Nest Family Videos

We bought the Animated New Testiment Nest dvds at the homeschool convention we went to in April as part of our curriculum.
http://www.nestfamily.com/24-Animated-New-Testament-DVDs--P131384.aspx
They have been great. Today we have watched three, which we don't usually do. The ones we picked out today have to do with end times, faith in Christ, and the miracles of Jesus. We're feeling a greater urgency to be teaching our boys about these things.

Caleb got to use all of his blocks for Math U See today and he was very excited about this. After he was done with his worksheets, I let him play with the blocks, which I figure will help him continue learning.

Big Boys

Luke did some workbook pages for math and reading today. He doesn't consistently do work like Caleb yet because he's only four, but when he does, he feels like such a big boy.
We all read several books today. Caleb is definitely improving with his reading. He was really trying hard today and had a good attitude, which I think was because he was still feeling like such a big boy after making everyone lunch- pb&j sandwiches.
Speaking of big boys, Joey is pretty much potty trained. He goes all day diaper free, and now is diaper free at naptime. He's wearing a pull-up at night, but I really don't know if he still needs it. I am a little scared to try going w/o.
And, of course, our other big boy, Micah. He, at 6 weeks old, is consistently wearing 3-6 months clothes now.

Capillary Action

Although I don't remember "capillary action" from school, I do remember doing this Science experiment in the 2nd grade.

capillary action: the process that allows water and other nutrients to move up
from the ground to all parts of a plant.

The bottom peddles began to change color first and are the darkest now. The red one never did change a whole lot, although you can see the red color well in the stem.

Caleb read Shark in the Park.
All of the boys watched Leap Frog's Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory.

Cleaning Pennies

For Science, we experimented with vinegar and salt to clean pennies.

We filled a jar with some vinegar and mixed in a teaspoon of salt. Unfortunately, we could not find the white vinegar. It is in a moving box somewhere. So, instead we tried using apple cider vinegar.

We let the pennies soak in the solution for a few minutes. Then, Caleb took out half of the coins and let them dry on a paper towel. The other half of the coins, he washed off with water before laying them on the paper towel to dry.

The pennies weren't too clean after soaking for those few minutes. So, we made up the same solution again and let them set throughout lunch and our movie.

Again, Caleb took half out and let them dry on a paper towel and the other half out and washed them off before setting them out to dry. They were a little cleaner than before, but still weren't clean like our Science book said they would be, so we are going to do it all again once we find our white vinegar. The pennies that are not washed off, still have some solution on them, so when the oxygen in the air hits them, a new reaction is supposed to occur, turning them a bluish-green color and this is what happened. TO BE CONTINUTED.

Caleb read an easy reader out of the homeschool materials we inherited from his homeschooling cousins. The movie we watched was a how to make a tree house documentary called "Measure Twice, Cut Once" by Franklin Springs Media. The boys are always fired up to build something after watching this movie.

Caleb's math took a much more challenging turn today, so I doubt he will be flying through his worksheets as fast now. He is now on chapter, or lesson, number 9. Each lesson has 6 worksheets.

Back with an update: Not much to say. Caleb set the pennies in a jar with the white vinegar and salt solution, and they are still pretty dirty.

Sunday-Tuesday

Sunday we rented a pontoon boat. We saw a white herring, a blue herring, fish jumping for bugs, and ducks. The boys discovered when they fed a few ducks some cheerios, all of the ducks in the area would fly in from all different directions and surround us. We were out of cheerios in no time.

Monday, Caleb read Hot Dog.

We read the first chapeter of History for Little Pilgrims for our history lesson.

All three boys watched Math Circus by Leap Frog. We bought 5 Leap Frong dvds recently. We used to check these out from the library constantly and knew they would be nice to have. The boys have learned so much from them!

Today, Caleb read My Dog Talks.

For Geography, we studied some things about California. Caleb was born in California and he and his daddy and brother will be taking a trip there soon. The boys learned how to find The United States and the state of California on a map and on the globe. They saw all of the states they will be flying across on their way. They also learned about the Pacific Ocean that they'll be able to see soon.

math day

Caleb didn't want to stop doing math today and ended up completing 18 Math U See worksheets! Some of them required writing numbers, so we skipped his writing lesson.
He picked Cooking with the Cat to read.

I read 3 chapters in Stuart Little. Then Caleb began an art project, which I'll post pictures of once its done. This was our longest school day by far.

What we accomplished today...

We started with more Bible, Math, and Writing.
Caleb read Cat Traps.
I read to them the first chapter of Stuart Little.

They are now listening to Devotion and building Legos. We bought this album when the African's Children Choir came to our area last year.

First Day of School

Caleb...



Luke...



Joey tagged along...



Math U See
First they watched a video and then worked on the corresponding worksheets.



Science
We set up three bowls of water: warm, room temperature and cold. They placed their hands in the warm and cold bowls for 30 seconds and then placed both hands in the room temperature one and noticed how much different each hand felt in the same water.



This is the book Caleb read to me. He surprised even himself with how well he did.

We also read Nate the Great, our Bible story book, and we watched the documentary, A Journey Home.