Homeschool Week: 6

History: This week the boys learned about the Puritans who started the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Roger Williams who started the Rhode Island Colony - the first with true religious freedom.
The boys learned also learned how the children in those days learned to read with a hornbook. They made one for themselves.





Science: We talked about marsupials, what a neat bunch of animals they are. Did you know that when they are born, some are about the size of a grain of rice? The amazing thing is that they crawl up their mother's fur, so small and helpless, and find their way into the pouch. Really neat! For some reason, I always thought they were born right into the pouch.

Art: We got new art books this week. The art book we were using was a hold-over from last year. A good book but I wanted something that would teach them more techniques in art than just "copy this artist". We got our books from Abeka. Each child- Elizabeth too- has their own age appropriate book so they can master their artistic skill.

This week, the boys learned about primary colors and made color wheels.



Elizabeth learned about colors too. She made a crayon pouch and we cut out little paper crayons to put in it to practice her colors.

Speaking of Elizabeth. I came across this neat teacher's display at Michaels for sale the other week. It comes with a big colorful calendar, some seasonal decorations and this weather chart. She gets to change the square out each day so she can learn about the weather. Notice, it's raining..... again.


Math: Sean continued working on factors and started a review on fractions (fun!). Ryan is continuing his practice with division

Language Arts: Both Ryan and Sean are practicing using commas in their sentences.

Reading: We finally finished up Almost Home for our read-a-loud book. It's a real tear jerker towards the end. Do you realize how hard it is to read aloud and hold back tears at the same time? Maybe it's just my hormones! ;)
I added an additional, unplanned, book to our read-a-loud list this week. We started reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Since we were learning out the Puritans, I thought this was a great addition. The setting is during the famous witch trials that the Puritans held during the late 1600s. Right about the era we are studying now.



Ryan is reading Riding the Pony Express. Kind of self-explanitory but it's a book about a boy who rides the Pony Express. A little bit off our history subject but not a lot of Ryan's readers this year stay with us there. It's more about getting him exposed to different books.



Sean's books are staying more with our history subject this year. He started reading A Lion to Guard Us this week. It's about 3 children on their way to the Jamestown Colony in America to meet their father after their mother had died.




" this post is linked to Homeschool Highlights in MFW at Discover Their Gifts or 2 ladybugs and a lizard "