Weeks 29 and 30 (MFW weeks 28 and 29): Jesus the Good Shepherd, Abraham Lincoln, Energy and Magnets

Well, once again I find myself playing "catch-up"! So this blog will be about the last two weeks...and then we'll be on Spring Break this next week. We finished our study on Abraham Lincoln. Dario wrote: "Abe Lincoln was born in Kentucky. Then he and his family moved to Indiana. His mother died when he nine. Abraham Lincoln's nickname was Honest Abe. He married Marry and they had four sons. His two sons died when they were children. He became president of the United States. He didn't like slavery because he thought that all people are created equal." I think he learned a lot! He also enjoyed learning about Harriet Tubman. We read a few books about her life and also had two movies that he watched over and over. The following week he went on to complete four State Sheets (Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, and Nebraska). It's pretty neat how he recognizes so many of the states by their shape! While studying Energy we continued to use the Evan-Moor book (ScienceWorks for Kids). He learned that all moving things require a force and that force is a push or pull that makes an object do something. We also discussed Heat, Light, and Soung Energy.

We then moved on to study Magnets, which was fun for both of us! We used our "My First Magnet Kit" that came with our MFW curriculum. We completed the first three experiment cards that came with the kit. My personal favorite was seeing the magnets repel (see picture below with the pencil).

We also added in something new the past two weeks...drawing. I found the book "Follow the Directions & Draw It All by Yourself" at Scholastic Teacher Express during their Dollar Deals sale. So far Dario has practiced drawing apples and balloons. I have him trace the picture on tracing paper over and over and then on the page from the book. He is working on one shape per week, and is really enjoying it! He has always struggled with all things fine-motor related...but, this really seems to be working. He's really proud of his apples and balloons! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos! We also started a new read-aloud this week..."Mountain Born". This has been a great book to go along with our study of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Here are the books we used:

Drawing wasn't the only new subject Dario started...he has started taking on the chore of washing and drying the towels. He's been asking to help with laundry, so I taught him how to wash/dry the towels and he loves it! He's also learned to make his own mac n cheese...the single serving, microwaveable kind.

Well, along with our Language Arts and continuing our study of the Multiplication Facts, that about covers the last two weeks. Now, Spring Break! I'm linked up to the Ultimate Homeschool Blogroll and at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.