Our studying today!

Today we read about a little girl and her life in S. Korea. We will be reading a little bit of this book daily to see what she does everyday.

We also finished our movie- The Wonder of God's Creation. It was beautiful to see how intricately God has designed every detail of this earth.

We learned the orgins of Rock, Paper, Scissor. It came from S. Korea...how interesting! We played a few games.

The girls are working on their science folders now...Studying about Living and Non-living things.

We got a late start today because we went to the gym. Tonight will be trunk-or-treat...fun...fun!

The girls are doing the Pizza Hut Book-it reading program. I gave them their certificates today. They both reached their goals. Hannah had to read 4 chapter books and 4 pictures books in a month. Mikayla had to read 4 readers. They did great! Next month we will bump it up a bit!
Since they met their goal, they each get a free pan pizza. What a great incentive. They have been talking about it all month.

South Korea-Galloping the Globe

Today we began our study of South Korea. It won't be as long...just because we don't have as many resources to cover it.

Things we learned about S. Korea today:

• Capital: Seoul
• It is a peninsula
  
• looked through Children Around the World-to see children from Korea and their lives.
• Learned about the S. Korean Flag and what the symbols mean.
• Read about Bob Pierce, a missionary to S. Korea that prayed, "God, let the things that break Your heart, break mine. He started Samaritan's Purse and World Vision. He was a beautiful missionary for the cause of Christ!
• We read A is for Asia. Learning about different parts of Asia.

Stay tuned for what we learn next.

The Pioneer Sewing Trial and Error Event!

So...this Pioneer Christmas Caroling turned out to be more than I bargained for...but being stubborn I willed to make these dresses. If it had not been for my dear friend, Paula, I would never even attempted it.

I haven't sewed since way before Hannah was born. And even that was minimal. I know someone must have showed me how to sew because it started coming back to me the more I did. I just kept getting so frustrated not understanding the "sewing" lingo. I really need to take a class.

I am using Aunt Phyllis' sewing machine...and something in me knows she is proud that I am doing it...because I probably would not have if I didn't have her machine. It was so weird knowing she was the one who last threaded the machine and her hands were on the thread and bobbin last...very touching...I have so many moments like that...with the little things.

Anyhow...Paula helped me sew Hannah's dress and did a miracle getting enough material out of what was left to make Mikayla's dress. She so rocks!!! I have such awesome, gifted friends! God is so good isn't He?

I took the rest of the pattern home and spent all weekend sewing the bonnets, and having many "Oh, I see why it says to do that" moments. Finally tonight after making aprons out of a different less complicated pattern...I am finished. I do have to go find some little bows to put on the side of Mikayla's sleeves where I had a "crazy moment" after being frustrated that the elastic popped out of the bias tape again for the third and fourth time...can you feel my stress...smile! I got a little sissor happy...and well...now I need bows to hide my little "hissy fit" I had with the dress. You can't even really see the errors...but I will feel better if they are covered in something nice...

I see now that I should have used interfacing in the bonnets instead of fabric...but not worried about it enough to make more...smile! I wish Hannah's dress wasn't so big...it was the smallest size they had. At least it will fit her for 5 more years...smile! I found all the material on the $1 shelf at Hancock's. That made me very happy!

Now I just have to find them some brown boots...they insist!

Fall Photos

My friend Alana, from our homeschool group took some awesome photos of our family. She was such a blessing because we could have never afforded such nice shots. The girls were so much fun taking pictures. I couldn't believe what a ham Autumn was!

Finished up China...moving on to South Korea

Well...we took about 3 1/2 weeks to finish our study of China. The girls learned so much. We spent our last day making a lapbook on Tigers. We learned quite a bit about them.

Here are the girls lapbooks they made. Hannah made one too ....but I am not sure where she was when I was taking shots of them.

We used the Draw. Write. Now. book to learn how to draw a tiger.

We also used encyclopedias that I bought for $1 at the Library book sale to look up different kinds of tigers.

Both the girls had projects that they had one week to do and present on Friday. Hannah's was on the Chinese New Year. She told us that this was the year of the Rat. She told us how they know when the New Year is based on what phase the moon is in.

Mikayla's project was on the animals of China. She had to color all the animals. We looked them up in the encyclopedia to see what color they were. Even though the encyclopedias are ancient...it was great practice in researching...and alphabetizing.

Home Depot FUN!

The girls are in 4-H here and we are having so much fun with it! This last meeting we were already having a very busy day. We had P.E. Co-op in the morning. They did some fun calisthenics...gave them a good work out anyways...and then they got to play kickball.

Then we had 4-H Christmas Caroling practice for the Brandon Christmas parade and a few nursing homes that we will present to this December. Hannah volunteered for a speaking part. I was so proud of her. They don't have to memorize their part, they just have to be very familiar with it.

After that, we had a quick snack and then did our Home Depot wood project. They were nice enough to come to our 4-H meeting and bring everything we needed. The girls even received a certificate after they completed their project. Hannah made a napkin holder and Mikayla made a bird feeder. We painted them the next day.

The Fire Station Field Trip

Learning about what he sounds like with his mask on, how much it weighs, and how fast they can get dressed.








Seeing how they will carry them out if they get a call.
















Having fun...trying on the uniform...



The 4-H group we went with to the fire station.

We went to the fire station today in Pearl. It was a great field trip for the girls. I am quizzing the girls to see what they remember. Below are their responses:

1. What do you do if you hear the fire alarm go off?

Hannah:Go to your door and feel it and see if it is hot or cold.
Mikayla: If the door is hot, crawl to your window, unlock it, push the window up, knock the screen out.
Mommy: Where do you go?
Hannah: In the corner of the back yard, or by the mailbox in the front.

2. What do you do if your clothes are on fire?
Hannah: Stop, Drop and Roll

3. What do you do if you hear the fireman trying to find you?
Hannah: You go to their voices.

4. Should you hide when the fireman comes?
Mikayla: No.
Mommy: What will voice his voice sound like?
Mikayla: Darth Vader.

5. How much does a fireman's uniform weigh?
Hannah: about 80 lbs...if it's wet it will be about 100 pounds.

6. What else did we learn today?
Hannah: How loud a fire truck siren is
It takes 6 weeks to become a fireman.

Mommy: How long does it take for a fireman to get their uniform on?
Hannah: less than 2 min.

7. What is the most common reasons for fires?
Hannah: leaving a candle on in the night, electrical fires

8. What was your favorite part about the field trip?
Hannah: When we went inside the fire truck.
Mikayla: When they turned on the siren.

9.What did the inside of the fire station building look like?
Hannah: The living room had a TV and about 8 recliners.
Mikayla: They had beds in the bedrooms and a TV and a blanket and clothes.

A fireman works all day and all night for 24 hours.

10. Would you want to be a fire fighter when you grow up?
Hannah: NO
Mikayla: YES

Making Caramel Apples

We had fun today making caramel apples. Hannah poured and measured the milk. Mikayla measured the sugar and poured it in. They took turns stirring. We had to watch the candy thermometer so that it would get to the soft ball level or 242 degrees. Then we had to wait a long 10 min for it to cool before we could dip the apples in. They quickly realized the caramel was too thick to stir their apple in and they had to ask for help from me. It was a struggle for me too.





















They had to wait til after supper to eat their apples. The candy was so hard we couldn't bite through it. We ended up peeling the caramel off the apple and eating the candy and the apple separate. It was fun to make though!

Lots of fun studying China!

We are studying China right now with Galloping the globe. This is our first country to study.

So far we've learned where China is on the map and globe, about the capital- Beijing, the great wall of China, the forbidden city inside of Beijing, what language they speak.

We've also been learning about the rain forest and some of their inhabitants, we've drawn some animals from there, learned to say some of their common phrases in Chinese, found the Yangtze river, the flag and what it looks like, and some of the missionaries that have ministered there- Eric Liddell (the one that was portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire), and Hudson Taylor.




These are the girls drawings of Ping the duck from one of our stories. We used 123 Draw Book to learn how to draw a duck.



We've also read some great literature based on people or ideas from China. For example: Tikki Tikki Tembo, Stone Soup, the Real story of Stone Soup, The Story of Ping, The Adventures of Marco and Polo. We are currently reading Marco Polo and will watch a movie later this week about Marco Polo.

We've listened to some music of the Beijing Opera and some other music from China-the girls were fascinated with how different it sounded. The girls heard stories about the ancient practice of foot binding...very interesting.

The girls made lanterns today...they had fun making them...so they made more than one...smile!

This week we will be learning about Marco Polo, Lottie Moon, some animals that are local there like the pandas, orangutans, sloth bears, and ducks. We will be reading Zen Ties, In the Leaves, and The Chinese Mirror, as well as, doing some fun books and activities with enchanted learning.

We will also be learning about the Chinese New Year and how it is associated with the phases of the moon. Also we will be learning about the fashion of China. I am hoping we can make a Chinese meal...but I am not so crazy about Chinese food...so we will see what we can do.

We stay busy...busy...but we are having fun.

Lesson on Symmetry

This is Mikayla's symmetrical butterfly.

This is Hannah's Symmetrical Butterfly

We studied symmetry at one point this week so I had the girls draw a butterfly to show how something is symmetrical and asymmetrical. The girls had fun pointing out things around us that were one or the other. They are still doing it. Sometimes they get stumped on the big word but they are trying! We also talked about space in this lesson and how to use the whole space instead of just one little part of the paper...proportion...smile!