Unit 4: APPLE

We learned that “If I stay in Jesus, I will have much fruit.”

The letter is Aa.

 

Ryder has learned 27 sight words! He has finished up Lesson 64 in Abeka Math. We have also started All About Reading Level 1 and he finished up Lesson 3 this week. Both boys love calendar time ~ especially the Pledge of Allegiance and learning sign language.

 These were our library books for the week.

 MATH

I normally don't take pictures of our Math time, but Ryder did his first addition problems this week! He is also starting to learn about graphing.

 

 PHONICS

Ryder did several Phonics worksheets as well as handwriting and copywork.

 

SCIENCE/BIBLE/ACTIVITIES

 He did two worksheets with sequencing.

We read the book "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. It is a tale that takes us on a journey through many countries to find all the ingredients needed to bake the perfect apple pie. I made an apple pie from the recipe in the back of the book with all the extra apples we had left over! It was my first homemade pie, and it was delicious!

 For Bible this week, we learned about the Fruits of the Spirit. We learned that God doesn't give us fruit like apples and bananas, but instead He gives us fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We discussed how if we don't spend time with God, our spirits are unhealthy, and we won't have much fruit at all.  But if we do spend time with God and try to honor Him with our lives, our spirits are healthy and we will produce a lot of this wonderful fruit.  He drew a tree and put 9 apple stickers on the tree to represent each one of the fruits of the spirit.

We also ate homemade applesauce one night. I cut open an apple to show Ryder the seeds and he was surprised to find a star! He tried doing apple stamping, but it didn't turn out great... We studied Johnny Appleseed, too! For Music the boys danced around to Mozart: Symphony in D (III. Presto).

 

 Mercer enjoyed playing with his magnets and busy bags this week.

 

Unit 3: LEAF

We learned that “I Will Live and Grow in Jesus.”

The letter is Ll.

 

Ryder has learned 23 sight words! He has finished up Lesson 55 in Abeka Math. Both boys love calendar time ~ especially the Pledge of Allegiance and learning sign language.

 

 These were our library books for this week.

 PHONICS

Ryder had several phonics and handwriting sheets to do this week.

 On his copywork sheet, he did a leaf rubbing!

 MATH

 Ryder went through several Math lessons this week. He loved playing with the clock manipulative and he got an A+ on all his worksheets!

 

BIBLE

We went outside for Bible everyday this week. Ryder picked a plant that we talked about every day. The bible words to remember were "I will live and grow in Jesus".  In order to illustrate this concept, he picked a leaf off of the plant below to watch what happens when the leaf thinks it wants to break away from the tree and be his own boss.  The plant is like God and we are like the leaves. When we stay connected to God, we will grow, but when we try to do things by ourselves, we will die (spiritually).

 Here Ryder is picking his "independent" leaf off the plant.

 The boys had fun taking turns watering the plant! Our independent leaf ended up drying out and dying.

SCIENCE

We read lots of books about leaves. We learned that leaves make food for the rest of the plants.  We talked about the way water from the ground travels up into the roots, then through the stems and branches, and finally into the leaves through a series of veins. We learned that some leaves change colors in the fall and fall off the trees during the winter. We talked about chlorophyll and that it gives leaves their green color during the spring and summer when the earth receives lots of sunlight; but when fall rolls around and there isn't as much sunlight the leaves change to fall colors! We discussed the four seasons and looked at pictures of leaves and trees of the different seasons. 

Ryder made a drawing of a tree! And I helped label the parts.

 Leaf matching!

 Leaf sorting!

 We talked about how water from the plant comes out through the leaves. We did an experiment by putting leaves in a closed ziplock baggie. The leaves were dry when we put them in the bag, but several hours later the baggie had water droplets and moisture from the water coming out of the leaves.

 

 He loves the stained glass leaf art!

He labeled the parts of a leaf.

 

 Leaf Paintings!

MUSIC

Ryder listened to Brahms: Hungarian Dance. This was Ryder's favorite part of the week! The boys danced to the music - fast and slow, twirling and standing straight! Pretending to be a leaf, falling to the ground and swirling in the wind.



Mercer's speech has really exploded the past 3-4 weeks, so this week I used this popsicle activity (which he LOVED!) to help his learn to say his colors! He hasn't completely mastered them, but he learned most of them this week! So proud of both my boys!

Unit 2: MOON

.We learned that “I am the Light of the World.”

The letter is Mm.

 

Ryder has learned 19 sight words! He has finished up Lesson 46 in Abeka Math. Both boys love calendar time ~ especially the Pledge of Allegiance and learning the sign language alphabet. 

 

 These were our library books for this week.

  PHONICS

Ryder had several phonics and handwriting sheets to do this week.

 He made several "Moon Phase" books! He can now tell you the difference phases and draw them as well: New, Crescent, Half, Gibbous, and Full

 Since the past two units have been Sun and Moon, I had him illustrate Creation Day 4 again.

 We attempted to make a moon cake... It tasted terrible! This was the Full Moon...

 And here's the Half Moon...

 SCIENCE

Ryder did a few science projects this week. The first one was about gravity. I had him jump. He learned the on the moon there is not any gravity therefore he would have jumped 6 times longer before he landed.

 I measured to show him the distance he would have jumped if he were on the moon. Great visual! Gravity was a hard concept for a 5 year old, but he basically grasped the idea that gravity is what pulls you back down.

 We discussed the surface of the moon and how it is made of craters. To give a good visual demonstration, I put flour in a pan and Ryder dropped rocks down into the pan. This caused the once-smooth surface to be full of holes and "craters."

MUSIC

Ryder listened to Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ("A Little Night Music). I had both boys try to walk around like they were on the moon and they had to try and balance objects on their head.

 

BIBLE

I loved the Biblical Concept this week! This one was a little difficult for Ryder to understand.  One thing that I personally learned this week was that the moon actually doesn't give off light! The light of the moon that we see each night is actually the sun's light reflecting upon the moon. This was a perfect explanation and visual to Jesus being like the sun and we as Christians being like the moon. Jesus shines his light on us and we are to be a light to nonbelievers so that they may come to know Him. *The Sun (Jesus) reflects it's light on the Moon (Christians)* So if we are like the Moon we will have light from the Sun! Christians get their light from Christ! Matthew 5:14-16 came to my mind! We discussed ways that we can let our light shine on those who might not know Jesus: Baking cookies for a neighbor, making a card for someone who is sick, inviting someone to church. We sang "This Little Light of Mine." The Bible Story we talked about was Jesus feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The little boy who shared his lunch let his light shine!