SELF-RELIANCE

Our focus this summer is self-reliance.  As we have been discussing and implementing this, it's been interesting.  A few things I have noticed and some things I hope to accomplish.

confidence- they discover what they are capable of instead of relying on me
willingness to help- they are starting to realize that it takes a lot of work to keep things going, they have asked me more what they can do to help
pride in a job well done
learn important life skills
good quantity time with the kids- this is important to build communication and trust while working together.

I read a quote that said that life is 90% maintenance.  This seems to be true.  One of my major goals as a parent is to raise my children to be responsible, hard working members of society.  To reach this goal, they need to learn to work and accomplish things themselves.

I've found that I am managing too much of their lives.  There are many things that they should be managing on their own.  They know that during church or family prayers they should sit quietly and participate.  I am constantly reminding them.  I need  to give them the tools to do these things themselves. This is where we started.

Summer School: Body Systems

Every week this summer we chose a body system to draw and discuss.  I would draw a body outline on each poster and give them to the kids.  I drew on and labeled a poster along with them.

Systems
external parts
skeletal
digestive & urinary
muscle
circulatory & respiratory
nervous
immune
auditory & vocal
review

Reasons
The writing was good for writing practice of course.
The drawing was good for spacial awareness.
The content was interesting, educational and fun.  The kids have enjoyed know what is going on in their bodies.  Some of the simplest things I told them, amazed them!

Week 1- External Parts

Labeled

head, nose, mouth, hands, knees, legs, etc

Week 2- Skeletal System

Labeled

skull, scapula, humorus, radius, ulna, phalanges, ribs, sternum, clavicle, pelvis, femur, patella, tibia, fiblula, phalanges

Week 3- Digestive & Urinary Systems

Labeled

Digestive:  esophogus, stomach, small intestine, large intenstine

Urinary: kidneys, pancreas, ureter, bladder, urethra

Week 4- Muscle System

I drew a front and back

Labeled

Front:  bicep, deltoid, quadricep, abdominals

Back:  tricep, trapezius, lats, gluteus maximus, hamstring, gastrocnemius

Week 5- Circulatory & Respiratory Systems

Labeled

Circulatory:  heart, veins, arteries

Respiratory:  trachea, nose mouth, trachea, lungs

Week 6- Nervous System

Labeled

CNS- brain spinal cord
PNS- extremeties
ANS- organs

Week 7- Immune System

Uncle Ross taught this.  They drew diagrams instead of a body.

Labeled

skin, sleep, exercise, H2O, virus protection, b-cell, macrophage, t-cell, memory cells

Week 8- Auditory & Vocal Systems

Labeled

Vocal:  vocal cords, windpipe, foodpipe, hyoid bone, sound vibrations, tongue, lips

Auditory:  outer ear, inner eat, eardrum, cochlea, sound waves  

Week 9- Review

I drew eight boxes on each poster.  We wrote a few things in each box to review.

External- protection, beauty

Skeletal- strength, protection, structure

Digestive & Urinary- a place for food to go, use our food & water, gets rid of waste

Muscle- movement, strength

Nervous- feel things, movement, response

Circulatory- delivery of nutrients & oxygen, gets rid of waste

Immune- attacks germs, health

Auditory & Vocal- communicate, enjoyment

Building Houses

What we did

Song
The Wise Man and the Foolish Man
http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=2&searchseqstart=281&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=281&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

Noah taught today.  He drew pictures for the song and taught us the hand motions.

Building a House
-The kids dumped out and sorted the blocks
-they drew a plan for constructing a house
-we talked about building a solid foundation
-they worked together to build the house, they ran into a few unexpected problems, but solved them
-the house looked great!  They were proud of it.  I was proud of them.

Boats

What we did

Song
A sailor went to sea, sea, sea
To see what he could see, see, see
But all that he could see, see, see
Was the bottom of the big blue sea, sea, sea

We did a hand-clap along with the song

Math & Science
Float or Sink?
-we made charts to record our data
-each of the kids chose 2 objects, we took them to the bathtub and tested what could float or sink
-they recorded their findings in one of three categories:  float, neither float nor sink, & sink

Made Sailboats
-they followed instructions to make paper sailboats.  They were kind of tricky, but they did a good job.  Ezra wanted to make one on his own and made several more after we finished.

Please and Thank You

What we did

Poem
Learning
Judith Viorst
I'm learning to say thank you
I'm learning to say please
I'm learning to use Kleenex
Not my sweater when I sneeze
I'm learning not to dribble
I'm learning not to slurp
I'm learning, though it sometimes hurts me
Not to burp
I'm learning to chew softer
When I eat corn on the cob
I'm learning that it's much
Much easier to be a slob
http://www.brownielocks.com/childrenspoems.html

Writing
-write times when you say please and thank you

Game
-please and thank you game- Simon Says but when you say thank you, they stop

Story
"Please Please" Alicia Aspinwall
-if they forget to say please, they have to say it twice

Build-A-Bear Birthdays

The past two years we have celebrated the Build-A-Bears birthday. It's a good opportunity for the kids to plan and organize an event.



writing assignments
-make invitations
-make birthday cards for the bears
-make lists of games and food
-drew pictures of their bears

games
-kids organize and choose the games, we played Crazy 8s, Old Maid, musical chairs, and duck duck goose.



other
-jumped on the tramp with their bears
-made their own pizzas
-made bear cakes to match each of the bears
-watched Toy Story 3

Dump Tour

My kids are in love with the garbage man. Last week he was here to pick up our garbage and I brought out the wrong can. I asked him if he could wait while I got the other one. He said yes and dumped it for us. The kids had been watching out the window and came running outside. They said, "Was that so cool to talk to the garbage man?" I said, "Yea!" He's basically a celebrity around here, so a trip to the dump was a great place to go.

tour vests on


grass clippings and wood


writing assignment
I had the kids draw pictures and explain to me where garbage goes. They drew our garbage can, the garbage truck, the dump, the semi, and the landfill

We learned
-each garbage truck has to come and dump the garbage four times a day.
-four semis carry the garbage out to the landfill every day
-the trucks are weighed before entering the dump, this is how they determine how much to charge residents
-we are not required to recycle, but should
-paint cans, computers, tires, metal, and car oil and encouraged to bring and recycle ourselves
-grass clippings and wood are broken down and shipped off to be made into compost

Cheese Factory

We want to know
-how much milk does it take to make cheese
-what is Grandpa's favorite kind of cheese

What we did

toured the cheese factory

the cows


the milking room


the cheese making room


ice cream


writing assignment
I put four different kinds of cheese on the kid's plates. They had to taste each one and write about it or draw pictures to describe it. They then had to order them from their favorite to their least favorite. Some words they used to describe them- lots of holes, yellow, white, good, sharp. We used mozzerrella, swiss, ramano, and cheddar.

made mozzerrella

it was hot


stretching it


We learned
-it takes 8 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of cheese

Fish Hatchery

What we did
-we visited the fish hatchery and had a fun and interesting tour.
-talked about why we have fish hatcheries

watched video on fish hatcheries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZlTJno8Of0

Writing Project
wrote stories, "If I Were a Fish in a Hatchery" was the prompt

Ezra
If I was a Fish I would live in a fish hatchery they would feed me there. They would clean the water there. They would give me food there. They also put me into the lake like a big waterslide. Like "Woo Hoo!" then splash and I'd be in the lake.

Livi
Once upon a time there was a fish named Livi. She was swimming in the water. She got put in the oldest fish hatchery. She got hurt when she got caught because they were not careful. When she got born she had a little fin so she could not swim. So she did not get any food for a day. She was very very hungry. The next day she found out that she could swim and she was very very happy. She ate and she ate and she ate and she ate. The next day she was great at swimming. When she came back into the lake she was so so happy. The end.

We learned

Noah

We saw the big hatcheries and the fish. We got to see bottles with eggs in them. When they cracked that's what they looked like. Then we saw the bigger fish. The one in the fish hatchery's fence, they showed us the biggest ones. The big ones were scared of us. After the fish get big they take them to the lakes and we won't see them unless we go fishing.

Ezra
The man showed us 6 fishes. He showed us pictures of whirley disease. It could be really bad for fishes. Once they all got whirley disease and they had to close the hatchery for 5 years. That's a lot, huh? Would you like if you had to close your job for 5 years? I wouldn't like it. Think about all these pretty rainbow disease that got it and it was sad. Humans can't get it.

Next we went to a big big big building. There were buckets full of teensy fish. In the next fish they were getting bigger. Then we went to the big one. The man caught a fish and showed us. He lives by the hatchery and his kids get to see the fish. He showed us this cool thing and the room was really loud and he showed us his tractor and pump. There was a big hose he connected so the fish could go through. All of these fish love water. When they are up on air, they can hold their breath longer than you can.

When the fish grow up they go to lakes. Next time we come almost the whole thing will be filled up. It's cool there's a waterfall that dumps it in. Sometimes the fish can jump over the cage.

Livi

At the fish hatchery we saw 6 fishes and they were not rainbow fish. They were a different kind, but I forgot what they were called. He said that some of those fish had died because they weren't in warm water. The whirley disease is when their body gets twisty.

Then we saw some rainbow fish. There were 1500 in the baby fish tank. When they got bigger they were rougher and wiggly. They were three months old. The rainbow fish were his favorite. Then we saw bigger fish. He caught one. He sometimes caught them with a net. The first one he caught by hand.

He showed us the pump that goes into the truck, then they take it to the lake. In the loud building the UV rays killed the germs.

Year End

The school year was great! I LOVED having this time with my kids. We made a lot of progress and we all learned a lot. They looked forward to it everyday and it was fun for me. We all need a little break though. The rest of May we'll be Spring cleaning and enjoying the Spring weather. We have fun Summer school plans. I'm excited for Livi to join us! We'll start writing again in June.

Tawkwando

What we did

watched a few video clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja8Y3NmkA1U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLJVnk31_3k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0r6LqHWbiY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwando

Taekwando Meaning
tae- kick

kwan- break with fist

do- method, the way

Terms to know

Yae Ie- courtesy

Yom Chi- integrity
In Nae- Perserverance

video cameras

We want to know

-how video cameras are made? how can they get video in the scope?
how is the battery made? how do you open them? how can you take videos?
what's inside video cameras? how do you hold them? are there different
ways to hold them? are there different kinds of video cameras?

What we did
Poem
"I Took My Dog to a Movie"
by Graham Denton

I took my dog to a movie
My dog was gripped throughout

He didn't shuffle in his seat

He didn't kick about

He fixed upon that picture
And he followed every scene

Not once was he distracted
From the action on the screen.

He sat there captivated
As he watched the plot unfold
From the moment that it opened
Til the closing credits rolled

Yes, I took my dog to a movie
And a chord it must have struck
It's really most peculiar
He didn't like the book!

http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-414.html recorded the boys Ezra wanted to record all of the "Jake and the Neverland Pirate" songs he knew. Jake is his favorite. He gets to watch it once or twice a week at: http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/jake-and-the-never-land-pirates/jake-and-the-never-land-pirates-videos-episodes. We learned that video cameras work with light

Easter

What we did

Song
Bunny Hop
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_9?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=bunny+hop&sprefix=bunny+hop

Tinseltown Players- Children's Songs

Learned dance for the Bunny Hop:

-tapped their right foot twice

-tapped their left foot twice

-put their hands up like bunnies and bounced twice

-hopped three times

Song

"Did Jesus Really Live Again"
LDS Children's Songbook

http://lds.org/cm/catalogalphamp3/1,18331,4768-1,00.html

Talked about Easter Symbols

Bunny- multiplies- spreads gospel, new life

Chick- new life

Petting Zoo

Saw and fed baby animals at the petting zoo. Rode on the ponies, went on a wagon ride. Played with friends.

Made "egg" cupcakes

Easter egg learning

I wrote on slips of paper different school things we've been working on and put them in plastic eggs. They took turns choosing eggs and both did the activity.

-Here are a few. Do 14 jumping jacks, spell your first name, recite the turkey poem, do the bunny hop, count to 20, spell sat, etc. They enjoyed the break from the normal school routine.

Paint

What we did

Song
"Let's Paint a Picture"
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=paint+kids&x=0&y=0

It is a fun song about colors. The kids found the colors talked about in the song and held them up as we sang-
red- touch your head, blue- touch your shoe, yellow- touch your elbow, brown- point to the ground, black- reach for your back, green- look really mean, white- show your teeth so bright, pink- let me see you wink

watched
elephant painting a picture- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk, I wonder if this is real
tall painting from Alyssa's blog- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6egUsZvWu4&feature=player_embedded#at=12
Spiderman- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJNvKjQHv8I&playnext=1&list=PL513FEC4F07BB8C5D

First Day
dyed Easter eggs

2nd day

Jello and Whipped Cream Finger-Paint

we wrote each letter in the paint

3rd day- wood paint


4th day- painting rocks with flour paint



Flour paint
1/2 c flour
1/2 c water
blend and add food coloring
*be sure to rinse the paint brushes out as soon as your done or the flour will gum them up.

5th day- watercolor on glass jars and paper

Dart Guns

What we did

Ezra chose dart gun week last week. I told him if he earned the money we would get him one. He was motivated! He worked hard washing walls, cleaning the garage, organizing drawers, and raking the carpet steps. He was very proud to hand the cashier the money he earned to buy the gun. He was also excited when she gave him money back (his change).

Poem

href="http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/Haiku.html">http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/Haiku.html
Frog sunning on lily pad
as dragonfly darts by.
Thrapp!
(by Bruce Lansky. Copyright 1999 by Bruce Lansky, reprinted with his permission)

The poem was a Haiku. We talked about what that is and how they chose the words carefully to convey meaning with few words.

The poem has nothing to do with dart guns, but it says dart in it. I had the kids dart past me, then walk slowly, then jump, etc, to show them what it means to dart.

http://www.printactivities.com/ColoringPages/Frogs/Frog-on-lilypad3.html

Math

I drew a target on the window with whiteboard markers. They shot the dart gun at the target and recorded their points. It only counted if it stuck. They each got ten shots that stuck. They added their points up on the abacus.

Reading and Writing

art and un word families. I had Noah sound out and write un, then we changed it into gun, sun, zun, fun, etc

Bicycles

We want to know

-how do you make them
-how they go faster
-the fastest bicycle rider
-how the wheels and handlebars are made
-why does it go faster than a scooter

What we did

Poem
"The World's Fastest Bicycle" Ken Nesbitt http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-381.html

My bicycle's the fastest
that the world has ever seen;
it has supersonic engines
and a flame-retardant sheen.

My bicycle will travel
a gazillion miles an hour --
it has rockets on the handlebars
for supplemental power.

The pedals both are jet-propelled
to help you pedal faster,
and the shifter is equipped
with an electric turbo-blaster.

The fender has a parachute
in case you need to brake.
Yes, my bike is undeniably
the fastest one they make.

My bicycle's incredible!
I love the way it feels,
and I'll like it even more
when Dad removes the training wheels.

videos and websites
girl on a unicycle- amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbveVoGVl5c
history of bicycles and pictures of old and new bicycles- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle
world's best unicyclist Peter Rosendahl- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jEZ51RRfXY

Math
learned-
uni, bi, tri, quad, pent, hex, hept, oct, non, deci, centi, milli

cut out the wheels and glue the right number in each box

wrote word family

ike: bike, like, dike, sike, etc.

riding a bike

Ezra learned to ride a two wheeler! I need to get him a bike now as promised. Mike taught him on Saturday. It was a rough start, but after a while he could do it! Good job Ez!

Golf

We want to know

-how do they make a cool golf hole?

-how expensive are the golf clubs

-how hard is it for the best player ever?

-who is the best player ever?

-who has the golf course

-how expensive are golf courses when you buy them?

-how do they make golf courses

What we did

Poem

"Golf Tee Lament"

Larry Buddin

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/golf-tees-lament/

Golf tees on my dresser

Golf tees in my bed
Golf tee on my pillow

Where they poke me in my head

Golf tees in my closet

Falling from my shirts and pants

Golf tees along the baseboards
Just like army ants

Golf tees in the carpet

And underneath my feet
Golf tees lined up on the mantle
Oh, they look so neat

Golf tees in my couch

And in my back and thighs

When I sit and watch TV

I feel those little guys

Golf tees in my car

And underneath the mats

Golf tees in the backseat
Like little baseball bats

But when I am at the golf course
I ask my partner, like a louse....

May I borrow some of your tees?

I left mine at the house.

Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkZdlYg9UuY- Tiger Woods swing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6pPJrn1_V8- bunker shot

Math
We hit a golf ball into a bucket. I had them count each hit out loud, then record it. They did it ten times, then added up their scores.

Went Miniature Golfing
Ezra, Noah and I went. I forgot my camera. It was fun. I had Ezra add up his total at the end. He got 82. Noah was somewhere in the 100's. It was just good for him to count his strokes out loud and report them to me after each hole.

We Learned
-if you get it in the water you have to get an extra point, and points are bad in golf
-if you hit it in sand it's a little hard because all the dirt sprays off and it might stop your golf ball
-golf balls used to have lots of rubber bands and a hard shell, now they use lots of plastic and a hard shell
-miniature golf is easier because you're really close to it
-you get a point every time you hit the golf ball

Hatchet

What we did

Ezra chose Hatchet week because we recently finished a book called, "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. There were some things I didn't think should be in a kid's book. I skipped those parts when I was reading it to them. Overall it was a fun book. Ezra's book report is below. The book was about a 10 year old boy who survived a plane crash in the mountains. The only thing he had was a hatchet. Part of the theme for the week is survival since I didn't really know what to do with just a hatchet for a theme.

Poem

"Eat It All Elaine"

Kay Starbird

I went away last August, to Summer Camp in Maine.
And there I met a camper, called Eat-It-All Elaine.
Although Elaine was quiet, she liked to cause a stir
By acting out the nickname, her camp-mates gave to her.
The day of our arrival, in Cabin #3,
When girls kept coming over, to greet Elaine and me,
She took a piece of Kleenex, and calmly chewed it up,
Then strolled outside the cabin, and ate a buttercup.
Elaine from that day forward, was always in command.
On hikes, she’d eat some birch-bark, on swims, she’d eat some sand.
At meals she’d swallow prune-pits, and never had a pain,
While everyone around her would giggle, “Oh Elaine!”
One morning, berry-picking, a bug was in her pail.
And though we thought for certain her appetite would fail,
Elaine said, “Hmmm, a stinkbug”, and while we murmured “Ewww!”,
She ate her pail of berries and she ate the stinkbug too

http://www.brownielocks.com/kidpoems.html

Bought a Hatchet

Ezra has been allowed to use it in very controlled and supervised situations. We took it on our trip. He had fun crushing sandstone rocks.

"Hatchet"

by Gary Paulsen

Ezra's book report

Brian and the pilot were flying in an airplane and the pilot got a heart attack. The plane was still flying. Brian got in his seat. He didn't really know what to do. He flew the plane for two hours before it crashed. Then he didn't know where he was and he was supposed to be with his father but he was actually in the woods. All he had was a hatchet and some money.

Brian threw the hatchet and money on the ground. First he water at the lake. He found pit cherries, but the birds were eating them and he was amazed that the birds eat pits. Then he found berries, turtle eggs, and then he noticed where he was. He saw a moose, turtle and a porcupine. He caught a fish and a bird so he could eat them for meat. He saw a bear eating the good berries. There was a tornado. It is a thing that spins around really fast and it can take over a house and make it float.

He found a bag in the plane. He dropped his hatchet, but got it and got into the plane. He found a hard thing, then another hard thing and it was the bag. It had a radio. When he turned it on, a man in a bush plane heard it right away and saved him.

My favorite part of the book was when he got saved. It was sad that he got lost.

Setting- in the mountains by a lake
Begining- Brian was in a plane
Conflict- Brian got lost
Resolution- Brian was saved
Characters- Brian, pilot, guy in the bush plane, turtle, porcupine, bear

Survival Quiz (it seemed like a silly one, but the kids were stumped on a lot of them)

http://familyfun.go.com/assets/cms/pdf/printables/1206_sopafp_survivalskillstest.pdf

questions the boys came up with, I answered them

If you saw a dinosaur what would you do?

run away, or try to kill it

What would you do if you got caught in a spider web and you had a magnifying glass and a knife?

I would cut my way out

What if you saw a big giraffe and it was bending it's neck for you to get on, what would you do?

If I needed to get somewhere or see something I might get on, but I wouldn't do it just for fun

What if you saw a tiger and it was friendly and you just ran away?

I would still run away just in case.

What if it got mad and tried to eat you, tigers are fast?

I would try to hide

What if you saw a crab and you only had a knife, because crabs have bones on the outside and knife wouldn't cut them?

I would run away

What if you saw a car going faster, what would you do?

I would try to get it's attention so they could help me