December 19 - 23 marked Week 18 of our schoolyear (half way thru, woohoo!)
A:
completed lessons 114-117 in Math, which included dividing fractions, dividing fractions by a whole number, dividing a fraction by a fraction, and the start of ratios. She did 4 days of Encyclopedia. She also did piano practice. She has the next two weeks off from AWANA.
Z:
we put Horizons 3, book 2 on hold for awhile to work on multiplication facts. She was able to memorize most of her multiplication facts, but is still slow on the recall (and still skip counting on fingers for some of them). We will continue to work on multiplication facts after the Christmas break. I've also ordered a few other books for her to work through while we wait to jump back into Horizons 3. She completed 4 days of Encyclopedia, and also did piano practice. Her reward for memorizing math facts was a movie day with her daddy. Although she wasn't able to complete the facts within the specified amount of time (100 problems, 5 minutes), we fulfilled the reward anyway. Her daddy has had the time off from work and it was a good time for them to go. They went to see TinTin in 3D, and loved it:)
Science: Science gets honorable mention as something that continues on in the household. The bean and corn plants are sprouting like mad. We still have our emptied coffee jar of swamp water, and we can still see our tiny shrimp-like friend swimming through the stinky muck, lol. I have to say, swamp water pets are some of the easiest, cheapest pets to keep.
Another thing that gets honorable mention: Cookie Baking. A followed a sugar cookie recipe, rolled out the dough, and cut the shapes. I did the oven part, but she did the rest. Both kids decorated. A also helped me with the Brutzel Bar recipe and Oreo Truffles. I love having a cook in the house:) I think Home Ec has been completed!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Cookie Recipes - Oreo Truffles and Idy's Brutzel Bars
We made these as a gift for relatives this year. My 11yo did most of the cooking:) Recipes below:
Easy Oreo Truffles
(copied from Meijer Mealbox booklet given out at the store. It may be on the website, as well, but don't know for sure meijermealbox.com)
1 pkg (8oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 pkg (1 lb 2 oz) Oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 4 -1/4 cups), divided
2 pkgs (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Notes: we used non-brand name ingredients above. We crushed the cookies and then pulsed in the food processor until small crumbs. We also put the cream cheese in with the crumbs and mixed it that way in the food processor. My dd formed all of the balls and then we put it in the freezer for later (caution: looks very ugly at this stage, lol). We bought a big block of almond bark (or baker's chocolate squares) and melted in the oven. We dipped our balls while still frozen, and then immediately dropped one side of the chocolate coated ball in a bowl of the remaining cookie crumbs. We put on the baking tray and put it into the fridge. These are truly awesomely delicious cookies:)
Idy's Brutzel Bars
1 cup butter (2 sticks) - no substitutes
1 cup white sugar
1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 (12oz) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Crush crackers in the unopened sleeve and spread evenly onto lined cookie sheet.
Put butter and sugar in small pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. If you take it off immediately after boiling, it will be less hard than if you were to boil it a little longer (your preference will determine boil time).
Pour evenly over cracker crumbs and place in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and immediately sprinkle entire bag of chocolate chips evenly on top. Let sit for a few minutes so that the chips will soften, and then spread evenly all over with a rubber spatula.
Place in fridge or freezer until cooled.
Break into bite-sized pieces.
Notes: You truly DO need to use REAL BUTTER, not margarine, lol. We tried it last year with margarine and it was horrible stuff. Butter makes a big difference. I used unsalted butter, but used salted crackers (lends a salty taste with the chocolate, yum!). We also added a little extra cracker crumbs (maybe 6 more crackers?) because the crumbs from one sleeve did not completely fill our baking tray. We also used the smallest of our 3 baking trays.
Easy Oreo Truffles
(copied from Meijer Mealbox booklet given out at the store. It may be on the website, as well, but don't know for sure meijermealbox.com)
1 pkg (8oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 pkg (1 lb 2 oz) Oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 4 -1/4 cups), divided
2 pkgs (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted
- Mix cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.
- Shape into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle remaining cookie crumbs.
- Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
Notes: we used non-brand name ingredients above. We crushed the cookies and then pulsed in the food processor until small crumbs. We also put the cream cheese in with the crumbs and mixed it that way in the food processor. My dd formed all of the balls and then we put it in the freezer for later (caution: looks very ugly at this stage, lol). We bought a big block of almond bark (or baker's chocolate squares) and melted in the oven. We dipped our balls while still frozen, and then immediately dropped one side of the chocolate coated ball in a bowl of the remaining cookie crumbs. We put on the baking tray and put it into the fridge. These are truly awesomely delicious cookies:)
Idy's Brutzel Bars
1 cup butter (2 sticks) - no substitutes
1 cup white sugar
1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 (12oz) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Crush crackers in the unopened sleeve and spread evenly onto lined cookie sheet.
Put butter and sugar in small pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. If you take it off immediately after boiling, it will be less hard than if you were to boil it a little longer (your preference will determine boil time).
Pour evenly over cracker crumbs and place in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and immediately sprinkle entire bag of chocolate chips evenly on top. Let sit for a few minutes so that the chips will soften, and then spread evenly all over with a rubber spatula.
Place in fridge or freezer until cooled.
Break into bite-sized pieces.
Notes: You truly DO need to use REAL BUTTER, not margarine, lol. We tried it last year with margarine and it was horrible stuff. Butter makes a big difference. I used unsalted butter, but used salted crackers (lends a salty taste with the chocolate, yum!). We also added a little extra cracker crumbs (maybe 6 more crackers?) because the crumbs from one sleeve did not completely fill our baking tray. We also used the smallest of our 3 baking trays.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Weekly Review, Week 17, 2011
The dad was in Colorado during the week, so we spent Sunday-Wednesday night on our own. We pulled everyone's mattresses into the basement (down 2 flights of stairs) and camped out next to the wood pellet stove. Our nights were nice and toasty warm!
Monday: we had Science Experiment day with our friends, and gymnastics in the afternoon
Tuesday: we drove back to gymnastics (1.5 hour round trip) to pick up the 11yo's phone (grrr). We also visited the library, and had friends over in the evening to visit.
Wednesday: we had friends over in the afternoon and had AWANA in the evening. AWANA had an ice cream flavored Christmas party. The dad arrived home around 1:30-2am Wed/Thurs.
Thursday: we went to the library for the gingerbread house workshop and each kid made a yummy candy house out of graham crackers, frosting, and goodies. Georgie calls it "cake" lol, and has finished eating each candy off and thoroughly licked each cracker.
Friday were uneventful days, and we finished our schooling for the week.
A:
Honorable mention: She worked very hard on her AWANA verses and passed 12 sections, which included memorizing 17 Bible verses, reciting the questions/answers, and doing activities. She had to help a friend for an hour, do a 4-day devotional and make her own book. and complete a 3-day search site.
In Math, she continued to work on fractions, including subtracting with unlike denom, mixed numbers, finding the fraction of a number (2/3 of 12), multiplying fractions, and multiplying mixed numbers. By lesson 113 on Friday, she had forgotten how to convert mixed numbers into improper fractions, and I realized we might need something to help us remember what we're doing and why.
She completed days 57-60 in Spelling.
In Science, we planted bean and corn seeds with friends and filled in the experiment sheets. We'll be watching to see what number of seed leaves come up, to determine if the plants are dicot or monocot.
We started back with History, and she read chapters 16-19, which continues with the American Revolution, John Witherspoon, Daniel Boone, Gen James Robertson, Gov John Sevier, and Gen Putnam.
She completed 5 days of encyclopedia.
Z:
Completed somewhere around lesson 110 in Math, but really fell apart after a few days of long division (two types: 19 / 4, which has a remainder, and 84/ 4, which divides evenly). I'm wondering if we'll ever move beyond 3rd grade math, lol. I remember hitting this same wall with another child of mine, once upon a time. So. We are going to start on Math Fact Practice next week. I think we will follow this plan: Learn the Multiplication Facts in Seven Days. And then, we'll start back simple and build on. I'm looking for another math text to pull in to guide us, but haven't found anything yet.
She completed days 51-54 in Spelling.
She completed 5 days of encyclopedia.
She did the same thing for science as her sister (see above).
She read far more history than was on the schedule. She seems to really like history, so I think I'll let her keep going, and then add in another book if she needs more later in the year. She read through Chapter 20.
She passed 2 sections at AWANA.
Monday: we had Science Experiment day with our friends, and gymnastics in the afternoon
Tuesday: we drove back to gymnastics (1.5 hour round trip) to pick up the 11yo's phone (grrr). We also visited the library, and had friends over in the evening to visit.
Wednesday: we had friends over in the afternoon and had AWANA in the evening. AWANA had an ice cream flavored Christmas party. The dad arrived home around 1:30-2am Wed/Thurs.
Thursday: we went to the library for the gingerbread house workshop and each kid made a yummy candy house out of graham crackers, frosting, and goodies. Georgie calls it "cake" lol, and has finished eating each candy off and thoroughly licked each cracker.
Friday were uneventful days, and we finished our schooling for the week.
A:
Honorable mention: She worked very hard on her AWANA verses and passed 12 sections, which included memorizing 17 Bible verses, reciting the questions/answers, and doing activities. She had to help a friend for an hour, do a 4-day devotional and make her own book. and complete a 3-day search site.
In Math, she continued to work on fractions, including subtracting with unlike denom, mixed numbers, finding the fraction of a number (2/3 of 12), multiplying fractions, and multiplying mixed numbers. By lesson 113 on Friday, she had forgotten how to convert mixed numbers into improper fractions, and I realized we might need something to help us remember what we're doing and why.
She completed days 57-60 in Spelling.
In Science, we planted bean and corn seeds with friends and filled in the experiment sheets. We'll be watching to see what number of seed leaves come up, to determine if the plants are dicot or monocot.
We started back with History, and she read chapters 16-19, which continues with the American Revolution, John Witherspoon, Daniel Boone, Gen James Robertson, Gov John Sevier, and Gen Putnam.
She completed 5 days of encyclopedia.
Z:
Completed somewhere around lesson 110 in Math, but really fell apart after a few days of long division (two types: 19 / 4, which has a remainder, and 84/ 4, which divides evenly). I'm wondering if we'll ever move beyond 3rd grade math, lol. I remember hitting this same wall with another child of mine, once upon a time. So. We are going to start on Math Fact Practice next week. I think we will follow this plan: Learn the Multiplication Facts in Seven Days. And then, we'll start back simple and build on. I'm looking for another math text to pull in to guide us, but haven't found anything yet.
She completed days 51-54 in Spelling.
She completed 5 days of encyclopedia.
She did the same thing for science as her sister (see above).
She read far more history than was on the schedule. She seems to really like history, so I think I'll let her keep going, and then add in another book if she needs more later in the year. She read through Chapter 20.
She passed 2 sections at AWANA.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Weekly Review, Week 16, 2011
Tuesday: horse riding lessons and a sleepover in the evening. The kids did 2 days of school on Monday to make up for our full Tuesday.
Wednesday: kids were sleepy and ended up working on AWANA and resting.
Thursday & Friday: the kids had to make up 3 days of school in two days:p
Friday: our homeschool group had a Christmas party at the roller skating rink. Dh took the 2yo so that Mama could go skating:) It was a blast and I really enjoyed skating!!
Here's what we accomplished:
A: Completed lessons 104-108 in her math book. These lessons focused on fractions - adding and subtracting, with unlike denominators. She completed 3 sections in her AWANA book. She has been very frustrated with AWANA this year, so she came up with her own solution: she plans to work on AWANA for 1 hour every day and finish her book early. She did 5 days of Spelling (Day 52 - 56). She completed 2 weeks of Science (Weeks 10 & 11), except we'll do the experiments with a friend next week. She completed 5 days of Encyclopedia (J-K).
Z: Completed lessons 101-105 in her math book. She is beginning to learn reducing fractions, but with pictures and lots of mathbook hand-holding. She passed 5 sections in AWANA. She completed 5 days of Spelling (Days 46-50). She completed the same lessons as her big sis in Science. She completed 5 days of Encyclopedia (H), which included Hari Kari (Chinese form of suicide, lol). Gotta love encyclopedia...She wrote a few of her many thank-you and penpal letters last week. We still have 2 more to go!
The kids also practiced Piano in our relaxed, non-schooly way.
We did a few things different this week. I made a schedule of 5 days of school, with the expectation that they would get the schoolwork done, no matter what (notice, we had a sleepover - but I did not want this to affect school). We also held meetings with Daddy over the phone a few days to go over what we needed to accomplish. I think it was a very successful week. If the kids were behind in their schoolwork according to the schedule, no Webkinz or movies were allowed. They caught up Friday evening and have been playing Webkinz all day Saturday.
Wednesday: kids were sleepy and ended up working on AWANA and resting.
Thursday & Friday: the kids had to make up 3 days of school in two days:p
Friday: our homeschool group had a Christmas party at the roller skating rink. Dh took the 2yo so that Mama could go skating:) It was a blast and I really enjoyed skating!!
Here's what we accomplished:
A: Completed lessons 104-108 in her math book. These lessons focused on fractions - adding and subtracting, with unlike denominators. She completed 3 sections in her AWANA book. She has been very frustrated with AWANA this year, so she came up with her own solution: she plans to work on AWANA for 1 hour every day and finish her book early. She did 5 days of Spelling (Day 52 - 56). She completed 2 weeks of Science (Weeks 10 & 11), except we'll do the experiments with a friend next week. She completed 5 days of Encyclopedia (J-K).
Z: Completed lessons 101-105 in her math book. She is beginning to learn reducing fractions, but with pictures and lots of mathbook hand-holding. She passed 5 sections in AWANA. She completed 5 days of Spelling (Days 46-50). She completed the same lessons as her big sis in Science. She completed 5 days of Encyclopedia (H), which included Hari Kari (Chinese form of suicide, lol). Gotta love encyclopedia...She wrote a few of her many thank-you and penpal letters last week. We still have 2 more to go!
The kids also practiced Piano in our relaxed, non-schooly way.
We did a few things different this week. I made a schedule of 5 days of school, with the expectation that they would get the schoolwork done, no matter what (notice, we had a sleepover - but I did not want this to affect school). We also held meetings with Daddy over the phone a few days to go over what we needed to accomplish. I think it was a very successful week. If the kids were behind in their schoolwork according to the schedule, no Webkinz or movies were allowed. They caught up Friday evening and have been playing Webkinz all day Saturday.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Horse riding lessons
Today the girls took horse riding lessons. We found a place that offered lessons to kids in a 3-hour block, with between 3-6 kids in a group. The cost was $40, which wasn't bad for an introductory to horses, horse care, and (most importantly!) horse riding:) Here are some videos of the kids at their lesson. The kids had to learn how to direct the horse around the orange cones and how to sit straight up on the horse, and ride without holding on at all (eek!). The kids loved it and they are begging to go back.
Here is a slideshow of our day:
Here is a slideshow of our day:
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Weekly Review, Week 15, 2011
A:
Finished thru lesson 103 in Horizons Math 5. This week introduced changing the denominator in unlike fractions in order to add or subtract. She also practiced some multiplication problems with 3 digit by 3 digit: 273 x 115.
She did 2 spelling lists this week (day 50 & 51)
She completed Lesson 9 in Science, although we did not do the science experiment yet. It was about the parts of a plant. The experiment is supposed to be about growing monocot and dicot plants from seed.
She completed 4 days of encyclopedia, and practiced 3 days of AWANA (passed 2 sections).
Next week, I hope she will complete 104 Add/Sub Mixed Numbers, 105 Improper Fractions to Mixed, 106 and 107 Renaming Improper Fractions in Sums, and (if we're really good) 108 Subtraction of Mixed Numbers.
Z:
She finished thru lesson 100, including the test. She learned how to do Area (counting squares and by multiplication). She also learned division of slightly bigger numbers (66 / 3, 88 / 2, etc.). She also practiced roman numerals, telling time, and multiplication of bigger numbers 1 digit by 5 digit (41319 x 3).
She did week 9 of Science (see A)
She did _ days of spelling (45?)
4 days of encyclopedia, and 3 days of AWANA practice (finished 4 sections).
Next week, I hope she will complete lessons 101 (Writing mixed & improper fractions), 102 (Lines of symmetry), 103 (ratios, I need to look ahead!), 104 (different ways to count coins), and 105 (eek! reducing fractions). I put these lesson topics in parenthesis because the 3rd gr Horizons doesn't actually "name" their lessons like 5th gr.
Both kids have been working thru their piano books independently. I'm not sure if this has been advantageous or not.
We had gymnastics on Monday. Georgie had a dr appt on Wednesday. She is 28 lbs and 36 1/4 inches tall. We had a playdate afterwards at McDs playarea. We baked Christmas cookies and Trilobite cookies for Christmas and as part of the cookie exchange on Friday at co-op. We had co-op on Friday.
Finished thru lesson 103 in Horizons Math 5. This week introduced changing the denominator in unlike fractions in order to add or subtract. She also practiced some multiplication problems with 3 digit by 3 digit: 273 x 115.
She did 2 spelling lists this week (day 50 & 51)
She completed Lesson 9 in Science, although we did not do the science experiment yet. It was about the parts of a plant. The experiment is supposed to be about growing monocot and dicot plants from seed.
She completed 4 days of encyclopedia, and practiced 3 days of AWANA (passed 2 sections).
Next week, I hope she will complete 104 Add/Sub Mixed Numbers, 105 Improper Fractions to Mixed, 106 and 107 Renaming Improper Fractions in Sums, and (if we're really good) 108 Subtraction of Mixed Numbers.
Z:
She finished thru lesson 100, including the test. She learned how to do Area (counting squares and by multiplication). She also learned division of slightly bigger numbers (66 / 3, 88 / 2, etc.). She also practiced roman numerals, telling time, and multiplication of bigger numbers 1 digit by 5 digit (41319 x 3).
She did week 9 of Science (see A)
She did _ days of spelling (45?)
4 days of encyclopedia, and 3 days of AWANA practice (finished 4 sections).
Next week, I hope she will complete lessons 101 (Writing mixed & improper fractions), 102 (Lines of symmetry), 103 (ratios, I need to look ahead!), 104 (different ways to count coins), and 105 (eek! reducing fractions). I put these lesson topics in parenthesis because the 3rd gr Horizons doesn't actually "name" their lessons like 5th gr.
Both kids have been working thru their piano books independently. I'm not sure if this has been advantageous or not.
We had gymnastics on Monday. Georgie had a dr appt on Wednesday. She is 28 lbs and 36 1/4 inches tall. We had a playdate afterwards at McDs playarea. We baked Christmas cookies and Trilobite cookies for Christmas and as part of the cookie exchange on Friday at co-op. We had co-op on Friday.
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