Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Earth Science Projects for Week 3 - Part 2

K did the Smithsonian Rock and Gem Dig and it was well worth the money!  She loved it and still has some more to excavate for another day.  She was eager to show a neighborhood friend how to do it as well, it was awesome to hear them find a new gem!  We also had purchased the 75-piece quality rock and mineral collection for her to keep throughout the years.  Each rock or mineral is labeled with a number and the chart tells what it is and it comes with a small guide as well.  You can also test the rocks for the different characteristics (hardness, streaking, etc.).



Here are some video clips of the rock dig:

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Earth Science Projects for Week 3

Here are some of the projects we did for Week 3; Rocks, Fossils, Earthquakes and Volcanoes.

Busting open some geodes to see the crystals inside:



Instant Volcano Experiment from "More Mudpies to Magnets":



Grow Crystal Tree:



Part 2 of this week's projects:
http://www.cambridgeshireacademy.com/2012/01/earth-science-projects-for-week-3-part.html

K's Drawings

I'm amazed at how K is advancing in art, especially drawing.  She didn't trace these!  Could be I'm just proud of my baby but I think she draws really well:


Medieval Castle With Mosaics

We bought this awesome model of a Medieval Castle and my husband and daughter put it together.  I loved how we have a model of a castle now and she also learned about mosaics at the same time!  Here it is during the progress:


Here is the completed castle and figurines:


Earth Science Projects for Week 2

These are some of the projects we did for Week 2; Weather, which included: clouds, water cycle, storms, tornadoes and hurricances.  It was a perfect week to learn weather as we had a snow/ice storm, which enabled us to do a few more experiments.

Weather Prediction paper craft:


Hurricane Mini-Book:


Hot Bubble Fliers Experiment from "More Mudpies to Magnets":


The Big Meltdown Experiment from "More Mudpies to Magnets":

Friday, January 27, 2012

Rocks, Fossils, Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Read
  1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs.20-25
  2. Janice VanCleave's Rocks and Minerals (experiments)
  3. National Geographic Kids - Everything - Rocks and Minerals
  4. The Best Book of Fossils, Rocks and Minerals
  5. Usborne Spotter's Guide - Rocks and Minerals
  6. Geology of the Pacific Northwest - Ch. 3 Volcanoes & Earthquakes (You can get these books depending upon your area of the USA)
  7. Geology Rocks
Crafts/Projects/Experiments
  1. Crack Open Geodes
  2. Smithsonian Rock & Gem Dig
  3. Acid Test - Experiment pg. 89 in "More Mudpies to Magnets"
  4. Grow Crystal Tree
  5. Rock Collection Study
  6. Grow Your Own Crystal Candy
  7. Make a Fossil
  8. Exploding Volcano Papercraft
  9. Make a Volcano - Experiment pg. 91 in "More Mudpies to Magnets"
  10. Our Experiments/Projects
Interactives
  1. Rock Cycle
  2. Rocks
  3. Various Things on Rocks, Earthquakes and Volcanoes from the USGS Education page
  4. If Rocks Could Talk
  5. Earthquake Interactives/Animations
  6. Tsunami Animation
  7. Volcano Explorer
Videos
  1. All About Rocks and Minerals - Schlessinger Science Library (library)
  2. Science Fundamentals: Rocks and Minerals (library)
  3. Brain Pop - Volcanoes
  4. Lava Flow by Julia and Briana
  5. Bill Nye - Rocks and Soil; Earthquakes; Volcanoes; Fossils
  6. Earthquakes by Claire and Nisha
  7. All About Earthquakes - Schlessinger Science Library
Games/Puzzles
  1. Rocks & Soil
  2. Volcano Game - Magic School Bus

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Weather - Clouds, Water Cycle, Storms, Tornadoes, Hurricanes

Read
  1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs. 16-19
  2. Fluffy, Flat, and Wet: A Book About Clouds - Rau
  3. The Kid's Book of Weather Forecasting - Breen
  4. Clouds Mini Helper
  5. Cloud Chart
Crafts/Projects/Experiments
  1. Make a Tornado
  2. Make a Rainbow
  3. Make a Cloud
  4. Rain in a Jar
  5. Hurricane Mini-book
  6. Weather Book
  7. Chart Weather Daily - clouds, temperature, etc.
  8. Photos and Videos of Our Experiments/Projects
Interactives
  1. ID a Cloud
  2. Weather Maker
  3. WeatherLizard Quiz
  4. Wind Interactive
  5. Water Cycle Interactive
  6. Hurricane Interactive
  7. Tornado Interactive
Videos
  1. All About Wind & Clouds / Hurricanes & Tornadoes / All About Rain, Sleet & Snow / All About Climate & Seasons - Schlessinger Science Library (library)
  2. Bill Nye Videos: Wind; Storms; Water Cycle
  3. Weather Song
  4. Brain Pop - Thunderstorms
  5. Brain Pop - Rainbows
  6. Brain Pop - Hurricanes
  7. Brain Pop - Tornadoes
  8. Fog
Games/Puzzles
  1. Weather Games
  2. Weather Activities
  3. Cloud Maker
  4. Weather File Folder Game

Earth Science Projects for Week 1

Here are some of the projects we did for Week 1 studying Earth, Atmosphere, Day and Night and Seasons

Earth mini-lapbook, well worth the 50 cents!  K chose to put it together by herself and she did the questions too:


We did a paper craft about the layers of the earth, atmosphere and then about the rainbow.  We also listened to the song "Rainbows Over You" about 10+ times, K kept wanting to hear it over and over and over!  She loved how "Rainbows Over You, God's Blessed Vow" taught her the colors of the rainbow.



We enjoyed putting together the "Journey to the Earth's Core Play & Learn puzzle" as a family during dinner one night, it was so much fun!




Saturday, January 7, 2012

Free Printable - 2nd Grade Experiment Page

I made a free printable page that contains the Well Trained Mind's questions for Earth & Space science experiments: 2nd Grade Experiment Page

Earth, Atmosphere, Day and Night, and Seasons

Read
  1. Usborne's First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World - pgs. 4-5, 12-15
  2. The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth
  3. The Air We Breathe Mini Book

Crafts/Projects/Experiments
  1. Earth, atmosphere and rainbow paper craft from Considering God's Creation
  2. The Reasons for the Seaons Lab; Air Takes Up Space Lab; Air Has Mass Lab from R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Earth & Space
  3. Earth Mini Lapbook - Click here for ours completed
  4. Seasons Book
Videos/Interactives
  1. Earth's Seasons Interactive
  2. Label Vocabulary 
  3. Brain Pop Earth Video
  4. Geography Seasons
  5. What Causes Earth's Seasons?
  6. Bill Nye Seasons; Earth's Crust and Atmosphere
Games/Puzzles
  1. Journey to the Earth's Core Play & Learn Puzzle - Click here for the completed puzzle

2nd Grade Earth Science

*See my 2020 post on 2nd Grade Earth Science here.

We are starting 2nd grade Earth Science, which is scheduled to last for 18 weeks but I broke down the topics into 8.  I plan on taking longer in the category that K shows more interest in or wants to do more projects/experiments in.  We've already studied a few things from some of these, so we won't spend as much time on those.  We are doing an experiment each week and any crafts or projects that correspond to the topics.

We are using the Usborne First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Our World as our spine.  I plan on listing all the resources for each as we go like I did with the human body study.
  1. Earth, atmosphere, day/night and seasons
  2. Weather (clouds, rainbows, water cycle, storms, tornadoes and hurricanes)
  3. Rocks, fossils, earthquakes and volcanoes
  4. Under the ground, caves and caverns and mountains
  5. Rivers, floods, seashore, seas/oceans and under the sea
  6. Desert, grassland and rainforest
  7. Ice and glaciers
  8. Cities/towns, useful earth, food web and world in danger

Friday, January 6, 2012

3rd Grade Curriculum

We buy our curriculum every February and I love having it available so we can just go right into the next level in subjects K is quicker in.  Here are our choices for 3rd grade:


  • Bible - Christian Studies 2
  • Spelling - Spelling Workout E; All About Spelling - 5 & 6
  • Grammar - First Language Lessons 3
  • Writing - Writing With Ease 3
  • History - Story of the World 3
  • Science - Adventures with Atoms and Molecules I & II; Usborne First Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Science; Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia
  • Math -Saxon Math 5/4
  • Latin - Prima Latina
  • Art -Artistic Pursuits Book 3
  • Home Economics - Pearables Home Economics 3

Here is a slideshow of the order we got of the goodies!

Completion & Next Level Planning

We will be going right into the next level in each subject as soon as we finish the one we are on now.  I went ahead and did a completion planning on what we are using now and then also planned projection dates for our new curriculum.  However in science, we are waiting until next January to start (chemistry), I like to spend as much time as can on each year of science.  I also like to take my time with history, so starting a few months earlier with the next grade helps us keep it at a slower pace.

Here are start dates for our new curriculum, we will finish the ones we are on now the week before we start the new one:
  1. Spelling Workout D - April 30th
  2. All About Spelling 3 - April 16th
  3. Saxon Math 3 - May 14th
  4. First Language Lessons 3 - June 18th
  5. Writing With Ease 3 - August 6th
  6. Story of the World 3 - September 3rd

2nd Grade Daily Schedule *Updated

Mon-Fri
Bible
Reading - 30m morning; 60m evening

Mon-Wed and Friday
Spelling - 40m
Grammar - 10m
Writing - 10m
Cursive - 10m
Math - 40m

Monday and Wednesday
Science - 1 hour

Tuesday and Friday
History - 1 hour

Weekend
Art - 1 hour
Home Economics - 1 hour

Daily (Sun-Sat)
Piano practice -10m
Violin practice - 10m

Husband Helps
Bible
Reads classics
Music

Thursday, January 5, 2012

*New - 2012 2nd Grade Yearly Schedule

You can read about how we restructured our homeschool to start in January here.

2012 2nd Grade Yearly Schedule

Start - January 9th
End - November 21st

No School for my Freezer Cooking Weeks:
March 19-23
June 18-22
September 17-21

Total Schooling Weeks Left = 43 weeks

*Take days off whenever we feel like it throughout the year.

January Homeschool Year Start

I've read others who start a new school year in January and it really peeked my interest.  After reading how they do it, brainstorming how we would do it, I decided that it was a good fit for us!  So we restructured our homeschool schedule and are putting the starting place at January 9th.  We plan on taking from Thanksgiving through New Years off every year, since those are our busiest times, it just made more sense.  I also find September too busy outside in the garden to "start" a new grade, it just doesn't work for me!

I also like the fact that you can use one calendar to do your planning.  So we are starting second grade on Monday, yes we are already a couple of months ahead but now we can slow down and enjoy more projects and experiments.  I don't like taking off 3 months in the summer because children forget too much in that length of time, so we are just planning to take off days when its sunny - being in the rainy Northwest, those are not a guarantee and we want to enjoy when they come in the summer!  Even on those "days off," we may still be doing 'school' with nature walks and such - life is a learning adventure!

I'm planning in weeks off for my freezer cooking throughout the year, but I only do freezer cooking 4 times a year and one of those falls within our December break.  So, we only need 3 weeks off this year for my freezer cooking.

Here is our schedule for the years to come, although I'm not married to this thing and we will change it to what we feel like - that is the great part about homeschooling!

2012 - 2nd grade
2013 - 3rd grade
2014 - 4th grade
2015 - 5th grade
2016 - 6th grade
2017 - 7th grade
2018 - 8th grade
2019 - 9th grade
2020 - 10th grade
2021 - 11th grade
2022 - 12th grade

It feels so weird to write 2022, wow!  To think that my baby will be finishing high school in 10 years is sad, it seems so short.  I was listening to an audio by Susan Wise Bauer and she was saying how you don't have to do school 12 years, you can do it 14 years if you want!  If my daughter wants later on, we could do a 5-6 year high school, instead of a 4-year one, allowing her more time to finish her learning.  Who knows, but I love having the option!

Homeschool Room - Decluttered, Organized & New Addition

I decluttered and organized our homeschool room for the new school year and then we also added another bookcase for games and puzzles.  It is more efficient to have them near the table and all in one place!  I made some new files in my file box - ones for all the seasons that includes paper crafts and lapbooks and then one for each subject for additional printables or projects we want to do.  I still have more plans when time permits to have library lists already planned out, but slowly getting super organized for efficiency!


Monday, January 2, 2012