SL Core G, Week 22"A" Middle Ages BP Wk 8 Feb. 29-Mar. 4, 2016 Vikings, Great Schism, Erik and Leif.Canterbury Tales..

SL Core G, 

Week 22"A" 

Middle Ages 

BP Wk 8 

Feb. 29-Mar. 4, 2016
*Vikings, Great Schism, Erik and Leif, and Canterbury Tales.

Summary of our week---snow, snow, chicks, ice skating, square dancing, vikings, John the Baptist, and more snow!  Monday was 'Hatch-Day,' which was rather sad--we only had 8 of the 10 chicks survive 24 hours, and 12 eggs didn't even 'pip,' or try to break-out.  Tuesday it started snowing like crazy!  But, the extra cold temps didn't encourage our talking walks in the woods to enjoy the beauty of it; plus super winds.  Dh couldn't drive up our hill to our house from Tuesday until Friday night!  That bad!  Dd and I had to cancel her Alto Sax solo lessons on Tuesday, and band/choir on Wednesday.  We shoveled and worked hard on Wednesday, for hours, and we finally made it out to town to buy some Black Star pullets (female chicks).

After all last weeks snow had melted away it started snowing all over again!  This is Wednesday's snow pictures.  It has snowed some each day since, but I'm not in the mood to take any more snow pictures!  

We were able to get out on Thursday for our LINK homeschool Co-op.  LINK had a special Ice Skating field trip that was a lot of fun.  Dd had never ice skated before, and she did quite well!  At least she didn't fall!  I enjoyed it too!  We skated for an hour and a half; and I ended with a blister!

Friday we did our lessons until it was time to go to the Square Dancing event at the Home School Building at 7 PM.  We had the same man that was the announcer last time back again.  This time the dance was held in a the really large gym, and the dancers had plenty of room--compared to the small barn that they had last time in the fall.  

GERD update: 

Still doing good, except for the times that I cheat, or work too hard shoveling snow for hours.  This week's Cake Decorating class was with a brownie cupcake with peanut butter icing; and I thought it would be okay to have one...bad idea!  I had heartburn fairly fast.  I really can't have anything with grains.  I also had two migraine days; which weren't horrible, but that is still improved since my diet changed.  I never thought grains/gluten had anything to do with my migraines, and apparently I was wrong. 
Kombucha is going well.  I think I'm on my third batch now.  I can't drink a lot of it as it is too acidic for my bladder, but I can dilute it and add it in on my smoothies.  My smoothies are going great.  I can usually get a good tasting one now, after so much practice.  Yesterday I found putting in a whole page of seaweed in sure does make a yucky flavor!  I'm still eating a TON of celery, but have backed off on the banana's--those two things were listed as being terrific for lowering your pH, but too many banana's is too much sugar for me.  

Sprouting: I'm watching lots of YouTube video's on how to sprout my own seeds,  to add to our salads and smoothies.  I'm not sure which one's I will end up doing.  I'd like to get some Wheat-grass this week, and Michele said she would give me some broccoli seeds to sprout, and try.  Dh bought me some screen from Lowe's and I have LOTS of mason jars...so I will try doing that soon. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiDu_UQw2iw (a quick video that I found encouraging-"How to Grow Sprouts At Home" by Christine Salus, is the link above or you can type it in if you are curious to see one video.)

The old homeowners had left this extremely old snow blower, that we have used, but it only blows left, and is more work than a shovel!  But, we tried it.  We really need a snow blower, and on that works well too....oh my..

Chickens:

The eight Buff Orpington's and twelve Black Star chicks are all doing really well.  I put new towels in and climb in and spend time with them each day; and it is so relaxing!  They are such a joy!

Dh's truck:

Dh has been working crazy hours; getting home late every night, but he did manage to work on it some this week--but it is still not working.  He has a nut that is stuck and will.not.budge!  Prayers appreciated.

Math:

This was our first week with just Teaching Textbooks instead of Math U See.  She did very well this week...we will take as long as it takes to master algebra.

Birds:

I *think* I saw a small flock of Robins fly by as I was driving this week!  I've been looking for them for weeks now.  They are such a welcome sign of spring!  Dd and I heard and saw two Whooping Cranes while we were getting out of our car.  They were not very far up, and looked like they were looking for something.  I've seen Wrens 2-3 times, Pine Siskens, and our other normal birds.  The rarest sight this week was a Northern Flicker!

Our lessons:

Veritas Bible Gospels Homeschool Kit

Bible: VP Gospels 

Card 105: completed

Ministry of John the Baptist, AD 27

Matt 3: (Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary)

Matt 17:5 ("This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased...")

Mark 1: (Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary)

Luke 3: (Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary)

John 1: (Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary)

*We read what each of the Gospels had to say about John the Baptist; which was a really nice arrangement of readings.  We were really able to compare the four Gospels versions and discuss.  Our commentary had pages and pages of information on these chapters, and this card took a lot of time.

DC Cook Journey Through the Bible

Journey Through the Bible:

pg. 213

Dd did the VP Workbook pages for card 104 and 105: completed

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

Apr 15, 2008

by Alex Harris and Brett Harris

Part of our "bible time" is reading:
Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris:

pg's 37-62

Foreign Language:

Dd hasn't been liking Rosetta Stone, so I told her about the ap Kendra mentioned: "DuoLingo" and Dd thought it was great.  So far she has tried the French and German languages on it.

Math: TT Algebra

Lesson 2, didn't pass, redid Lesson 2 and passed, then Lesson 3, Lesson 4, and Lesson 5.

Government Class (with LINK co-op):

Dd had to watch the two hour Republican Debate on YouTube that was filmed in Fort Worth, Texas on Feb. 26th, 2016.  We split it into two days of watching since it was so long.

The Everything American Government Book

read two chapters, working her way through this book!

Assignment: write a paragraph about one of the presidential candidates-done.

Cake Decorating Class:

In my opinion, the tastiest cupcakes yet! awesome!

Who would have thought--they put Brownie dough in a cupcake!  It was SO good! I'd never thought of that!

Volunteering in the Nursery:

another week of volunteering in the Nursery, she did well!

History:

BiblioPlan: Medieval, Renaissance & Reformation Companion (2 Book Set)

the BiblioPlan Companion Year Two text for Medieval  History: 

Chapter 8: The Vikings: Completed

Castle

2006

NR

DVD

DVD's: 

1. Castle

by David Macaulay: completed

National Geographic: Engineering the Impossible

2007

NR

DVD

2. Engineering the Impossible by Nat'l Geographic

we watched the episode on the building of the Colosseum in Rome.

Reader's:

Archers, Alchemists and 98 Other Medieval Job

Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs You Might Have Loved or Loathed: In Process

pg's 48-64

Canterbury Tales (edited by Barbara Cohen)

Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales,

Selected, translated, and adapted by Barbara Cohen

: Completed

Science:

Exploring Creation w/ General Science SET

Exploring Creation with General Science

Module 5: The History of Life: Completed

Completed the Study Guide and passed the test!

So glad we are steadily progressing!

Science-part two: caring for the chicks each day!

Music:

Alto Sax, Piano, and Choir each week

Fun book:

Cruel Crown (Red Queen Novella)

Jan 5, 2016

by Victoria Aveyard

Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

Activities:

Library, Square Dance, Ice Skating, shoveling snow, caring for new chicks,

Cooking/Baking:

Marinated and make chicken

Smoothies each day

Hummus Wraps

Cake Decorating Class

Art:

LOTS of drawing this week!

Fun Movies:

The Man From Snowy River and LOTR series

repeats

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Day Three and Four Spring Chicks 2016

Day Three and Four  

Spring Chicks 2016

Hello Friends!

Monday's hatching was quite disappointing, and super sad.  We had twenty-two Buff Orpington eggs in our incubator.  Ten hatched (two died), and twelve didn't 'peck' or whatever it is called when the chick doesn't break the shell to try and get out.  We kept the incubator going for two more days, but nothing.  I figure I did something wrong, most likely had the humidity up too high and the chicks got too big and didn't have room to break out.  I really don't know, but am so disappointed in myself for not doing better!  So, on Wednesday we shoveled and got off of our hill (after literally shoveling and blowing snow for three and half hours) and went to the local Tractor Supply Store and bought twelve "Black Star" pullets (female chicks).  The Black Star chickens are also called "Black Sex Link," but Black Star sounds a bit nicer!

Our chicks and the new Black Star chicks got along really well.  It helped that Dd sat with them for the first hour, and then I sat with them the second hour!  There were four Black Star chicks that had a lot of crusted poop that needed immediate attention.  Dd said that since I was "better" at getting the poop off, I should do it!  Ha!  I didn't argue, what thirteen year old wants to wipe poop with warm water and Q-Tips?!!

In this picture you can see the small cardboard box the Black Star chicks came in.  I couldn't believe they shoved twelve chicks in one tiny box! 

We had put up two "door socks" that I had made a few years ago to keep drafts from coming in under doors into our house.  I first put them in the brooder box to keep the eight chicks close to the heat lamp, and to not wander off.  Then I pushed the socks (filled with black beans) over to the edges and out of the way; but the Black Star chicks immediately saw those socks as perfect roosts!  They all love to climb up there and lay, but our Buff Orpington's still love to sleep on the floor.  

Here one of our Buff's is walking on me, while the others are curious about that box!  

These Black Stars are very pretty, with soft fluffy, "silkie" type feathers.  I'll try to do a new post with the details regarding the Black Stars, for those who are curious about this breed.

I've been checking each chicks bottom once a day for impacted poop, and this little girl cozy'd up and closed her eyes!  So sweet and trusting.

Our little brooder is looking a bit fuller now that we have twenty chicks.  I'm SO glad none of the Black Star chicks were sickly--all have lived their first 24 hours with us.

Thursday I took back the borrowed incubator to my friend, Michele, who let us borrow it.  She asked us to give her the unhatched (now frozen) eggs so she could do an autopsy to find out what went wrong.  She also has a friend that works for the government, regulating/inspecting chicken farms and she wanted to autopsy our eggs too.  I was tempted to do that as well, but Dd and I were just too attached to these eggs and weren't ready for that with our hearts still sore.  

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Chicks Day One and Two

Chicks Day One and Two

I'll fill in the details later, but here are some pictures.

Dd with Catherine

Sophie is missing our attention.

Catherine, our first (alpha) chick, still on top!

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Sonlight Core G Week 21 "C" Middle Ages Feb. 22-28th, 2016

SLCore G Week 21 "C"  / BiblioPlan Wk 7

Middle Ages 

Feb. 22-28th, 2016

Brooder Pep Week

Dd built our brooder this week, and took pains to monitor the heat so that we could ensure we had the exact right temperature on the floor for the new chicks.

We needed a week to focus on getting ready for our upcoming chicks hatching, make the brooder, and unbeknownst to me...time to get sick!  This was mostly a week to read and watch YouTube video's on chickens; but we did get some academic things done as well.

Read Aloud:

Great and Terrible Quest

The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett

: Completed

I believe BiblioPlan recommended this book at this time, not a SL book.

Dd and I really, really liked this book. We had a hard time putting it down!  We read extra on it this week.  The cover looks kinda cheesy, and I (again) was judging a book by it's cover and didn't think it would be very good, and was totally wrong.  In summary, this young boy, Trad, 10 years old, has been mistreated by his grandfather, who he has been living with most of his life.  His grandfather is pure mean and has no heart or care for his grandson, but only is filled with selfishness.  Trad decides to help rescue an old man that had stumbled into their property, and the story begins.  There are lots of little clues along the way, and we tried repeatedly to figure out who the boy really was, who the old man really was, and all the other mysteries that layered the story.  There was a really nice "wise woman" in the woods that helped the two.  A three legged dog, named "Jokey" added a lot of joy to the story too.  We met a lot of bad characters and a few that risked their lives repeatedly to help these travelers reach their destination.  This was a good fit for our Medieval period study.  There were knights, armour, horses, jesters, jugglers, all sorts of typical medieval images to make us feel like we were back in the story with them.  This was a really lovely story.  The only negative I could share is that the ending was a bit abrupt!  really abrupt!  I could have really sunk my teeth into another chapter beyond where she ended to tie things up a little better.  But, the ending was spectacular and a twist at the very end...which did in fact surprise me!

Reader:

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies, Voices from a Medieval Village by   : Completed
 I believe BiblioPlan recommended this book at this time, not a SL book.

Dd's review: "It gives a different swing on looking at the Medieval ages.  Mostly peasants, but some noble men in training.  The main characters were 10-15 year old's, and they were narrating their own story, so you saw things from their eyes.  There were around twenty different people sharing their perspectives."

A little flock of Pine Siskin's

This is a Pine Siskin, very cute, very small!  I had not seen any of them in Indiana, but they come around to our feeders now.  They didn't in the fall, but now that it is super cold and snowy they have started coming often.

Here is this small squirrel, one of the smaller breeds we get at our house (there are three dif. types around here).  He is sitting in the middle of one of our feeders, looking exhausted from eating so much!  It kills me how much the squirrels gorge themselves wherever we live.  We can turn a healthy squirrel into this!  Don't you love his expression!

Science:
Taking care of the eggs in the incubator multiple times each day.  Various YouTube video's on chicks....books on chicks...



Walk in the woods with me on Friday, in the snow.



Music:
 One private lesson with Mrs. March on the Alto Sax for thirty minutes each week.

Band Class:  one class (1.5 hours) with group each week; plus about 45 minutes each day practicing.

Choir class: one class each week, for one hour; plus 15-30 minutes each day practicing.

The Hobbit -- The Battle of the Five Armies: Easy Piano Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Aug 1, 2015

by Howard Shore and Dan Coates

Piano: Dd got a new piano book this week: Easy Piano: The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies.  She practiced an hour each day this week, and really loves her new book!



Fun Reading:

Glass Sword (Red Queen)

Feb 9, 2016

by Victoria Aveyard

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (Book 2 of the Red Queen series): Completed and thoroughly enjoyed!

We found another paper wasp nest way up in a tree, in the woods.

Baking/Cooking:
Dd made a chicken dishes two nights in a row.  Very tasty!

Pappa Cardinal

Language Arts:
Worked on her new blog: Michigan Chickens
and 
Wrote the "L" family a letter

Cold Steel 92BKKC Hunting Fixed Blade Knives, Black

by Cold Steel

Swords and Trucks:
The Katana sword she ordered arrived...she was/is so excited.  She also got two 'throwing knives.'  Dd also helped her Pappa work on the truck that is still in the barn getting repaired.  

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Math:
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/
We received the TT (Teaching Textbooks) Algebra I set, and she has done lesson one and two so far.  It arrived on Friday.  I'll let you know if this curriculum is able to help us get through the Algebra course any easier than we've been struggling with MUS.

Especially for Chelle:
Curious how our snails have been fairing since we moved out of the apartment?  Here they are :

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Link to differences between Bible versions

I am forever doing internet searches explaining the various Bible versions, to save time I am putting the link here so I can come here to find the one(s) that were most helpful. 

http://www.mardel.com/bibleTranslationGuide

If you know of any good sites explaining this; please feel free to suggest them to me.  

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Meet Alpha, our first chick! Feb. 29, 2016

Meet Alpha, our first chick! aka: Catherine

Feb. 29, 2016

Dd has named this feisty chick, Catherine!

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