Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Sonlight Core H Week 12 March 26-April 1, 2017 (World History Year 2/2 1600-1700's)

Sonlight Core H Week 12 
March 26-April 1, 2017
(World History Year 2/2 1600-1700's) 
A picture for Christie!  I'm so glad you enjoyed seeing this orchid finally re-bloom!  For you, friend!
Hello, Friends! 

March 30th- even the little Bantams are jumping out of the brooder box, so I had to stop everything and put the second chicken tractor in the garage for the 2 Bantams and 2 ducks.  It was a LOT of work but I got them moved out of our sunroom and into the garage.


What a dreadfully busy week:
Square Dance, Band Classes, Music Lessons, Dentist appointment, Strings Group, Church and Sunday School, and Olympians (Awana-like group).  
We simply had too much going on for one week, but things will be winding down soon.  The Olympians (church program similar to Awana) will be ending on May 24, so only seven nights left.  Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, and piano lessons will all end in three weeks! Three weeks!  So things will lighten up soon.  I guess I should mention one thing we are going to add next month (May), since Dd doesn't have any band or piano in May we figured this would be the perfect month to do Driver's Education, which meets three days a week, for four weeks.  I am really glad Dd is going to have a seriously tough class, with lots of information she has to memorize, with a different teacher than me!  I think Dd could use some perspective from having other teachers.  On Monday, Dd went with me to the dentist, and last Monday she went with us to Dh's doctor appointment.  Monday's are usually a very big lessons day, and losing those two Mondays, back to back, has made the rest of the week harder for her than normal.
Merry, our smaller duck

"Books too easy":
Dd was stretched too thin this week, and her attitude was a bit frazzled.  For the past few weeks, Dd hasn't been liking her Sonlight books.  She says they are written for younger students and wants better books.  I'm just not sure what to make of that, but I do see that she is overwhelmed with too much going on this week and that effects how she sees her lessons. Yes, we are on the high end of the grade level for this core, which is designed for grades 7-9, and we are nearing the end of her 9th-grade year.  I'm trying to figure out how to proceed now.  Honestly, this has never happened to us before as she has always like the SL books.  I had been stretching out our cores, and adding in BiblioPlan, but I am weeks behind in the BP when lined up with our core. 
Pippen, our bigger duck



 I think I am just going to keep moving forward and try to finish our core in normal speed, one week at a time, with minimal stretching.  I plan on following up Core H with Core 100, and hope those books will match up better with her.  Another option is that I could add-in a few books from Core 200 or 300 or British Literature, that would satisfy her desire for more advanced books.  I'm thinking about our possible options....surprised by Dd's recent feelings about her books!  Thoughts and prayers appreciated (Chelle, Heather, or Christie feel free to send me a note if you have any idea's!).

The wing feathers are starting to come in--such an interesting stage.

Teeth:
One of my teeth went wonky and I couldn't eat or drink without setting off a major nerve shock of pain.  After I ate my eggs on Saturday morning it started, and that was my last meal until Monday.  I never thought I could fast before, but it actually was very easy to not eat all weekend when the outcome of eating was going to be pain!  Long story, but it all turns out in the end.


Chickens/Ducks:
All poultry in the garage, and doing really well!  Things are going really well with the new critters! 
The ducks are growing super-fast!  I'm bringing them in for a swim in my bathtub.


 The ducks are getting so huge it isn't funny!  I'm still bringing them in to my bathtub for baths.  My bathtub has never been cleaner since it is getting a thorough scrubbing after each of their baths, so it is enjoying all the attention!  I didn't mention that a few weeks ago, one of my older chickens didn't come back after foraging.  There was not one feather left behind!  Whatever 'it' was, it took her and left our property, maybe a raccoon or fox?  I kept waiting, day after day, thinking she might find her way home, but I have finally accepted she isn't coming back.  That is the one bad part of letting our chickens out of their coop, they can get taken.  I'm making sure I round them up by 5:30 pm so the chances of a critter taking them goes down since most things come out to hunt at dusk.



Square Dance:
Friday night we took Dd's church buddy, Hailee, to the homeschool square dance!  We took her the last time too.  The girls had so much fun!  The square dances are just good, clean fun!
Usually, there are five young ladies in the Strings Group, this evening we only had four of the youth.  The woman in the purple vest has only been playing her ukelele for the past few months, she switched to a Baritone ukulele b/c it is bigger and easier to play.

Strings Group:
Our church's Strings Group practiced on Thursday for the upcoming performance.  There is a "Singspiration" scheduled for Sunday night.  Dd has really figured out the ukulele.  Our group leader, Sarah, offered to let me borrow her banjo ukulele this week, and for Dd to teach me how to play it. 



 But, for now I am just going to be singing with Martha while all the band members play.  We have a regular banjo, a few guitars, and a variety of ukulele's.  Our band has a Tenor Ukulele, a Concert Ukulele, a Bass Ukulele, and whatever it is that Dd's has!
A guitar lesson, before we start, in the front pew.  It is great how much mentoring happens each night.

Our lessons for the week:
(another week where we didn't get all our assignments fit in!)

I chop up some lettuce, or any green, for the ducks to eat while they swim and play.  My yellow bathtub makes for harder picture-taking.


Bible:
Walking With Frodo by Sarah Arthur
pg's 123-148
I love how the book has 5-8 bible verses to look up in our bible each day that correspond with the days' lesson.  We only have a few more lessons left, and I am going to miss this book!

Bible Verse in Cursive

Church, Sunday School, Olympians (volunteer for 1.5 hours)

Dd enjoying watercoloring


Music Classes:
Beginning Band: Tenor 1:30 hours
Intermediate Band: Alto 1:30 hours
Piano lesson with Mrs. March: 30 minutes
Violin lesson with Christie: 30 minutes
Strings Group: 1:15 hours

Music Practices: (rough guess as she often forgets to document)
Piano: 30 minutes
Alto Sax: (she had a challenge this week- about 3:30 hours
Tenor Sax: 15 minutes? that doesn't seem right
Ukulele: 30 minutes or so



Math: 
Math U See: Geometry
14 A-E




Science:
 Apologia: Physical Science



First Quarterly Test: half done
Text: 105-116
Student Notebook: 60-69



Fun Science:
Dd made a projector out of a shoe box and two magnifying glasses and my cell phone.  Fun project.

Another watercolor, on the wrong paper, but Dd likes using the wrong sketchbook!


History:

Story of the World Early Modern History: 
Ch. 30: Freedom in the Caribbean
Ch. 31: A Different Kind of Rebellion

BiblioPlan Early Modern History:
Ch. 11: Bacon's Rebellion; King Phillips War

BiblioPlan Advanced Maps:
Map 12: The Middle Colonies
Map 13: China

(Reader) George Washington's World by Foster
pg's 231-255
(Dd was so tired of reading Kingfisher's History Encyclopedia and asked to read the Foster history books that use to be used in the older Sonlight Core H, and she really enjoys the Foster's writing.  She is almost done with George Washington's World, and then she will start Abraham Lincoln's World next.  She really loved Augustus Caesar's World, which we read in Core G.  The stories in these history books are very engaging and offer so many great details about the times, people, and places we are studying.  They make history reading fun.)



(Reader) The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Ann Cameron
Dd is complaining about this book, unfortunately.  She thinks it was written for younger students.  She is dragging this book on too long, for such a simple-easy reader.



(Reader)The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emma Orczy
Dd was curious about this book that focuses on the reign of terror following the French Revolution.  She read three chapters this week, and thought of reading it instead of the book that Sonlight wants her to read; In Search of Honor.  After discussion at the end of the week, we decided to push ahead with the books Sonlight picked and not add this book it now, though she was liking it.

(Read Aloud) The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
*We are enjoying this book very much!*



Poetry:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: COMPLETED
We finished this book this week!
Chaucer
Milton
Killed at the Ford



Language Arts:
Word Roots:
pg 74-77

Easy Grammar:
pg 299-303



Fun Reading:
Finishing School Series by Gail Carringer
Book Three: Curtsies & Conspiracies: COMPLETED
Book Four: Waistcoats & Weaponry: COMPLETED
(Dd is really  into this series, and of course they are really big, long books.  Luckily, she only has one book left and then she promises to focus better on her Sonlight books.  She said this series has great vocabulary and fantasic writing.  I'm glad she is liking it so much, but am anxious for her to return her focus on our lessons!

From School Library Journal:



Physical Exercise:
Trying to get ready for Band Camp coming up.  Dd is doing push-ups, crunches, etc each night to prepare.




Art: Drawing:

3 hours this week



Home Economics:
Fish Chowder: AMAZING!  She makes the best soups!!



Cherry/Raspberry Cheesecake!
Dd did spring chores outside on Saturday--cleaning the gardens and yard.  
Plus, her normal chores-chicken care, ducks bath, dishes, etc.

Well, it was a hard week academically.  For the first time, Dd isn't enjoying our core very much, and I am going to have to figure out how to improve this, if I can.  It is hard to tell what is fact or if she is just tired.  We are due a week off, but the weather has been raining and I want to wait and take our time off when we can actually go do something; like visit Lake Michigan again.  



Next 'year' she will be dropping her Tenor Sax and only playing her Alto Sax in Band and *hopefully will pass her audition to gain entry into Intermediate Orchestra playing her violin.  I'm sure she will still want to continue her piano lessons with Mrs. March and playing the ukulele or guitar in the church's Strings Group.  Not having the Tenor anymore should be helpful at decreasing her load.
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Saturday, March 25, 2017

Portico Restaurant in Bologna, Italy

Portico Restaurant in Bologna, Italy

One of the best things we loved about Bologna was the food.  The food was better in Bologna than Florence or Rome.  I thought it might be interesting for others to see a few dishes we enjoyed.


Bologna is known for a few things, this picture shows their famous balsamic vinegar, which was beyond amazing, and on a different plane than American versions!
A basket of bread is usually brought to the table upon sitting down and olive oil and balsamic vinegar is for dipping the bread.

The water buffalo balls (the white balls with olives and tomatoes) in Bologna were unbelievable.  They are similar to mozzarella but much, much better.  There is prosciutto (meat) on the plate, but Bologna is famous for their mortadella; which is like the caviar of bologna, and what our bologna in America was created after.

This dish is a pasta made with spinach, bacon, and cheese.  

This is Bologna's version of a spaghetti dinner; it is Bolognese sauce on some amazing noodles.  It might not look it, but the taste was great.

Up against Dd's left hand is one of the bottles of water we drank during the meal.  It is interesting how in Italy, though the water actually tastes good in our hotel, at restaurants only bottled water was served.  There were two options: gas/fizz or natural/no fizz.  The 'gas' is carbonation and 'no fizz' is no carbonation; plain water.




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

Due Torri, the Two Towers, Bologna, Italy

Due Torri, the Two Towers, Bologna, Italy
In Process a.k.a. Asinelli and Garisenda towers, the Two Towers of Bologna are probably the most well-known items in Bologna.  They are medieval structures that have survived the years.  There use to be more than 100 towers around Bologna.  There are now only 20 of these structures still up, though these are the tallest of the remnants.  The Asinelli tower is the tallest, and it was completed between 1109 and 1119 and stands a height of 318 feet.  It leans 1.5 degrees.  The shorter is the Garisenda Tower which was built around the same time as the Asinelli, but leans more--3.97 degrees.




This is a close-up of the tower above.







The area around the Two Towers was always hopping; even at night.  As a popular tourist spot, there were some fancy shops in the square.  







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Friday, March 24, 2017

Sonlight Core H Week 11 (1500-1700's) March 20-25th, 2017 (First week of spring)

Sonlight Core H Week 11 (1500-1700's) 
March 20-25th, 2017 
(First week of spring)
This is the watercolor set Dd bought at JoAnne Fabrics, with the gift certificate my mom gave her for Christmas!  


"Before" Remember how cute and small they were, just a few weeks ago?
"After"This is how big the ducks are this week...compared to just a few weeks ago!





Hello, Friends!

Illness:
We had a much better week.  Dh's health scare has improved; which is a huge relief.  My bug is slowly improving, and Dd is better too.  Whatever bug we got has been very difficult to shake.



"Before"  Here are the same Isa Brown chicks, just a few weeks goes by and...

"After"  The Isa Browns are really changing a LOT!  Their brown feathers are coming in fast!

New chicks & Ducks:
The chickens and ducks have been a handful!  The ducks manage to spill water all over their brooder and I have to change the towels three times a day to keep the chickens dry.  The ducks have grown enormously!  My, they are such super fast growers!  They eat, drink and poop like nothing I've ever seen.  The worst part, my Dd was so determined to get these cute duckies, and yet she is very slow on keeping their brooder ship-shape.  If I had to do it over, I would not have gotten these ducks.  They are cute and all, but I am not set up for ducks and am fumbling with how to keep them.  I checked out a book from the library this week to give me some ideas.  I've put them in my bathtub twice this week to help them to clean out their noses, as they 'pant' with their beaks open due to the chicken dust.

Friends:
Thursday night, Hailee came over to help Dd on her violin playing--'her fourth finger' something or other.  And in return, Dd is helping teach her piano!  Hailee has a few years of violin under her belt and does a great job of helping with violin technique, but hasn't had piano lessons, so they are sharing technique skills.

Friday night Dd spent the night with her longest-known friend in Michigan.  It is now TWO years ago that this friend, and her mom, invited us to a movie and bible study; which was our first "Girl's Club."  So thankful for Dd having such a good, long-standing friendship that opened up so many doors.  It was through this friend that we learned about band!  Dd played her clarinet, another instrument that she has grown to like more and more.  

Instrument Fitting:
When we first decided that Dd would join the band we had to schedule an appointment with a music store to do an "instrument fitting."  The store brought out about ten different instruments-- Alto sax (not tenor, for some reason), clarinet, trumpet, french horn, flute, baritone, trombone, and tuba.  With no experience in playing any of these instruments before her goal was just to see if her mouth and will-power could work together to make a sound.  If I am remembering correctly, she sounded okay with the clarinet or the sax, and she just preferred the sax and chose it.  Since then, our band teacher has held a few instrument fittings, that we were allowed to attend. She has really enjoyed trying out other instruments and continues to want to branch out.

"Before"  This is "Hummer" or "Hummingbird" the lighter colored of the two Bantam chickens.

"After"  Can you believe how much she has grown!

Our Academics this week:

Bible:
Some difficulties this week with our book...ahem, there wouldn't have been trouble IF I hadn't lost our book!!!  I misplaced our book half way through the week and it took me two days to find it!  


Walking With Frodo by Sarah Arthur 
pg's 87-122

Bible Verse Copied in Cursive

God Is In Control (for Dd's Sunday School)


Math:


MUS Geometry
13 A-E


Science:
Apologia Exploring Creation in Physical Science
Module 4
Complete, but I'm struggling that we didn't get the experiments done.

I've started giving the ducks long swimming sessions in my bathtub until the weather is warmer and we can get them outside in a kiddy pool.

Poetry:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
My Lost Youth
Snow-Flakes
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls


History:

(RA) BiblioPlan Companion: Early Modern History
Ch. 10: More English Colonies: The Restoration of the Monarchy


(RA) SOTW: Story of the World: Early Modern History
Ch. 27: A Changing World Steam and Coal
Ch. 28: China and the rest of the World
Ch. 29: The Rise of Bonaparte


MOH: (AUDIO)Mystery of History Vol 3: Renaissance, Reformation, and Growth of Nations
Lesson 22: Suleiman and the Ottoman Turks- 1522
Lesson 23: Ulrich Zwingli Leads the Swiss Reformation
Lesson 24: The Anabaptist Movement and Menno Simons - 1525
Lesson 25: Babur Akbar, and the Mughal Dynasty of India - 1526
Lesson 26: Henry VIII and His Many Wives - 1529

Read Aloud:


The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
Goodreads Review: Newly orphaned Peggy Grahame is caught off-guard when she first arrives at her family's ancestral estate. Her eccentric uncle Enos drives away her only new acquaintance, Pat, a handsome British scholar, then leaves Peggy to fend for herself. But she is not alone. The house is full of mysteries and ghosts. Soon Peggy becomes involved with the spirits of her own Colonial ancestors and witnesses the unfolding of a centuries-old romance against a backdrop of spies and intrigue and of battles plotted and foiled.

Reader 1:
George Washington's World by Foster
pg's 215-231

Reader 2:
The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Ann Cameron (I've added back into this core, SL had taken it out, but I thought it would be a good add-in.)
Amazon review: Kidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy his freedom. His autobiography, published in 1789, was a bestseller in its own time. Cameron has modernized and shortened it while remaining true to the spirit of the original. It's a gripping story of adventure, betrayal, cruelty, and courage. In searing scenes, Equiano describes the savagery of his capture, the appalling conditions on the slave ship, the auction, and the forced labor. . . . Kids will read this young man's story on their own; it will also enrich curriculum units on history and on writing.

Sonlight Timeline and Mapping assignments:
Weeks 8-11


Language Arts:

IEW SWI-B Continuation:
Lesson 2: COMPLETED

Word Roots
pg. 71-73

Physical Exercise:
Dd has been working at night, prep for Marching Band
10-15 minutes each evening


Art:
Drawing and Watercolors: 5 hours this week


Fun Reading:
Corsets and Conspiracies, The Finishing School, Book 2 by Gail Carriger: COMPLETED

Waistcoats and Weaponry, The Finishing School, Book 3 by Gail Carriger: In Process


Music:
Violin: 1:00 hour lesson
Beginning Band: Tenor Sax 1:30 hour class
Intermediate Band: Alto Sax 1:30 hour class
Piano lesson with Mrs. March: 30 minute lesson
Strings Group: at church: 1:15 hours (Ukelele)
Violin lesson: 45 minutes

Home Practicing:
Piano: 2:00 hour
Alto 2:30 hours
Tenor 1:00 hours
Violin: 2:50 hours
Ukelele: 2:05 hours
Flute: 0
Clarinet: 10 minutes at friends house

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