"Shalom" from Israel!

This week in our Expedition Earth studies we "travelled" to Israel.  So first stop was stamping their passports and finding that teeny tiny country (same size as New Jersey) on the map. 

I think her finger is covering the country it's so small.


They practiced writing their names in Hebrew as well as "Hello" and "Thank-you"!

Here is the flag for Israel with the "Star of David" in the center.

They put together their animal mini-books and added the animals to the wall classification chart!

They added the Israel label to the continents poster.

We learned about the "Dome of the Rock" and they made their own very "colorful" one!

And they made a Mosaic Coaster (just bought a kit at Michaels)

First they created their design, then added glue to the tiles, turned tiles over and gave it 30 minutes to dry.

Next the grout was added (I messed up though and added too much water...woops).

We also read about Missionary William Carey last week and this week they "translated" a message just like William Carey translated the Bible into Hindi for the people of India.

They were added to their "Keepsake" boxes for our YWAM  missionaries!

Other things we did this week:

• Learned the Zum Gali Gali song
• Prayed for Israel
• Learned how to say hello in Hebrew
• About Children in Israel

"Toda" (thank-you) for visiting my blog.  "Lehitrahott" (goodbye) until next week...where we will be off to Thailand (my favorite food is Thai so we will certainly be going out to a Thai restaurant!)

"Namaskar" from India!

This week we "travelled" to India in our Expedition Earth curriculum!  First things first they stamped their passports and of course found India on our world map!

They practiced writing their names, "hello", and "thank-you" in Hindi.

They did a map & flag page!

Added the India Label to our continents poster

They put together their animal mini-books for India which included: The Indian Elephant, Cherotain, Water Buffalo, Begal Tiger, Asian Cobra, and Indian Cow.

And added the animal photos to the classification chart!

They had fun making inlay jewel mosaics with Crayola self-hardening clay and plastic jewels!

And one of our highlights this week was doing My Passport to India project. 

I had ordered the free materials in advance.  The girls each got a passport and one paper suitcase piggy bank to add change to during the week.  Each day we went to the website and watched a short video, then answered 2 questions in the passport book and added a sticker.  The girls loved it!!  At the end of the week we did a small donation to the organization to help send kids in India to a Bible Club. ($1 will pay for one child to attend a Bible Club).

For our Missionary, we read about William Carey!

We also went to a local Indian Restaurant called "Ganesh"...but we went a week later.

She loved the curry chicken & rice!

Curry Chicken & Rice...Yummy!

Our oldest helping our youngest eat her food in the Nadi Bread!

Other things we did this week were:

• Learned the Anilae Anilae song
• Prayed for India w/around 800 million Hindu's
• Learned how to say hello in Hindi
• Learned about children in India
• Watched a Youtube Bollywood video

"Dhanyabahd" (thank-you) for visiting this blog!  "Vidaaya" (Goodbye) for now.  Next week we will visit Israel!

Math, Math, and more Math!

  Math has been a difficult & challenging subject for my 2nd grader.  Math time meant either my daughter in tears, me in tears, or me sending her to her room for a bad attitude.

Over the last few years I have given several different curriculum's a try, but each time the results were the same, frustration and tears.  A while back I had come across a math curriculum called Math Lessons for a Living Education (once on website click on "Math Lessons" on left side of screen).  I loved everything about it and that it followed the Charlotte Mason approach!!  Only book 1 had been released at the time, which would have been too easy for my oldest, but the perfect skill level for my middle one.  I ordered it and have been using it daily with dd2.  I noticed my dd1 wanting to listen in and be involved but when it came time to do her own math there was lots of resistance.  I was so thankful when I got the news that book 2 was released!!  I ordered it right away and so far she is loving it and asking to do more!

Book 1 for ages 4-6

This book is written to be used by you and your young child together. It is the story of twin brother and sister who are visiting their grandparents’ farm. They soon learn that the farm is full of learning opportunities! As you read their story, your child will be drawn into the adventure along with the twins. They will learn about numbers, shapes, place value, adding and subtracting. They will also learn about gardening, baby animals on the farm, nature and the love of family. They will hear exciting stories from Grandpa and Grandma, and they will be invited to join the twins on their living math adventures. I hope you have a grand time on this adventure. Below is an explanation of how this book is laid out. It is meant to be easy to use and something your children will want to do everyday. Have a wonderful time exploring and learning! This 300 page consumable volume is spiral bound to lay comfortably flat for the right or left handed student, complete with cut-out manipulative's. Everything you need to teach math for an entire year! 36 weeks' worth of lessons.

Scope & Sequence

Lesson 1 The Adventure Begins, We Learn Numbers 0-9

Lesson 2 How Many Eggs? Review of Numbers 0-9

Lesson 3 A Bed for Pokey (Introducing Rectangles)

Lesson 4 Circles and Patterns

Lesson 5 Review of Concepts

Lesson 6 More Numbers, Patterns, Shapes, Introducing Triangles

Lesson 7 Learning to Count with Bigger Numbers, Introducing Place Value

Lesson 8 More Work with Place Value

Lesson 9 Review of Concepts

Lesson 10 Place Value, Patterns of 10s

Lesson 11 Practice with Patterns and Shapes

Lesson 12 Introducing the + Symbol

Lesson 13 Addition +1

Lesson 14 Writing and Adding Numbers, Introducing the Days of the Week

Lesson 15 More About Addition (Vertical Addition)

Lesson 16 More Addition, Introducing Squares

Lesson 17 Two by Two (Introducing Skip Counting by 2s)

Lesson 18 Number Families, Addition to Tens

Lesson 19 Counting by 10

Lesson 20 Addition of Hundreds

Lesson 21 Solving for an Unknown

Lesson 22 Counting by 5s

Lesson 23 Tally Marks

Lesson 24 Addition: Making 10

Lesson 25 Skip Count to find Area (?)

Lesson 26 Telling Time with Minutes

Lesson 27 TellingTime with Hours

Lesson 28 Telling Time with Minutes and Hours

Lesson 29 Subtraction Intro to symbol

Lesson 30 Subtraction -1

Lesson 31 Review of Shapes

Lesson 32 Review of Place Value

Lesson 33 Review of addition

Lesson 34 Review of skip counting 2’s and 5’s

Lesson 35 Review of skip counting 10’s and tally marks

Lesson 36 Numbers to 100

Book 2 for ages 6-8

This book is written to be used by you and your child together. It is the continuing story of Charlie and Charlotte, who are learning that life is full of learning opportunities! As you read their story, your child will be drawn into the adventure along with the twins. They will learn about numbers, shapes, place value, adding and subtracting. They will also learn about the seasons, geography and the love of family. They will be invited to join the twins on their living math adventures. I hope you have a grand time on this adventure. This book is meant to be easy to use and something your children will want to do everyday.

To put it simply, we don’t do grade levels; they are man-made, artificial, and vary from curriculum to curriculum. We believe in skill levels instead. When a child has mastered one thing, he is ready to move to the next thing. This goes for all people, not just children. When was the last time someone asked you what grade level cookbook you use, or at what grade level do you keep your checkbook? Better yet, are you “behind” in housekeeping skills? See how silly that sounds? We don’t do this to each other as adults; why should we do it to our children? This math series follows skill level. Therefore, you will not find any inference to grades.


Scope and Sequence

Lesson 1: Place Value Village, Telling Time, Shapes and Patterns
Lesson 2: Addition - Horizontal and Vertical, Shapes
Lesson 3: Subtraction
Lesson 4: Writing Numbers to 100, Simple Fractions
Lesson 5: Introducing Word Problems
Lesson 6: Skip Counting by Using Dimes and Nickels, Minutes on the Clock
Lesson 7: Skip Counting by 2, Review Even and Odd Numbers
Lesson 8: Addition - Double Digit Plus Single Digit
Lesson 9: Addition - Double Digit Plus Double Digit
Lesson 10: Addition Review - All Concepts Learned
Lesson 11: Introducing Measurement - Inches/Feet, Review Time and Shapes
Lesson 12: Introducing Perimeter
Lesson 13: Telling Time to the Minute
Lesson 14: Place Value Village Practice - Place Value to the Thousand’s Place
Lesson 15: More Work with Subtraction
Lesson 16: Introducing Addition with Carrying to the Ten’s Place
Lesson 17: Introducing Subtraction with Borrowing from the Ten’s Place
Lesson 18: Review of Regrouping Concepts
Lesson 19: Understanding Dollars and Cents - Writing Money
Lesson 20: Review - Money
Lesson 21: Introducing Thermometers and Other Gauges
Lesson 22: Reading Bar Graphs and Line Graphs
Lesson 23: More on Measurement - Pounds and Ounces
Lesson 24: More Measurement Concepts - Gallons, Quarts, Pints, Cups
Lesson 25: Review of Measurement
Lesson 26: Adding Money - No Regrouping
Lesson 27: Subtracting Money - Making Change
Lesson 28: More Work with Word Problems
Lesson 29: More Work with Telling Time
Lesson 30: More Work with Measurement
Lesson 31: Review of Place Value Through the Thousand’s Place
Lesson 32: Review of Word Problems - the Steps of Solving
Lesson 33: Review of Adding and Subtracting - Double Digit Problems
Lesson 34: Review of Money Concepts
Lesson 35: Review of Time and Temperature
Lesson 36: Review of Addition and Subtraction Fact Families

Another thing I need to remember (and maybe you do to?) is that my child is still very young.  If I need to set the math up on the shelf for a few months...it's OK!  It's not worth all the tears and frustration.  Math can be fun! 

Here are some other ideas for doing living math!
Living Math Ideas
Living Math Books
Jimmies Collage

"Konnichiwa" from Japan!

To start our week off, we went on a field trip with friends from our homeschool co-op to The NW Trek Wildlife Park.  What a fun experience to see all those amazing animals up so close.  We saw everything from beavers, coyotes, bears, bison, moose, deer, mountain goats, skunks, otters, and cougars!  And of course viewing all the different and breathtaking habitats!

This week we "travelled" to Japan with our Expedition Earth studies.  First off they stamped their passports and located the country on the map!

The girls put together their animal mini books and added animals to the classification chart.

They had fun writing their names in Japanese.

They did their map & flag pages.

And added Japan to their Continents poster.

We made our first ever Origami's (star shaped boxes).  This was a success thanks to a step by step You Tube video!

And while eating Spaghetti for dinner my girls reminded me that in Japan it is POLITE to slurp your noodles!

My girls are having table manners...if they lived in Japan!

We also watched a few You Tube videos about the Itsukushima Shrine  and the recent Tsunami 2011 that happened in Japan.  It was a short but fun week learning about Japan. 

Arigatou (thank-you) for stopping by and Sayonara (good-bye) until next time.  Next stop is India!