Homeschool Week 1/26 - 1/30

I'm a little late posting for this week. It's been a busy Saturday.

I wasn't very good about taking pictures this week, but I do have several videos, thanks to remembering the camera for swimming lessons!

Cati finished her month-long study of the human body. Here she is with her completed lapbook.

I didn't scan in Maria's chemistry lab report for this week, so I'll just have to explain this week's experiment myself. The question of the week was, "Do air molecules move further apart as they warm?" She put the empty bottle in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Then, she removed the bottle, placed it on the counter, and placed a quarter over the top of it. As the air in the bottle warmed, it wanted to escape. Listen and watch carefully to see what happened!

I don't have any artwork to show you this week. We never got around to it, but I figured the girls would get to do it at their St. Vincent classes that were supposed to start on Friday. Unfortunately, their 1st classes of this new session were cancelled due to the weather. They were REALLY disappointed. Instead, I finished reading "Charlie and Chocolate Factory" to them and let them watch the movie.

No history to show you this week either. To be honest, I was just too busy to scan in any work today. They learned about Cyrus of Persia and about Athens and Sparta.

All the other subjects proceeded as usual. Cati is only 2 weeks away from finishing her current level of math and spelling. She was excited to receive her new math books this week and is eager to get started!

I got a couple of videos of Cati playing the piano this week.

Here is Matteo's video debut in the "big pool." He was allowed to join the homeschool Swim and Gym lessons with the girls even though he's not 6 years old yet. Their swimming lessons are in the big pool, as opposed to the smaller, warmed, 3ft-all-the-way-across pool that he usually has lessons in. He's been doing very well.

Here is Cati doing a "sit dive" (their introduction to diving) followed by an assisted freestyle swim. She's also been doing very well in swimming.

Here is Maria doing the back stroke. She also continues to improve. She's been swimming very well for a while now, and she really enjoys it!

And here is Chiara, taking it all in. She's enjoying a little snack of cheese nips while watching her siblings swim.

Homeschool Week 1/19 - 1/23

Thankfully, it's been much warmer this week! The temp even rose above freezing Thursday and Friday afternoon, but it's turned colder again today. Here is a picture of the kids enjoying the snow last Sunday:



We had a good week. The kids decided to do art on Monday when they were done with their other work. Chiara and Matteo joined in the fun, too.


Maria wanted to try this butterfly.



She used pastels and tried to smudge the colors to make it look like the above picture. I thought she did a good job :)


Cati chose a different butterfly:



She used markers and chose her own color scheme :)



The girls learned more about the Greeks this week. We read an excerpt from "The Odyssey" and wrote their names in Greek. We also learned about the first Olympics. Here is Maria's narration on that topic:



I'm really trying to work more consistently with Matteo. He's been practicing reading and writing more often. Here are some writing exercises that he did this week practicing diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines.

Maria did a chemistry experiment about acid rain.

You can already see bubbles in the bowl with the vinegar.

Cati finished memorizing a poem:

Here is the picture that she drew to go with the poem.

Cati learned about the fractions 1/3 and 1/6 earlier this week. She's already had lessons on 1/2 and 1/4.

She learned the "adding 9" facts, and she did a lesson on liquid measurement. Here she is learning the number of cups there are in a quart.

Chiara always wants to join in the fun!!

Maria wanted to try crocheting again. She tried about a year ago, and it was a little difficult, but she's really caught on this time. She's making a blanket for a doll that she got for Christmas. She's been working on it a little everyday. I've been impressed with how well she's doing!

Cati learned about the respiratory and muscular systems this week. Here is her diagram of an arm showing how the muscles work.

Maria's been reading "Farmer Boy" by Laura I. Wilder. She asked to read "The Long Winter" next!

I've been reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to the kids before bed for a few weeks now, and the kids love it!

Of course, we're always working on our Language Arts (grammar, spelling, writing) and Catechism, but I don't usually have an interesting picture for those. And, Maria's doing very well in math. Her math just doesn't have all the fun manipulative activities that Cati's does, so no pics :)

Have a great week!

Our homeschool week 1/12 -1/16

It was VERY cold here this week. The temp this morning at 7am was -5 degrees F (-21 degrees C) with a wind chill of -15 degrees F (-26 degrees C). Needless to say, the kids and I have stayed at home most of the week. We did manage to dig the van out of the snow and go to Swim and Gym at the Y on Thursday. Of course, poor Dany did have to get out in the weather to go to work this week. To top it off, a water pipe burst in the ceiling over his office on Friday causing a HUGE mess :( :(



On Wednesday afternoon, the temps were in the teens (relatively warm) and I let the kids go play in the snow. It has snowed a good bit more since then, but I haven't let them out to play. It's just been too cold.





















Last weekend, the kids made their garden stepping stones from the kit that Uncle Rob and Aunt Jess gave them for Christmas. Then the kids wanted to know when they could start planting seeds for their garden. I assured them that it would a LONG time!!














We had a good homeschool week this week. I really feel that we're back in the swing of things!
We got back to our drawing projects this week. For Cati's birthday, she received some oil pastels from Aunt Ginny, so we explored those in our drawings.


Here was Maria's inspiration for her drawing. She drew the flower with the butterfly on it.










She was very happy with the results that the pastels gave her.

Cati wanted to draw a pig and used this picture as her guide.

Here is her drawing in pastels:

Then she drew the same picture with her art markers.

I got the Play-doh out this week to try to keep Matteo and Chiara occupied during my lessons with the older girls. Cati finished her work quickly and joined in the fun. Play-doh has always been one of her favorite things! She made a Minotaur. We've read the story of the Minotaur of Crete in history lately. The kids have loved the book and read it lots of time, even though I find the story rather gruesome!

In science this week, Maria did an experiment about density.

Cati continued her study of the human body. She learned about the circulatory system, digestive system, neuro system this week. She worked on her lapbook and watched a couple of animations on the computer.

It's really bothering her now that she glued the intestines in the folder upside down!

Chiara struggles with her natural hatred of having any hairtie or clip in her hair and with her desire to wear them like her sisters. Last night she asked me to put a hairtie in her hair, and she kept it in long enough to get a picture!

That's all for this week! Have a great weekend! Go Steelers!!

First homeschool week of the New Year

First, I have to direct your attention to my friend, Kelly's, blog (link is on the right side of my blog page). She finally had her baby on Saturday! Congratulations, Rosamond family, on your beautiful baby girl! I wish I could be there!! And, Thanks be to God for a safe delivery!

Well, as you all know, getting back on track is difficult after the holidays. But, we managed a good week and accomplished a lot. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures this week, but I'll try to get back into the habit!

The girls read about the Babylonians and Assyrians this week and about the 2nd of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Of course, we read about the 1st (the Great Pyramid) in the fall when we studied the Egyptians.

Math, Grammar, Spelling, etc., were more of the usual. Cati's getting very close to finishing Level 1 of her math program. She started learning about solid geometrical shapes this week.

Maria says that she's enjoying learning more about fractions this year.

In Science, Maria did 2 chemistry experiments. The first was just the start of one. She had to set a small cup of regular vinegar and one of apple cider vinegar in a window sill to allow them to evaporate and isolate the apple part of the second. It's left a wonderful smell in our living room! :) I wonder how long it will take for these to evaporate!! We're still waiting 5 days later!!

In the 2nd experiment, she compared the effectiveness of soap in hard water vs. soft water by adding Epson salt to one container of water. Good news is that our water seems to be pretty soft here :)

Cati started a unit on the human body that will take her through the month. We started with cells and tissues on Tuesday and the cardiovascular system on Wednesday. Thanks to Grandma, we have lots of materials for this unit!! She enjoyed comparing her resting and exercising heart rates. Unfortunately, even 30 seconds of jumping jacks triggered an asthma episode.

Both of the girls got new poems to memorize this week. It always amazes me to see how much they enjoy this. They think so many of these poems are so funny. Cati's poem is much shorter than Maria's, so she already finished memorizing her new one this week. Here is her copy of the poem with some art work to go with it. I realized that she didn't understand what a "bill" was in reference to a bird when she drew her picture. (See the 1st line of the poem.) She drew the only bill she's heard of - the ones she hears Dany and I talk about having to pay (notice the yellow rectangle at the end of the bird's wing!)

Here is Matteo doing a little writing practice:

The kids started back with some of their activities this week. They had religion ed (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) on Tuesday. For some reason, the YMCA has been slow getting their Homeschool Swim & Gym program up and running for this session. I called one last time on Wednesday to see if they might have it ready for sign ups yet and found out that they were starting on Thursday! So, we went Thursday afternoon. There were only 2 other kids there, probably because of the late sign ups. When I realized that Cati was going to be in her own swimming group (the other 3 kids were in the higher level group), I asked if it would be possible for Matteo to take swimming lesson with her. They said yes!! Yeah!! Now, we only have to go once a week to the Y!

Appointment updates...

On Monday, I had a prenatal check-up. Everything was fine, of course.

On Friday, Maria had an orthodontic check-up. She will continue wearing her night brace for the next 4 weeks on its current setting - I'm sure she's happy not to have to tighten it anymore! And, they told us that she will be getting her braces in 4 weeks.

That's all for this week! I hope you all survived the 1st full week of the New Year!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Cati!

Happy (belated) 6th birthday, Cati!!!

Cati's birthday was actually last Thursday, Jan 1st. I'm just now finding time to post pictures from the big day because we left to go back to PA the next day, and I've spent the weekend restocking the house with food and putting away (most) of the things that we brought back.

Here she is icing her cupcakes...


Here are the kids before the gift-opening began! (Chiara was napping.) You can see Maria modeling a new hat that Ginny knitted and the (sad!!) UGA football game on the TV.

Cati got lots of great birthday gifts, like a child's digital camera...

...new art supplies...

...a new Insect trivia game...

...a new American girl book...

...and a new American Girl outfit for the doll she got for Christmas...

...and a new Barbie set.

Here she is reading the poem that Maria wrote to her for her birthday!

Here's the birthday girl using her new camera!

Happy birthday, Cati!!!

Her doll has already changed into her new clothes!

And, the traditional off-key singing :)