WHAT WE'VE BEEN LEARNING....

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is that I get to learn right along with my kids! Either I've forgotten a lot of stuff, or am just more excited about details now that I'm older. Whatever it is, I am thoroughly enjoying it! Here's a brief update on what we've learned these past few days.

Joel
We finished our study on leaves, where we learned how important it is to live and grow in Jesus. We talked about how if a leaf decides not to be a part of the plant because he wanted to be his own boss, life doesn't end up very well for that leaf. This was tied in with how important it is for us to stay with Jesus.

We studied the different trees in our own yard. We collected several and made a book. We painted leaf outlines, and made leaf rubbings. We talked about the different parts of the trees, and discussed how/why trees look different depending on what season we are in. We dried leaves and made a stained glass leaf picture from them. (Very cool activity!) We read several books about leaves.

Joel is now studying apples. We have talked about how if we stay in Jesus, we will have much fruit. We talked about the different fruits we get from the grocery store and how that is different than the kind of fruit we will produce -- the fruits of the spirit. (We are studying these in more detail during our devotional time in the morning.) We studied several different types of apples -- counted the seeds, and discovered that if you cut it in half opposite the way a person normally would, there is a star in the middle. We are almost done with our study of apples and will move into learning about nests next.

Myah
Two weeks ago, we had a detailed study of Indians. Myah learned about some of the different tribes and some of the different housing Indians use to live in. She made a wigwam and and a teepee. We learned all about the life of Squanto and also about Pocahontas and John Smith. Last week, Myah spent studying pilgrims. We made an oiled window, to see first hand the types of windows the pilgrims used in their houses, and why they would oil them. We are learning several different patriotic songs, including "America" and "God Bless America", along with the pledge of allegience. By the end of the year, we will have worked through many of the patriotic songs.

We studied stars in Science this past week as well, with a good look at the Sun, Betelgeuse, the Big Dipper, the North Star and the Little Dipper. We talked a little about constellations and galaxies, and how truly amazing it is that God knows the names of every star out there, when we don't even know all that is out there. We also talked a little bit about the speed of light as a way to measure distance.

This week our focus has been on the Dutch and their move to America from the Netherlands. It's been fun to read about since that is our heritage! We've also been learning about Jesus being the Bread of Life, and this has been tied into science with some fun experiments with yeast.

Myah also has been busy making pot holders. She just loves any craft activity, and I love them when she doesn't depend on me every 5 minutes to help! :) This project has been perfect for her!