She Thought It Would Be Easy

I recently found a free online chore chart for kids that uses a points system to reward the child with options to save, share, or spend those points in ways the parents set up. I set it up for each child with the various chores they were already doing around the house daily. (Check out www.MyJobChart.com!!!)

There was an option for earning extra points by doing extra jobs so I put "Read a book" as an option for my new reader. Once she saw that she could make some extra points, she chose a book she thought would be easy..."Go, Dog, Go!" by P.D. Eastman. Little did she know, I wasn't going to let her get away with reciting it from memory.

After the third page, I made her stop and put her finger under each word as she read it. It wasn't easy as she thought! Her recitation did not hold because she could not hear the rhythm anymore. Nor could she read the pictures.

By page 50 or so, she was tiring but she kept going. New words, hard words that didn't make sense phonetically (sp?), blends we had not yet learned but she kept going!

When she was finished (64 pages!), both her Daddy and I threw up our arms and shouted, "Hooray!!!"

...and she earned her extra points!

Making bird houses

Even though the nesting season is over, bird houses are always a good family project and a great addition to the yard.

Graduation!

He is so proud! He even chose the dresses his sisters wore!

My smart graduate!

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Learning the four stages of development of a butterfly.

Walrus puppet

Animal of the Week: Frog

Spelling test

Animal of the Week: Penguin

Today we learned about the Emperor Penguin. We've been watching the movie, "March Of The Penguins" in small increments over the past couple days. Today we acted out how penguins move.

This first move is called "tobaganning" which is when the penguin slides across the ice on it's belly to conserve it's energy. (I added a pillow under their shirts to aid in the sliding!)

The next is the walk - you can see the waddle in the walk below... :)

The next is the way the penguin holds their egg on the top of their feet and walk around with it off the ice.

That was definitely a challenge!

WE FINISHED IT!!! (Born Free by Joy Adamson)

Our journey with Elsa has come to an end. I'm so proud of how the kids have endured such a long but endearing documentary of the reality of this lioness's life on the African savannah. The book was a bit over their heads but they stuck with it with a little paraphrasing from me and LOTS OF PICTURES!!! We look forward to watching the movie soon!

Spelling test

Animal of the Week: Elephant

Fun Learning In The Kitchen

We ventured away from the books for a little while and into the kitchen to bake a cake. I told her she had to do it all herself. I'd provide parental supervision only.

She turned on the oven, greased & floured the pans, measured & mixed the ingredients, and baked & frosted the cakes. The only thing I helped with was holding the mixer because it was too heavy for her & mixing the frosting after coloring it because the container was too small.

What an achievement!

Ta-da!!!

Lipizzaner Stallions

Homeschool Passport offered a discount to see Lipizzaner Stallions. My daughter and I, both horse lovers, took advantage of it!




Part of the show involved the horses in formation working together in unison.



Another demonstration involved the moves used on the battlefield.









Our favorite horse was the black one called "Elvis" who would only dance to Big Band Music! He wasn't exactly from the Lipizzaner family but close. He was a Fresia. His gait was long and graceful. His hair was very thick and wavy, and it flowed beautifully as he glided across the floor!









We had a great time!

Rhinos, Reptiles, and Recess

A short trip to the zoo brought a close to our unit on the African Savannah. We stopped in to see the elephants and rhinos.

While there, we bumped into a friend who had just finished her study on reptiles, so we tagged along with her. Lots of fun!

Animal of the Week: Zebra

Animal of the Week: Cheetah

We study a new animal everyday and one is featured each week. This week is the Cheetah. However, we had a craft that went along with another animal from this week - the hippopotamus!