Creation to the Greeks, Week 12, Nov. 8-12

Week 13:  This week we focused on the rulers of Egypt and then Moses and the 10 Plagues.  We found an interesting book about Queen Hatshepsut.  What a fascinating story of the female Pharoah!  We still have not re-enacted the 10 Plagues, but might dramatize that more next week.

We did a neat science experiment about the pigments in leaves from Genesis for Kids.  We used crushed up leaves, soaked in acetone (fingernail polish remover), and left a piece of a coffee filter touching the mixture for a few hours.  It was "dyed" green, with some hints of orange and yellow on the filter paper.  These were the natural pigments in the leaves.

Crushed leaves and acetone mixture in a plastic cup

The pigments that stained the coffee filter after it touched the mixture for several hours.

We took some time on Friday to create some "fall"' art.  We now have more leaves on the ground and we made some leaf art, sponge painting around the leaves or painting the leaves and making prints.  We also began working on an artsy Thanksgiving project, but I will reveal that later, when it is done.

Academic updates:  J Man has officially learned all of the multiplication facts now! Woo hoo! He has been working on this level of math for about a year.  He is just zipping through his Barton Reading and Spelling lessons and is getting closer to finishing Level 4 - which has taken several months. We will celebrate when he gets there.  The children also earned their first Book It rewards at the end of last month and we were able to redeem them at Pizza Hut for their personal pan pizzas!

B learned how to add and regroup with 3 digit numbers this week.  She really had to use the math blocks for the first 3 or 4 days and then suddenly she was working the equations on the paper today.  Yippee!  She also finished reading "Junie B. Jones, Toothless Wonder" and selected "Pippi Longstocking" at the library yesterday.  She just watched some of the old videos last weekend at my mom's house and she was highly motivated to find books about Pippi! I remember watching the movie at school as a child at the end of the school year.  I pointed out the the chapters were longer with a smaller print (i.e. higher level of reading), but B said, "those other chapters were too short."  We will see how it goes.

Oh, and now that we have completed 12 weeks (60 days) of our curriculum (plus a few other days), we are more than one third of our way through this school year! Yay!

J playing at the recital

Me, B, our teacher and her daughter

Our teacher and J

Piano recital:  We also played in a piano recital!  J chose to play "Shout to the Lord", "Star Wars Theme", and "Angry Alligator".  I played "Distant Bells" and a duet with my teacher.  This was the first time B played in a recital and she played "Humpty Dumpty" as a duet with me.  I was proud of all three of us, but especially the kids!  It is hard to get up in front of people, but it is a big accomplishment when it is done.