OLD HOMESCHOOLERS NEVER DIE . . . THEY JUST WRITE CURRICULUM


"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants."

Deuteronomy 32:2

Courses of Study

To view the Course of Study for each grade level, you can click on the "Course of Study" label
or "Search This Blog" for the specific grade level you wish to see.
To date, I have courses of study completed for kindergarten through fourth grades.

Newsletter Articles

In 2013 the Lord started me producing a newsletter for the homeschool group we are a part of. Every other month I write an article on a topic the Lord has put on my heart. I've decided to add these articles to this blog. I hope you will find encouragement through some of my ramblings. You can click on the label "Newsletter" to find the articles.

Saturday, April 30

Kindergarten, Science, Week 14

Monday we started learning about What Plants Need.
  • You'll Need: 46 seeds, 6 small zipper close plastic bags, 3 paper towels, scissors, water, nail polish, felt-tip marker
  • Label each bag with a number, 1 through 6. Cut the paper towels in half and moisten 3 pieces. Put 6 seeds in each bag. The books suggests radish seeds, we used 3 pinto beans and 3 pumpkin seeds in each bag.
  • Do the following with each bag:
    • Bag 1: moist paper towel (water), no light (put in drawer), room temperature
    • Bag 2: moist paper towel (water), light, room temperature
    • Bag 3: dry paper towel (no water), light, room temperature
    • Bag 4: no paper towel, water (seeds floating), light room temperature
    • Bag 5: moist paper towel (water), no light, freezing temperature (put in freezer)
    • Bag 6: moist paper towel (water), no light, room temperature, seeds covered by nail polish (no air)
  •  On Friday we gathered the bags to see our results.
    • The seeds in Bag 1 and Bag 2 had sprouted, so we decided that
      • seeds need water, but not too much,
      • they don't need light (actually the seedlings in the dark grew more than the ones in the light)
      • they need warmer temperatures
      • they need air
On Tuesday we observed how Water and Nutrients Travel in Plants.
  • You'll Need: a fresh rib of celery, 2 glasses of water, red and blue food coloring, knife
  • Color one glass of water red and the other blue.
  • Cut any dried up celery off the bottom of the rib.
  • Slice the rib up the middle.
  • Put one end in the red water and the other in the blue water.
  • Keep a watch on the celery to see what happens.
  • This is how ours looked after a couple days.
  • The celery turns red and blue because plants have special tubes in their stems that suck water and nutrients up to the plant's leaves.
Wednesday we started an experiment to learn about Over Crowding.
  • You'll Need: a shoe box, soil, water, 12 bean seeds
  • Fill the shoe box with soil.
  • In one end plant 6 beans very close together.
  • At the other end plant the other 6 beans about 1-1/2-inches apart.
  • As they grow, observe which seedlings do better.
Here are the results of the experiment. On the left, crowded, only 2 beans sprouted and the plants and leaves were small. On the right, beans spaced out, 3 beans sprouted and they grew tall and had large leaves.

Thursday we tried to identify the pine tree in front of our house. We think it is a Jeffrey Pine.

Friday -- see Monday
  • We picked some flowers around our yard and pressed them.

Sunday, April 24

Kindergarten, Bible, Week 13

This week we:
  • Memorized Psalm 139: 11
  • Introduced Catechism #6: Will God ever die? No, God lives forever. Read Psalm 90:2
  • Read stories 41 - 49 in Picture Story Bible
  • Finished reading God and a Boy Named Joe
  • Other books and stories we read:
    • Muffy
    • Red Boots from Other Lands
    • My Heart -- Christ's Home
    • Princess and the Kiss
    • You are Special
    • Ignoring the Bounty from Short & Sweet
  • Video: Blister Lamb
  • Prayer
  • Song: How Great Thou Art

Kindergarten, Writing, Week 13

Monday I introduced the lower case letters a and y. I had K. write them in our rice box and then in finger paint. Tuesday through Friday she wrote them on the practice sheets I made.

Small Muscle Development:
  • Monday we finger painted
  • Friday we drew pictures in the sand box
Story Writing Development:
  • Wednesday we played "Catch My Silly."
  • I used a story from the book, Games for Writing, which was a bit more tricky than stories I had used before. The first time I read it K. only caught about half of the "sillies". But the second time through she caught them all.

Kindergarten, Reading, Week 13

Monday through Thursday we read from our textbook.
  • Ask questions using the Four Levels of Questioning and Comprehension
  • One day our selection was a poem, the other days we read a biography.
Friday we had our activity from Games for Reading.
  • Label the House, page 20
    • Go to a room in your house (we used the kitchen)
    • Have post-it notes or cards and tape and a marker.
    • Ask your child to name things they see. We took turns. K. would name something then I would.
    • Write the name of it on a post-it and put the label on the item.
    • Leave the labels up for at least 2 days. You can leave them longer if you want.
  • This is a exercise that will increase your child's vocabulary.

Kindergarten, Math, Week 13

Monday we worked with Number Theory.
  • I had two books of Jemima Puddleduck, so I cut one up for the pictures.
  • I also wrote the words: first, next, last, before, after, between on cards.
  • As I read Jemima Puddleduck to K. and she put the pictures in order as I read the story.
  • Once done with that, I picked a word card and asked her (for example):
    • What happened first?
    • What happened next?
    • What happened before __________?
    • What happened after __________?
    • What happened between _________ and ___________?
    • What happened last?
  • You can use some of the word cards multiple times. Don't play it too long.
Tuesday we worked on Counting by Tens to 100.
  • I pulled out my 
    • number chart (1 - 100)
    • ten of the chenille wires with buttons on them (see Math, Week 7, Tuesday)
    • and a handful of pennies, stacked in tens
  • I explained to K. that if we know things are in groups of tens, then it is quicker to count by 10s rather than by 1s.
  • We looked at the chart. Each row has ten numbers, so we counted down the last row: 10, 20, 30, etc.
  • Then I put the chenille wires in front of her. I asked her how many buttons were on each wire. Ten. So we can count them by 10s. 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. That was a lot faster than counting by 1s wasn't it!
  • Then I directed her attention to the pennies. I told her each stack had 10 pennies. We counted them by 10s.
Wednesday we worked with Measuring Length - Non-standard Units.
  • Using our shoes, we each measured the length of the rug in our living room. I think my number was 12 and hers was 18 or so.
  • I asked her, "If I sent you to the store to buy a rug that was 12 shoes long, would you get one that was the same length as this rug? No. Why? My shoes are smaller.
  • So, we need to have standard measurements so everyone can measure the same. That is why we have inches, feet, yards, and miles. Some people use centimeters, meters, and kilometers. We'll learn about those another week.
Thursday we worked with Weight - More/Less
  • I made a spinner that had 2 spaces that said "More" and 2 spaces that said "Less".
  • I picked an item (book, stapler, toy, etc.)
  • K. flicked the spinner.
  • If it landed on "Less", she had to find something that weighed less. (lighter)
  • If it landed on "More", she had to find something that weighed more. (heavier)
  • Then I flicked the spinner and had to find something that weighed less or more than the item she found.
  • Here she needed something that weighed more than a measuring tape.

Friday we worked on Counting to 50 by 5s.
  • I pulled out by Number Chart (1 - 100) and 10 nickles.
  • We talked about how when we had groups of 10 it was much faster to count by 10s.
  • But what if there were only 5 in each group?
  • We looked at the number chart. We counted and noticed every 5th number. Then I showed her the pattern: that each other number ends if 5 or 0 -- 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc.
  • Next I pulled out the nickles. How many cents is each worth? five. So we can count them by 5s. 5, 10, 15, etc.

Kindergarten, History, Week 13

Monday I read chapter 12 of Child's History. Item to note:
  • Kings: Saul, David, Solomon
  • David wrote Psalms
  • Solomon wrote Proverbs
Tuesday
  • We looked at pages 36 - 39 in Ancient World
  • I read stories from Greek Myths
    • Daedalus and Icarus
    • King Midas
Wednesday I read selections from Exodus 14 - 32

Thursday I read from Greek Myths. K. likes to hear the same stories over and over.

Friday we worked on our time line

Kindergarten, Science, Week 13

In this set of weeks we are learning about plants.

Monday we learned about the parts of the Flower.
  • I printed a diagram of a flower 
  • Using a tulip, I dissected it using an x-acto knife so we could find the parts on the diagram
  • K. colored the diagram to match the colors of the tulip
  • A good video to watch is: The Magic School Bus. Goes to Seed: Growing Places with Plants


Tuesday we looked at Leaves, Stems, Roots and Tubers.
  • We picked some leaves and did leaf rubbings.
  • We pulled up some weeds and looked at the different kinds of roots -- some are like webs and some have one main root.
  • We dug a volunteer potato plant out of the compost pile. It had a couple little potatoes (tubers) growing.

Wednesday we looked around our garden for Seeds and fruit.

Thursday we played The Vegetable Game at the grocery store.
  • I copied a list of vegetables and which part of the plant we eat from 365 . . . Experiments.
  • At the grocery store we found the vegetables I let K. guess which part it was that we ate. If she didn't know or guessed wrong we would talk about it so she could understand. I would suggest going to the store early in the morning before there are lots of shoppers.
  • We also planted 8 pinto beans (I bought 1 lb) for experiments in the next few weeks.
  • I poked 4 holes in the bottom of yogurt containers and set them in a clean styrofoam meat tray.
  • Then we went out and filled them with dirt from the compost pile.
  • We brought them back inside, planted the pinto beans, watered them, and set them in the window.

Friday we put one of the potatoes we dug up on Tuesday in a cup of water to grow.

Saturday, April 16

Kindergarten, Book Study, Week 12

This was our second Book Study week; see "Week 6" in March, 2011 for more details.

This week our book was Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne. Each day I read the book to K. Below are some activities that go with the book. Most of the activities are from Games with Books.
  • Talk about Perseverance.
    • Katy didn't give up until she had solved her problem of no pocket.
    • She didn't let failed tries stop her.
  • Who's Hiding in Katy's Pocket?
    • Tell your child you know an animal that is hiding in one of Katy's pockets and you are going to give them clues so they can guess what animal it is.
    • The first clue is always the SOUND of the first letter of the animal's name.
    • If they don't guess it, then give other clues -- like where they live, how they move, distinctive characteristics (stripes, spots, etc.), the sound they make, etc.
  • Be an Official Master Pocket Counter (you can make a badge for them to wear from construction paper with a safety pin taped on the back)
    • Have your child count Katy's pockets.
    • Then have them count your pockets, their own pockets, etc.
  • Eat Them if You Can
    • Cut 10 "pockets" of different sizes out of scrap paper.
    • Have a handful of edible things (you need at least 20) like jelly beans or pretzels or chocolate chips. We used cheese crackers.
    • Place some of the "pockets" on the table. Ask your child to count them.
    • Then ask say, "If there were 2 crackers in each pocket, how many crackers would we need?"
    • Have them put 2 of each item on each pocket and then count them.
    • After you are done, let your child eat the food.

  • One day we went on the internet to find out information about kangaroos.
    • They live in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Tasmania
    • They live in all kinds of climates from rain forests to arid (new word) places
    • They are nocturnal (so wouldn't really have woken the owl up during the day)
    • Baby kangaroos are called Joeys (we also saw pictures of them)
    • Kangaroos are marsupials
Also this week we:
  • Reviewed our Catechism and Psalm 139:1-10
  • Reviewed Math concepts:
    • Solid Shapes -- played Solid Shape Bingo
    • Time (with the clock I made)
      • We went from 4:00 to 5:00, making 4 stops along with way, with K. telling me the time at each stop.
      • Then I made a ring and taped it to our clock that has minute lines. I wrote the minutes on the ring: 5, 10, 15, etc.
    • We finished reading The Bravest Dog Ever.
      • Monday, pages 22 - 27
      • Tuesday, pages 28 - 33
      • Wednesday, pages 34 - 39
      • Thursday, pages 40 - 43
      • Friday, pages 44 - 48
      • Here are all the words we ended up with on our "New Words" paper: lead dog, frontier, diphtheria, relay, mayor, panic, calm (opposites), famous, and hero

Saturday, April 9

Kindergarten, Bible, Week 11

This week we:
  • Memorized Psalm 139:10
  • Reviewed Psalm 139 and our Catechisms (we do this every day, I just don't normally write it here)
  • Read stories 36 - 40 in Picture Story Bible
  • Read chapters 2 - 6 in God and a Boy Named Joe
  • Other books and stories (see list on Kindergarten page)
  • We prayed
  • We sang This is My Father's World

This is one way we review Psalm 139. I know you can't read the papers, but each has 2 or 3 words on it. We mix them up and I get half and K. gets half and then we put them in order.

Kindergarten, Writing, Week 11

We worked on numbers 8 and 9 this week.
  • I've decided that I really like the way I arraigned the practice sheets. Each page has 6 lines (you know they have the dotted line in the middle). The first 2 lines have the number we are working on nine times across the page. The second 2 lines have it 6 times with room to write on her own. The third 2 lines have it 3 times with room to write on her own.
  • Each day K. only writes one line of each sheet, so it takes 6 days to complete a page.
For Small Muscle Development:
  • Tuesday we did Pretzel Numbers
    • I make a batch of biscuit dough and we (mostly K.) rolls bits into "ropes" then shapes them into numbers on a baking sheet. Then we bake and eat them!
    • Here's my recipe:
      • 2 cups all-purpose flour
      • 4 teaspoons baking powder
      • 2 teaspoons sugar
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 1/2 cup shortening
      • 2/3 cup milk
      • 1 egg
      • Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Measure milk, add egg and whisk together. Make a well in the center; add milk and egg mixture all at once. Stir just till dough clings together. Knead gently on lightly floured surface for 10 to 12 strokes. Make shaped numbers/letters on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375° for till shapes start to brown. Serve warm.
  • Friday I hid googly eyes in playdoh.
    • Take 30 of the smallest googly eyes and knead them into playdoh so they can't be seen. If you shake the playdoh, you can hear them.
    • Have your child search through the playdoh and pick out the eyes.
    • We've done this twice and K. has thoroughly enjoyed it both times!
For Writing Development:
  • Wednesday our activity was Read Aloud Plus from Games for Writing.
    • Get a book or story that your child hasn't heard before and read it to them.
    • Talk about it as you read
      • I like that part
      • What do you think will happen next?
      • Etc.

Kindergarten, Reading, Week 11

Monday
  • We read a poem from the textbook.
  • Then we wrote a couple more verses to the poem.
  • We worked on understanding periods: they come at the end of a complete thought.
    • Sometimes when K. reads she runs right past a period and then takes a breath in the middle of a sentence, making the story sound funny if you aren't looking at the page.
    • I made up a page with short paragraphs (2 - 5 sentences) copied from books. (I learned that you shouldn't use stories she is familiar with because she already knew where the periods should be.)
    • Each paragraph was printed twice. In the first sample, I didn't put periods. In the second sample the periods were where they belonged.
    • I showed K. one paragraph at a time and had her read it. This showed the need for periods so we know what the author is trying to tell us, and we pause at periods.
Tuesday through Thursday
  • We started The Bravest Dog Ever by Standiford. I didn't want to make her read so many pages each day that she was tired of reading. These breaks seem to be just right, as each day she hasn't wanted to stop.
    • Tuesday pgs 5 - 9
    • Wednesday pgs 10 - 15
    • Thursday pgs 16 - 21
  • I took a piece of construction paper and we are writing new words or concepts and their definitions on it. So far we have:
    • frontier
    • lead dog
    • diphtheria
    • mayor
    • relay
  • We also found Nome and Anchorage on a map.
Friday
  • We played Story Words from Games for Reading.
    • The idea is to take any three words and tell a story with them. Instead of just thinking up words, I pulled out an envelope I have that is full of miscellaneous pictures. While K. counted to 5 I had to pick 3 pictures and then tell a short story using those items. Then we switched.
    • This would be a great game to play in the car, too, by picking things you see.

Kindergarten, Math, Week 11

Monday we counted to 150.
  • See Math, Week 7, Tuesday.
  • Only this time K. moved the buttons and spools and counted by herself.
Tuesday we worked with Coins.
  • First, we reviewed the value of each coin (penny, nickle, dime, quarter) just to make sure she remembered.
  • Then I took a sheet of paper that was divided in the middle and told K. that I was going to put a coin or coins on one side, and she needed to put coins on the other side that were equal in value. (I used the same paper I use for symmetry. See Math, Week 8, Thursday for a picture.)
  • I did examples to make sure she understood. I put a dime on my side and a nickle and 5 pennies on her side. We also discussed that she could have put 10 pennies or 2 nickles on her side. After a couple examples, I was pretty confident that she understood, so we started.
  • We actually took turns putting the original amount on. Your child has to check to make sure you put the right amount on to equal his coin(s), so they are still figuring it out.
  • We took turns until K. started messing around (showing she was tired of it). Then I said we would each take 2 more turns and be done.
Wednesday we played with Location Words.
  • See Math, Week 7, Thursday
  • This time we used a small plastic egg instead of a stuffed animal.
  • I just stacked the words and we took turns taking the word off the top.
Thursday we reviewed the Calendar.
  • I cut the names of the days of the week from an old calendar and had her put them in order.
    • We talked about 7 days in a week
    • The weekend is what days?
    • The weekdays are what days?
  • I cut the names of the months from the same calendar and had her put them in order.
  • Then we put the months in groups by season.
  • Next, I introduced the poem:
Thirty days hath September
April, June, and November
All the rest have thirty-one…
At least, once February’s done
It’s the one that won’t stay straight
With days that number twenty-eight
Excepting leap year, that’s the time
That February’s days are twenty-nine
  • I didn't remember how the poem ended, so I googled it. If you don't like this one, you'll find 87 variations at LeapYearDay.com.
  • Then we put the month names in groups by number of days.
Friday K. practiced Writing Numbers.
  • Now that she has learned to write all the numbers, she had more fun.
  • K. really enjoys adding zeros (and I like her practicing them). It goes like this:
    • K. writes a 6 -- I say "six"
    • K. adds a 0 -- I say "sixty"
    • K. adds a 0 -- I say "six hundred"
    • K. adds a 0 -- I say "six thousand"
    • K. adds a 0 -- I say "sixty thousand"
    • we got up to 6 billion

Kindergarten, History, Week 11

Monday I read chapter 11 of Child's History. Items of note:
  • A Greek poet named Homer wrote the Iliad.
  • The Iliad is about the Trojan War.
Tuesday
  • We looked at pages 30 - 35 in Ancient World.
  • I read a couple stories to K. from Usborne Greek Myths for Young Children retold by H. Amery. K. liked Pandora's Box.
Wednesday I read selections from Exodus 3 - 12.

Thursday
  • I read The Trojan Horse by E. Little again.
  • I read more stories from Greek Myths. The Story of Arachne is good.
Friday we added to our time line.

Kindergarten, Science, Week 11

Monday we learned that Water and Oil Push Apart.
  • You'll Need: eyedropper, clear glass with water in it, rubbing alcohol, cooking oil
  • Get a few drops of alcohol in the eyedropper. Put the tip of the eyedropper under the water and slowly squeeze out the alcohol. The alcohol disappears. 
  • Now get a few drops of cooking oil in the eyedropper. Put the tip of the eyedropper under the water and slowly squeeze out the oil. Drops form and float to the surface.
  • Why? Water and alcohol attract each other. The alcohol molecules grab ahold of the water molecules and form a solution. The water and oil push each other away. The oil molecules pull together against the pressure of the water and form bubbles. Water is heavier than oil, so the oil floats to the top.
Tuesday we learned what Water Can Do.
  • You'll Need: Styrofoam disk (you can use a plate, I cut a large circle from a meat tray), scissors, pencil or large nail, water faucet
  • Cut 6 1-inch slits (spaced evenly) around the disk and bend them to one side to make the waterwheel blades
  • Push a pencil or nail (axle) through the center of the disk. Wiggle it a bit to make the hole just large enough for the disk to spin freely.
  • Turn the faucet on so you have a fast stream of water.
  • Hold the disk under the stream so that the water hits the blades.
  • Experiment with the water hitting in different places and compare how the waterwheel spins.
  • Why? The water pushes against the first blade and moves the waterwheel, then it hits the next blade, etc. until the waterwheel is spinning.
  • You can talk about this powering mills in the "old days" and generating electricity today.
Wednesday we made a Deep-Bottle Diver.
  • You'll Need: clear 2-liter plastic bottle with a cap, water, eyedropper that fits inside bottle
  • Fill the bottle with water.
  • Pull some water into the eyedropper.
    • Now this is the tricky part because you need just enough water in the eyedropper so that if it still floats, but if it gets 1 more drop it will sink. At first I didn't have enough water in the dropper and it didn't sink. Then I had too much water and it didn't float at all. Once I figured it out, I filled a pitcher with water, pulled a bunch of water into the eyedropper, then expelled the water 1 drop at a time until it floated in the pitcher.
  • Put the eyedropper into the bottle and screw the cap on.
  • Press in the sides of the bottle, and release. When you press in, the eyedropper sinks, when you release, it floats.
  • Why? Pressing in the sides of the bottle increases the water pressure inside the bottle and forces more water into the eyedropper, making it sink. Releasing the sides decreases the water pressure, lets the extra water out of the eyedropper, and it floats again.

Thursday we learned that Cold Sinks and Warm Rises.
  • You'll Need: 2 small balloons, 2 clear jars, water, bowl, cold water
  • Put some water in the balloons (they should be about the same size), tie the balloons, put them in the bowl and place them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
  • After the balloons are cold, fill one jar with cold water (I used from the refrigerator, or you could make tap water cold by adding ice cubes). Fill the other jar with warm/hot water from the faucet.
  • Place a balloon in each jar. In the cold water, the balloon floats. In the warm water the balloon sinks.
  • Why? Because the water molecules in the cold water stick closer together, the cold water is denser or heavier, causing the cold balloon to sink in the warm water, since the water molecules in the warm water are father apart, causing the water to be less dense. In the cold water jar, the balloon floats because they are the same temperature.

After a few minutes, the warm water made the water in the balloon warm, so we switched the balloons to see it happen again.


Friday we cut and glued pictures of water on our "2". When I first told K. we were going to do this she ran and got her Bible Story book and showed me that God made the seas and rivers on the 3rd day. We got her Bible and we read the 2nd day again. God separated the firmament from the water, so there was water on the 2nd day.

Saturday, April 2

Kindergarten, Bible, Week 10

This week we:
  • Memorized Psalm 139:9
  • Learned Catechism #5 "Has God ever had a beginning? No, God has always been." The corresponding verses are Psalms 90:2; 93:2; Revelation 4:8
  • Read stories 32 - 35 in My Picture Story Bible
  • Other books and stories we read:
    • The Princess and the Kiss
    • Who Holds the Brush
    • Because I Love You
    • You are Special
    • Sylvester the Three-spined Stickleback
    • Muffy and the Mystery of the Stolen Eggs
  • Watch the video of Sylvester the Three-Spined Stickleback
  • On April 1st I started reading God and a Boy Named Joe by Ethel Barrett. We'll read one chapter a day and finish right before Easter. I grew up listening to the recording of it, but a few years ago found the book at a used book store. It takes place in Jerusalem, starting the week before the crucifixion. I'm planning on this book being an Easter tradition at our house.
  • We prayed each day. One of our prayer requests has been that we would be able to get our oven fixed. When God answered that prayer K. ran and got our book and wrote YES! by that request.

Kindergarten, Writing, Week 10

We worked on numbers 6 and 7 this week.

For Small Muscle Development:
  • Tuesday we did a Three Color Road Race
    • I make two roads on a sheet of paper with black marker. Then I place another paper over it and trace the road, so both K. and I have identical pages.
    • We each pick three colored pencils.
    • I say "Go" and we follow the first road with all three colored pencils. You have to stay inside the 'road'. If you go out, you have to start over with that color of pencil.
    • The first person to finish wins. It is fun to have a bell the first person can ring when they finish.
    • Then do the same with the second 'road'.
  • Friday K. cut on lines.
    • I drew 5 different lines (squiggly, straight, jagged, etc.) with colored marker and cut them apart so each was on a different piece of paper.
    • K. cut on the lines.
For Writing Development:
  • Wednesday we did 'Write It For Me' from Games for Writing.
    • I start with an interesting picture. This one was of some children having an egg hunt.
    • I get lined paper and a pencil.
    • K. looks at the picture and tells me a story about it and I write the story down, not changing anything.
    • When she is done, I take a piece of construction paper, fold it in half, and glue the picture on one side, staple the story on the other, and write the title and author on the front.

Kindergarten, Reading, Week 10

Monday through Thursday we read from our textbook.
Friday we had our activity from Games for Reading.
  • We played 'Do This, Do That'
  • See Reading, Week 8 for directions.

Kindergarten, Math, Week 10

Monday we made Patterns.
  • See Math, Week 7, Wednesday
  • I made some patterns that were more difficult, like
    • 1 turkey, 2 pies, 3 pumpkins, 4 hats; what comes next? 5 of some item
    • 1 pie, 2 hats, 1 pie, 2 pumpkins, 1 pie, 2 turkeys; what comes next? 1 pie, 2 of some item
Tuesday we played with Size Words.
  • See Math, Week 7, Friday
  • The egg needed something smaller; the yellow man needed something longer; the nurse needed something larger, the hat box needed something shorter: the clown
Wednesday we wrote Numbers.
  • See Math, Week 8, Friday
  • Now that K. has learned to write numbers 0 - 7, she could write lots of different numbers, and since we had done it before, I didn't need to suggest numbers.
Thursday we Measured with a Cup.
  • We worked at the kitchen sink.
  • I got out the 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 1 cup dry measuring cups and 4 or 5 containers of various sizes.
  • First, I gave the the 1 cup measuring cup and showed her one of the containers. I asked her how many cups she thought it would hold. Then, using water, I let her fill the container and see if she was right. We went through all the containers this way.
  • Next, I showed her the 1/4 cup and asked her how many of them it would take to fill the 1 cup measuring cup. Then I let her see if she was right. We did the 1/3 and 1/2 cup the same way.
  • Last, I told her that these measuring cups aren't really for measuring liquid, but are for dry things like oatmeal and flour and sugar. Then I got out the oatmeal and dumped some in a bowl. I showed her the proper way to measure dry ingredients (leveling off with a knife) and let her practice until she was through.
Friday we measured Length and Height.
  • We have a 4 foot ruler that we used.
  • We went around the house measuring things (including her -- 45").
  • I talked about the difference between length and height and she got pretty good at measuring the correct thing.

Kindergarten, History, Week 10

Monday I read chapter 10 in Child's History. Items of note:
  • The Greeks believed in many gods (small g)
  • These gods were not always good
  • They made offerings to please their gods so their prayers would be granted
Tuesday we looked at pages 26 - 29 in Ancient World.

Wednesday I read selections from Genesis 40 - 43.

Thursday I read The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War by E. Little.
  • In Ancient World on Tuesday there was an article about the Trojan Horse, and K. was very interested in it. When I was looking for another book at the library I "happened" across this book. It is a 'Step Into Reading' book, step 4 for 2nd - 4th grade readers, so easy to understand.
  • I'll probably read it again next week because chapter 11 in Child's History talks about the Trojan Horse.
Friday we worked on our time line.

Kindergarten, Science, Week 10

Monday we learned about a Suspension.
  • You'll Need: red and blue food coloring, 1-3/8 cup cornstarch, 2/3 cup water, bowl, spoon
  • Measure the water and add some food coloring (3 drops of each color) to make the water purple.
  • Measure 1 cup of the cornstarch into a bowl. Slowly add the water, stirring to mix well. I let K. do this mixing.
  • Ours was too diluted to work, so I added 1/8 of a cup of cornstarch at a time, mixing well after each addition. After adding 3/8 cup the solution was perfect.
  • Grab a handful of the mixture and form a ball by rolling it between your hands. While rolling the mixture it feels dry.
  • Stop rolling and let the mixture rest on your outstretched palm. The ball turns back into an ooze.
  • Why? Remind your child of the water and marbles experiment -- the marbles pushed the water out of the way; and the water and salt experiment -- there was room for the salt molecules between the water molecules (a solution). Water and cornstarch are different. The cornstarch molecules are held together by the water. This is called a suspension. When you roll the mixture it squeezes together on all sides and feels dry, but when you stop rolling, the cornstarch particles drift apart and there is your ooze again.
Tuesday we learned what a Water Molecule Does When You Freeze It.
  • You'll Need: a jar, water, plastic lid (like from a tub of margarine or sour cream)
  • Do the first two steps on Monday
  • Fill the jar to the brim with water (we used a glass jar and it broke even though no lid was screwed on) and place the lid on top of the jar.
  • Place it in the freezer.
  • On Tuesday take it out of the freezer. The ice will have pushed the lid above the top of the jar.
  • Why? When water freezes its molecules spread out and need more space. The freezing water molecules pushed out of the jar because they needed more space.
Wednesday we learned what a Water Molecule Does When You Heat It.
  • We had to try this one three times to get it right, but with what I learned, you should be able to get it the first time
  • You'll Need: food coloring, small glass jar, saucepan, water, stove
  • Put enough water in the saucepan for it to to 1/2 way up the jar.
  • Put some food coloring in the jar and fill it about 3/4th of the way full.
  • Put the saucepan on the stove, put the jar in the saucepan. Carefully pour water into the jar until it is holding as much water as possible.
  • Heat the pan on high.
  • When the water in the jar gets hot enough, it overflows into the saucepan.
  • Turn the heat off and let it cool. See how much water overflowed (some probably evaporated, too).
  • Why? Water molecules need more space when heated, looking for room to spread out, they spill over the top.


My two mistakes were
  1. I didn't fill the saucepan full enough and before the jar spilled water, it cooled off too much.
  2. We weren't watching when it spilled.
Thursday we learned what a Water Molecule Does When It Gets Cold.
  • You'll Need: a jar, water, freezer, timer
  • Fill the jar to the brim with water.
  • Place it uncovered in the freezer for 30 minutes
  • Observe the level of the water. The level of the water had dropped below the rim of the jar.
  • Why? As water gets colder (to about 39F) its molecules contract (huddle closer together) so they take up less space in the jar.
Friday we learned about Cohesion.
  • You'll Need: a Styrofoam cup, a sharp pencil, water, sink
  • With the pencil, poke 2 holes in the bottom of the cup. They should be small and close together, but not touching.
  • Fill the cup with water, keep it over the sink. Two distinct streams of water will pour out of the cup.
  • Quickly pinch the two streams of water together. You may need to try it a few times before you get it to work right.
  • The two streams will become one stream (it worked for me when I pinched them as close to the cup as possible).
  • Why? Water molecules are so attracted to each other, that when they get near to other water molecules they grab onto each other and stick together. This sticking-together action is called cohesion.