4/29

3/5/20

The rain continues to soak the pastures and make things generally miserable.  Luckily, we had baby goats today that we could bring inside and snuggle!  Most of the students wanted to brave the rain to feed the animals this morning.  As long as they had rain boots and jackets, we let them go!


We talked about the new kidding schedule posted on the wall, the birth of the new goats, the 80+ eggs in the incubator, and how rainy months make hay supplies dwindle.  We talked a little about supply and demand (hay is a lot more expensive right now), but we will talk more about this in the upcoming weeks.

The class learned how different cultures used fables to come up with fictional explanations of things in nature.  We read the African tale, "Why the Mosquito Buzzes in People's Ears."  At home, the class wrote fables of their own.  These were amazing!  We heard about how the guinea got its call, why the goat has horns, how the giraffe got it's long neck, and more.  They knocked this out of the park!

At home, the students learned about Ptolemy in their science textbook.  They took their notes from home and broke up into small groups.  The groups worked together to write down 6 questions that they would ask Claudius Ptolemy if they could.  Once their questions were on notecards, we all gathered together and I hosted a talk show!  Each team took turns coming up and sitting beside the host.  I acted as the moderator, and the studio audience asked the questions.  For each quested, the group on stage huddled together and elected a member to answer it as Claudius Ptolemy.  These kids did a great job reviewing the chapter in a fun way!


Next, we reviewed the at-home grammar lessons.  In grammar, the kids run the show.  We go over any tricky problems or issues they may have, and then we take it from there.  Today, the class wanted to review the proper usage of who/whom, locating prepositional phrases and objects of the preposition, and diagraming.  We also talked about subject/verb agreement.  I love that the kids are able to work together even though they are in different books and on different levels.  This is the atmosphere that I pray for each school year!


At the end of this very rainy day, the class worked on their puppet projects for the book Sheep by Valerie Hobbs.  They will be finishing up the puppets and simple scripts next week, and we will record them the following week.  My plan was for them to present them live, but the class came up with the idea to create a zoomed up video recording.  I love the idea!

12/5/19

Bustin' and Chunkin' Punkins to the Pigs! 

Geometry + Measurement + Art = Christmas Trees! 

Today, the kids were able to play the science chapter 9-12 review games that they created! 

Working on their Mr. Tucket trifold activities... and enjoying the gorgeous weather.

11/21/19

Today the kids finished up their fall art projects, and they turned out great! Our Farm Fusion lesson today was all about turkey anatomy and behavior. After learning some terms and information, we headed out to the farmyard. I had the tom locked up, and the class and I let him out and watched him search for the hen. I was hoping he would strut and show off his feathers, but no such luck. He did, however, let us check out how the snood relaxes/shrinks and changes color! We followed up our turkey lesson with the students' turkey stories, which were awesome! There is a lot of creativity in this room!

We added a new miniature horse on the farm!  The kids learned how tricky socializing a new animal to the farm can be.  In this case, we have one other miniature horse, Miss Kitty.  Miss Kitty is best friends with Delilah, the miniature donkey.  When we first brought Belle to the farm, Miss Kitty was very interested... but Delilah was furious!  Of course, we are keeping Belle separated from all of the animals for now.  The kids will be writing about being the "new kid", meeting a new friend, or Delilah's jealousy for their at home writing assignment. 

Turkey Lesson!  Gobble Gobble!

In science, the class worked in groups to create review games for chapters 9-12.  They came up with the boards, the rules, and all of the questions/answers.  When we return from Thanksgiving break, we will play the different games and review all of the information from these last chapters.

Last week, the class turned in their comic strips covering the information in chapter 12 of their Story of Science books.  Today, the kids took turns rotating through the comics and reading them.  This may be my new favorite way to take "notes"!

It was so gorgeous that we decided to do some grammar outdoors.  Then, we wrapped up our book, The Whipping Boy.  Next, we will begin Mr. Tucket!

11/14/19

Goodness gracious... it is COLD!  Thankfully, today was free of wind and rain, so the kids could get out and play.  We had a lengthy Farm News session before heading out to do chores.  In this week's news, the silkie hen assigned to the Tuesday class hatched out her babies this week.  After candling the eggs, we found that some were infertile and some had blood rings, signifying that the embryo had died.  There were 4 viable embryos that we set back underneath her... and from those, 3 hatched!  This class's hen is still setting.  Her eggs, which we also candled, are due to hatch in the next week. It's awfully cold outside, but I had a guinea hatch out eggs during hurricane Irma... so we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

 The class read their Thanksgiving Farm Fusion stories, which were great!  Some wrote about things they were thankful for, and some chose to write what they thought the animals on the farm would be thankful for.  Some even wrote poems and a talk show script!  Next, the class drew names for Secret Santa.  We will be exchanging small gifts on the last day of class before Christmas break.  The kids are so excited!  It's such a small thing, but to all sit around the tree and find out who drew your name is a sweet childhood memory!

We continued our fall themed art project.  This is a simple project using crayons, but it creates a quilt-like design.  I think it's good to alternate difficulties in arts/crafts, and we've had some doozies!  The kids asked to listen to Christmas music as we worked, which was just awesome!

In science, the class turned in their comic strip activity that they completed at home.  We will be doing something fun with these next week.  They received a graded copy of their online quiz, which we discussed in detail.  We also checked the kids' Quest Guide pages for the week.  Then, I taught the class how to read molecular formulas.  We worked through many together on the board, and the class found the elements on the periodic table.  They really did a great job grasping this today!  Next, each student created 6 different molecular compounds using toothpicks, marshmallows, and round colored cereal.  We talked just a little bit about single and double bonds, as well.  My goal for this lesson is not an in-depth chemistry lecture, but to give them base knowledge that they can build on.

In grammar, we corrected lessons 33-35 together, making any needed corrections.  I talked to the class about prepositional phrases, objects of the preposition, adjectives, and predicate adjectives.  They will be completing the next 3 lessons at home.

We are almost finished with The Whipping Boy, and even those who didn't like it at first have changed their tune!  It's a simple story, but a good one.  Everyone did a great job on their reading comprehension questions.  We did talk about avoiding sentence fragments and how to avoid the dreaded "Because ___" answer.  My goal is to help these kids not only increase their reading comprehension, but also answer questions in thorough and well formed answers.  Finally, the class read their ransom letters!  It seems crazy to have them write ransom letters... but it directly relates to the literature book, and learning proper letter formatting is an important skill!  These letters were a RIOT!  One of the kids wrote that she'd taken my cow hostage and I'll only get it back if I leave grammar off of the homework site!  Ha!