Week 8 - October 23 - October 29

Well...Nathan has been sick this week so we haven't accomplished mu.ch "school" this week.  Nathan has read lots especially Hardy Boys Books and he heard "Calico Captive" by Elizabeth George Speare.  He played K'Nex.  Sarah has been knitting a sweater and she taught Nathan how to cast on and knit.  It is a good thing that Sarah is left handed so she can teach Nathan (who is left handed, too)!!!  He watched some movies.  His most amazing accomplishment this week was composing his own song!  He is enjoying playing his own composition on the piano.

Week 7 - October 16 - 22

Here is a quote from our local paper in regards to the recent BC Throne Speech:

The speech promises "additional flexibility and choice" in educating students, noting "these changes will be bold and represent a significant improvement in how, when, and where education takes place."

So...hopefully this will mean "more" for learning at home!

Language Arts:

Nathan has discovered Hardy Boys! He did narration for the first book and enjoyed telling me how the mystery was solved. I asked him if he figured out the solution before the book ended and he did! He finished writing the Books of the Old Testament and made a “sign” and displayed them. He can now sing all the Books of the Old Testament! He watched some DVDs including Heartland, The Rescuers Down Under, and the old Disney Sleeping Beauty.

Math:

Nathan watched the DVD for Math U See Lesson 6. He did the six lessons and learned to cross multiply to make the fractions have the same denominator so he can add or subtract. He consistently gets 100% on his lessons.

Science:

Nate faithfully looks after his animals. He makes sure they have food, water, and shelter especially now that colder weather is here!

Nathan worked on his Considering God's Creation book.  He learned about The Plant Kingdom.  He learned about photosynthesis and parts of a flower. 

                                           

He sorted plants by what part of the we eat:  seeds, leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, or roots.  He did an experiment with a celery stalk and coloured water.  He could "see" how the plant "sucked" up the water!

Social Studies:

Nathan and I checked out some Coast Salish artists and we enjoyed looking at Susan Point's work. Check it out at: http://susanpoint.com/   We looked at some library books about Natives of the Coast and their totem poles, carvings, etc. He continues to work on his Log Cabin. A friend of ours made an Ulu (Eskimo knife) for us to use. It is amazing how it works! It is very sharp!

Other Stuff:

Nathan helped his dad fix fence so the horses can’t get out!

Nathan wasn't feeling very well for part of the week.

We had a flat tire in town and Nathan helped to change it with a guy that helped us change it!

PE:

Nathan completed Red Cross Level 6 in swimming lessons Tuesday night! Congratulations, Nathan, on a job well done! Now…on to Level 7 in the beginning of November!

And it snowed on Thursday!

It was very wet and didn't last very long but Nathan did manage to make a snowman.

Nathan also split and stacked some firewood. He played some running games with Sarah. He rides his mountain bike.  He is really enjoying his bows and arrows, slingshot, and bull whip. Nathan and I took the truck to town for an alignment and we walked around town and enjoyed going to fascination street and other stores that have toys! I think Christmas time is just around the corner and my son is dreaming!

Building:

Nathan is doing lots of building this week.  Not only is his "building" his cabin, he is also enjoying building things with K'Nex. 

He is using the solar panels and motors and batteries to make his creations move!

Sign Language:

Nathan enjoyed doing Sign Language this week.  He used a book called "Sign ABC with Linda Bove. 

 He learned to spell his name and the alphabet letters and some simple "sentences".  He also check out the online ASL program http://www.lifeprint.com

Nate saying "Hi" in sign language.

100 Mile Home Learners Stuff:

Nathan went to Public Skating on Friday and met with some fellow home learners to skate.  He enjoyed playing "tag" with his swimming teacher and her son, Zack.  He went to the library and learned about American and Canadian Thanksgiving.  He did some Thanksgiving Crafts and Thanksgiving worksheets.

Nate made a pick-up, trailer, and boat with K'Nex.

Week 6 – October 9 – October 15, 2011

Language Arts:

Nathan went to the library.  He got out many books and some Looney Tunes DVDs.  He discovered the Hardy Boys Series and started reading them.  He continued singing the books of the Bible and handwriting them.  He watched some Heartland episodes.  He heard the first ½ of The Courage of Sarah Noble and then read the second ½ by himself and then did narration.  He started listening to “Calico Captive” by Elizabeth George Speare.  He made a “Do Not Enter” sign for his bedroom door because Sarah had a friend over and he didn’t want the girls in his room!

Math:

Nathan watched the DVD for lesson 5 and did all the lessons.  He is now learning to change fractions to a “same” or “common” denominator before adding and subtracting fractions.  He watched the DVD for lesson 6.

Science:

Nathan enjoyed being outside and observing the changes in the season.  The leaves are almost all off the trees now.  The squirrels are busy gathering food for winter.  The animal’s coats are thicker now.  It has really windy and he heard many trees falling across the meadow.  There was ice on the creek that last couple of mornings!  The temperature got down to – 10 C. 

Social Studies:

Nathan is now in the process of building a log cabin.  He is notching the logs with his axe and fitting them together.  His cabin is three logs high now.  He learned about the Natives of the Plateau (our area) and the Natives of the North Pacific Coast.  He did very neat map work of the areas studied.  He was able to tell the Principal (Dad) about all 7 native groups in Canada – what they ate, where they lived, how they travelled, and many more interesting facts.  He enjoyed whittling, carving, using his slingshot and bow and arrows. 

Other Stuff:

Nathan worked with his family cutting, chopping, and stacking wood!  He helped his dad clean out the shed.  He also enjoyed playing Battleship with his mom and with the computer.  He played chess with his brother.  He rode his motor bike.  He did his animal chores faithfully.  He helped his dad set up the satellite phone with the speaker and antennae so we can use it in the house.

PE:

Nate rode his mountain bike many times, went on some walks with his mom, and helped his dad fix fence.  He played some running games with Sarah.  He had his swimming lesson on Tuesday night!  WOW!   He is doing GREAT!  Almost finished level 6!  He can only do one more level at this pool because it is too shallow for diving.  So Nate is signed up for Level 7 starting in November.

                                                                                                                                      

Baking:

Nate made pizza pops with Sarah and mom.  They sure were delicious! 

I Pad:

I Pad is still disabled.  We have instructions from the techie guy how to reprogram it but we haven’t had time to do that yet.  So Nathan has been using mom’s computer.

Music:

Nathan enjoyed playing the piano this week.  He also listened to a book about Ludwig van Beethoven from the Library Source:  Library of Famous Composers.  He learned many interesting facts about Beethoven including how Beethoven composed music even when he was deaf.  He also listened to a CD of Beethoven music called “The Immortal Beethoven” which has many of his most famous songs on it.

4-H:

Nathan and his family attended the final 4-H event of the year – the Awards Banquet.  It was a delicious meal prepared by Trish (one of the leaders).  Nathan and Sarah received many awards!  It was a great evening in recognition of all their hard work this year.

 

Week 5 - October 2 - October 8, 2011

Language Arts:
We watched a few episodes of Christy, Flywheel, and The Cowboys with John Wayne.  Nathan read LOTS of books including two Imagination Station Books he found at the library.  He is learning to sing the books of the Bible and for handwriting he wrote out the first 15 books. 

Math:
Nathan watched the Math-U-See DVD for Lesson 4 and did the lessons.  Nate is learning about equivalent fractions this week.  He would do more than required because he was enjoying math so much!

Science:
The cranes, ducks, and geese are starting to flock together in preparation for the journey south!  There are sooooooooooooooo many around here.  It is a noisy time.  But it is a couple of weeks later this year.  We also saw a hawk and a bald eagle.

It has been very windy again this week.  LOTS of trees down.

We went on a "harvest" walk.  We picked wild blueberries.  They are small but delicious!!!!

We also picked rose hips and made rose hip tea!

Nathan picked some wild mint from the meadow.  We hung it up to dry so we can make tea.

We also harvested the last of our rhubard.

Social Studies:
Nathan is making a teepee!  He has the poles up and now he is in the process of deciding what to cover it with!
   
He found his snowshoes!  I guess he's wanting the snow to come...but I'm happy with the nice weather!!!  He learned some sign language that the Natives of the Plains used to communicate.  He learned more information about the Plains Indians and he did very neat mapwork and a crossword puzzle.  He also heard some information about the Salish people.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with a full turkey dinner together as a family! 

Other Stuff:
Nathan enjoyed going to Williams Lake with his family. 
He enjoyed playing some games with his family including Chess, Chinese Checkers, and Sorry.

PE:
Nate went on a long walk to find the berries for our wild harvest.  He rode his bike.  He went to swimming lessons on Tuesday night and did very well!!!  He is really enjoying learning to improve his strokes and his endurance.  He worked with his young horse, Midnight.

I Pad:
Well...Nathan put a password on his i pad and then couldn't remember the number!  So what do we do???  WE contacted our Techie Guy and I guess we'll have start all over and redo all the apps.  I guess it is a hard lesson to learn! 

Baking:
Nathan made pancakes for breakfast.  He also helped set the table for our Thanksgiving dinner.  He helped peel the yams, too.  Nate baked peanut butter cookies with his sister.

Week 4 - September 25 - October 1

Language Arts:

Nathan went to the library this week.  He got out many books and a Looney Tunes DVD.  Wes and Nathan sure had a great laugh over the adventures!  Nathan also read a Thea Stilton book, a Geronimo Stilton book, and a Hank the Cowdog book.  He is currently reading Focus on the Family - Imagination Station Book #1 - Voyage with the Vikings.  He also heard the novel "Stone Fox".  He finished reading "Bread and Butter Indian" and did narration.  He completed the novel study of "The Sign of the Beaver",  He watched some "Christy" episodes.

Math:
Nate watched the DVD for Lesson 3 and did all the lessons. He is learning about adding and subtracting fractions.  He also watched the DVD for Lesson 4.

Science:
Nathan and I collected some flower samples and taped them into our "Considering God's Creation" binder.  Nate looked closely at the petals and flowers and recorded them in his book.

WOW!  Was it ever windy this week.  Many trees fell down.  God's power is amazing.  Nate reviewed "Considering God's Creation" information on wind.  He also flew his kites and reviewed the information from his Thames and Kosmos Kit "Kite Dynamics".

Nate used the microscope to look at rock samples.  Very interesting observations!

Social Studies:
Nate updated his Book of Centuries with some photos.  He listened to information about Natives - Eastern Woodland Farmers, Eastern Woodland Hunters, and Natives of the Subarctic.  He listened to many library books about the various Native Groups.  He completed a word search and other puzzles using the information learned to date.  He completed his mapwork very neatly and played a matching game about aspects of Native life.  He did a review with the principal (dad!!!)  The principal was amazed at the information and facts Nathan could recall.


Extra Stuff:
Nathan made some cool vehicles out of Lego.  His dad showed him how to sharpen a chainsaw.  He did some fence mending with his dad.  Nate enjoys looking after and playing with his rabbit, Speckles.  He celebrated his parent's 20th Anniversary together with his family.

                                          


PE:

Nathan enjoyed using his left handed gold clubs again this week!  He made a "golf course" to practice on.  He rode his bike a few times including to the gravel pit to work on his "mine".  It is getting quite deep into the hill.  He stacked some hay.  Swimming lessons went wonderful!  Claire said that Natham took 50 seconds off his time from last week!

I Pad:

This week Nate seems to be enjoying Brain Pop!

Bible:
Nate does daily devotions with his family. He is also learning to sing the books of the Bible!

Art:

Nate is enjoying whittling and carving.  He carved a sword and dagger from some wood her found.  He also called a little funnel.  He got to see a friend's wooden table in process.  He watched the sanding and levelling process.  He is also enjoying learning to draw using "The Drawing Textbook".  He is working on shading and perspective.