School 2012-2013: Week 5

Sorry, I got really busy over the weekend last week and just did not get to posting my week in review. Anyhow, we had a lovely week. We read about Esau and the deception that went down for stealing the blessing away. I think this is a very sad story and not a great father figure story. Come on, you can not tell the difference between sheep hair and the hair on your son's arm?? The fact that he even said that he smelt of his other son. Anyway, it is one of those stories that has always bothered me, but I also get it that God was in control the whole time! We also read about Rachel and Jacob and how they met at a well very similar to how Isacc's servant found Rebekah at a well. As well, (no pun intended) we read about Jacobs dream and what is commonly known as Jacobs ladder which really was more of a stair case and not a ladder. LOL

Geography; we are still taking our time learning about North America. This week we are finishing up the good old USA! As we read about when each of the territories were purchased both my kids said "Oh yea, I remember that from last year!" That is a good feeling for a Mom. To know that each year they remember some of these things! YEA! Also our Geography term this week was Canyon. That is harder to draw then one might think. I have a pretty good eye on drawing, not great by any means, but I could not do it! My daughter had the idea that a canyon needed to have water all around it and that there was just a tiny strip of land. Of course I corrected her. LOL!

For History we are learning about Sumerian people and the first single ruler of Mesopotamia. Sargon. He was the first ruler that came in and ruled with a Military dictatorship. He even changed the name to Akkadia. Hmm, very interesting. We did our mapping to show where he ruled, but I actually took them to the big world map on our wall and asked them to show me where they think Mesopotamia was. They both had the idea that it was around Egypt. Not bad. They at least were close. That means they are getting it! And yea, of course I showed them that modern day Iraq is basically Babylonia and Mesopotamia!

For Science we discovered the difference between a monocot and a dicot plant. So do you know what the difference is? Yea, don't feel bad, I had no idea either. So a Dicot plant usually has a central vein and veins running our from that central vein as well as it has petals of 5. A monocot would have veins that run all one way. Such as in a blade of grass and could have petals of 3, 6 or 9. Just look at the pictures below. I have a few good examples of that for you to look at.

We also made a really cute flip book of a seed sprouting. They turned out really good. It was very hard to take pictures of them but I got a couple to give you an idea. We also made another cute little book for our Science notebook that shows the different parts of a seeds and the growth pattern. Just a good reminder for them to have to draw it out. I have found that adding art to any subject really helps them remember more of the information!

My son absolutely despises creative writing. We only do it once a week on Thursday. But this week he actually came up with all the ideas himself with very little help from me. And he decided to illustrate his work too. So I thought I would share his creative writing this week. Yes, it is very primitive, but he is still learning. At lease there are no tears like there was last year!

Overall, it was another good week. I was loosing my voice all week, had hives on my tummy and chest and my face was broken out terribly. Could not sleep and was tired during school. but it still turned out to be a good week. The kids were very good and I love it  when they are sympathetic to my many different moods. Especially my son! It helps to keep the piece when I am not feeling good and more on edge! I praise God daily for the wonderful children he gave me and how easy they really are! Well, off to another week of school!