Posted by Cindy on February 21, 2009
Well, time flies! We finished off our Westward Expansion unit with a “project week”. On Monday, I gave the kids a test and a project list, both of which were to be completed by Friday. I don’t always give tests, but I like to surprise them once in a while with new methods of assessment. As for projects, Caleb had to choose three to complete and present, while Mahayla had to choose four. Besides math and a little grammar and reading, projects were the only things on the schooling agenda.
(I’m not sure my links show up very well, so I wanted to point out that you can access my test and project list at hslaunch. Run your mouse over those words in the paragraph above and they will link to the files.)
Here’s what the kids came up with. As usual, I’m not only pleased, but very surprised at their ingenuity and eagerness to do a good job. Give ‘em and inch and they’ll take a mile – that’s a good thing in this case!
Mahayla had to choose four projects. She couldn’t decide, so chose to complete five instead. (Next time I complain, remind me of this!)
A diorama and file folder report on Lewis and Clark
A quilt square. She researched pioneer quilt squares on the internet and came up with this one named “Oh Suzanna”. She completed the entire quilt square from start to finish without any help from me. Not bad for a first timer, huh? My granny would be so proud!
A five page report on Sam Houston, who happens to be in our family line. She had to interview my mom who has done extensive geneology research, and had to find information on her own.
A cowboy meal of chili and homemade crackers.
Homemade Crackers
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cube butter
1/4 c milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Use fork to mash butter in until it looks like crumbs. Add milk and stir until dough forms a ball. Sprinkle flour on counter and roll dough into a flat rectangle with a rolling pin. Use a knife to cut the dough into small squares. Place onto a greased cookie sheet and poke holes into the crackers with a fork. Bake for 9 minutes. Makes about 24 crackers.
And she was Flying Sparrow in their original play entitled “Cowboy and Indian”. It was complete with five scenes, a playbill and a script!
Caleb had to choose three projects. In his usual fashion, he chose projects that required lots of hands-on and little writing. That’s okay, though, because he was still required to give a presentation about the projects. Even with very little writing, the information he gleaned and presented was very good.
A model of the Lewis and Clark keelboat.
A model of the corner watchtower from a fort that might have been set up along one of the trails west. He said he would have built the whole fort, but ran out of Lincoln Logs!
And he was Jeremiah (with a great country accent) in their play “Cowboy and Indian”. As you can see, the play ended rather sadly. Jeremiah and Flying Sparrow couldn’t find a better way to solve their conflict except through the use of guns. Maybe we watch too many Gunsmoke episodes on Sunday afternoons?
Posted by Cindy on February 19, 2009
The smaller of the two homeschool groups I’m a part of met this week for a Night at the Museum party. What fun it was!
Each child was supposed to choose either an historical character from the movie or a character based on one of the time periods covered in the movie. They were asked to dress like their character and bring some sort of food representing their era. There was a place to display projects they completed about their character/time period and we gave them each a few minutes to share what they’d learned.
After lunch from the food brought and sharing of projects, all the kids nestled in to watch the movie. What a great time!
Do you have any other ideas for academic themed parties like this?
Posted by Cindy on February 18, 2009
The Kentucky Historical Museum is a gem for KY homeschoolers. This past weekend, they put on a HUGE event to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Since Civil War history is just around the corner for us, of course we decided to go!
Meeting Abe and Mary
Period Dancing
An Awesome Special Museum Exhibit
Becoming Abe and Mary
One of MANY Activities
KY homeschoolers – If you’re ever in Frankfort for other field trips, the museum would make a great addition to your day!
Since we were in Frankfort, we decided to make a quick stop at the cemetery to visit Daniel Boone’s grave since he was part of our Westward Expansion unit study.
And take a look at the view from his grave site!
We love field trips! (Even if they are on a Saturday!)
Posted by Cindy on February 17, 2009
Hubby and I celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday, so I decided to do a family Valentine’s Day celebration on Friday. To get the excitement rolling, we ditched the math books and used little sweethearts to create graphs and find the mean, median and mode of candy that I gave them.
We spent much of the afternoon preparing for a special dinner of -
Heart Pizza
Lemon-Strawberry Slushies
and Heart-shaped Ice Cream Cookies
We finished off the night by watching the Charlie Brown Valentine special from earlier in the week. I’m not a huge Charlie Brown fan, but the kids loved it!
At church Sunday, the Jr. Church lessons focused on, of course, LOVE.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31
We played some fun games after the lesson, too.
Pinky Linky
Candy Heart Relay
Blindfolded Coloring
Candy Heart Memory Circle
And, we kept on celebrating Monday at co-op with the annual Valentine’s parties.
There was so much love shared that I think we’re all caught up for awhile! LOL Hope your V-Day was special!
Posted by Cindy on February 16, 2009
We’re nearing the end of our Westward Expansion unit, so I’m moving the resources from my sidebar into a post for future reference. I’ll be adding Slavery and Civil War resources to the side bar over the next few days.
My Spine – Amanda Bennett Pioneers Unit
Research Questions
Teacher Planet Links
Louisiana Purchase Game
Lewis and Clark Lessons
Lewis and Clark Mapping Activities
Easy Fun School Lewis and Clark Unit
Easy Fun School Santa Fe Trail Unit
Easy Fun School Gold Rush Unit
