Home Education . . .

Opening: Read 3 Nephi 27-28, C9 Old Testament Reader, C8 New Testament Reader, learned some new Christmas carols

Spelling: C9 just completed lesson 49 and C8 just completed lesson 10 in Word Lessons.

Reading: Both C9 and C8 have read through their readers to lessons 21. They both read a few articles from The Friend. C9 is reading Matilda and C8 is reading Indian in the Cupboard.

C4 is doing great with letter sound recognition and when she sees a letter that she remembers she always starts with the sound of the letter first. She has even started to recognize letters in words and started to sound them out. Hurray!!!!

Family Read: We continued reading A Christmas Carol and are almost finished!

Copy Work: They are continuing to copy the Articles of Faith with #9 last week.

Math: C9 did decimal multiplication and did a great job. C8 worked on decimal subtraction and addition. C4 is working on number recognition with flash cards and counters.

History: We started reading about the Puritans and their experiences in England and journey to Plymouth in American History Stories.

Take Five: C9 and C8 worked on information about the solar system and have loved it so much that we are going to spend another week or two on the subject. They learned a lot of information about the parts of the solar system and did some basic drawings. They spent time studying solar system flash cards that we picked up from Target for $1.

Music/Picture Study: During the winter, we are going to focus on a composer and an artist every week. We will learn a little about the artist and study a piece of their work each day. With music, we will study a composer and listen to their music throughout the week.

This week, we learned about Antonio Vivaldi and listened to a cd of his concertos while doing binder work, chores, or playing.

Antonio Vivaldi

We also learned about the painter, Giotto di Bondone and studied some of his works. C9 & C8 were very interested in the paintings and amazed at the level of details.

Other: C9, C8, & C4 all helped make some yummy rolo cookies. C9 & C8 also helped sew a crayon roll for their cousin for his birthday. They did a great job and really enjoyed it and so we will try to find some more fun sewing projects to do.

C9 & C8 also attended their weekly piano lessons and practiced every day. They are each practicing a few Christmas songs and we hope to have a small recital for family in a couple of weeks.

C8 sewing lines.


C9 helping to put crayons in the roll.

Nature Study, Outdoor Hour Challenge #7 . . .

Your Own Field Guide:

We were able to get outside, finally, during the Thanksgiving holiday. A tradition of our family's is to go find a real tree on my grandparents ranch for Christmas. There was a few inches of snow there waiting for us, but the weather cooperated and the wind, for once, was not blowing. The climb was a little steeper than other times, and the snow made it interesting for those that did not have good boots on. What made this adventure even more fun for the kids was the fact that their cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents were there with us!

There had been a fire in the area a few years ago, and it was sad to still see the damaging effects. We saw many different types of trees; douglas fir, ponderosa pine, quaking aspen (leafless, of course), etc. It was hard to find any pine cones to add to our collection, as the ground was covered in a blanket of white, but we did have luck with the tree we chose, it is a beautiful ponderosa pine and it is covered with pine cones. It is fun to get out and see nature in all its seasons.

There seems to be such a stillness and calm in nature during the winter months. We were also able to see a few animal tracks here and there in the snow, but were unable to get any viable pictures. One set we knew was a deer track and most likely from a white-tailed deer, as that is the kind that populates the area.

We have started on our Mammals Field Guide. I was able to start with items that I had around the house. The little binder was home to periodic table flash cards that I put an elastic around and will store until we need them. The index cards were from a grandparent that did not need them anymore and gave to us, thanks Grandma! I love this size because it is easy to take with us on our Outdoor Hours. I am having a hard time finding binders this size and type in stores though, so if anyone has seen them recently, let me know.

We used the field guide example from here as a base for the information needed. The kids are very excited to help with this fun project and add to it in the future.

Home Education . . .

Opening: Read 3 Nephi 23-26, C9 Old Testament Reader, C8 New Testament Reader, "The Books of The Old Testament" song

Spelling: C9 just completed lesson 48 and C8 just completed lesson 10 in Word Lessons.

Reading: Both C9 and C8 have read through their readers to lessons 19. We started reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens.

Copy Work: They are continuing to copy the Articles of Faith with #8 last week. They are doing much better in their skills.

Family Read: We decided to save Hiawatha for later and read some classic Christmas stories.

Math: C9 started on division and took to it great. C8 worked on decimal subtraction. C4 is working on number recognition, but she has her counting down!

History: We finished out book about the Jamestown colony and we all enjoyed it very much. We learned so much! On to our next chapter in American History Stories.

Take Five: C9 and C8 learned a little more about measuring with the US Customary system. They reviewed inches and feet and leared about sixteenths and eighths. They measured things around the house.

Other: We had a lot of fun this week decorating our tree. We decided to do all out decorations made from food. It was fun to think of some ideas and the kids had a lot of fun making them.

marshmallow snowmen, nuts, gumdrop wreaths,
fruit wedge flowers, popcorn and cranberry garland.