Timbrel Time

You know learning about the Bible has been a lot of fun. We have learned all about many characters in the Bible. The thing I like the most about the curriculum that we use is the fact that there are projects that help you to remember things. Today we made a Timbrel. they came out very cute!

Greek Architecture

We have now started learning about Ancient Greece. One of the things we need to learn is the government and architecture. So to remember both at the same time we made Greek columns. The one with a little pink on it is Raquel's of course.

So how we made them is with oatmeal canisters, Popsicle sticks, card stock and spray paint. Real easy and we had a lot of fun. As I sure you can tell, Mom helped a lot with the paint job, but that is because she wanted to keep these as mini plant stands thorough out the house. They look great and Raquel and Vincent learned allot about how much work went into making something like this!

Gideon

I am sure most Christians know about Gideon and how he asked God several time to show him a sign. Well, that is what we learned about this week. The project we did was very simple. We just had a piece of paper with Gideon's name on it. We split the paper in half. One side for dry fleece and the other side for dry land. We use cotton balls for the fleece and markers. The children will never forget this story from the Bible!

Solar System

We have started learning about the Solar System. Our very first project is to build a solar system and here it is. This will be used many times throughout our study of space. We are looking so forward to learning all about our universe!

The Science of Social Insects

We have been learning about flying insects and today we learned about the social insect...the bee. I think it really hit home the information she learned once we did the craft. It is nice to incorporate crafts and art with science.

Chores and Savings

Aren't these cute. The bags were 100% done by Raquel, but the houses, well they were done by MOM! This is our new way of saving money. We got the plans from Doorposts. Each house represents a certain saving, like spending money is the store, the house is dowry. Each chore they do gets a certain dollar amount and at the end of the week I pay them a percentage for each house. So 20% for tithe etc. they love this and it has made doing chore worth while for them.

This week we learned about the Tabernacle. Here we made an Ark of the Covenant as well as the 10 comandments and the cup. They did such a great job and they really learned why and how and where everything was place and what they were all used for. Pretty cool!

King Tut

This week we learned about King Tut and his family, the mask, the person who found his tomb etc. Raquel did a great job on this mask. I did help a bit with the actual face, but she painted everything in herself. She is very meticulous about it being perfect. She did a fantastic job!

Fall of 2009 is Here

The leaves have fallen and turned the colors and now it was time to go collect some and learn about why they change color. So we traced hands and arms and made them into a tree trunk. She then colored them with marker and sprayed some water on it and glued the leaves on to the tree branches (fingers). Fun! The picture does not do justice to how pretty it turned out.

Moses basket

We were learning about Moses and how his mother had to make a basket and cover it with tar and pitch and send little baby Moses down the Nile to be safe from death. This really brought home the difficulty Jochebed had in not only making the basket but keeping it water tight.

Summer 2009 Projects

This summer I officially started pre-school with Raquel. We got on a schedule of 20 minutes a day and really went to town. She was having so much fun. We did a few projects along the way too, but not too many. I thought I would show a few here.

The is a sandpaper project. You color with crayons on sandpaper then iron the image onto a white piece of paper. Very cool.


Here Raquel traced the picture from a coloring book. She did such a great job. She has great control of her hands.

Now Vincent did most of the work on this one, but she added her few touches too. We read about clocks and read many time Hickory Dickory Dock.

For her birthday party we had a butterfly theme. So we made some coffee filter butterflies, but the pics did not turn out. Every kid made these cute fireflies. They are made from empty water bottles and glow sticks in the butt. All the kids loved them.

Eggs had Air

You see that shiny part on the inside of the egg? That is an air pocket that God designed for the baby bird to be able to breath before he is able to completely break the shell for fresh air. This little tiny sack is enough air for the bird . Raquel and Vincent really understood how wonderfully made we are not by chance but by design.

Homeschool Fair 2009

Allow me to be a proyud mom and brag about my kids for one moment. We entered 7 things into the homeschool science and art fair. And Vincent and Raquel won six 1st place and one 2nd place along with two Best in show. So here are the pics I have to show off.

Peacock's

OK, so this really was not a school project. We saw peacocks at the park the other day and well, we had to go to the library and get a couple of books on peacocks and read about them. No formal study, but just a bit of knowledge. I guess that is the life of a homeschooler, always trying to learn something new from just walking through life! Raquel's is on the right with the little black eyes.

Easter: Jesus' Donkey

Here was a cute craft we did for my Moms group for Easter. We told the story of Jesus riding in on a donkey that had never been ridden. And then we made this cute little donkey. The kids loved it.

Here was a very cute project that we did to help us remember the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe is broken down by their mom.

As we are putting our Egyptian lapbook together I am revisiting some of the things we have learned over this year and thought we should do a few projects to remind us of what these things are. So here are the canopic jars the kids made. Raquel's is the darker picture. they did a great job. They are small. About the size of a quarter around and about 2 inches tall. I did not have enough clay to make an actual sized one. LOL!

Waht We See Around Us

Our art project today was to draw a picture of what is around you. I chose for Raquel to draw the backyard since this could be a bit easier for her. This was what she drew (with a little help) and colored. Obviously the swing set, the dogs, the sun and that tan blop to the left is the sand box, the grass and I am still not sure what that pink thing is below the sandbox. No not the dog, but next to the dog. Anyhow, I am very proud of my 3 1/2 year old for this picture. I only helped her with the horizon line and held her hand to help her draw a "straighter line for the swing set."