Week in Review 10/6-10/10

On Monday we started our social studies unit on presidents and the election. I am using thie guide The American Presidents: An Overview of US History which uses the book How to be President of the USA to teach about the office of the presidency and all it entails and the election process. Then we will study each president chronologically. The kids made these models of the White House out of tissue boxes and will put a picture of each president in the top of the box as we cover him. Reagan's White House has a lawn with trees, Mary's is multi-colored, and Avery made his grey like the original sandstone.Our lesson this week was about the White House, including a White House quiz and a discussion of what character traits makes a good leader. The kids insisted we begin learning about George Washington so we read about him as well. I'm really excited about this president study, I think it will be a great way to study American History, a topic I'd been floundering with how to approach for awhile now, since our other history curricula Story of the World and First Timeline are more world history focused. I think the boys are going to love the president focus!

Reagan's Chemistry lesson was on acids and bases, pretty much a review for him. Avery's been doing some independent science experimenting (he wants to be a scientist when he grows up). He built this electric circuit and discovered he could make the bulb shine more brightly by adding a second battery. He also noticed that when he swung a basket full of stuffed animals over his head the animals stayed inside, as long as he swung it fast enough. This led to a discussion of forces (I'm hoping Grandpa Jon can weigh in with a more accurate explanation than I managed to give). Avery made the connection that this was the same reason he didn't fall out on the upside down loops of the Demon rollercoaster at Great America.

Mary learning the letter 'R', after finishing up 'K'. She made a cute kangaroo craft.

I got some books from the library about Africa. After the kids worked on the Africa puzzle maps last week I got a bee in my bonnet to do an Africa unit study and maybe move on to a different continent every 8 weeks or so. Or maybe every semester. The kids enjoyed the DVD Children's Stories from Africa which had 12 African folk tales told by an African storyteller complete with songs and dancing.

We also continued our tree nature studies. We read a few books about trees:

• Tell Me, Tree by Gail Gibbons


• The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest by Lynne Cherry


• Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber


• A Tree is a Plant by Robert Clyde Bulla


• The Man Who Planted Trees - audio book

We've also been reading a lot about space, the earth, and volcanoes as a follow up to the First Great Lesson using the resource list from Miss Barabara's Great Lesson pages. I'm planning to have the boys write research reports as a follow-up.

On Friday the kids have a gym class with our homeschool group. This week they had running races. Reagan ran a mile and came in 8th place. He got a prize ribbon and was very proud. Avery ran half a mile and finished 11th. And Mary ran a quarter mile (her age group 5 and under did not keep time). They all had fun, and I was somewhat surprised they could run that far!