Having Fun with Heart of Dakota

2010-10-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Science in Colonial America is the science book we are studying right now. For one of their activities we were to make a blood stream (red paper) and have K-Cells, Viruses, Antibodies, T-Cells & B- Cells. Each child was assigned a type of cell and we learned how the T-Cells discover the virus, and how the other cells surround and get rid of the Virus. They had a lot of fun with this.

Motorboy and Horselover in a fire truck @ the Home Depot Fire day.

Nature Boy in a firetruck

Our Indian Blankets we made.

Seashore

2010-09-16T05:31:00.000-07:00

The boys are studying the seashore in science (using "One Small Square: Seashore by Donald Silvers). Today's experiment was to make a "beach" using cornmeal or oatmeal. Add some rock and dry cereal pieces or beans of various sizes. (I also added popcorn kernals). They then used tweezers, a clothspins and pliers for beaks to find out which beak is better for getting what size food. The boys had a blast and one actually put the "beak" in his mouth and tried to pick it up that way.

Layers of the Earth & Volcanoes

2010-09-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

OK, so I might have to change the name of blog to "Having Fun with HOD and other Curriculum" since Sapphiregirl this year is not not using HOD (although we are using a lot of their recommendations).

Sapphire Girl is studying Geology & Astronomy this year using Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space and Exploring Creation with Astronomy. For her first science project she had to make a clay model using a different color for the different layers of the earth.

Her volcano project was actually for history (Mystery of History II) where she was studying the destruction of Pompeii. I think it looks pretty cool

That Time Again

2010-08-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well it is that time of year when we are gearing up for the new school year. We actually had our first week, but it was light (Liberty Kids, Magic Schoolbus etc) and we didn't start our new curriculum except dd12 math.

As I do almost every year I have reorganized my school room and books. Inspired by the thread on the WTM board, I made copies of everything I think we will need which will be so freeing and more likely to get more done, things such as music theory, since the pages are all ready. I did do things a little differently that some of the recommendations in that thread and show you what I did and why.

My oldest had the most copies because she is doing MOH2 &CKEES instead of HOD this year. I started to file the copies but week, but started to panic with "what if, what if" so instead I put them all in a notebook divided by subject. (the picture doesn't who how full the binder is)

(I think you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

I also made my lesson plans by days instead of weeks. So if we have field trips etc that come up it won't mess up my weekly plans, we just skip and do the lesson on the next day that subject is to be done. We do not do every subject every day. Math is done 4 days a week, Grammar 2, Writing 2, Spelling 2, DITHOR worksheets 2, History 3, Science 2, Music, Art, Latin (with review during the week), Health, PE (formal) are done once a week.

I also made copies of supplies lists that I would need for each subject. Subjects like science and art which uses more than pencil and paper I have tubs where I keep those supplies. If we have the things on hand we are more likely to do the project.
My second daughter and her two younger brothers are all using HOD. Most of theirs are non-consumable, but what little copies were needed to be made were made and are stored in a binder. They each of their own locker size crate with files by subject. The files are divided by subject which contains its book (if not shared with a sibling), notebook and pencil (hopefully) at the back of the file is a 3 ring binder to put their finished work. I have a some office "shelves" on my desk where each child has an assigned shelf (I have their color folder [more on that later]) where they put their work to be checked. After it is checked then it goes in the binder.

The children are "color coded" - Sapphire girl (12) is blue; Horselover (10) is purple (Walmart only had the pinkish purple colors); Soldierboy (8) is orange/grey (not everything comes in orange); Natureboy (7) is green; and Motorboy (3) is red. Each child gets school supplies (hampers, washclothes) etc in their own color. That way if a find green scissors left out I know who they belong to and have them put it away. It also helps to give my children a feeling of possessiveness and help me to encourage them to take of their things. (BTW - a friend gave me that magnetic pink/purple marker board, it just went with Horselovers stuff, now to find other colored ones)

(above is Horselovers school supplies)

BOOKS - I love collecting and organizing books and every year or 2 I change the way I organize them. This year they are divided by subject. My dh was given some free cabinets and he put them up (w/o doors) in our school room. They have given me a lot of space, but the one draw back is since they were originally kitchen cabinets not all the books stand up. Most of the books on these shelves are non fiction - so not as likely to be used outside the school "setting". My one exception is historical fiction. I tried to put only the historical fiction books that we will be using for school on these shelves. This way I know they will be there when I need them. (For free reading, kids have a bookshelf upstairs with books that they can read from anytime)

On top of my bookshelves are different supply bins, this keeps the little one from getting into the bins and scattering everything (and some of the bigger ones ;) )

Please excuse the appearance of the bookshelf below, I put it together until I can get another one after one of our chip board shelves collapsed.

Here I have my HOD books by Manual, I tried to match the color of the manual cover with a fabric box of a similar color, a few of my manuals and books are being loaned out right now otherwise there would be more. The black fabric boxes contain Math & Language Arts since those vary by ability. On the top shelf are our books divided by genre. I also have stickers on the books to show which manual the books go with (yellow for Bigger, light blue for Preparing, dark blue for Beyond etc)
on the bottome "shelf" (technically the floor) are the kid's crates. Horselover and Sapphire girl keep theirs on the desk (just put there for the pic) but since the boys use the kitchen table, they are kept here when not in use.

Finishing

2010-05-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

We are finishing up our year with HOD and overall it has been a great one. I regret that I have lost my camera and have not posted here much (okay at all) during the year, hopefully that will be remedied next year. My 2nd dd has thrived on HOD as have my boys. My oldest did well with CTC, but I think we need a change for now. So I will be doing Preparing with my 2nd dd and Bigger with the boys, but dd1 will be doing Mystery of History 2 and Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space with Exploring Creation with Astronomy. I am using some of the books recommended by Carrie (Peril & Peace; Monks & Mystics etc) as well as some of the science books. I will of course continue with R&S 5 and will use the Medieval History Based Writing Lessons. I will also be using the Beautiful Girlhood book with the God's Design for my Body book. I will also be combining her and my other daughter for the Hymns and Bible in Bigger. If this coming year works well will be doing MOH3 by the end of that we should have caught up to the last guide and will decide what course to take from there. HOD has been such a blessing and I am a little sorry that we will not be doing RTR this year; however, I believe that for now that this is God's will for us and He is giving me the best of both worlds because I do miss the choosing curriculum and planning, but it would be overwhelming to do it with all my children I also love the Christ-Centeredness and open and go of HOD and will still have that with my youngers. I also look forward to doing RTR with my 2nd daughter when she get's to it, Lord willing. I hope you all are having a blessed year.

Israeli Meal & Headdresses

2009-09-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

This week in Creation to Christ my daughter was to make a shepherd's headdress and have an Israeli meal. We made Israeli girls dresses from "Old Testament Days"

Our meal consisted of the following:
Ground Beef Gyros (pita and seasoned ground beef)
Grapes
Olives
Cucumbers
Goat Cheese
Cucumber Sauce & tomatoes (for the Gyros)
Grape Juice

We set a sheet on our living floor for a table cloth...placed all the food in the middle and sat on the floor. We took the food from the middle and put it on our plates and ate w/o utensils. After the meal we gave a traditional Jewish blessing (adapted and consolidated):

"Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth, Who creates varieties of nourishment, Who creates the fruit of the vine, Who creates varieties of spices, Who creates the fruit of the ground, through Whose word everything comes into being"

CTC Science Experiment

2009-08-27T11:27:00.001-07:00

Emily's science experiment for "Land Animals of the 5th Day" by Jeanne Fulbright. This is the "habitat" to which she added a pack of m&m's

Now she has to find the m&m's in their habitat, some are harder since they blend with the background

Still Looking

Here are the M&M's she found. She had to document this by stating how many of each color she had put into the "habitat" and then how many she found. At the end of the experiment we got to eat the M&M's :D

First Day of School Pics

2009-08-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

School Year Plans

2009-08-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to start up school in a couple of weeks and time to talk school plans. I am so thankful that the Lord has led me to use "Heart of Dakota" curriculum last year. We had a great year. Besides the fact that it's an open and go manual, it's Charlotte Mason approach, it's combination of learning styles, and ease of use, I especially love the fact that it is Christ centered.

I am very excited about this years plans. This year from Heart of Dakota we will be using "Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory" for Z (7) & B (6) along with Singapore Math 2A & 2B and 1A & 1B respectively. For A (9) I will be using "Bigger Hearts for His Glory" with the extensions. Since she is at the older end of the spectrum and the boys are hot on her heels and we will be repeating this next year I decided to do the history and science extensions as the main core and read them aloud. For my oldest dd - E (11) we will be doing HOD's newest manual "Heart For Him Through Time - Creation to Christ" (which I just received hot off the press yesterday). It look's so good and I am especially excited that it includes teaching them to have a quiet time and personal devotions, something I am not consistently good about reminding her of. She will also be doing MUS Zeta for math, "Meet the Great Composers" for music, and "Picturing America" for art. I will also be using "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" (for reading) for both my girls.

For organization, I will also be trying a modified version of workboxes. If you have never heard of workboxes check out this blog. Since I have 4 school age childen the actual boxes would not be practical for me space wise. I saw on another blog how someone uses file folders. I have 4 shelfsize file holders that I will spray paint each child's color (yes my children are color coded: E - Blue, A - Red, Z - orange (or yellow), and B - green). Each folder will be the equivelant of a box. There are 9 - 10 boxex in each HOD manual so I will have that many folders in each child's file box. Each folder represents a subject. I will place all books and paper necessary for that subject in the folder and then number them in which order I think they should be done. Hopefully this will allow our school days to run much smoother, schedule wise.

I am also going to try and have fridays be my "picture & post" day of what we for the week.

My top prize picks:
1. Rainbow Resource
2. The Schoolhouse Planner
3. Circle C Adventure Books

Cat Crazy

2009-04-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

Today we finished up Little Hearts for His Glory Week 30. The history lesson was about D. L. Moody and how he once let the cat out of the bag....er box (that was not all the story was about). For science we read about cats and then they were to make a cat mask. I had in a box a book entitled, Folk Tale Papercrafts, which did not sell at the last book sale. So I fetched it out and copied the pattern of a cat mask and let my children use that to make their masks. (I can now say that that book will have a place once again on my shelves ;) ). I think God's timing on this lesson was interesting to say the least. Our cat had 3 kittens a couple of months ago and last night we gave the kittens to their new owners, thus making this project more special.

Flags & Medieval Feast

2009-03-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Today in LHFHG we learned about the Battle for Quebec during the French & Indian War. For an art project they were to make their own flag & flag poles. My 7yo ds loves to do this for fun anyway so he had a blast (as did the others). They came in handy tonight for our Medieval feast which was our history project assignment for the week. At the beginning of the week my 10yo dd made trenchers (kind of like large biscuits used as plates). We had beef stew, wine (sparkling grape juice), apples & grapes with cinammon, & cheese. For dessert we had some mini tarts. My daughter found a craft for goblets out of "Days of Knights & Damsels" by Laurie Carlson.

We saved our tuna and cat cans for the tops and 6-8 oz counts (tomato paste & sauce) for the base and caulked them together. Since we have a wooden slab for a table anyway that fit in perfectly. We invited the knights from the next castle (our sons) and they rode in carrying their banners (flags made this morning) Everyone had a great time. Unfortunately the lord of the manor was not there for the feast as he was called away on urgent business. Afterward my daughter used a basin and pitcher for washing our hands.

Our lovely hostess Lady E.

Our visiting knight ~ Sir B.

Drinking from our goblets.

Presidents Day

2009-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Today is President's day so I have my children the day off from school. We did watch a cute little biopic of Abraham Lincoln found here: http://www.brainpopjr.com/socialstudies ... amlincoln/

My girls also made a Chocolate Birthday cake in honor of President's day.....yumm!

Preparing is only 4 days a week so having Mondays off fits in fine, for Little Hearts I will just double up on the History, Bible and Storytime for tomorrow!

Spread the News of Jesus

2009-01-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

Every week in Little Hearts for His Glory they have a rhyme that they learn with motions. This is this weeks rhyme to the tune of "Are you sleeping".

Last Week

2008-12-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

Last week we didnt do our HOD but had a fun week instead. Here are some things we did:

Read Thanksgiving books such as "A Thanksgiving Story" by Alice Dalgliesh & "Pilgrims First Thanksgiving" by Ann McGovern.

Drew pictures of turkeys and made Pilgrim Hats

Did some baking

Dd practiced on the piano (we will probably start doing that regularly)

Did a lesson in "Flying Creatures of the first day"

Art ~ made a fish out of clay and painted it

Fun School this week

2008-11-24T09:45:00.001-08:00

We are taking a break for HOD this week since we only have a half a week and one of those days was a field trip to the planetarium. So I will try and focus on Thanksgiving reading various books and perhaps a few crafts. Will share more as we do it! :)

LHFHG Lesson 14 Day 3

2008-11-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

I am sorry I have not started this blog sooner, but instead of going and back tracking what we have done, I am just going to start forward:

Today's lesson we reviewed our Memory verse and for History read about the good samaratin. For a craft my children had to draw an injured man and put bandaids on his injuries and annointed him with oil (those are the grease spots on the pictures). Here is a picture of what my 3 children (who are doing LHFHG) did:

Welcome

2008-11-17T05:27:00.000-08:00

I have been loving my new curriculum this year from Heart of Dakota, that I decided to start a blog just for that. We are currently using "Little Hearts for His Glory" & "Preparing Hearts for His Glory".