Chapter 1-5

Intrigued gravitating apprehensive ritual
adherence abandoned chastise impatient
mystified elders chortled nurturers
obediently serene insight nondescript
ironic palpable transgression infraction
aptitude distraught humiliation remorse

Chapters 6-10

reprieve excruciating indulgently conspicuous
meticulously exuberant anguish benign
integrity independence exemption exasperated
relinquish acquisition scrupulously crescendo
interdependence integral buoyancy exhilarating
prestige transgressions indolence deftly

Austin is reading The Giver for Literature.

Questions for discussion:

1.  In The Giver, each family has two parents, a son, and a daughter. The relationships are not biological but are developed through observation and a careful handling of personality. In our own society, the makeup of family is under discussion. How are families defined? Are families the foundations of a society, or are they continually open for new definitions?

2.  In Jona’s community, every person and his or her experience are precisely the same. The climate is controlled, and competition has been eliminated in favor of a community in which everyone works only for the common good. What advantages might “Sameness” yield for contemporary communities? Is the loss of diversity worthwhile?

3. Why is the relationship between Jonas and the Giver dangerous, and what does this danger suggest about the nature of love?

4. There are groups in the United States today that actively seek to maintain an identity outside the mainstream culture: the Amish, the Mennonites, Native American tribes, and the Hasidic Jewish community. What benefits do these groups expect from defining themselves as “other”? What are the disadvantages? How does the mainstream culture put pressure on such groups.

Dylan and Matthew did a short one page report on Bach.

Dylan’s paper….

Bach’s temper was short. He once got in a arguement with one of his music student’s and called him a nannygoat. Bach worked for the duke then he wanted to quit and was sent to jail. His job was in music. He loved to write music. He loved to play the organ. Bach made the best music. Bach died at age 65 from a stroke.

Matthew’s paper….

Bach married twice. One of his wives was a cousin. He had 20 children in all. He loved the organ. He walked 200 miles to watch somebody play the organ. Johann Sebastian Bach loved to drink coffee and smoke his pipe. He went blind. He died at 65 by a stroke.

This is Matthew’s first paper. One problem I notice with him and need to always be on him about is putting capital letters where they don’t belong. We are going to write about some more famous people. I just haven’t picked who yet.

A list of opening sentences for writing prompts…..
http://www.jamiearamini.com/Jamie_Aramini/Lesson_Plans/Entries/2008/6/9_Entry_1_2_files/OpeningSentences.pdf

I was doing an internet search today and came across this. I thought it was neat so I decided to post it http://www.bookadventure.org/ki/bs/ki_bs_helpfind.asp
This will be great for keeping the little ones reading throughout the summer.

If you are looking for some great movies to watch that may go along with what you learning in school, go here….
http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/Movies/index.html

With the little ones this week, we are learning about the Seminole Indians. They are from Florida so I am also including the state into our study. I printed off a map which I found from here….
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/coloring-pages/usa/state-outline/florida.html (copy and paste)
I went to the library and found a couple of books on Seminole Indians and even a book on longhouses and tepees. I would also like to cook or bake something with them that the indians ate but I am not sure what we are going to do yet.

Today we did some work on our timelines. We entered George Washington, Sandro Botticelli, and Ben Franklin. We got our timeline free from this web site
http://www.ourlosbanos.com/homeschool/history/timeline.html I added the timeline into a binder for each one of the kids and put the cover on it.
Well not much is going on here. The boys are at basketball practice with dad and Mikayla is next door at her friends house so I should take advantage of it and get some things done.

I found this online and thought I would share it because I know there are a lot of homeschool parents that read this to their children. You can read the book online and there is a 30 minute video for the kids. How exciting!
http://www.nighttrainfilms.net/NTFWEB/NTFPages/PaddleToTheSea/index.htm

Here is a web site that has lesson plans to go along with the book also.
http://teachers.net/lessonplans/posts/2090.html

Austin is learning a lot about the Salem Witch Trials. By the end of February, he will have read a few books, watched a few movies and written a paper on this topic. I have grown an interest in this as well so I decided to read I Walk in dread. It’s a diary of a young girl named Deliverance who is writing in her diary daily and giving an account of what is going on in the days of the witch trials. I put this movie on the top of my Netflix list but there is a short wait on it right now. I can’t wait to watch it with him.

I also found two really good web sites packed with good information.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/transcripts.html(you might have to copy and paste this)
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/home.htmlOne of the books he is reading is called The Heretic’s Daughter.

This week with the other three little ones, we are going to be learning about cells. The book we are reading from is called Cells Are Us.

You can read this book free online at…. http://www.icnet.uk/kids/cellsrus/cellsrus.html
I found this site after I had gone to the library and checked out the book. That’s ok because I like to have the book in my hands anyway.
I am going off of this free science curriculum that I found here at http://www.ourlosbanos.com/homeschool/printables.html
I went to the library and found most of the books. When it comes time for disecting things though, I am going to have to order that stuff. That is not for a few weeks yet though. This free curriculum looks so fun and educational. I did order a few of the books on Amazon though like the body book just because It looked so interesting. You can order it here on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Body-Book-Grades-3-6/dp/059049239X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233527117&sr=1-2

I put together this circulation game that we are going to play this week sometime.

This is also a freebie here…. http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/id140.html
I have alot of things to get done before school starts again for the week. Hopefully I will get some free time to post again in the next few days. Enjoy your week. Hopefully it is warming up wherever you are located. The snow is melting in spots today so that is a good sign for me. I can’t wait for spring!! I am going to do some planting this year again and put out some bird feeders and baths. Can’t wait!

The boy’s basketball has almost come to a hault. I think they only have three games left and then it’s done. So far Matt’s team has won every game. He is excited about that. Dylan is having alot of fun with it to. I wasn’t sure how he would be with it being that he doesn’t seem as outgoing and athletic as Matthew. He always seems to surprise me though.
Dylan and Austin are in Music lessons. I want all the kids to take music lessons but I thought I would start with Dylan and Austin and see how they liked it. Dylan loves piano lessons. He has learned so much already. Austin is taking guitar lessons from someone that was recommended to us. We are going to put Matthew and Mikayla in piano soon as well.

Here is the piano we got from Henry’s Music. It’s nothing fancy but the size is perfect for the kids. We are studying Bach and George Washington in school so I decided to print off two pictures from the internet and frame them. It adds a better decor to the home than having posters all over the walls. It really seems to help the kids get to know the people to. They already knew what George Washington looked like because, well, who doesn’t. But there are alot of people who would’t recognize Bach from a line-up of people. George Washington is going to be replaced soon but I haven’t decided by whom yet.

I can’t believe January is almost gone. It really went by fast. I am kind of glad because for some reason this winter just seems to long. Maybe it is because of the really cold weather and all the snow we have gotten but it has been dragging. I am looking forward to spring. I had a good birthday. The whole family went to Red Robin for supper. I picked that because I knew Dylan has been wanting to go. Hubby got me a purse as a gift.
We all went to the movies last week and saw Hotel for Dogs. It was really cute. I can’t believe the price to see a movie now days. It’s a good thing we don’t do that often. I just go for the pretzels and cheese. Just kidding.
Our family movie this week was Fireproof which I HIGHLY recommend! I can’t tell you how many times I started to cry. It was such a touching movie and you will never think the same when you are finished watching it. It is an awsome movie for a husband or wife or couple date night to watch together because it is about marriage.

Well, this is what we have been up to. I am getting a post together to let you know what we have been learning in school.

God Bless,