Saturday, March 14, 2015

Ancients Sonlight Core G Week 9 "A" (LOW) March 7-13, 2015

Ancients Sonlight Core G
Week 9 “A”
(28th week on Core G, 9/36)
March 7-13, 2015


Actual SUNSHINE!


Our first taste of SPRING! The snow has been melting, and all the icicles are gone from the buildings in our apartment complex. 

For more pictures of our trip to frozen Lake Michigan, see the post right after this one---lots of pictures there!

 This week we did manage to drive to Lake Michigan and enjoy our time at Kirk Park, and we also went to our library in downtown Grand Rapids twice.  With the new arrival of warmer temperatures we were able to take a few nature hikes around our complex and open our windows in our apartment.  

Our house in Indiana is STILL for sale, and we are anxiously awaking some great family to buy it so we can move out of this tiny apartment and into a cozier house! All three of us have had some health issues this week, and Dh stayed home on Monday b/c of his illness.  We are all trying to recover, and the warmer temperatures are definitely helping (at least me!)

Timeline and Timeline figures: Confession—I’ve been working hard—cutting out and gluing down all our Ancient timeline figures that from Homeschool in the Woods.  Year after year, I keep thinking my Dd will eventually learn to love her timeline book; and each year she consistently tells me that I am the only one who likes doing it!  And I do!  I totally admit I think doing our timeline is so much fun, and really puts history into a visual snapshot that I appreciate.  So, this core I have finally stopped making her do it, and I’ve taken it as something I do, and she looks at!  A compromise! And a good laugh at a geeky mom!

We are continuing to add various materials to our Sonlight Core G schedule to best meet OUR needs.  



Our lessons this week:

Bible focus:
The Kingdom of Judah, Rehoboam, Abijah, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Menasseh, Amon
Isaiah, Micah, Nahum…

Bible/BiblioPlan: Ancients
(I really like how this book (BiblioPlan: Ancients Companion) brings Geography, Bible, and History all together in every chapter.  I really wanted to unite our bible with our history, but was unable to skillfully do that myself.  I am so glad I’ve found a book that has done the work for me!!!  I like it so well that I have slowed down our pace of moving forward to catch up the BiblioPlan book to where we are in history.  We had already learned about the Sumerians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians…but was happy to learn more about all the ancient peoples with the new material.  I am sure we were able to add the new material to our overall comprehension of the ancients.  BiblioPlan has placed the figures from our bible into reality and not floating adrift any more.)

Ch. 17: Crete
Ch. 18: Greek Beginnings
(Homer, Olympics, Trojan War, Sennacherib, Hezekiah’s Tunnel)
Ch. 19: India
(Rig Veda, Hinduism, Caste System, Buddhism, the Nanda Empire-that stopped Macedoniah Grek emperor Alexander the Great’s conquest of India in 326 BC; Maurya Empire, Jainism,
Ch. 20: The Babylonians
(Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar (suffered from mental illness), battle of Carchemish, Daniel, the Fiery Furnace, Ishtar Gate, Hanging Gardens…)
(Bible: Jehoiakim, Jehochin, Zedekiah, Jeremiah, Daniel)
Ch. 21: Rise of the Persians
Persian: Nabolpolassar, Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Marduk,
Bible: Ezekiel, Belshazzar, Daniel, and the Handwriting on the Wall000from Daniel 5:1-4, when Belshazzar is feasting and drinking and calls for gold and silver goblets from the Temple of Jerusalem to drink from while offerings to Marduck.   Then in the midst of this party, a hand appears and writes on the wall: “mene, tekel, parsin”.  This foretells of his days being numbered, that his kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
BiblioPlan Ancients Mapping:
 World Continents, Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, Egypt’s New Kingdom, The Exodus, and Wilderness Wanderings.





DVD from public library:
Product Details
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In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

2010
NR (Just the first disc - 1/2)



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by Steven P. Demme 
Math: Math U See: Pre-Algebra
Lesson 23 A-E


Here is our assigned parking space---it actually was worse and we couldn't park in it...this is the improved spot!



Science:

1. Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
Ch. 1-5
This book has been really educational!  We have gone over a lot of scientific terms and great explanations of levers (first-class or second class levers) and mechanical advantage.

Item #: 023169
2. Apologia: Anatomy and Physiology
Pg 47-60 (with notes)


History:

Story of the World: Ancients (audio): Ch. 25-29


The Book of the Ancient World by Memoria Press
Ch. 5: Life of Ancient Babylon
Ch. 6 The Gods of Ancient Babylon
The Hebrews
Ch. 1: Land of Palestine
Ch. 2: The Bible
Ch. 3: The The Patriarchs
Ch. 4: Moses and Exodus
Ch. 6: The Kingdom of Israel (Saul, David, Solomon)
Ch. 7: The Divided Kingdom
Ch. 8: The Hebrew Prophets (Elijah, Isaiah)
Ch. 9: From the Captivity to the Destruction of Jerusalem
The Hittites
Ch. 1: The Land of the Hittites
Ch. 2: The Hittite People and Their Cities
Ch. 3: The Hittites and Their Neighbors


Review of The Book of the Ancient World
I admit that we are reading about the same information in multiple sources, but unlike the time on the Greeks, this duplication seems to be reinforcing our comprehension of the material.  Dd was already pretty complete in her understanding of Greek, so I didn’t really need to read as much as I did about that topic, but I wanted to make sure she understood the boring things as well as the exciting things.  I’ve found this book to be very good, not as good as the BiblioPlan: Ancients book, but good.  The material has brought up a few things that thus far hasn’t been discussed in the other materials.


Sonlight History Read Aloud:
Beyond the Desert Gate by Mary Ray(Ch. 5-11)
Dd and I both like this book very much!  Written in such a descriptive style that I feel like there is dust in my mouth at the end of each day’s reading!  I really like how this book really transports you right into the story. 



Product Details 
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Add-in History book 1:
You Wouldn’t Want to Be In Alexander the Great’s Army!


It's melting!


Add-in History book 2:
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
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Fun Add-in book:

Princess Ben
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Logic:
Chapter 9 and Dd typed up a page explaining what we’ve learned so far:

Red Herring: whenever we introduce something irrelevant into an argument, we are avoiding the question.  Someone may think it proves his side, but it really doesn’t.
Special Pleading: when someone uses a double standard or argues for an unjustified exception, he is committing the fallacy of special pleading.  Example:  “Most people shouldn’t rob banks, but I’m an exception- I need the money.”
Ad Hominem: an ad hominem attack is attacking an opponent’s character or his motives for believing something instead of disproving his argument.  Someone may have character flaws, but his argument may still be valid.
Genetic Fallacy:  the genetic fallacy is condemning an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who began it.  No matter what you say, he will just claim you are saying it because of your difficult past, and therefore, everybody can ignore what you say.  The idea may be bad, but it is not necessarily bad because of the source (a good idea can come from a bad person).
Tu Quoque: is dismissing someone’s viewpoint on an issue because he himself is inconsistent in that very thing.”


Review of The Fallacy Detective: At first I thought this book was going to be SO easy, but as each week goes by and we are expected to remember and use the knowledge from all the precious week’s chapters, we have found this to be much more challenging!  It is quite humbling to get so many questions wrong each chapter, but I think we will eventually get it!  The first week we learned what a “Red Herring” fallacy was, then “Special Pleading”, “Ad Hominem”, “Genetic Fallacy”, “Tu Quoque” and we have to identify which fallacy is with numerous situations…really quite challenging!  One of the main points is to learn and identify when people ask a question if the answer they receive is actually answering that question, or deflecting – and not answering the question but perhaps insulting the person, or changing the subject, or re-directing the conversation in a different path than was intended by the other person. 


Latin:
Prima Latina
Ch. 5

Review of Prima Latina: For some reason the southern accent our “Magistra” (teacher) has seems to drive my daughter bonkers.  We will be finding a new program after we complete this set.  In middle school,  I really enjoyed the short time I studied Latin, before I moved, and so wished that my Dd would also find Latin interesting.  My Dd does like the end of each lesson where we work on learning a prayer and does that well, but finds the beginning and middle section, where we go over the weeks lesson words very slowly to be ‘not her favorite part’.  The magistra does seem to be quite wordy and perhaps (for my taste) over-explains things too much with too many words.  We re-watch the lesson each day and it does get a bit long and drawn out.  Perhaps, if we were in the targeted age bracket then we might like it better?  Every week during our lessons I have to look up multiple words on my computer to hear how I am suppose to be pronouncing words, and we’ve noticed that the way our magistra pronounces some words (like, “Salve” ) do not match with the way our online searches say to pronounce those words.  It makes me wonder if we are learning all the words the correct way, or if we are learning the southern accented way for saying Latin?


Current Events: CNN STUDENT NEWS
Each morning—Monday through Friday—ten minute news show



Geography:
Seterra (U.S. States game twice this week)
and
BiblioPlan Maps:
“Joseph”, “Egypt’s Middle Kingdom”, “Egypt’s New Kingdom”, “The Exodus”, and “Wilderness Wanderings”



Language Arts:
IEW’s Fix It (Frog Prince)
Week 27 completed

All About Spelling 6:
Step 28: passed

Easy Grammar, Plus
Pg 77-91



Writing With Skill: Week 7 completed
 ( Review for Writing With Skill: I have to say, I am so impressed with this book.  I have struggled with finding a program that wasn't like pulling teeth to get Dd to do it, and this is it.  She actually doesn't need my help with this (even though I bought the teacher's manual) but finds the directions so well done she figures it out 'faster without me'.  She has been bringing me her assignments to read aloud to me, with pride in her work----that is just totally awesome, and not normal for her..not at all!  I'm so glad this program is getting her to want to write, and feel confident in her abilities.)


Typing:
Nitro Type (three days this week)
Dd earned $100,000 this week for completing 5 hours of typing.  She has been using this program for a few years now, so it is great to see her skills improve—and they certainly have improved a great deal.  She really enjoys this program and ASKS to do it!

Nature Hikes:
Monday and Wednesday
Thursday we went to Kirk Park---Lake Michigan!  Dd played in the water, beside the frozen waves, and we hiked the trail.


Busy Hands:
Lego week
Keyboarding


Cooking:
pancakes from scratch, brownies, and yummy potato salad


Product Details
Audio: The 39 Clues
Book 1: Cahill Files Operation Trinity
I *thought* I was getting the previous book that we heard last week, but it seems that there are different series to the series…so confusing…I enjoyed parts of this audio, but really seemed ify about others.  Disc One starts back ‘a few hundred years ago’ and that story line—the young son whose father doesn’t have faith in him, but his mother does, and so she chooses him to work in the church and keep an eye on the altar piece, was very interesting.  But, then they fast forwarded to our modern time, with two rich, spoiled kids that have a very snobbish mother and I was very unimpressed.  I guess I am not endorsing this series…although I am a HUGE Agatha Christie fan, and so cherish fun mystery books…just not this series.  I should say, if you children wanted to read it, there hasn’t been any thing disturbing or questionable…just pretentious.

Our maps and schedules for the week--joint effort on coloring the maps--she did the first two alone, and then I colored her three last maps...I just can't see a map be plain!








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Friday, March 13, 2015

Frozen Lake Michigan Kirk Park March 12, 12015

Frozen Lake Michigan  
Kirk Park 
March 12, 2015



The "stairway" was covered in snow for over half of the walk, you can see where the first steps are finally usable in this picture.





See how thick the ice is!

Dd is holding up a piece of the thin ice (probably from last nights light refreezing on the water).  The water where she is standing was a long sheet of thin ice that she enjoyed breaking up and freeing.  She would get 24 foot sheets of thin ice free and would push it down in the light current.  She had a blast playing in the water/ice for a good hour.

Sophie was so happy to play and roll around in the sand and snow!  Then she wanted to cuddle up with me!  Such a great dog!




In this picture you can see the footsteps from people previously walking on the ice.  It was way too thin to try that while we were there, but interesting to see that people had done so.

And a good day was had by all...and the dog slept the whole ride home!  And we listened to Story of the World (SOTW: Ancients) on our drive there, and back again, so I wouldn't feel guilty about taking half the day off our lessons!

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Sunday, March 8, 2015

Busy Hands March 2-8, 2015

Busy Hands  
March 2-8, 2015



The colorful hat she made this week.



Dd made this headband...very cute on her

Dd is making a bag.


This is the blanket I am making.  I call it my "Bird's Nest", as it has lots of tan, green, black, gray, and odds (for the nest); and lots of blue (for my robin's eggs).  I've used three strings of yarn as I crochet it.  It really is just my therapy project right now.






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ANCIENTS SL Core G Week 9 March 2-6, 2015

ANCIENTS 
Sonlight Core G 
Week 9  
March 2-6, 2015
27th Week on this core... 9/36



Just a quick reminder, we are using Sonlight as our "spine" and adding in various things to boost our comprehension and growth.  Right now we are adding in Memoria Press and BiblioPlan into our history studies.  We are kind of doing two things at once since I wanted to stop moving forward and do a review over all the "ancients" we have studied thus far this core, but that would take too long without us moving forward at the same time, so that is what I am doing...slowly moving forward (to the Roman Empire) while on the side doing a review of what we have covered so far this year.  Both BiblioPlan: Ancients and Memoria Press (The Book of the Ancient World) are both good reviews, and what I used this week in my pursuit of reflecting what we have learned so far.  I hope to get caught up and finish our review and then be able to pick up the pace a little; or at least that is what I am hoping!  

We are still going very hard for our lessons, it is winter and this is when we really knuckle down and make some head-way.  This helps me feel less guilty when I take off lots of time when the weather is pretty.  I just LOVE being outside and want to instill that passion in my daughter.  

Do you know I read that the average child spends five minutes a day outside?  I hate that, but there were quite a few days this week that I could not talk Dd into going out with me!!  She had a cold this week, and was sure to mention it every time I asked her to go walk the dog with me to our nature hike trail.  She is still coughing, but it seems to be breaking up now.  She has been sleeping a lot this week, and I could tell that she needed that extra sleep to help her heal.

The problem with our intense winter weeks, according to my daughter, is that she isn't getting to read 'her' books or do as much of 'her' things as she normally does.  BUT, she has one of those Ipad Nano things, and spends hours listening to music...and I think that may have something to do with her less productive winter!  Ha!  She really has turned into a music, music, music kid; just like her Momma and Pappa.  For the first time, she will ask to listen to a music disc rather than an audio book.
 

I wish I could say that this weeks weather was motivating...but, clearly it was NOT!  The temps were totally "bitter" and painfully cold.


I want to make a special Thank You to Christie, Chelle, and Heather L. for being such good friends!  I think the past month has been the hardest for me, and the new migraine medicine I have been trying has been very difficult for me and maintaining a good attitude.  Good friends are truly a gift from the Lord!  I have thanked the Lord for you three friends, and appreciate your kindness and fellowship so very much!  

My new medication causes (to me, severe) lethargy, and I am having to drink caffeinated tea in the afternoons now to keep me going.  I've emailed my doctor, and am in the process of seeing about getting the dosage lowered.  After not being able to get practically any work done last week, I did do better this week (with the much needed caffeine), but emotionally was wiped out each day.  We pretty much took Friday off and did our handy-work (crocheting) partly due to us having completed our goals, and also because I was too tired.  I love that I haven't had a migraine in over a month, but the mental and physical price I'm paying seems very, very high.

This week the complex workers were up on one building scrapping the snow off the roof.  The icicles actually got much longer after these pictures due to a slight warm up on Friday.


Mini-Update: 
Nothing yet on our house in Indiana; but really hoping that this spring will be like last years spring and the market in our area will have a boost.  We have a showing scheduled for Monday; praying it goes well and that they don't cancel like the family that had been scheduled for Sunday.

Dh's new job:
Monday was very stressful as he had some meeting issues that seemed big, but thankfully the Lord navigated those issues and they didn't turn into the monster I feared they might...so thankful!  Besides that one difficult meeting (and it's repercussions), Dh seemed to really enjoy his work this week.  He got home one night after 8pm, so his hours are crazy, but he seems so happy with his new job.

Busy Hands:
Let's see...my winter blues has made me enjoy reading and working on my cluttery, "bird's nest" crochet blanket.  But, Dd made a bright, cheerful crochet hat with a crochet flower on the side.  She made a gray and green headband.
Dd made pizza--all from scratch


  Heather L. had made us homemade pizza's when we visited on Friday, so Dd had to make homemade pizza's for us, not once, but TWICE this week!  



Of interest:
This week we found an EGG CASE on the lid of our small snail tank!  We already had little snails join the tank a few weeks back, and they are growing!  I've read a bit online, and there is a good chance they won't hatch, and that would be sad, but I am honestly afraid what would happen if ALL those babies did hatch!  We will see...



Our lessons this week:


Bible:

We are using our BiblioPlan for bible studies for a while longer, until we get caught up with in our bible to where we are in history.  I want to have our bible and our history line up as much as I can, for as long as I can!  This week we studied Moses, Exodus, Numbers, Judges, Joshua, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, I & II Kings, Elijah and Elisha.

SL Bible:
Children's Bible Field Guide: Ch. 9

(Bible/History:)
BiblioPlan: Ancients
Ch. 11: The Law and the Wilderness
Ch. 12 Ancient India, China & Conquering
Ch. 13: Ancient Africa, Saul and David
Ch. 14: The Phoenicians, David and Solomon
Ch. 15: The America's, Elijah and Elisha
Ch. 16: Assyria and Israels' Prophets

History:

Read Aloud:

 Product Details
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 Beyond the Desert Gate by Mary Ray.  I am really enjoying this book; and have trouble putting it down each day!
(Ch. 1-5)

Book of the Ancient World

Book of the Ancient World
Memoria Press / Trade Paperback
The Book of the Ancient World: Memoria Press/Dorothy Mills:
Pages 37 - 89
and Student Pages/worksheets
Egypt-Assyrians-Babylonians


 Activity Book, Vol 1: The Ancient Times, Story of the World

Activity Book, Vol 1: The Ancient Times, Story of the World
Story of the World: Ancients
(Audio)
Chapters 24 & 25

 

Add-In History Books:

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The Atlas of Ancient Worlds

Sep 10, 2001
by Anne Millard and Russell Barnett
  • The Atlas of Ancient Worlds by Anne Millard
(no picture)
  • The Art of the Etruscans by Shirley Glubok



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  • DK Alexander the Great by Peter Chrisp

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  • The World in the Time of Alexander the Great by Fiona MacDonald


Khan Academy:
Ancient Near East Art Quiz

The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia, Capital of a Column from the audience hall of the place of Darius I, Susa, They Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia


Dd's Reader:
 

 Product Details
Product Details
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
pg. 53, 56, 32, 76-77, 110-111

BiblioPlan Ancient Maps:
India, Africa, The Phoenicians




I  got to give Heather the bird I had made for her during our visit at her house.




Current Events:
CNN Student News


Logic:
Fallacy Detective

Lesson 7 & 8


Latin:
Prima Latina

Ch. 4 : we rewatched our video 4 days this week


Language Arts:


IEW's Fix-It: Frog Prince
Week 26: completed

All About Spelling 6: Step 27 Completed

Writing With Skill: Week 6: completed

Favorite Poems Old and New: pp. 385-387

Easy Grammar, Plus: pp. 67-75

Nitro Type: Typing (Free) Fun: 4 days this week
http://www.nitrotype.com/ 


Geography: (free online)

http://online.seterra.net/
U.S. States, European Bodies of Water, Solar System, and World Capitals


Math: Math U See: Pre-Algebra: 22 A-E


Science:
Apologia: Human Anatomy and Physiology
pp. 37-46



FUN Audio:
 Product Details
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Last week I was so confused listening to book two of The 39 Clues, that we went back to the library and got the audio of book one, and that is what we have been listening to this week.  So far, I am liking this one--so helpful when you are introduced to the characters in an orderly way!

Dd's FUN Books:
Groom Your Room (American Girl)
Room for You (American Girl)
Clutter Control (American Girl)
Princess Ben by Catherine G. Murdock
and some Rick Riordan graphic novels --Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters, etc.

Library:
Twice this week.



My schedule for this week---

Dd's Weekly Page



BiblioPlan Ancient Maps:




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