Week 3 - September 18 - September 24

Happy 17th Birthday, Sarah!!!!

Enjoying a walk in the Cariboo.



Sarah's "Just Because" cake.








Nathan enjoys drawing "country" stuff.

The quartz rock - after the fire.

Great Aunt Edith's watercolour painting of Sarah and her horse.

The original photo taken by Nathan.

Language Arts:
So...what did you read when you were 10? Nathan discovered "Huck Finn" on his i pad and he is now reading Chapter 11! He does narration and is very excited about the adventures he is reading about. He heard Chapters 16 - 19 in "The Sign of the Beaver" and he learned about Cause and Effect. He watched "Wind in the Willows" on DVD. He played Boggle (word game) with his Grandma, mom, and sister. When we got stuck on the spelling or meaning of a word Nate would look of the word on the dictionary on his i pad.

Math:
Nathan is learning about fractions of 1 this week. He did Lessons 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2

Science:
Nathan attended the final 4-H meeting of the year and handed in his record books.

He cleaned his rabbit's cage.

Nate collected some samples for his plant book. There are not very many wild flowers left but we did manage to find some for his "Considering God's Creation" plant reports. We taped them in his book.

On our family adventure we went through the fire zone from one of last summer's fire areas. It is amazing how the grass has grown up in these areas. The "trees" are just charcoal spikes. We stopped by a hill that has white stuff all over it. I thought it was garbage but what we discovered was brilliant white quartz that had been through the fire. It was very interesting with little "holes" in the rocks. So...I think we will be exploring this in more detail when we do our rock study!

We added some more rocks to our rock collection.

We saw a little snake slithering across the road so we studied it and then got our Nature's Children book and read about snakes. They really are fascinating creatures.

At the "gravel pit" Nathan had a butterfly on his back. Then the butterfly flew and landed on my leg. We were able to study the details of the wings, colours, antennae, etc. Amazing!!!!

Social Studies:

Nathan is reading "Bread and Butter Indian".

He updated some photos and information in his Book of Centuries...Hubble, Enstein, Beethoven, Charlotte Mason, and Kienan Hebert! We prayed for the safe return of this little boy and God answered our prayer! God is so good!

Nathan went on Google Earth with his dad and saw the Forest Fires in Texas.

Other Stuff:

Well...another busy week. The highlight of our week was celebrating Sarah's 17th birthday!!!!!!! Hope you have a fantastic year, Sar! We went on a family adventure and a picnic. Of course we brought along chocolate cupcakes!!!!

PE:
Nathan was given a set of left handed golf clubs! He is really enjoying learning to golf. And Sarah's dog, Bullet, chases the ball and brings it back to Nate! He rode his bike to the "gravel pit" and dug a "mine" in the hillside. He found some interesting rocks to add to our rock collection. He enjoyed a walk with his grandpa. Nathan did his swimming lessons on Tuesday at the Hills. He is learning lots and is able to swim a much longer distance now. He helped stack some hay.

I Pad:
Nate is continuing to read Huck Finn on his i pad. He enjoyed taking photos and adding "stuff" to them to make them funny. He enjoyed learning garage band piano, drums, and guitar. He also explored some drawing programs including Doodle Buddy, Crayola, and Art Sparkles.

Art:
Nathan went to visit his Grandpa and Grandma at Green Lake before they go back to the coast. Nathan had taken a photo of Sarah and her horse and entered it in the fall fair. His Great Aunt Edith used Nathan's photo to do a watercolour painting. This inspired Nathan to do some pencil drawings! He enjoys drawing "western" stuff.

Baking:
Sarah made some sourdough a couple of weeks ago so Nathan and made sourdough bread using the recipe from Barkerville. It smelled and tasted sooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

Nathan also made chocolate cupcakes for Sarah's birthday!

Bible:
Nathan does daily Bible devotions with his family. He likes to hear stories about when I was a little girl so I told him a story of when I was about his age. The pastor of our church encouraged the children to learn the Books of the Bible. He taught us a song and would give a Bible to anyone who could sing or say the books of the Bible. So...my brother, sister, and I practiced and practiced. Padre Pike came over for dinner at our home one night and brought his accordian. We all sang the books of the Bible together and then next Sunday we were presented with Bibles. Nathan went and got my very well worn white Bible off the shelf. Padre Pike even wrote my name in the front of my Bible in Calligraphy. A wonderful childhood memory! So...now Nathan and I are learning the Books of the Bible by singing the same song that I learned when I was his age!

Mechanic Stuff:
Nate helped his dad change a tire and work on an ATV.

Week 2 - September 11 - September 17

Nate's Inuksuk!!!

Nathan at swimming lessons at The Hills.

Nate enjoying his bow and arrow.

Week 2

Language Arts:
Nathan is listened to "The Sign of the Beaver" Chapters 12 - 15 and he did vocabulary, quesetions, and Bible information from the Progeny Press Study Guide - orally. We discussed "The Flood" and how many cultures have "Flood" stories. We also discussed "respect" for people and cultures "different" form our own. Nate started reading "Huck Finn" on his i pad.

Math:
Nathan watched the Math-U-See DVD Lessons 1 and 2 of Epsilon. This year Nate will be concentrating on Fractions. He did Lesson 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, and 1F. Nate used his blocks for some of the questions and then he caught on to the pattern and was able to do the questions without the blocks. I am so thankful for the solid background Math-U-See has given Nathan. He knows his multiplication facts and division facts so well!!!!! And the skip counting songs are so helpful for recalling multiplication facts.

Science:
The week before school started Nathan and I started collecting some samples for our plant/tree unit from Considering God's Creation. We just need to buy some wide tape so we can mount our specimins in our Binder. Nate observed teh changes in the seasons...very HOT and dry to LOTS of rain and cooler temperatures. And the leaves falling off the trees and squirrels busy collelction cones for the winter.

Social Studies:
Nate started the Canada's Natives Long Ago unit study by Donna Ward. Nate did some very neat map work and listened to the introduction. The first group we will be studying are the Inuit. We did some internet research on Susan Aglukark. We listened to her sing Amazing Grace in her native tongue. We saw how her name is "printed" in her native language. We also watched some Inuit drummers and dancers and listened to some traditional Inuit music. We went to the library and got out many books about Canadian Native People. He watched "The Sign of the Beaver" DVD and it is VERY different from the book. He learned some more string games and Cat's Cradle. We checked the internet for Inuit Art and we discovered "Inuit Gallery of Vancouver" We especially enjoyed the drawings by Kenojuak Ashevak. He chopped some wood with his hatchet. He used his bow and arrow. He collected some flat rocks and made an inuksuk!!!!!


Other Stuff:
PE:
Nathan started swimming lessons on Tuesday night. He is now in Red Cross Level 6. He really enjoys his lessons with his teacher, Claire. Claire was very pleased with Nathan's stroke especially his backstroke. Nate also did MANY outdoor activities including chasing the pigs because they got out of their pen, stacking hay, riding his bike, chopping wood, bow and arrow target practice, using his bull whip, and walking.

Music:
I Pad apps - Nate especially enjoyed Beethoven's "Fur Elise". We found an "easy" piano version and Sarah is learning to play it on the piano. We got it from a great site http://makingmusicfun.net/
Inuit music - especially enjoyed Susan Aglukark

Art:
Nate explored many Inuit artists and especially enjoyed Kenojuak Ashevak

I Pad:
Nate discovered an e-book of Huck Finn on his I Pad and began reading it! He also found some interactive books that he enjoyed!

Summer Time

The James Gang had a busy summer! Here are a few things we did......

Nathan tried carding wool by hand at the Barrier Fall Fair.

We watched wool being spun into yarn.

At the Williams Lake and District 4-H Show and Sale in Williams Lake Sarah and her horse, Beauty, won first place for Senior Equitation.

Nathan enjoyed showing his horse, Frisky. They received Reserve Champion for Showmanship.

Nate also showed his dog, Pepsi, and they won the Reserve Champion for Showmanship.

Week 1 - September 4 - September 10 - Back to School

And it's "Back to Learning at Home" time for the James Gang!!

Nathan was sooooooooooooooooo happy to finally get his i pad 2!! He is enjoying learning about it and his favourite app is X Plane 9!!!!

We enjoyed being creative and working on many entries for the 100 Mile House Fall Fair.

We hope you enjoy seeing some of our entries.

Sarah entered 11 projects and won many ribbons and $24.00!!!! This is a crocheted bag she made out of plastic bags for the "recycled" category. She won first place.


Sarah won first place for her Rice Krispee "sculpture" of a mug of hot chocolate.



She also won first for her cake that looked like a plate of Chinese Food!






Nathan entered 7 items and won three ribbons and $7.00!

Nathan won second place for his ceramic wolf.




He also won second place for his pick up made out of recycled materials.




Nathan won a first ribbon for his collection of screws!

Week 1

Language Arts:

Nate listened to "The Sign of the Beaver" Chaptersf 1 - 5 and 6 -11 and he did vocabulary, questions, and Bible information from the Progeny Press Study Guide - orally. We discussed fact versue fictioin. Nate watched "Indian in the Cupboard" DVD.

Math:

Review

Science:

Nathan completed his record books for 4-H - Horse, Dog, and Rabbit. During the summer time Nathan enjoyed picking and eating various berries including wild strawberried, wild blueberries, wild raspberries, and saskatoon berries.

Social Studies:

Nate listening to Indian Captive, Julie of the Wolves, and Julie during the summer. He finished listening to Julie's Wolf Pack this week. Nate LOVED these adventures of the Eskimo girl and the wolves! He enjoyed playing and learning Cat's Cradle and other string games.

Other Stuff:

PE:

LOTS of walking and outdoor activities including playing in the sand pile, riding his bike, riding his motor bike, and riding his horse, Frisky.

Crafts:

Completed seven entries for the 100 Mile House Fall Fair. He won $7.00!

1. Screw Collection - won first place

2. Ceramic Wolf - second place

3. Pick Up Truck from recycled materials - second place

4. Painted a truck on a T Shirt

5. Photo of his sister and her horse

6. Drawing of a kerosene lantern

7. Cat's Cradle Disply - Eifel Tower, Cup and Saucer, Broom

Field Trips:

Nathan enjoyed all the exhibits at the Fall Fair and having the Cattlebelle's delicious Beef on a Bun for lunch.

We went to Williams Lake and we stopped at Lac La Hache on the way home to cool off!

I Pad:

And the biggest news of the week...Nathan got his i pad!!!! He has been waiting all summer for it! He is enjoying exploring apps and his favourite is X Plane 9!!!! He is also enjoying the Garage Band and playing "music" on the i pad.