Sonlight Core H Week 1"D" Oct. 17-23, 2016

Sonlight Core H 

Week 1"D" 

Oct. 17-23, 2016

Going for walks with our friends visiting from Indiana!  Two of the guests are behind the camera.  We had a very special week!

Hello Friends!  

We had a very special week, our friends from Indiana drove up to visit with us in our new home in Michigan!  They arrived on Wednesday and had to go back home on Saturday after lunch; so we had a good visit.  So, we didn't get a lot of book work done this week; but did have a lot of fun!

Our Lessons this Week:

Bible: (total 4 hours)

Veritas Press: Gospels: Card 125: 

Crucification, Resurrections, and Ascension of Christ: in process

Matthew: Chapters: 27 & 28

Mark: Chapters: 15 & 16

The BBC Manuel: pages: 16-23

Don’t All Religions Lead to God? Chapters 3 & 4

Courage and Conviction Vol.3: pages 11-47

View before our driveway...the fall colors were fantastic this week!

History: (total 3 hours)

Story Of The World: Early Modern Times:Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

BiblioPlan Companion: Chapter 27: The Protestant Reformation: completed

SL Mapping for Week 1: completed (timeline to go)

BiblioPlan Advanced Mapping: Week 26: The Cradle of Renaissance

Agnes, being ever so sweet snuggled up in my fleece!

Foreign Language: (total 1:40)

Sign Language: 3x this week (1:20 hours)

DuoLingo:German: 20 minutes

Our friends had fun with our chickens!

Math: (total 3:00 hours)

Khan Academy: 3 x this week

The mornings are getting so chilly the bee's are having trouble getting started each day!

Science: (3:00 hours)

NEW! Apologia: Physical Science:

Text: pages: 1-14

Student Notebook: pages 11-15

We had two Walking Sticks on our blackberry bushes.

Audio: (total 2:40 min)

God's Smuggler: (2 x this week): In Process

Ranger's Apprentice: Siege of Macindaw by John A. Flanagan: In Process

I'm letting the chickens out as much as possible before the cold and snowy weather arrives.

Readers: (5:00 hours)

Sonlight: Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner: In Process

Read Aloud:

(audio: God's Smuggler)

Poetry: (1:00 hour)

Painless Poetry by Francis McPake

pg: 34-40

FUN Readers: (total 7:00 hours)

Last Star: in process
Deception's Princess by Esther Friesner: in process

Doomed Queen Anne by Carolyn Meyer: in process

Cleopatra in Space by Mike Maihack: completed

Riptide Pride by Brandon Terrell: completed

Home Economics: (total: 7:00)

Cleaning/Organizing her bedroom: 3:00 hours

Dd made a guitar strap with some fabric we had handy.

Sewed Guitar Strap for her guitar: 2:00

Chicken/Rice/Pea stir fry: 1:00

I think the kids had a great time with the bonfire.

Started bonfire, grilled hot dogs and marshmallows: 1:00

Music: (total 10:30)

Beginning Band Class: 1:30 hours

Intermediate Band Class: 1:30 hours

Private Lesson with Mrs. March (Piano): 30 minutes

Workbook: Fundamentals of Piano Theory: Lesson 12 completed (1:30 hours)

Violin: 30 minutes

Tenor Sax: 1:15 hours

Alto Sax: 1:30 hours

Piano: 1:35 hours

Flute: : 45 minutes

Physical Education: 6:00

We took the kids on a walk around and found a deer that had been hit by a car---instead of showing you a picture of the deer, I thought the view of us being absorbed in the sight and smell of the deer was interesting....oy! was that smelly!

Soccer, leaf fighting, sword fighting, etc: 3:00 hours

It was so much fun walking on our property with our friends!

Hiking/walking: 3:00 hours

Downtown library...such a gorgeous building!  The kids got complemented on how quiet they were...nice!

Field Trips:

My friend was impressed with this Butternut Squash at Heidi's Farm Stand.

Another view of Heidi's Farm Stand

Our local library, Grand Rapids Library, Ford Stadium--Detroit Lions football game, local stores and ice cream place (with gluten free cones and ice cream!)...

Monday: Lessons and Cleaning/Prepping for our visitors!

Tuesday: Lessons and Cleaning/Prepping for our visitors!

Wednesday: Lessons and Cleaning/Prepping for our visitors! Then our friends arrived!  Dd made them a Jasmine Rice, Peas, and Chicken dinner.  We took the week off from our Olympians at church to host our friends.

Thursday: We showed our friends our local highlights--the paddle boat on the river, the local library, we walked down Main Street and went into some fun stores.  Ice Cream shop--bought lots of deer apples and made an apple crisp.

Friday: We took our friends downtown to see Grand Rapids, the highlight was probably the downtown library that is a sight to see!  So much marble and grandeur, plus so many books for kids and teens!  Then we had a cook-out at our house.  We got a little bonfire going and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Disco Night.

Saturday: We all loaded in the van and went to the downtown library for their book sale.  Then back home for pizza and packing up.

Sunday: Football Game! Dd and Dh went to Detroit and enjoyed watching the football game; and the Lions won too!  Dd and Dh had a great time together!

Sophie was exhausted after all the fun she had with our visitors...now to rest up!

………..

Sonlight Core H Week 1"C" Oct. 10-16, 2016

Sonlight Core H 

Week 1"C" 

Oct. 10-16, 2016

Hello Friends!

Another week of chores and winter prep as our priority over lessons....don't worry, soon we will be doing too much lessons and not enough other stuff!  We had perfect temperatures for painting, and polyurethane-ing..(made up that word!)..drive way repairs, cleaning, and organizing.  

Our specials for this week:

*Sandhill Cranes calling above in the skies, and leaves falling like crazy!  This week the leaves were beautiful, as they began falling with each gust of wind.

From coats of wall paper, then lots of Spackle and sanding, then white Kilz to seal and prep it, and lastly two coats of this light blue gloss paint...a lot of work!

Monday: Painted basement bathroom--2 coats

Dd and I got the pool's thermal blanket dried, rolled up, put to the side, wrapped in white plastic, and hog-tied. 

This hallway is difficult to get a good picture of...

 Dd polyurethaned her stairwell to loft bedroom.  Dd painted her be droom walls, and cleaned / organized her room.

Tuesday: 
Sophie to Vet...hard day of waiting on test results.  

Wednesday: 
Music day and Picture Day at West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts programs at the Home School Building in Wyoming, Michigan.  After band we started shopping for Dh's birthday cake and gifts. Started Birthday Cards!

Back of card that Dd made for Dh

Front cover of the card Dd made for Dh

The inside of the card she made for Dh

Thursday:  
Birthday Card painting and completion!  Lots of cooking and prep work. 

The Blackberry bush thrived, as did the asparagus, that we brought from our last home in Indiana; but the Sage died this year.

 I worked in our garden, bringing in the last of the acorn squash's and pulling vines.

Our fall planting is going well, glad Dh put the Chicken Tractors in the garden b/c the chickens have eaten anything they can get to, and strip it clean.


Friday:

Friday: Dh off for the day.  We found a nearby gravel pit that sold "Crushed Concrete" and drove our truck over--we were able to put 3 or 4 loads down on our back drive-way...still needs another 3, but this is enough to fill in all the groves the rain and snow made. 



 I helped with the first load, but then Dd and Dh did all of it without me.  



I worked inside--sanding the basement stairwell and finding so many spots that I had to recover with our "stone" floor paint, and wait for it to dry, then cover again with polyurethane...I was at this job for hours on Saturday.  But, I think this is last I'll be working at the stairs or floors for this year!

Agnes is loving all the plants coming in...she wants to taste each one, unfortunately...

Friday was Day Three of bringing in my favorite house plants, due to really chilly temps at night.  I even dug up three of my Geranium plants/flowers that I had by the pool, as they are annuals and once they get bit by frost they are dead and gone forever!  I was fortunate to remember to bring those in before they got frost-bit.

Sophie, our dog, got to go on the ride to pick up more crushed concrete---she was so happy to go!

Community road assistance; but there are still so many more holes to fill!  I think this road could use a whole load itself!

On Saturday, Dh got 3 more loads of crushed concrete unloaded on our front driveway, and used the bit left over on our common road with our neighbors. 

I wish I would have taken a "before" picture to show just how gutted this back driveway was...This is SO much better and now it is fairly smooth to drive on.

Dd was too busy working on her bedroom, so I helped Dh do all the gravel work on Saturday.  I can't even imagine how many hours Dd spent on her bedroom this week....she tells me something like 2-3 hours per day, but she was working up there WAY more than that! 

 I'm glad she is finding what she likes and is doing it in her room.  We have quite a few boxes of stuff out of her room that we now need to move to the attic.

I mowed the back yard one last time (the front yard needs it too...) 

Something dug under this outer fence and got into that area two weeks ago.  Luckily we have another fence to get through to get into the heart of the coop entrance, and that inner fencing is above and below sealed.  That invasion showed me it was time to take it up another notch before someone got hurt.

Rocks: 



I filled my wheel barrow up (repeatedly) with large rocks and brought them over to the chicken coop and covered the entire perimeter of the fencing with those rocks to prevent smaller critters from digging up under our fences to get to our chickens.




 Now that it is getting chilly, I'm sure some animals are now looking at our chickens with a new sense of potential!

 I got out the old blue tarp to put on top of our fancy new green pool cover; this way the acid rainwater won't be going into our pool during the fall, winter, or spring, and our pool water will be in better shape in the summer when it is warm enough to open it back up again.

Saturday Night Dd went to a homeschool Square Dance.  This is the third one our friend has held, and it was great seeing how so many people remembered the steps.  Dd invited a new friend from church, and paid her way to go with us.  This friend, "H", is other girl that co-runs the Olympians 'game time' with my Dd, on Wednesday nights at church.  Our old church use to run a program very similar to this, called, "Awana."

Vet on Tuesday, details: Sophie:

We had major trauma this week.  Sophie went to the vet to have a "spot" looked at in the back of her throat.  A BIG spot/tumor that looks like it will close off her throat soon if we don't do something quickly.  The doctor says it might be Malignant Malinoma (which my dear father died from), or it could just be a tumor...either way it needs to be removed before it cuts off her breathing or eating ability.  


Before we could okay the surgery, we need to make sure she wasn't riddled with cancer.  Sophie had three x-rays, and then a lot of blood work done.  All the test results were good, so she will have her surgery next Wednesday, Oct. 26th.  I'm trying to fatten her up b/c I know she won't want to eat much after that oral surgery.  She agrees that she should be eating more too!  Prayers Appreciated.  

Now for Dd's Lessons for the week, with no help from me:

Bible: 3:30 hours

Church, SS, and Olympians

Volunteering:1:30 hours  

Olympians night, Games 

Our Free-Range chickens are found all over...even around the pool (don't worry it's covered), they sure do get around.

Math: 5:15 hours

Khan Academy 5x this week

Zeus follows me around looking for pets...

Poetry: 1:00 hour
Painless Poetry:

pg 23-33

Foreign Language: 40 min.

Duolingo: German (2x this week)
Dd is really enjoying this free app.

Science: 1:00 hour

Apologia General Science

Test Module 16: COMPLETED!!!!

We are moving on to Apologia's: Physical Science next!

Art:

Painting: 7:00 hours

3 pictures and a birthday card

Language Arts: 1:30
Get Well Soon card to Giz (45 min)
 letter to the "L family Kids" (LA: 45 min)

Sophie enjoyed watching us work hard on the roads!

Sonlight Reader/Read Aloud Audio's (3):

Audio #1: SL Reader: 4:00 hours

The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell : Completed

Audio #2: 2:00 hours

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew (in process)

I had listened to most of this on my own, as a pre-listen, and found it so very encouraging and uplifting that I've decided to go ahead and start this audio with Dd now, instead of waiting until the scheduled time.  I really recommend this story, book or audio, as it is one of those rare books that gives example after example of God providing exactly what is needed, exactly when it is needed.  This book reinforces the faith we should have, knowing that God will always meet our needs and care for us.  There are a few times in the story that I actually got goose bumps hearing how well God took care of Brother Andrew!  I know these types of stories always impact my Dd even more than me, and help her to get back on the right path--on those times when she might have drifted a little off where I like her to be (any mom's know what I mean?  the times when the do what we ask of them, just not exactly in the time frames we hoped for...).  I bought the book, and also found this book on audio on Audible--and found the narrator to be very engaging.

Fun Audio #3: 1:00 hour

Ranger's Apprentice: The Siege of Macindaw: Book Six by John A. Flanagan: ongoing audio-- 

This is the back area that we are going to make into the chickens BIG run, then they won't be pooping on my front porch and door step!  They literally come to the front door a few times a day looking for food handouts.  I doubt we will get the fencing done this year to make it happen, but should be able to finish up next spring.

Reading: 11:45 hours total in Readers

Sonlight Reader: 3:30 hours

 (suppose to be RA): 

A Murder for her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner

in process (first 5 chapters completed)

This little area here is mostly sand, and the chickens love getting in it and half bury themselves getting covered in sand.

Fun Reading:

The Lost World by Michael Crichton: 1:15 min (in process, she just started this after completing Jurassic Park a week or so ago.)

Little Blog on The Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell: 6:00

Completed (she had read this before and enjoyed it)

Deception's Princess (Princess of Myth) by Esther Friesner

1:00 (in process)

We were so blessed with beautiful weather this week!

Home Economics: 18:30 hours

Grilled Cheese x 2 (Dh bought some great cheese at this local Amish cheese store)

Tuna Fish and Crackers

Baked Lemon, Lemon cake, with homemade glaze

Chicken dinner--the mayo & Parmesean cheese recipe

Bedroom Cleaning, Painting, Organizing, and de-cluttering, her bathroom-cleaned & re-organized, painted stairwell and landing with polyurethane...lots of work!

Music: 11:05 total

Private Lesson with Mrs. March: 30 min. (this week was alto sax)

Beginning Band with Tenor Sax class: 1:30 hours

Intermediate Band with Alto Sax class: 1:30 hours

Practice: 7:35 hours

violin: 10 min each day, 5 days= 50 minutes

Tenor: 3 days = 2: 45 hours

Alto: 4 days = 3:30 hours

Piano: 1 day = 30 minutes

(this seems short to me, but she isn't great at keeping count of her times, and I was too busy this week to keep it for her...)

The Ladies say 'Bye, have a great week, it's time to go!"

...........

SL Core H Book Pre-Line Up and Set Up

SL Core H Book Prep

Pre-Line Up and Set Up

New Set Up Design!

As Dd is technically in "High School" she wanted me to mark her books so she could see which book to read next.  I had been writing on the inside of the first page the core, week it was to be started, whether it was a "Reader" or a "Read Aloud", and on some books I wrote the schedule it was to be read--so she knew which chapters or pages were to be read in each days allotted reading.  Apparently having to open each book was not helpful enough, so I wrote on a colored piece of paper the relevant information and adhered it to the spine of our Core H books.  To spell out what I wrote on each book:
"SL" = Sonlight
"R" = Reader (for Dd to read herself, alone)
or
"RA" = Read Aloud (for me to read aloud to Dd)
"#" or "8" = the order she is to read the books, starting with "1"
"H" = Core H in the Sonlight Core

We have two Core H Instructor Guides (IG), a partial one from 2008 and one from 2013.  I like the old format of SL IG's b/c the book questions are all together, whereas the newer cores have the book questions split up into the weeks' section.

Each book will either be a "SL" (Sonlight) book or one that I've Added-In, which probably was a Sonlight book in a previous or future core than the core I am using.
I put the Sonlight Bible books in her cubby first:
"BBC" = Turning Your Bedroom Into A Bible College by Gregg Johnson
"But Don't All Religions Lead to God" by Green
Daring To Live Life On The Edge by Loren Cunningham
Live Like A Jesus Freak by DC Talk
(I've bought a few filler bible books that we will add-in after we finish our Veritas Press: Gospels program.  I have bought five high school Bob Jones University Press bible books, but I haven't figured out where (or when) we will fit them in.)

Our first Poetry book that I've decided on:
Painless Poetry by Francis McPake

Reader Line Up:
1) The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (previous SL)
2) The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt By Day by Scott O'Dell (Add-in)
3) The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell (SL)
3 1/2) The Iron Peacock by Mary Stetson Clark (SL)
4) Madeline Takes Command by Ethel C. Brill (SL)
4 1/2) The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy Hoobler (SL)
5) Stowaway by Karen Hesse (SL)
6) The Kidnapped Prince The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Ann Cameron (previous SL)
7) In Search of Honor by Donnalynn Hess (SL)

8) The Broken Blade by   (SL)
9) A Heart Strangely Warmed by Vernon (SL)
10) Betsy and the Emperor by Staton Rabid (SL)
11) Mary Jones & Her Bible by Mary Ropes (SL)
12) Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (SL)
13) Only The Names Remain by Alex W. Bealer (SL)
14) The Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson (SL, in newer cores)
15) Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon (SL)
16) Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (SL, previous core)
17) The Good Master by Kate Seedy (SL)
18) Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan (SL)





19) Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
20) The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Bradley
21) Escape From Warsaw by Ian Serraillier
22) Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi
23) I Am David by Anne Holm
24) "It's A Jungle Out There!" by Ron Snell
25) Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan
26) The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis


 

 Read Aloud Line Up:

1)Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner   (SL)

2) Out of Many Waters by Jacqueline Greene (SL)

3) The Best Christmas Pageant by Barbara Robinson (SL)

4) A Parcel of Patterns by Paton Walsh

5) The Ravenmaster's Secret by Woodruff (SL)

6) The Arrow Over The Door by Joseph Bruchac (SL)

7A) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (SL)

7B) Dickens Great Expectations (Christian Guides to the Classics)

We are scheduled to spend three weeks on Great Expectations, and I wanted to get a book that broke it down with us in great detail.

8) Banner In the Sky by Ullman

9) The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy

10) Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

10) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
11) The Endless Steeppe: Growing Up In Siberia by Esther Hautzig
12) Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
13) Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (SL book, not with this Core that we haven't read yet.)

I'll add some add-in spines that we are using with this core next!

...........