September 19, 2020

Tour 1 Week 3

     I suspect that most moms out there share my love-hate relationship with Perler beads.  It's a Fun New Thing to pull out every once in awhile to keep the kids occupied.  I love the creativity and the peace and quiet it buys me.  I don't like how, no matter what we do, the tiny beads inevitably end up all over the place. More than that, I hate how the creations sit around waiting to be ironed while children relentlessly nag kindly remind me to iron them. 

    Despite my misgivings, I decided it would be fun to break out the beads while we finished learning about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha this week. I bought this book as a birthday present to myself right before the Pandemic Quarantine and have enjoyed using it to stitch saints.  She also sells her patterns on Etsy, if you're interested but don't want to buy the whole book.  I took her recommendation to use the book with Perler Beads and the boys really enjoyed it.  


The six year-old had to call in backup from big brother    

    This week we also finished learning about Native American Art while the boys painted their clay pots from last week.  


        We listened to more of Johann Sebastian Bach's music while painting and the boys decided they still prefer his organ music, but also liked the cello. These are the same kids who have BEGGED me to teach them the piano but whatever.  

        I guess it's because we don't have an organ or cello lying around.  



    This week's history timeline included Jamestown, Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth, the First Thanksgiving, Maryland's establishment and the travels of Father Marquette and Joliet. Aside from Marquette and Joliet's Mississippi River exploration, our map activities included finding various geographical features (Island, Lake, Isthmus, Strait, Peninsula, Bay). 
    

    I think one of the highlights of the week was making Giraffe Saliva for our science demonstration.  Our study of the grasslands habitat included elephants and giraffes this week and this was a fun way to show how a giraffe's thick saliva enables it to eat prickly leaves and twigs. 




       I may or may not have somehow ended up with cornstarch all over me.  


 

via GIPHY

    I mentioned before that this is our first time using the Sassafras Science curriculum and so far, so good.  I like that it uses a story format for the lessons as well as living books to supplement.  I also appreciate that the demonstrations and other activities are very doable and use ACTUAL household items.  Few things frustrate a homeschool mom more than "easy" activities that use supposedly "household items."  I can handle things like cornstarch, leaves and twigs and poster board.  

    
        I try to start our school week with something fun, so Monday morning the boys and I spent time drawing and coloring together.  It was a nice way to ease into things and my boys really like it when mommy colors too. 


            

    Here are the resources we used this week:


  
 Book List:
  • Catholic Schoolhouse Tour Guide, Memory Work (music), Timeline Cards and Art Book
  • Sassafras Science Zoology
  • Draw Write Now Book 3
  • Llama Llama Mad at Mama (virtue - self-control)
  • Bach the Boy from Thuringia
  • Bach (Venezia) 
  • The Little Island
  • Squanto's Journey
  • Pocahontas (D'Aulaire)
  • Too Many Turkeys
  • A Lion to Guard Us
  • Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock? 
  • The Courage of Sarah Noble
  • Father Marquette and the Great Rivers
  • Saint Isaac and the Indians
  • Peter's Hat and Jennie's Hat (language arts - possessive nouns)    
  • DK Nature Encyclopedia
  • Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story
  • Standing Tall: Giraffes
  • Amazing Animals: Elephants
  • I See a Kookaburra
Other Sources:


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