Homeschool 2009 Part 1

Random objects were placed on black construction paper & put in the noon sun for a few hours.

The end result of our sun pictures

Jaden has fixed up our "Ant Hill" in preparation of the arrival of our 25 harvester ants.

Our caterpillars will move to their "Butterfly habitat" as soon as they form the chrysalis.

Making moon cookies

Making raisins using natural sunlight & green grapes

Home school is in full swing and Jaden and Morgan have been enjoying it as if they were in Disneyland!!! We are using My Father's World which is a biblical educational program. Since Jaden is in Kindergarten, I have Morgan learning right along with her, so they are both in kindergarten. Of course, I don't expect as much out of Morgan. Some things they can both do equally, other things, Morgan does not participate. At any rate, it is easier to teach them the same thing than to have 2 different curriculums going on at once!!

We started the school year with the 7 days of God creating the Earth.

Then, the next chapter was the letter "s", subject "sun", and the book "Bear Shadow" by Frank Asch.

1. Jaden measured shadows at different times during the day

2. Both girls saw how the sun changed the color of the construction paper when placed outside

3. We went in the dark bathroom to see how the sun (flashlight) shines on one side of the world (globe), but not on all sides of the world at the same time.

4. The letter "s" and the sound it makes + items that start with the letter "s"

The second chapter we went on to was the letter "m", subject "moon", country focus "Mexico", and book "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown.

1. Jaden learned about the different moon phases and drew them on to paper.

2. Jaden made moon cookies (yummy!)- they were actually a Mexican cookie recipe, which tied right in with our country of focus.

3. The letter "m" and the sound it makes + items that start with the letter "m"

4. Our caterpillars arrived, and we discussed the stages that caterpillars go through.

**While some of these ideas came from the "My Father's World" curriculum, I found other ideas by searching the internet for activities regarding "the moon", "the sun", etc. The country study is a combination of things found online, in books, and through "A Trip Around the World" series of activity books. Here is what My Father's World Curriculum is based on:

*Recognizes the Bible, God's truth, to be the foundation of wisdom and education.
*Utilizes hands-on, unit studies with daily lesson plans that are easy-to-teach.
*Enables families and multi-age groups to learn together. Many of our programs may be taught to a range of ages simultaneously.
*Combines the best of Charlotte Mason's ideas and classical education with a Biblical worldview, an international focus and our own observations of how children learn.
*Uses a comprehensive, sequenced learning program beginning with preschool learning toys to develop readiness skills.

*Our complete unit-based curriculum includes a phonics-based learning-to-read program and focuses on God's amazing creation (kindergarten), the world of the Bible (first grade), and U.S. history (second or third grade). Then a year of geography sets the foundation for four years of chronological world and U.S. history (through eighth grade). Our high school curriculum provides a Biblical framework for English, history, and other subjects.
*Provides easy-to-teach, integrated curriculum that is enjoyable, academically strong, and focused on character development.