A Winter Olympic Variety

We took a break from the everyday MFW to do an Amanda Bennett unit study on the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.  http://unitstudy.com/Olympics2014.html

Here is the notebook we wrote in every day.

I really enjoyed learning about the different sports, facts and videos about Russia, and getting to explain good sportsmanship to my boys. 

      We also took this time to start a new math program. My kindergartener LOVES math even more now:

We began using Math-U-See Alpha. I really love this program. I recommend it to anyone who wants something more than a workbook. It's a great hands-on, visual learning program. 

We also did a lot of fun science projects. Tobes got science projects for both Christmas and his birthday.

Can you tell he loves science?

We also took more time to read Bob books:

to write thank you notes:

and to read-aloud some great stories.

We've made some great progress in the areas of readin', writin', and 'rithmetic, but I am ready to get back into our regular My Father's World program. Next up... P is for penguin!

I is for Insect... in February

I is for insect... that are all hiding in February, but okay. 

Tobin's journal entry wasn't about anything that happened, but since not much happens in January/February, dreaming of a white, firework-filled Christmas was more than acceptable. 

Going on a bug hunt in February is rather depressing... 

he did find some snails and a roly-poly under the planter.

 Using his compass and other tools, including the etch-a-sketch, to find bugs. 

 Okay, we give up, but here is some awesome ice! Time to pretend to be Christof, the ice collector from Frozen Disney movie.

It's a good thing we have an ant farm to watch and learn from! 

I sighed a huge sigh of relief when our ants arrived in our mailbox NOT frozen to death. 

Day 1

Day 2

 Day 3

Day 4

Day 7

 Day 14

We watched these ants live by example as we learned "I am a wise child, so I work hard."

I had the boys chose a chore to complete for five days. They knew they would get a surprise reward after finishing the fifth days' work. They decided they would clean the playroom. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME! Since it was their idea, there was no complaining. They worked hard, so they got their reward:

Since we had started learning about the winter Olympics, these medals meant A LOT to them. Tobin had told me when we read that gold was for first place and silver was for second, that he would go a little slow so he could win second, since he likes silver better than gold. I love him! He got a silver medal. Jonah got gold ( he thinks it is his favorite color- yellow)

Speaking of yellow, Jonah loved painting yellow bugs:

More yellow- We learned about honey bees, and the hexagon pattern in their honeycomb. 

I was excited to actually find a book about bugs in the winter. Tobin loved this book.

Once again , I took away some powerful truths from the Word of God.  

The law of the LORD is perfect....

the rules of the LORD are right...

They are sweeter than honey that is taken from the honeycomb."

Psalm 19:7-10

W is for Water and Winter Wonderland

W is for Water... we started this unit right before Christmas, and finished it when we got our first snow in January. This was the easiest to make hands-on as even when there was no ice and snow, they could always enjoy a bubble bath. 

Here he is enjoying a bath with ice, learning the effects of salt followed by warm water.

We also did a candy geyser. Mentos and diet cherry 7up equals entertainment for the whole neighborhood, for about 30 seconds. 

We also learned about how water is absorbed by paper towels so that the colors come in the middle, also showing blue and yellow make green.

We made snow ice cream.This also entertained/fed the whole neighborhood.

 We really liked the design the snow made on the little evergreen branches

Eating snowflakes. That is a form of science, right?

We put a dark paper in the freezer, and then we caught some snowflakes. We even looked at them under our little magnifying glass.

We learned about water as a liquid, solid, and gas...and crystal (the snow version of solid). We learned about dissolving things in water, water evaporating, and how water absorbs. 

Our phrase to learn for this unit was "Jesus gives my spirit living water to drink."

 "Everything that is alive needs water to live, and we need special water so our spirits will live. Jesus will give our spirit what it needs to live if we ask Him."-from curriculum

This was a very abstract, supernatural topic that was difficult to explain to my boys. I had to just give the facts that we need water, and our spirit needs Jesus. I wanted so bad to explain more, but I had a hard time putting this topic into my own words. We read the Bible stories of the woman at the well, and how God provided water for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. 

As we watched the beautiful snow fall, I was able to recall that God says in Isaiah that "though your sins be scarlet, I will make them white as snow." What a powerful picture of God's amazing mercy.

As I type this, we are enjoying yet another winter wonderland. This is rare for Chattanooga. Thank you Lord, that your mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness!