Week in Review: Week 7, September 14-20, 2015

Virtue

Attentive is our virtue of the week and boy, is this one we need to work on.  "I am not...forgetful, or distracting, and I don't ignore or interrupt."  Being distracting is a problem with my boys. They always want to get their brothers to laugh, which causes my blood pressure to rise.  I want them to have fun during our school time, but I also want them to listen and be respectful during teaching time. This is a virtue that is going to need a lot of work. 

Morning Work

Morning work packets are still going well.  The boys are continuing to work hard and get their work completed by Thursday night in order to have some free time in the morning on Friday.  

Tea on Tuesday

I was very excited about Tea on Tuesday this week.  I started a Tea on Tuesday group here in Bangkok with members from our homeschool co-op.  I was sending letters to the States almost every week and we loved that our co-op back in the States included us, but it was getting pretty costly.  I asked my co-op here and we had a total of 6 families interested.  We will be exchanging poetry every week and I will also be adding in additional poetry lessons with the boys.  

This week was about the circus to go along with the FIAR book that Britton was reading.  The boys had clown cupcakes and tea for a treat. 

 100 Book Challenge: Book #50

We are still working on Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The book is getting really intense and the boys are interested in the story.  This is book covers the deepest topic we have read so far, and it continues to bring up great discussions with the boys.

                                                 

Geography

We took the whole week to learn about Vermont this week.  There were so many fun topics to cover that we could not get to everything in one day.  We started off learning a few facts about Vermont.

We learned that Vermont is one of the largest Maple Syrup producers in the United States, so we read a couple books on how syrup is made. 

 We compared artificial syrup to real maple syrup.  There is just no comparison!

We watched a Postcards from Buster about Maple Syrup.

Here is the episode

                                      

We learned about Lake Champlain and the Champ sightings.  The boys had a Champ snack one day. 

 We watched a Monster Quest about the Lake Champlain Monster.

 We finished the week with Vermont's best ice cream, Ben & Jerry's Half-baked.

Yes, that says 299 Baht.  Do you know how much that is?  Almost $10!!  This is why it was the boy's first time trying this ice cream.

Spanish
                                                    

                                                Working on shapes in Spanish.

 Making Popsicle stick shapes 

 They had to write the English and Spanish name of the shape on the sticks. 

FIAR- Mirette on the High Wire

This week we rowed Mirette in the High Wire.  It's a sweet story about a young girl in France who meets a retired wire walker and become his protégé. In the process of Mirette learning to walk the wire, she pushes Bellini to face his fears. I love the relationship Mirette and Bellini develop throughout the story.

We found France on the map. 

We read a story on boastfulness. In Mirette, Mirette boasts that she will never fall again. We read this Caribbean tale about how others feel when you boast.

This story was a little hard to follow, but Britton understood because at the end when the frog lost all of his color, I looked over at him and he was tearing up. He was so upset that the frog lost all of his color. He had the sweetest heart. It was not the reaction I thought he would have at all. He understood by the end that boasting can hurt friendships and feelings.

We learned about balance and the water in your ears. We put water in a bottle with glitter and spun in circle. It demonstrated how the liquid in your ears continues to move even after you stop spinning and makes you feel dizzy.

Trying to balance on the masking tape after spinning. 

We watched a Bill Nye all about balance.

We also watched a video about Nik Wallenda, the man who crossed Niagara Falls in 2012. We also learned that his grandfather lost his life after a fall from the high wire. 

We made a little clothes pin guy to balance on a high wire. Britton loved playing with this little guy. Inspiration from this photo. No link. 

We watched a video on Niagara Falls. Bellini crossed Niagara Falls on a high wire in our story. 

Water coloring a photo from the book. The book has beautiful water color illustrations. 

Practicing a little high wire walking on the balance beam. 

We finished our week with crepes, omelets, and hot cocoa. 

We even made funnel cakes to go along with the "circus" theme. 

Artist Study- Georgia O'Keefe

 Finished O'Keefe flower paintings.  Idea HERE

 Finished O'Keefe skull paintings. Idea HERE

 Artwork from the past two weeks

Science

The boys have loved their chemistry unit. Here they are learning what chemical change takes place in a marshmallow when heat is added.  

Special Moments

                                         A sweet friend brought us a yummy lunch. 

 I made my favorite Burmese Salad.  It's called Lahpet Thoke and it is fermented tea leaves.  So delicious. 

 We got a good laugh out of this crazy squirrel.

And the school room at the end of the week. 

Linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrap-Up