice. Shucks. Anyway, our memory verse this week was Matthew 1:23 "...they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."

Rhode Island and Vermont were the states we studied this week. We also did some reading in American Pioneers and Patriots and learned about Daniel Boone in Exploring American History.

Our science lessons this week were about air - how it expands, contracts, and rises. we did a couple of experiments to see the effect of temperature on air. I think the girls' favorite was when they made the coin "jump" on top of the bottle.

Adventures ~ Week 15

This week we continued a lot of the things we were working on last week - reading Farmer Boy, learning America the Beautiful, memorizing and understanding John 14:6, studying birds and in social studies we learned about New Hampshire, Virginia, New York and North Carolina.

Our Bible lessons were pretty interesting this week. On Monday we talked about how God does not always lead us the way WE think we should go - but always in the best way. Too bad I often struggle with thinking His way can't possibly be the best way *sigh* Tuesday we went on to learn about the Most Holy Place and what it meant for us when it ripped. Good stuff.

The state study was a lot of fun this week. We reviewed the Jamestown settlement when we studied Virginia, learned about the Statue of Liberty and did some comparative measuring for New York, but I think Sydney enjoyed North Carolina most of all because she got to fly paper airplanes in school. We learned all about the Wright Brothers and then did experiments to see what we could do with paper airplanes.

The Wright Brothers made four flights the first day they got their plane in the air. The first one lasted 12 seconds. The longest flight made it 59 seconds. We've come a long way since then.

Adventures ~ Week 14

Week 13 was a Thanksgiving Unit. We did read the Thanksgiving Story, but skipped most of the planned activities and did things on our own.

This week, Week 14, included the study of four more states -- Connecticut, Massachussetts, Maryland and South Carolina. We continued our bird study in science, started reading Farmer Boy and began listening to and studying The Nutcracker ballet.

We also began learning the words and history behind America The Beautiful. Apparently I was a bad student because I never realized that the song was written by a teacher visiting Pikes Peak. A dear friend of mine actually posted pictures of that area so my girls could see what Katherine Lee Bates was looking at when she wrote the poem that eventually became the song. To me, there's nothing more awe inspiring that those Purple Mountain Majesty (even when Sydney insists that they are blue).

Our Bible lesson verse for the week was John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Amen.

Adventures ~ Week 12

This is the week that we finally began our study of the states. MFW gave us a fact sheet about each state, along with flag stickers and little cards with the state bird and flower. Each time we look at a new state we:

1. Locate it on the big US map
2. Color the state on our personal maps
3. Read over the facts about the state (this includes some info about history of its statehood, famous people from the state, nicknames, state symbols, funny/outdated laws, etc)
4. Complete any listed activities
5. Read library books about the state during Book Basket time.

We are following the order of statehood, so this week we studied Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia. Our activity for Pennsylvania was to make a model of the Liberty Bell and for Georgia we were supposed to make a peach cobbler -- but we didn't because we were overloaded with desserts at the time. We'll probably do it this summer when we can use fresh peaches.

This week's science lessons were all about birds. We spent some time discussing mammals, reptiles and birds and learned about warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. We then Googled all the state birds that we studied this week so we could see them "live" and hear their calls. Both Sydney and Delaney love to find birds in the yard, so we also got out the binoculars and wandered around the yard to see what we could find.

Ous Bible lessons this week also related to birds.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 11

I am so ridiculously far behind in blogging our weekly lessons. I apologiz to those of you on the MFW blogroll who have been visiting!!! I'm going to attempt to catch up in separate posts - hopefully I don't confuse you or leave out too many details since everything happened so long ago.

Anyway...

Week 11
Bible ~ We continued learning about Jesus as the Giver of Water. It really difficult to explain to a 9 year old how a person can have his spiritual thirst satisfied. She nodded her head a lot and seemed to understand, but I felt like I could never explain it well enough. Perhaps the difference is in her innocence. There's something to the idea of coming to the Lord like a child!

Social Studies ~ Last week we studied the birth of our nation and the Declaration of Independence. This week we gained a new appreciation for George Washington. What an amazing man! We also read about and tried to make our own Johnny Cakes.

Ingredients: water, butter, cornmeal, sugar and salt. Easy peasey.

I think we did something wrong because ours fell apart in the pan....

But the girls seemed to like them anyway. They tried dipping them in maple syrup and melted butter. I'm sure you will understand how surprised I was when they declared maple syrup their favorite topping *gasp*

Read Aloud ~ We're still working on Sarah Witcher's Story which is supposed to be the true story of a little girl (4ish maybe) who wandered away from the family homestead and got lost in the woods for several days. She was taken care of by a bear whom she had mistaken for the family dog. It's been a good insight into faith, family life, and the culture of the time period and my girls are hanging on every word.

Music ~ We are singing and learning all about Yankee Doodle Dandy! The girls think it's funny that macaroni (as in "Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni") referred to a stylish way of dressing and not their favorite lunch. They seem put off that the British would be making fun of the early Americans like they did. But, go USA! We all love that the early Americans took it in stride and adopted the song as their own - despite it's original cruel intentions.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 10 science

This week we decided to have one science day instead of trying to fit the week 10 experiments into our already busy days. So on Wednesday we did fairly quick math and language arts lessons and then devoted the rest of the day to "Science in the Kitchen".

The first couple of experiments were from the 'Soaked Through' lessons and dealt with absorption. Since Sydney is a 4th grader, we took some time talking about the scientific method and made sure to take good notes about our experiments. We aren't using the correct vocabulary for the method at this point. I'm more concerned with her learning the steps of scientific observation and testing and then later we'll go back and learn how to take "proper" notes for our experiments. We talked about ways to set up charts to record our results and how to form a hypothesis and write a conclusion.

In our first experiment, we tested to see how well various objects soaked up a set amount of water. We discussed how to make the test "fair" - by using the same-sized materials, the same amount of water and drying the wet surface after each trial. We went over our procedure several times to make certain that we would not make any mistakes. Then we recorded our
guesses, performed the experiment, recorded the test results, discussed and then reached our conclusion: Thicker, porous materials will soak up more water than thinner, porous products because there is more area for the water to "stick" too.

Our second experiment was to see what would happen to dots of ink when soaked in water. The girls thought the first trial was uber cool....

Unfortunately Mommy forgot that we were using washable markers so the only result was that the ink washed right off the cut strips of coffee filters. Pretty? Yes. Informative? Not so much.

Take 2. This time we used permanent markers, but not all that much happened. However the girls did notice that the yellow was seeping out of the green dot. We'll try this experiment again. After I get better markers!

Our final experiment dealt with evaporation. We discussed the water cycle, how and why water forms on the bathroom mirror during a shower and talked about how dew forms on the grass. Then we took two dish towels and got them equally damp. We sealed one in a plastic bag and left the other out to air dry. The girls guessed which would dry the most and why and then we put them on the dryer until this afternoon.

Both girls correctly guessed that the towel left out of the bag would by the dryer of the two and even Delaney understood that the other one was still wet because the water had no where to go once it evaporated off the towel.

Ahhhhh. An excellent day of science.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 10

Still working on week 10. There are a lot of activities this week!!!

We are reading about the Declaration of Independence this week and how Thomas Jefferson painstakingly wrote and re-wrote it until it was perfect in his (and his committee's) eyes. And then how he had to re-re-write it after the Continental Congress changed a few things. To get an idea of what a process that must have been for poor Mr. Jefferson, we made our own quill pens and berry ink.

Again, it was a simple recipe - crush some berries, save the juice and add some vinegar and salt. Simple enough.

The kids were amazed at (1) how easy it was to extract the juice (2) how many berries it takes to make such a small amount of ink and (3) how little ink you really need to write.

We cut the tip off a store-bought feather, hollowed out the end and snipped a cut on one side to control the ink flow. Then we were off and running. It took a bit to get the hang of it...

But before long we figured it out.

I wonder how long it took Thomas Jefferson to make his perfect copy?!?

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 10

We are still working on week 10, but here are the pictures from our great Hasty pudding experiment. Hasty pudding is what the colonists ate because it was quick to make (hence the name), nutritious and didn't require many ingredients. They would cook it in the morning, add some sweetener and eat it like oatmeal. In the evenings they would fry up the leftovers and dip it in gravy. It was a fairly versatile meal.

It's a simple recipe - cornmeal, milk, salt and butter.

Stir forever and a day - until super duper thick.

Delaney learned how much fun cleaning up sticky dishes can be and how much easier it is if you rinse them off right after you are done using them.

We thought it tasted like biscuit dough when eaten right off the stove and more like uncooked French toast when we added maple syrup. It really wasn't bad though. Delaney liked it both ways and Sydney preferred it plain. Sadey wouldn't eat it, but she did want to pose for the picture. We put some in the fridge and will fry it up on Monday to see how it tastes with gravy.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 9

I am so far behind in posting My Father's World highlights! Please forgive me for being brief.

Bible ~ Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."

We discussed the definition of Psalms and read Psalm 62. I wanted to play the song on my keyboard, but I didn't have enough D batteries to get the thing running. Oh well. Another time. We did not make the pet rock or necklace as suggested for Thurday's activity but we have gone over the notion of Jesus as our Rock so many times in the last couple of years that we didn't need another visual.

Social Studies/History ~ This week we learned quite a bit about George Washington. Sydney read his biography earlier in the year so we didn't repeat it this week. We did read all about him in "Exploring American History" though. He really was a fascinating and blessed man. The girls had a lot of fun making their tri corn hats and learning about Yankee Doodle and the true meaning of "macaroni"

Science ~ Both girls were learning about the seasons this week so we had a good discussion. They seem to enjoy acting out the Earth and sun more than just about anything these days. It's funny to watch them take turns rotating and orbiting around each other.

Our read aloud this week was "Sarah Whitcher's Story." Typically Sydney does not like to be read to because she doesn't want me to stop until the book is over. She's starting to get used to it though and has been patiently waiting as the story develops. It was a little too scary for Sadey though, so we've started reading it during her nap time.

Math ~ Sydney is progressing quite nicely in math. She is almost finished with the Beta level of Math U See and is ready to move on to Gamma. She is technically a year behind in math, but we firmly believe that she is exactly where she needs to be. If she were in public school she would be struggling with math. Here at home she is acing all of her tests and has a firm understanding of what we are doing each day. I have no doubt that she will "catch up" as soon as she gets her basic math facts memorized. This is something her dad has always struggled with as well, so I think it just takes longer for those math facts to sink into her brain. Whatever. She has most of them memorized now and has a good understanding of multiplication and division so I don't anticipate many/any problems when she starts the next book in a few weeks. She is ready to move on and full of confidence. That's much better than "techincally" working at grade level and crying through every math lesson. I'll happily slow down for her.

All in all. A very good week.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 7

This week we were still working on John 6:35 "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." We talked a bit about Elijah and how obedient he was to God. We read 1 Kings 17:8-16 - the story of the woman who fed Elijah even though she and her son were nearly out of food. My girls really have a hard time comprehending "being out of food" since we live such an abundant life, but we talked quite a bit about famine and the difference between being hungry and starving. They were taken aback at the realization that this woman was willing to literally give the last bit of food she had to Elijah. I think that they loved hearing how God took care of them for their obedience though and thought it was amazing that He provided for them for the rest of the famine. God is good!

Continuing with last week's yeast experiment, this week we learned about communion and why we take the bread and drink the wine. We learned about the Feast of Unleavened Bread where Jesus celebrated His last supper with the disciples and how yeast is a symbol of sin. It was interesting to show the girls a piece of regular bread and see that "aha" look in their head as they realized that yeast is like sin because it punches holes in the bread just like sin punches holes in our lives. Very cool.

Our science activity for this week was to make clay. That was a toughie for the girls :)

In social studies we learned the names of the Great Lakes and how Michigan was settled. We ready all about how birch bark canoes were made and how natives and settlers "portaged" the canoes by carrying them from river to river. We even made some canoes out of construction paper.

They were a great addition to our growing Native American village.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 6

This was another fun week. Our focus of study was Jesus is the Bread of Life, and the settling of New York (New Netherlands).

Our memory verse this week was John 6:35 "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be thirsty." We talked about how Moses led the Israelites out of slavery and into the desert where they were starving because there wasn't much food. We thought it was interesting how after all that God had done for them, the Israelites decided to complain about being hungry instead of just asking God for help. Nevertheless, Good did feed them manna (a special bread) for 40 years while they lived in the desert.

As a side note, we were all amazed at how quickly the Israelites seemed to forget about the pillars of smoke and fire that led them through the desert as soon as Moses was out of the picture for a few days. While Moses was up on the mountain talking to God, they were down below worshipping a Golden Calf. Wow! I guess it's not so hard to imagine why so many people fail to see God in everything when these Israelites were so OBVIOUSLY in God's presence and were quick to forget.

We also studied the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 men (and their families) with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. We discussed how hard it might have been for the little boy to give his lunch to Jesus, completely trusting in Him. We also talked about obedience and how sometimes we just need to obey, even if we don't know why - just as this little boy did - because we never know what plans God may have.

We read John 6:26-35 and took a closer look at our memory verse. We learned that the "bread" we get from God is food for our spirit and will keep us alive forever - unlike regular bread which only satisfies for a few hours.

This week's science lesson was a fun yeast experiment. We filled two jars with yeast and water - added salt to one and sugar to the other and then covered both with a balloon and put them in a cabinet for a few minutes. The girls then tried to guess what would happen and why. Through this experiment we learned that the yeast needs the sugar for food. When the two are combined they make a gas called carbon dioxide and that's what makes the yeast bubble and the bread rise. Here you can see that the yeast mixed with sugar inflated the balloon.


We also had lots of fun making butter. We cheated a bit and used whipping cream instead of getting our milk from a cow like the pioneer children :) We put the cream in a jar and took turns shaking it until we had a lump of butter.

We spread it on some crackers and had a tasty afternoon snack!

One of Sydney's favorite parts of the week was reading The Courage of Sarah Noble. It was so eye-opening to her to read about a little girl who went with her father into the "wilderness" and was left alone all day to do the cooking. She was amazed that this little girl was cooking over an open fire! And so began Sydney's cooking lessons.....

Pioneer Days

Right after we originally did week 5 (I reviewed it before I made the last post), we went on a field trip to a local Pioneer Days village. It was a very rainy day, but we had such a good time!

The village is actually made up of houses that were built in our area and were all moved to this site. I can't remember the exact dates, but some of the houses were from the 1700s and others were in use up until the 1960s. Here is one of the older houses. One of the most fascinating things was that they knew the history of the homes and even had many of the families' belongings which made it seem more real to the girls.

One of our first stops was at the smoke house. The girls were a little grossed out by the idea of killing the animals and rendering fat, but they loved eating those cracklins! I think that was Sadey's favorite part of the day!

The blacksmith told us all about making horseshoes and even made me a plant hook for the front porch. I love it!

There were a few arts and crafts stations. Here the girls are learning about making quilts and even got to make their own squares. At another station they got to make and decorate marbles and were excited to learn how easy it is if you have some clay and lots of time to let them dry in the sun.

Here's the family outside the general store - waiting for the rain to slow down a little bit.



During a particularly bad part of the storm, we were stranded in a house with a wonderful older couple who were all about re-enacting the pioneer lifestyle. They gave us warm biscuits and homemade jam, and then taught the girls some games that pioneer children might have played. Here she is showing Delaney how much fun you can have with a button and some string.


Thankfully it didn't rain the whole day! Delaney had fun making us some butter.


We had so much fun talking to this woman about the baskets she was weaving from pine needles. Pine trees grow like crazy around here - we have more needles in our yard then grass! She told us how she collects, washes and prepares the needles and then makes the baskets with just the needles and some string. Someday it would be nice to take a class from her and learn the technique - but it doesn't SOUND like it would be too hard once you get the hang of it.

Adventures in MFW ~ Week 5

This week we studied the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. Sydney wasn't really thrilled about the chapter at the outset because she's read/heard about this so many times, but she ended the week a little more appreciative of the pilgrims' struggle and seemed to have a better understanding of it all.

Bible ~ Our memory verse was still John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." This week we talked a bit about missions and how God doesn't mean for us to keep His light to ourselves. Sydney has a strong heart for missions and we are trying to find an outlet for that. Right now she is saving her money and donating it to different charities, in the future I'm sure she'll want to do more hands on work.

Social Studies ~ We finished reading Squanto this week and began a lengthy discussion of why the Pilgrims came to America. It was really hard for the girls to grasp the need for religious freedom, but we talked and read about how King James persecuted those who did not want to worship his way. In American Pioneers and Patriots we read a story about how life must have been for those first Pilgrims. We also made an oiled paper window and completed a page about the Pilgrims for our notebooks.

Science ~ Our science focus for the week was the stars and constellations. The girls enjoyed reading about the stars in the Bible and learning about the Big Dipper, etc. I found some great books at the library with night sky scapes so the girls could try to find the constellations. It's too buggy here to go out at night, so this was a good compromise.

Adventures in MFW - week 4

We had so much fun this week learning about Jesus as the Light of the World, studying Native Americans and making tepees and wigwams.

This week's Bible study focused on John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." We also read Exodus 12:21-22 and Nehemiah 9:7-12 and discussed how God led his people through darkness as a pillar of light. I reminded the girls of a study we did a few years ago when we learned that a shadow/darkness is caused by the absence of light and that when we have Jesus (the Light of the World) there is no darkness. We also decorated a candle with this week's Bible verse and use it as our centerpiece. How fitting!

We had a pretty full week of history! We read North American Indians and learned all about the different tribes. Now that we live in Seminole country, this was particularly interesting to the girls. We continued reading our Squanto book, learned a little bit about sign language and made our tepees and wigwams. Sydney had a good time coming up with a story to put on her tepee the same way the Native Americans might have decorated their homes.

This week's science lessons were all about the stars. We read Psalm 147:4 which says that God decides how many stars there should be and what names they should have. We learned that there are more than 200 billion billion stars in the sky and decided that we have no idea how many that must really be. According to our book, if everyone in the world named 50 billion stars we still wouldn't come close to naming them all...That's A LOT of stars! We also spent some time discussing the speed of light and how long it takes for light to travel to the moon and sun.

We finished memorizing "God Bless America" - even Sadey knows the words! We also plowed through some more art, spelling, math and language arts work this week. Fun, fun, fun!