Sonlight Core H Week 3C Nov. 28-Dec 4, 2016

Sonlight Core H 

Week 3C 

Nov. 28-Dec 4, 2016

Hello Friends!

We had a good academic week!  Band and piano classes were back and they are getting prepared for the Christmas band concerts that are coming up in a few weeks.  My biggest upset this week was that I hurt my back, which really put a huge damper on my activity level.  My back is doing better now, not 100%, but slowly improving.  Dh and Dd did my chore list together on Saturday.  They drained the water build-up (huge puddle) on top of our pool covers' cover!  They also pulled out all the dead marigold plants from our garden so we don't have a trillion baby marigolds in the spring!  I'm truly hoping to expand my veggies next year.

Dd's big deal this week was her focus on time-lapse drawings.  She used my phone, and drew while the camera took pictures throughout the process.  She did really well!  I hadn't known she was such a fan of cross-hatching!  She definitely focused more on her drawing than music this week.

Sunday night's Youth Group went Christmas Caroling.  I was thinking of going, until Dd reminded me this was the "Youth Group!"  They also had that funny "white elephant" game, where everyone brings a gift and they exchange all around and end up with a surprise.

After church and Sunday School, Dd and I stayed to practice our songs that we will be singing on the Christmas day program.  It isn't a solo, but we will be singing in a fairly large group, or else we wouldn't have agreed to join!  I'm hoping the experience of being up on stage might help show Dd that she can do this without me.  I'd love it for her to share her musical blessings with our church family.  So far she doesn't feel bold enough to take the stage.

Bible:

The Harmony of the Gospels

Who Jesus Is

Read with Bible and Believer's Bible Commentary:

Luke 1:1-4

John 1: 1-18

Matthew 1: 1-17

Luke 3: 23-38

Bible Verse in Cursive:

1 Sam 12:24:

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart;consider what great things he has done for you.

Don't All Religions Lead to God?

Ch. 5 & 6 Completed

Sunday: Church, Sunday School, and singing practice: 3 hours

Saturday: Christmas program rehearsal - Dd will be in the Xmas program this year! (2 hours)

Math:

Math U See: Geometry

2 A, B, C, D, E

History Assignments:

Sonlight Read Aloud:

Out of Many Waters by Jacqueline Greene

Goodreads Review/Summary: Set in 1654, against the backdrop of the Portuguese Inquisition, this historical novel tells the story of 12-year-old Isobel. Escaping from the monastery where she and her sister have been held, she stows away on a ship in hopes of finding her parents again. Braving loneliness, storms and privateers, Isobel is befriended by a group of passengers and becomes one of the first Jewish immigrants to settle in New Amsterdam. 

Amazon Summary: Kidnapped from her parents during the Portuguese Inquisition, 12-year old Isobel BenLazar was sent to work as a slave at a remote Brazilian monastery. In 1654, Isobel escapes and stows away on a ship bound for Amsterdam, searching for her family. But harrowing adventures lead her to the first group of Jews to settle in America. "Weaves history, drama and narrative into an arresting story." -New York Times Book Review "An uplifting story built upon twin themes long common to Jewish thought-hope and deliverance." -Kirkus Reviews Sydney Taylor Honor Book New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

Kingfisher History Encyclopedia:

249, 259, 270-271, 272-273

BiblioPlan Medieval History Companion, Vol II:

Chapter 29: The Renaissance in Science: Completed

Chapter 30: The Reformation Beyond Germany: Completed

BiblioPlan Advanced Maps:

Week 28: The Renaissance in Art

Week 29: How Many Countries Can You Name?

Sonlight Reader:

Madeline Takes Command by Ethel C. Brill   : In Process

Madeleine Verchere's story is based on a true account of colonial French Canada of the 1690's. Harassed by Iroquois, the Verchere family's fort (seigneury) must keep a continual guard. 14-year-old Madeleine is left alone with two younger brothers and few others when the Indians attack. We follow the brave and determined stratagems of Madeleine and her small circle. Madeleine's youthful leadership, especially of her brothers, will win the reader's admiration. Age 10 and up.

Art:

Drawing and stop-motion video's of drawing: 11 hours

Language Arts:

Poetry:

Painless Poetry by Francis McPike

pg 56-59

IEW SWI B: Lesson 11

completed

Easy Grammer, Plus

pg 9,12,15

Sonlight LA Week 3 Activity Sheets for Core G & H: Completed

Busy Hands/Home Economics:

Chicken Care

Fish/Clam Chowder: AWESOME

Hamburgers--good!

Chores with Pappa on Saturday (cut up a tree and brought wood to pile...)

Dish / Kitchen Chores

Fun Book:
Eragon by Christopher Paolini: In Process

Music:

Classes:
Beginning Band: Tenor Sax: 1:30 hours
Intermediate Band: Alto Sax: 1:30 hours
Piano Lesson (Mrs. March): :30 minutes

Practice:
Alto Sax:1:15 hours
Tenor Sax: 1:30 hours
Piano: 2:45 hours
Flute: :20 minutes
violin: zero

Singing/Church Christmas Program:
3:00 hours
Christmas Caroling: 1:00

Volunteering: 
Olympians Church program:
1:30 hours

.........

Farm Cemetery Nov. 2016

Farm Cemetery 

An American Cemetery from the Past

Nov. 2016

Our farm in Indiana is half woods, half fields, and has two different cemetery's on it.  This is the larger of the two sites.  Each Fourth of July, some volunteer's come out and place American flags on the gravestones of those men that were in the Indiana Infantry during the Civil War.

It is interesting to see such old and beautiful stones.  Some are metal and others are stone.  Some are really decorative and some are totally plain---I think some were initials, some are really small and others are quite large...

O death where is thy sting?
O grave where is thy victory?

Above the hand, with index finger pointed up, says:
"Going Home"
This grave belongs to Mary Rankin Cox

Another Cox family member with the grave that points toward
"Going Home"

The most difficult part of our cemetery are that most of the grave stones are old, small, and severely eroded so that you can't read them anymore.

You can see the blueish metal markers on the right side of this photo, in the upper right side of the frame.

If you look above and below the writing you will see engraved work.  Above Ransom's name looks like engraved wheat grasses.  Below the name of Elizabeth are really interesting geometric designs that look kind of Scottish?

This little angel has always been my most favorite part of this cemetery.  In the snow, she looks so pretty and solemn.  If I were to pick a gravestone or marker, she would be it.  

I can only make out the last line, I think it says:
 "That guide us to eternity"

We have such a beautiful, quiet, big woods setting that makes the cemetery very peaceful.

..............

Sonlight Core H Week 3B Nov. 21-27, 2016 Thanksgiving/Hunting/Travel

Sonlight Core H 

Week 3B  

Nov. 21-27, 2016

Thanksgiving/Hunting/Travel

Gobble, Gobble!

Hello Friends!

I'm behind typing this up, so I am having to look at my calendar to get it all straight. We spent most of the week at our old home in Indiana, and spent lots of time with Giz and Grampy. 

Quick, rough review of the week, then our homeschooling accomplishments:

Monday:we did lessons, went to the library and packed.

Tuesday: focused on more packing, cleaning, and loaded up the van--when Dh came home we drove to Indiana (arrived 11:45pm).

Wilbur got a deer, and we watched it get 'cleaned.'  It is always fascinating to see the inside of a deer, and I took lots of pictures. Dh used the tractor to hoist it up the tree.  This tractor has been running the family farm for decades, and is Grampy's pride and joy!

Dh on the 1945 "WD45" Allis Chambers tractor

Wednesday: Dh and his buddy, Wilbur hunted (am and pm) and Wilbur got a deer.

Being a one-income family, we rarely splurge on anything; but each year we go all-out and order a New England style Thanksgiving feast to share with Giz and Grampy.  

Thursday: THANKSGIVING, no hunting, eating lobster, clam chowder and clams.  L working on a red & yellow knitted scarf.

Giz and Grampy seem to have fun with our different Thanksgiving.  They had never had a lobster until I came around!

Dh and Dd have had a wonderful time together this past month, with lots of 1:1 time.  I'm so glad they like each other so well, they are two peas in a pod!

Friday: Dh hunted with Dd, and by himself in the morning.  Dd and Dh did their annual shooting time together.

Dd put up some fun targets to shoot at with her .22.

All together for evening games of UNO.

Saturday: I got to hike around by myself and take pictures of trees and the old cemetery on our land.  

I'm going to make a separate post to share some of the pictures I took from our cemetery soon. It is a historical gem--1700's and 1800's, Civil War graves from men that served in the Indiana Infantry...

Dh hunted, Dd worked with Grampy burning brush piles, and we all got together for evening games of UNO.  We really enjoy playing card games with G & G--they sure know how to crack us up!

We love coming back to the farm, though it makes me really sad to think we don't live here anymore.  It really was a lovely home.

Sun. we got everything back in the van and headed back to Michigan.  Dh didn't get any deer this week, but the buck he had shot two weeks ago was processed and we got to take it home with us.  

Our woods with all the fall leaves down.

A migrating flock of European Starlings passing through--

There were five big groupings of River Birch planted up the road, but we think the drought we had 3 summers ago caused two groups to die off.  Many of the spruce died, but the White Pine have held strong and grown well.

Just about all the trees you see in these pictures are tree's we planted.  It would be interesting to know just how many plants, trees, bulbs, bushes and flowers we have planted here.  Many have already grown and died, or were cut down.

Homeschooling Accomplishments:

Bible: 
Gideon by Patricia Shirer

I'm working on "Gideon" bible study, for my Sunday School class, and enjoyed one section so much I thought I would share it with Dd this week.  The section was on "How to Live Like A Christian." 

Micah 6:8 (read with both our bible and then with our Believer's Bible Commentary.  I really recommend a good commentary to get so much more understanding out of your bible study. )

 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justlyi and to love mercy

and to walk humblya j with your God.

1 Thess. 4:3 (read with both our bible and then with our Believer's Bible Commentary)

For this is the will of God, your sanctification:[a] that you abstain from sexual immorality

1 Thess. 4:11-12 (read with both our bible and then with our Believer's Bible Commentary)

and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Eph. 6:6 (read with both our bible and then with our Believer's Bible Commentary)

Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Matt. 22:37-38 (read with both our bible and then with our Believer's Bible Commentary)

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Mark 12:30-31 (I like this one better than Matt. 22:37-38) (read with both our bible and then with our Believer's Bible Commentary)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.”

What excellent advise and such a good grouping of bible verses for us to look at HOW the bible tells us to act.  As a Christian I get so upset by hearing fellow Christians using their words to say mean things about fellow people.  It pains me hearing them pick on one or two sins in particular, as if those sins are worse than other sins.  I was very glad to have this bible study remind me of the basics---and how we all need to focus on mercy, kindness, and loving behaviors.

Our aim is to:  

*act justly and love mercy

*WALK HUMBLY with GOD

*abstain from sexual immorality

*lead a quiet life

*Mind your own business

*work with your hands

*win the respect of outsiders so that you will not be dependent on anybody

*Obey those in authority over you, as if they were Jesus

*Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind---first and foremost!! LOVE, be kind, be humble, mind your own business!

I had a hawk flying above me on my walk.

Math:

Hark! We decided after two years of struggling with three different curriculum's for Algebra I, we would take a break and try Math U See: Geometry.  This week she completed Lesson 1 and Dd is very excited to try something different and is hopeful again:

1 A, B, C, D

I found this nest by the farm house---not positive what kind of bird made it? a robin??

Sonlight Reader 1:

The Iron Peacock by Mary Stetson Clarke: Completed

Sonlight Reader 2:

Madeleine Takes Command by Ethel Claire Brill: Started

Fun Book:

The Martian by Andy Weir: In Process
This book puts such an emphasis on getting math and science down, and Dd has said it makes her want to improve in those subjects do to this book... I just love it when her books encourage her to be a better student/thinker.

Audio's this week: 
*lots of driving and audio's this week!
With fourteen hours of driving, I dug into our audio closet for some good audio's that had American history stories and found four stories.  Dd and Dh had to finish up the audio they were already listening to, The Hatchling, but after that we started the audio's I picked.  The Secrets of A Civil War Submarine story was very "non-fiction" and a tad dry, but very interesting.  I, personally, learned a lot I didn't know a lot about the H.L. Hunley sub before, but now I do!!!  

1) The Hatchling by Kathyrn Lasky: Completed (5:30 hours)

2) Secrets of A Civil War Submarine by Sally M. Walker (2 hours) 
Amazon review: 
On February 17, 1864, the H.L. Hunley made history as the first submarine to sink a ship in battle. Soldiers on the shore waited patiently after seeing the submarine’s return signal. But after several days, the ship had failed to return. What had gone wrong? In 1995, after over 130 years of searching, the H.L. Hunley was finally found buried off the coast of South Carolina. Follow author, Sally M. Walker on a fascinating journey through the workings of the famous submarine, its voyages, and the difficult obstacles that were overcome to recover, excavate and conserve the ship. 

3) A Week in The Woods by Andrew Clements: Completed (4 hours)
The fifth-grade Week in the Woods is a beloved tradition of Hardy Elementary, where Mark Chelmsley (the Fourth) is pretty much killing time before his parents send him off to an exclusive prep school. But then Mark realizes the Week might be a chance to prove to Mr. Maxwell that he's not just another of the slacker rich kids the teacher can't stand.

We are already Andrew Clements fans, as we have read his works before, and figured this book, like his others, would be fun!

4) Gingersnap by Patricia Riley Giff: Completed (3:30 hours) Very Good story set during WWII.
Goodreads review: It's 1944, W.W. II is raging. Jayna's big brother Rob is her only family. When Rob is called to duty on a destroyer, Jayna is left in their small town in upstate New York with their cranky landlady. But right before he leaves, Rob tells Jayna a secret: they may have a grandmother in Brooklyn. Rob found a little blue recipe book with her name and an address for a bakery. When Jayna learns that Rob is missing in action, she's devastated. Along with her turtle Theresa, the recipe book, and an encouraging, ghostly voice as her guide, Jayna sets out for Brooklyn in hopes of finding the family she so desperately needs.

We are fans of Patricia Riley Giff, and this is another one of her books that really touched our hearts.

5) Story of the World Early Modern Times---completed disc one, disc two not working...ugh.

6) Stella Bane by Anita Shreve: Started--WWI story (1 hour, so far)
Goodreads review:
When an American woman, Stella Bain is found suffering from severe shell shcok in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in.  A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his house guest.  Stella had been working as a nurse's aide near the front, but she can't remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French Battlefield (WWI).  In a narrative that takes us from London to America and back again, Shreve has created an engrossing and wrenching tale about love and the meaning of memory, set against the haunting backdrop of a war that destroyed an entire generation.


Music:
Dd did most of her playing with Giz and Grampy, and I didn't keep careful track---she did some alto and tenor sax, piano, and flute---about 3 or 4 hours total.  Plus, our library had the piano music for Pride and Prejudice, and she has been playing my favorite songs!!!!!!  We had never thought of seeing if the library would have sheet music for the piano!  How cool is that!

Busy Hands:

Crocheting scarf: she did a lot of this--6-7 hours or so
shooting guns--target practice
burning brush piles
helping Giz in the kitchen...

Games with Giz, Grampy, Dh and me:

UNO two nights in a row, and she beat us all, at least once.

I love our woods!

Hunting/Hiking:

She hiked off in the woods with her Pappa, and read her Kindle out in the blind!  I think they each had fun in their own way!  She finished her book, The Martian out there.  This was a really nice week, and it was great to have some more special time with Giz and Grampy! 

See what the bucks do to our trees...quite the rub!

This area we call 'the BIG woods' as the canopy is so high and you can really see the deer, turkey, mushrooms, or anything so well.

....................

Sonlight Core H Week 3(A) Nov. 14-21, 2016

Sonlight Core H 

Week 3(A) 

Nov. 14-21, 2016

(Sat. Indiana Gun Season/Deer Hunting began)

The snow actually stuck---it snowed most of Saturday, but the accumulation didn't amount to much for all that effort.

Hello Friends! 

 The big excitement was that Dh and Dd went to Indiana, just the two of them, for the opening of deer hunting season.  Dh alternated between hunting with his long-time hunting partner and Dd.  While with his friend, he shot a very large buck---boy, weren't they surprised to find he had 6 points on side of the antler, and the other side was missing...? He would have been a 12 point buck (big/older) if both sides were still there.  We have no idea what happened to the other side!

Giz (Dh's mother, Dd decided grandma should be called "Giz" sometime around her 2nd birthday and it stuck!), decided she and Dd would work on quilting blankets with their time together. 

The blanket/quilt Dd and Giz have been working on.

 Dd had bought a pretty white cotton, thick, table cloth with large red roses on it, and they added batting and a green fleece back and made it into a quilt.  I think they had fun.  Dd is making another one with the extra green and batting left over.

Gingerbread cookie making also filled in their time together.  Dd also played her alto sax, tenor sax, flute, and piano at Giz and Grampy's house.  Dd also played piano with two little relatives that Giz had scheduled to babysit while Dd was there.  I guess it was quite a cute sight--Dd with each little girl on each side of her at the piano bench!!!  Dd had older cousins that were not very interested in her when she was little, at family functions, so she is being extra, extra loving and kind towards these children, as she knows how that can impact.  I'm so glad that she can take those hardships and turn them into being a better person, instead of just repeating the bad behavior.

Synopsis of our week:

Dh and Dd had left for the farm on Fri., so Monday and Tuesday she spent time there - learning a lot from Giz and having fun too.  Tuesday night they returned back to Michigan!  Dd had got sick on Tuesday morning, vomiting by evening...of course! so she came home 'under the weather.'  

While collecting marigold blooms/seeds, I found a small clutch of eggs--seven EGGS were under this marigold!

Monday and Tuesday, while Dd & Dh were in Indiana, I unpacked many of our boxes, finished all the filing (3 file boxes hadn't been opened for almost three years!), gathered LOTS of marigold blooms and spread them out on three cookie sheets to dry-out, and got a lot of our banking and accounts up to date...boring stuff that I had been putting off for far too long!

I harvested another three cookie sheets of large marigolds, some for me, and some for friends.

Tuesday morning I walked down to get on our computer in the basement and noticed our kitty, Agnes, shuffling about--acting erratic.  I went in the utility room to see what was up, and some hose had broke and water was spewing all over the floor! Gasp! Panic! cell phone...calls...prayer...and finally Grampy came to the rescue and told me which thing to turn off!  You'd think I would know which was the main, but I'm too new in this house!  What a shock!  I'm so glad I stayed home, and was able to catch the problem before our basement got flooded!

Wednesday: Dd was able to go to her band classes, and her private piano lesson.  She took a nap when we got home, and made it back out for our church program, Olympians.  When we got home, we had the best surprise....a wonderful new snowblower!  Seriously, I can't count how many hours I shoveled our 200-300 yard drive-way; which almost seems like a mini-road!  This is going to make a huge difference on the amount of time I'm going to have to spend shoveling snow this winter!!!  You can't imagine what a HUGE relief this is!!!  Praise the Lord!

Dd put up a rain gauge that G&G had given her months ago---after she got it all in I had to tell her she couldn't leave the plastic tube outside b/c it would freeze!  She was happy she got the hardware installed, even if she has to wait until spring to see it in action!

Thursday: Back to some lessons, and Dd continued to recover (sleep) from her big excursions! I got to experience the wonders of the "stress test" and be told that I did better 'than most people half my age,' which I fist thought was a compliment, but then realized the nurses were calling me OLD!  It was very quick and mostly easy, though I hadn't planned on running on an incline---I had thought it was just running on a treadmill.  Glad I got it done, and hope the info might be helpful.

Friday: This was the LAST of our Indian Summer, so I worked like, as my Dh would say, "a borrowed mule!"  Seriously!  I worked outside the whole day...leaving our house to continue to be a mess!  

While weeding, I came across these potatoes!  I had forgotten that I stuck in an old potato in the spring!!

Dh bought three big bags of daffodil bulbs that needed to be planted.  Dd and I had a lot of fun choosing our spots, digging and weeding, and then planting our bulbs. 

Sophie happy to watch us work!

 I re-did our front two gardens, making them bigger to accommodate the bulbs. 

The chickens had a BLAST "helping" me plant the new bulbs!  They scored so many worms, it was crazy!  I put up the rock border as well.

 I added a big rock border to the garden beside the front door---which sounds quick and easy, but took about five - six hours to do!  I am fairly close to wrapping up the outside chores that have to be done before winter....which is a good thing because it SNOWED all day Saturday!  Winter has arrived in Michigan, folks! 

The garden that Dd worked on--Friday

Saturday:
Dh finished up the molding on the new patio doors!!!

These doors are so much better than the last set!

Chickens:

They got a new feeder this week! It is the metal one that is hanging down against the dark blue wall.  They are needing the heat lamp already.

Here is the insulation that I built up above their coop:

A shot from the stairwell going down into the lower part of the building---below you can see the wall of the chicken coop and above you can see the floor where I stacked up insulation that is just above them.  They have around 3 feet of insulation above them.

Academics for the week: 

Bible:
I've been having Dd choose a bible verse each week and write it down, in cursive, in her special book.

Veritas Press: Gospels: Student Notebook: Completed

The BBC Manuel: (Sonlight's bible program):
pg's 24-26, 26-29, 36-38

But Don't All Religions Lead to God?
Ch. 5 & 6

Dd went to church and Sunday School with her grandparents this week, in Indiana.



History:
Story of the World: Early Modern Times
Ch. 3-5

Sonlight Reader:
The Iron Peacock by Mary Stetson Clarke: Completed
Amazon review: Joanna Sprague's life is upended when her father dies on the voyage that was to take them to a new life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Poor and alone, 16-year-old Joanna must summon uncommon courage to survive life as a bond servant in a strange new world. An unforgettable, captivating story.

Great for ages 12 - 14.

Khan Academy: Math: 2 hours this week

Poetry:
Painless Poetry:
pg's 249-259, 270-271, 272-293



Language Arts:
IEW SWI B: Lesson 11: in process



Physical Education/PE:

Hunting with Pappa: 4-5 hours

Gardening, planting bulbs...etc.: 6 hours

Leaf blowing: 1:30 hours

Chicken Care: 1:00 hour

Home Economics:

Laundry and cat care: 1:30 hours

Angel Food Cake and Icing: 1:45 hours

Chicken Parmesan: 1:00 hour

Brenda Lee says hello!

Audio 1:
The Miraculous Tales of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo: Completed
Amazon review: Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who adored him completely. And then, one day, he was lost. . . . 

Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. Along the way, we are shown a miracle -- that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.

Audio: 2:
Guardians of Ga'Hoole, #7: The Hatchling by Kathryn Lasky:
 In process




Fun Books:
The Swap : Completed
My Life withe the Walter Boys: Completed
Dune: sipping off and on
Spirit's Princess: In Process

Art: 
Drawing: 1 hour



Music: total 12:35 hours
Piano: 3:00 hours
Alto Sax: 3:15 hours
Tenor Sax: 2:30 hours
Flute: 20 minutes
Beginning Band (Tenor): 1:30 hours
Intermediate Band (Alto): 1:30 hours
Piano lesson: 30 minutes

Our first sticking snow!

Looking forward to next week--and a time to be overly Thankful for all of our blessings!!!  May each of you count each blessing and find an abundance!

............