A Bit More Poetry

Upon Gail's suggestion (my personal homeschool guru), we've been following a book written by Andrew Pudewa entitled Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization. We've been using incentives to motivate the children to memorize each poem. (Money talks.) It's been so much fun, and the kids are doing a great job!



Poems recited are as follows: "Ooey Gooey" (Author Unknown), "Celery" by Ogden Nash, "The Little Man Who Wasn't There" by Hughes Mearns, "The Vulture" by Hilaire Belloc, "After the Party" by William Wise, and "Singing Time" by Rose Fyleman.

Alyssa's Business Letter

Alyssa learned how to write a business letter in English. Pretty amusing topic, don't ya think? : )

Dear Miss Hannah Holm,

I would really appreciate your help with all of these wild children.
We own an agency for adopting orphans. We have 22 boys and
24 girls. Although we have a maid, Miss Walker and I cannot handle all of these crazy children.

You would be a great help with preparing for the day, helping with school, and character training. If you are interested please call
704-875-0583. You will be paid $15 every hour you work from 7:30am to 8:30pm.

If you are unable to assist us could you refer someone else for the task?


Sincerely,
Alyssa Morrison

More Science Experiments

This past week we also learned about minerals, including crystals. We made salt crystals which turned out very tiny (almost microscopic!). Another project was to make rock candy.... but sugar crystals take a long time to form. (We've been waiting for over a week.)
In the meantime, I found some other crystals to make...using Borax! (I'm not sure what chemical in Borax is so reactive, we've used Borax to make slime before too. Powerful stuff.) These crystals formed overnight! It's always exciting to see such dramatic results in a short period of time.
Aren't they pretty?

Not for the Fainthearted

The kids are in the process of learning about simple animals, namely...worms.
After their lesson this afternoon, Alyssa, Emma, Abigail, and Julianna reluctantly gathered around while I dissected an earthworm.
I have to admit it definitely made me squirm! In fact, I'm still feeling a little nauseous! To top it off, our worms were a little small, too small to really examine their organs. It just looked 

like brown and white mush. Maybe my X-acto blade was too 

dull. Oh well, guess we have to do it again! (Yuk!)

Twizzlers or Peppermints?

Alyssa's been working on a short compare-contrast
essay this week.

I thought she did a great job. : )

Line 'Em Up

Last week, the kids learned about assembly lines. After their lesson, they all lined up to build candy cars. Everyone had a little job to complete. Alyssa attached the steering shafts and back "trunks", Noah did the steering wheels and front "bumpers", Spencer applied the wheels, and  Julianna added the seats.
What fabulous mechanics they'd make some day! (Well, except for the one that wanted to build hers "all by herself", but we resolved that little dilemma.) ; )

Drama Camp

Alyssa participated in a two-week drama camp at church this summer. One of the acts she played in was titled: If Boys Did Worship Dance.
Enjoy.

BTW, excuse the video quality. I turned on "night vision" which did not look green while I recorded it... but remember, I'm not the techno-genius in the family!

Abiding Worship

Upon completion of the last semester of Abiding Worship Dance at CrossWay, we were thrilled to attend a final celebration for each of the girls' classes:

This was Julianna's first time dancing through Abiding Worship and Alyssa's fifth.

Old Salem

A bit of homeschooling, a few treats, great friends, and a lot of fun.

More Poetry...

The Crocodile, The Rabbit Skip, and Who Has Seen the Wind?

John and Alyssa's Duet

John and Alyssa performed "Holy, Holy, Holy" at CrossWay's Homeschool Art Festival tonight.
(Sorry about the unsteady hand, I was holding Lauren in my opposite arm!)

Who's Shakespeare?

We have begun memorizing poetry each month. Noah and Alyssa each pick a poem out of a collection we enjoy. Julianna also decided to participate....



Noah memorized "The Eagle" by Lord Alfred Tennyson;
Alyssa memorized "Where Go the Boats" by Robert Louis Stevenson;
and Julianna memorized "The Elephant" by Hilaire Belloc.

Spelling Bee

Alyssa won Second Place in the CWCC Homeschool Spelling Bee. Humorously, it is the second time she made "second place", and the same girl who won "first place" last year, won again this year! (I need to ask her Mom what curriculum she is using!) ; ) Anyway, they were all fabulous. It was a true joy seeing all those children reciting their words... some of them hardly able to stand still while spelling. So cute!
Alyssa is a diligent person, and we are so proud of her. Good job, sweetie. : ) We love you, and thank you for your hard work.