Veterans Day

We had the opportunity to celebrate Veterans Day officially with the Barton House last week.  On Thursday we attended a flag ceremony put on by the National Guard.  They gave a wonderful salute, and tribute, to the empty place setting.  Many family members of the Barton House residents also attended.

Lilly's special requested hair style for the day

Today (11/11/13) we did some school activities and played with neighborhood friends, who were out of school for the day.

Riding Her Bike - No Training Wheels

Well, we finally got Lilly over to the track, with a softer falling surface, to practice riding a bike without training wheels.  She took to it like a bee to honey.  She rode first through the field portion and began to curve around to come back to us making great turns.  Then she rode around the track, riding for 1/8th of a mile first, and then all the way around, 1/4 mile, the second time.  In the afternoon she was riding her bike up and down the street, around the cul-de-sac, and in & out of the mini road across from us with the big boys of the neighborhood.
The boys all congratulated her and treated her with awe, giving her much confidence and huge smiles!

The Men Who Built America

Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor, Ford and Morgan. Their names are part of history and their efforts transformed a country.
Micah and I came part way into the 'The Men Who Built America' marathon on the History Channel Saturday afternoon (we missed Vanderbilt).  We were folding laundry and learning a lot about the Industrial Age.  The episodes went through the life of each man and then how their lives intertwined throughout their lives and the transformation of the United States.  We both learned a lot!

School Photos

This year our school photos were done by an Eastside family named the Dahlquists.  They have downloaded them for us, and these are the images that will be used in our Eastside Explorers Yearbook.  Other poses will be sent out soon, then I'll make a selection to have some printed.


Micah Rich - age 10, grade 4

Lilly Rich - age 5, kindergarten

War Horse

We just finished - our next audio book, in the car, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. 

It is a great story, written from the horse's viewpoint, about the war and devotion.  We had the book along with us in the car.  We own the movie, so we are planning to watch it in the near future and do a comparison.

 

Here's the official synopsis.

A powerful tale of war, redemption, and a hero's journey!
In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?

 

 

Boxes

Micah & Lilly were so excited to see the desks ... boxes.  They spent every spare moment today designing, cutting, taping, and playing with the "pony house" that they made.

NEW School Desks

We've been experimenting with different desks that we have in the house to use for school.  Now that Lilly is a 'serious student' this is a more important piece to the puzzle.  Criteria: good working space, appropriate height, drawers/storage, and fits well in our front/office/school room.  While browsing in IKEA a couple of times, a desk (x2) has caught my eye.  I told Matt I would earn some money to pay for the desks and then I could get them when I was in Tempe for Micah's BizTown activities.  Throughout the last month I have sold some furniture items on Craigslist, gotten a birthday gift card, and organized the garage for an upcoming yard sale.  With all of that - I had enough by Monday October 21st - yesterday.  They were built and set up by this morning!  Hooray!!!!  There will be lots of learning, creating, and discussing going on at these desks.  (A special thanks to Dave & Julie Rich for my IKEA gift card.)

Energy

Today for science we learned about energy - what makes things go.  Other key words were:  force, push, pull, and gravity.  Within our examples we talked about, and made, windmills.  We got some instructions from "Aunt Annie", and then experimented with them.  Micah & Lilly put them in front of the fan, rotating them to see if it mattered what direction the wind came from.  Then they ran down the hall, took put his on his bike and Lilly put hers on her scooter.  Those windmills were turning fast!!

Spirit Bear

We found the movie 'Spirit Bear' at the library and watched it this weekend.
Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story is a 2005 independent Canadian film based on the real life campaign by Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder Simon Jackson to save the habitat of the Kermode bear.  A great story of a young boy's perseverance, the Native American history of the bear, and friendship.
We then went online to research more about it and what's happening today.

The Moffats



Our second audio book, in the car, was the Moffats by Eleanor Estes in 1941.  While talking with a literary friend we found out there are more to this series.  Hooray!  This sweet little family is a paradigm of old-fashioned family fun. Four children and a hard-working widowed mother live together on New Dollar Street in the village of Cranbury. Their seemingly quiet lives are studded with almost daily unexpected adventures, with droll results.

Synopsis:
Meet the Moffats. There is Sylvie, the oldest, the cleverest, and-most days at least-the responsible one; Joey, who though only twelve is the man of the house...sometimes; Janey, who has a terrific upside-down way of looking at the world; and Rufus, who may be the littlest but always gets in the biggest trouble.
Even the most ordinary Moffat day is packed with extraordinary fun. Only a Moffat could get locked in a bread box all afternoon, or dance with a dog in front of the whole town, or hitch a ride on a boxcar during kindergarten recess. And only a Moffat could turn mistakes and mischief into hilarious one-of-a-kind adventure.

Nature Walk

We have been studying plants, their parts, and the jobs God gave them.  While Micah was beginning football practice, Lilly and I went on a nature walk.  We spotted varieties of trees and bushes, collected leaves, and seeds.  On the back side of the park we saw an owl in a tree.  Oh, it was an amazing sight.  (Lilly had Nibbles in her hands and we stood very careful so the owl wouldn't think Nibbles was real.)  We didn't have a camera, but Lilly said "wow mom, God gave us a Falcon, a butterfly, and now an owl.  Isn't that cool?"  Here are some pictures of a few of our plant finds.

Jamestown & Pocahontas

We spent some extra time on Captain John Smith and his influence with the settlement of Jamestown, named after King James, and his friendship with Pocahontas.  A favorite fact:  Pocahontas is a nickname from her father meaning "naughty one", when she was baptized in England they named her Rebecca.  (Lilly loved this!)  Lilly is our Rebecca/Pocahontas.  hehe!
Micah read The True Story of Pocahontas by Lucille Recht Penner and I read What's So Great About ...? Pocahontas by Susan Sales Harkins & William H. Harkins.

We are now beginning Squanto Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla.  This will transition us into our week of Native Americans.  He also meets Captain John Smith.

Sailing the seas

For two weeks we have been learning the dates & routes of various 'early explorers' - from Leif Ericsson 'the Viking' to Henry Hudson from England.  In between were Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, Ferdinand Magellan, Pedro Menendez, Vasco Balboa, Sir Walter Raleigh and John Smith.
We read a couple of fun chapter books:

• Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad.  It was about a young boy hired on as Christopher Columbus' ship boy and the journey from August 3, 1492 - February 14, 1493.
• Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? by Sydelle Kramer.  This goes through the struggles of being given the opportunity to pursue his God-given dreams to find a route around the world.

During this time we created ships and sailed them across the Atlantic Ocean.  It was also fun to tell the kids I had been to St. Augustine, Florida where the very first settlement was built.

Barton House

Today was our first day back to the Barton House after taking the summer months off.  The kids did the majority of our lesson based on our Bible Study we did this summer 'All We Like Sheep'.  (Isaiah 53:6)  They took their stuffed animal sheep, their cotton ball sheep, and their sheep characteristic drawings.  Lilly told them all of the reasons why sheep need full-time supervision and Micah explained each characteristic from the sheep and shepherd view.
Micah played the piano and we met several new residents.  It was a wonderful time reconnecting with the residents and staff.

Falcons - 1st game coming up

Micah's flag football team is underway and ready to start their season of games.  His team name is the FALCONS.  Coach Marty, told Micah last week that he will be starting quarterback for the team's 1st game on Saturday (28th).  He is so excited, and yet he is so nervous.  Every night (and every morning) he asks for prayers for his game.  They got their jerseys last night.  They are reversible!  (Is the Neihardt side laughing?!)

More butterflies

We had just been to the Butterfly Wonderland where thousands of butterflies were living happily for their 14-day lifespan (most of them).  This morning we had two butterflies caught in our herb garden net.  We were so sad.  Then we decided that God had given us these butterflies, maybe on their final day, to observe.  He knew we had just learned a lot about them and now we could touch them, inspect them, and learn from them in our own home.  So, we did ... and we thanked God for them (along with a few shed tears ... from all of us).  It was neat to 'see' the individual scales, and more, that we had learned about just 4 days ago.

Butterfly Wonderland

We have a new museum in Scottsdale - the Butterfly Wonderland.  Some of our friends, in another homeschool co-op, got a great group rate and gave us the opportunity to go with them on Thursday.  It was beautiful!

Our favorite parts:
Lilly - 15 minute video of the butterfly migration
Jodie - watching butterflies come out of their chrysalis; being in the 'steam room' with all the butterflies
Micah - the bees, ants, scorpions, and tarantula

When Micah was talking about it later he said "the butterflies were very pretty, but ... there were so many of them ... they were creeping me out."

Eastside Explorers - Kick-Off

Our homeschool co-op, Eastside Explorers, hosted their Kick-Off this weekend.  On Saturday night a large turnout of families got together for a fun evening of playing, school photos being taken, and socializing.  There are many new families to get to know and many families that we have grown in great relationships with.  Looking ahead at the events and field trips offered - it's going to be another great year!  Can you find Micah & Lilly in this group photo?

EE Kids at Kick-Off

Beginning 'My Father's World' - Adventures!

This is our first year to have a purchased curriculum.  We will be traveling through the history of the United States and learning about the Christian foundation of our forefathers.  This first week we are reviewing our map skills, and breaking apart the Pledge of Allegiance to fully understand it's meaning.
A great book for the pledge is:  I Pledge Allegiance by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson.
Here is a link to My Father's World curriculum.  Included are Bible lessons.  We are adding our own Math and Language Arts.

Flag Football

Micah has joined his first flag football team.  His baseball coach owns the Gridiron league and has created an interest in Micah.  We are not on Scott's team, but we are practicing closer to home.
Micah's first practice, with his team 'FALCONS' was last night.  There are 10 boys under Head Coach Marty.  For these first few weeks practices will be on Tuesday and Friday evenings 5-6:30pm.