Extra Curriculars

Last week this little lady started dance team. I can't believe how much she has grown!

This young man was ecstatic to pick up and try on his sparring gear! A picture of Jayden smiling for the camera is a rare thing!

He was super nervous his first day of sparring class and was worried he didn't belong there. He did amazing though! It was really intense but he managed to keep up with the rest of his class, just like I knew he would! 

Finally, they got their goggles for swimming class. They have been working on proper diving technique.

Wild Explorers - Elk Badge

The kids are working on earning their Elk Badge in their Wild Explorers Club.

Their assignment last week:

PICK UP GARBAGE AT AN OUTDOOR AREA NEAR YOU
"Caring for others is also about caring for the environment around you. This week, find a safe place away from traffic and clean up the trash others have left behind. You'll need a plastic garbage bag along with gloves. Bring your family or friends along to make it fun and safe. You are becoming a "Trash Warrior!"


We headed off to a local park and the kids spent half an hour picking up trash.

 Once they were done, they played for a bit in the park.

It was pretty hot and muggy out so our trip was short, but they had fun!

History

Cait and I started the American Girl girl series last week. We completed the first book and she loved it! We are now working our way through the second book.

She began working on her lapbook.

We mapped out where the Native Americans lived during that time and labeled it on the map.

To better understand Kaya's life, we will be studying Native Americans. Caitlin completed the first Native American unit from History Pockets: Native Americans.

After reading about the Inuit tribe, she labeled the map with her "shelter stamp", showing where the Inuit mostly lived. With each new tribe we learn about, she will be adding their shelter stamp to the appropriate spot.

She is working on a comparison chart of the Native Americans we will be learning about. We will compare and contrast the clothing, food, and shelter of each tribe we study. She filled in the Inuit portion.

She is also working on a Native American picture dictionary. 

Finally, she cut, colored, and glued together her history pocket on the Inuit tribe.

We've been reading about the Nez Perce tribe and Chief Joseph.

 Caitlin did an activity on Chief Joseph on Brain Pop Jr.

She learned new vocabulary words that helped her better understand what she was reading in the books.

 She also created a picture of Chief Joseph, delivering a message to people today.

Jayden has been working hard in history as well. His work involves a lot of independent reading, answering questions, fun writing assignments, and map work. In order for me to feel somewhat in the loop with his history, he reads to me from his books.

 Last week he learned about Africa and it's neighbors. He read about the struggle Africans faced to keep their land from being invaded by Dutch farmers known as Boers, who were in search of a different place to live after the British seized their land. 

 He also read about David Livingstone and his fight to end the slave trade.

 One of his assignments included writing a journal entry from Livingstone's perspective.

 Finally, he had to label his map and work on filling in what the map key said.

Science

Last week we started Chemistry. (Jayden decided he wants to do it with us in addition to his other science class.)

They got to be "chemistry detectives", looking for chemicals in everyday things. They started by listing chemicals they have heard of and chemicals they haven't heard of from cereal boxes.

They listed 4 chemicals in things they use everyday (they chose to check their toothpaste and mouthwash), and two chemicals that are dangerous (we found these chemicals in household cleaning products). They also learned that all things are made of chemicals, the definition of chemistry, a chemist, and a hypothesis.

Our second experiment involved understanding the difference between physical tests and chemical tests.

For the physical test they observed the look, smell, and feel of vinegar, baby powder, and baking soda before recording them on their lab sheet.

Next we moved on to the chemical test, using the same vinegar, baby powder, and baking soda, to see how they reacted with water, oil, and acid (vinegar). 

We also tried the experiments with food coloring to get a better idea of how well things did or didn't dissolve. 

And finally, in his online science class, Jayden spent this week learning about the scientific method and the metric system.

First week of school

Our first day of school started off with Caitlin learning to tie her sneakers. Up until now she never really had shoes with laces so that skill slipped through the cracks. Juan taught her how to tie her laces in two minutes!

Jayden started Teaching Textbooks this week. His first assignment was reviewing roman numerals.

Caitlin has been flying through her lessons. They are also a review. She finished her first unit quiz.

We read Wonder for Teatime Tuesday this week. Of course we baked cookies and made tea to go with it.

 They both started swim this week too. Talk about exhaustion afterward!

Afterward we had our Wild Explorers Club meeting. This week we had to help a child in need. We met as a group and shared what each family would do in order to complete this assignment. Our group leader will be hosting a pool party and the kids will sell lemonade. All of the proceeds will be donated to charity. Each family coming will be donating a bag of groceries to be given to a local food pantry. After our group discussion, we read the book Beatrice's Goat,which is a true story about a how the lives of a poor African family drastically changed after receiving a goat.

This has been a very busy week!