Day #77/175 Days - Fine Arts Co-Op

My sister & I are trying to get caught up on our Fine Arts co-op. We had planned out September to December back in August. We still have one more set of instruments and a composer left to cover from that original list. We had to cancel quite a bit this past fall, but I think we're on a roll again. I'll be making up a new list for our next few months soon. Any suggestions? We typically cover two instruments, a composer and an artist. I'll list all we've done so far at the end of the post.

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Music Study

•  Read about the viola in Story of the Orchestra
• Listened to a track of a viola playing from the CD that goes with the book
• Colored a picture of a viola (member section from abcteach)
• Listed 4 things about the viola that they learned and created mini-book
• Read about the clarinet in Story of the Orchestra
• Listened to a track of a clarinet playing from the CD 
• Colored a picture of a clarinet (again member section of abcteach)
• Pulled out my old clarinet for everyone to have a turn trying to play. I played for eight years (grades 5-12).

 

•  Listed four things learned and created mini-book
• Read from The Spiritual Lives of Great Composers about Schubert.
• Colored a coloring page of Schubert

     

• Created a "Composer of the Month" sheet.
• Watched YouTube videos of "Ava Maria" being performed

Art Study

• Watched Lesson 6 on our "God & the History of Art" DVDs. This covered the Dark Ages & Monasteries as well as illuminated manuscripts. 
• Discussed book making ----> Bibles -----> Monks copying -----> cost of books ---->missions -----> persecution of Christians
• Each boy was given a copy of their name done in a Celtic style font in order to color it. I found it here.

• Watch "Fundamentals of Drawing Part 2" and complete all drawings taught
• Still life (drawing a mug)
• Rules of composition
•  Read about Edgar Degas in Art in Story
• Watched this video on YouTube with lots of paintings by Degas.
• Read about Degas in Discovering Great Artists
• Create crayon resistance drawing (this didn't work as well as I had hoped)

  

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Instruments Studied so far:

• violin
• harpsichord
• flute
• piano
• cello
• organ
• viola
• clarinet
• oboe
• clavichord
• saxophone
• trumpet
• cellesta
• tubular bells

Composers studied so far:

• Bach
• Mozart
• Haydn
• Schubert
• Handel
• Chopin
• Txhaikovsky

Artists studied so far:

• Rembrandt
• Botticelli
• da Vinci
• van Gogh
• Monet
• Degas

Day #76/175 Days

Lego-Man

• Read John Chapter 9
• MUS online drill
• TenMarks worksheets
• Day 6 of Sequential Spelling
• Practice the piano
• Read Swiss Family Robinson - four chapters

Conductor

• Read John Chapter 9
• AWANA verses
• Chapter 21 test in MUS
• TenMarks worksheets
• Day 6 of Sequential Spelling
• Read Valley Forge for 20 minutes

Day #75/175 Days

Only 100 more days left until we can be considered official done for the 2010-2011 school year!

Together

• Calculadder drill
• Read Redcoats & Petticoats by Katherine Kirkpatrick
• Watched DVD: "George Washington: Founding Father" (A&E Biography - 50 minutes)

Lego-Man

• Read John Chapter 8
• MUS online drill (20 minutes)
• TenMarks worksheet
• Day 5 of Sequential Spelling
• Practice the piano
• Read Swiss Family Robinson - next four chapters

Conductor

• Read John Chapter 8
• AWANA verses
• Complete 21E & 21F in MUS
• Do Day 5 of Sequential Spelling video
• Practice the piano
• Read Valley Forge for 20 minutes

Happy

• Finished Get Ready for the Code Book A (pages 72-78)
• Lesson 6 in Alpha-Phonics
• Practice the piano
• Lesson 13A in MUS

Day #74/175 Days

Together

• Calculadder Drill
• Geography project (and my oldest actually declared it was "FUN!" I was shocked and amazed.)
• Institute for Excellence in Writing - creating a "Key Word Outline" or KWO on their own. Lego-Man got this but Conductor and I will still need to work on this for a bit I think. (TOS Crew review product)

A bit more about our geography project. At the start of January we switched to Tapestry of Grace. We are still meandering through week #1 as I continue to wrap my head around scheduling and such. It is vastly different than anything I've ever done in the past. One of the projects in week one for the Grammar level students is to go over a number of geography terms and create a salt-dough map with labels. I'm not one to jump in to salt dough maps willy-nilly so the boys and I sat down (and yes, I included Lego-Man even though he is technically doing the dialectic level) and we went over all the terms. To the best of my ability I illustrated the term and defined it as well. The first ten or so I did without issues. Then I pulled out the dictionary and Wikipedia to help me. Here is just a sampling of what I did for the boys:

As I mentioned, Lego-Man loved this project. So much so that he wants to turn it in to a 4-H exhibit. He was also super hyper because he was having so much fun. I'm glad I finally hit on something he enjoyed! What I ended up doing was giving the boys a large piece of paper and they had to include as many of the geographic ideas in their make-believe map as they could. In the coming weeks we will create the salt-dough map. The boys will get to paint it (that excited Happy!) and even create mini-labels for everything. Hands-on is really the way to go as much as possible with children - especially boys.

Happy

• Get Ready for the Code book pages 66-71
• Alpha-Phonics - review Lesson 5
• Practice the piano

I truly am thrilled with how Happy is doing. He is very ready to learn and it's showing in everything he is doing.

Conductor

• Practice the piano
• Read 3 chapters in Island of the Blue Dolphins

And no, this wasn't posed. While not a great shot, I was making 

popcorn in the kitchen and he wanted to watch, but also wanted

to finish his school reading.

Lego-Man

• Read 3 chapters in Swiss Family Robinson
• Practice piano

This was mostly a "fun" school day so a lot of other things were not tackled today.

Day #73/175 Days

Lego-Man

• Read John Chapter 7
• Work on Times Alive for 20 mins (TOS Crew review product)
• MUS Drill page for 20 mins
• Work on TenMarks worksheets (TOS Crew review product)
• Day 4 of Sequential Spelling
• Practice the piano
• Read Valley Forge by Richard Ammon
• Read three chapters in Swiss Family Robinson
• Read three chapters in John Adams: Public Servant (finished book)

Conductor

• Do 2 TenMarks worksheets (TOS Crew review product)
• Complete 21C & 21D in MUS
• Practice the piano
• Read 3 chapters in Island of the Blue Dolphins
• Conductor narrated to me what the story was about to this point and we filled out a graphic organizer about the story.
• We worked together to write his "Friend" essay for AWANA (this is an alternative to bringing a friend)
• Created his notebook pages for his presidents notebook

SNOW DAY!

It seemed appropriate. The public school had no school on Tuesday when we were dumped on. I made the boys do school. Evil homeschool mom that I am. I do typically do not give snow days in the winter as I would rather get our days in now and enjoy the nicer days in the spring. However, I decided to cave a bit today. Photos like the following made it all worth it!

This sled is super old. It's an invention of their great-grandfather's.

I love Happy's little tongue sticking out as he steers.

Can you tell he was loving this?

The walk back up is the hardest.

Day #72/175 Days

Our schedule was a bit off today. We had a big winter storm moving in (we ended up with about 10 inches of new snow). As a result we headed to piano lessons in the morning. We had done a bit of school before we found out we could go over early so we spent some time in the afternoon doing some more.

Together

• Calculadder Drill (this is making a comeback in our homeschool and I am yet again reminded why I like it so much. I'm see huge improvements just in Happy in writing his numbers correctly and neatly.)
• Piano Lessons

Lego-Man

• Bible study - read John chapter 6
• Work on Times Alive for 20 mins (TOS Crew review product)
• MUS online drill page (Lego-Man informed me that he doesn't remember his math facts. We are working on remedying that.)
• Vocab Ahead video (TOS Crew review product)
• Day 3 of the Sequential Spelling video
• Practice piano
• Complete state notebook
• Read 3 chapters in Swiss Family Robinson
• Read 3 chapters in John Adams: Public Servant

Conductor

• Spelling - Day 3 of Sequential Spelling
• Practice piano
• Create a cover for his state notebook
• Finish all his state notebook pages
• Read 3 chapters in Island of the Blue Dolphins

Happy

• Practice piano
• Review Lesson 5 in Alpha-Phonics
• Work in Get Ready for the Code

Day #71/175 Days - Fine Arts Co-Op

We covered the following today in music....

• saxophone
• trumpet

• Chopin

The boys were slightly impressed at the pretty sad tones I made come from the trumpet. There were some minor colds and such amongst the boys so they didn't get to try. They created mini-books for both instruments and for Chopin. We listened to various tracks to hear the instruments and Chopin's work.

Can you tell we are working with boys and ones that do not want to write much?

After a short break we tackled art. We watched a video on Christian Artists. This is taught by Barry Stebbing. He does a great job sharing his knowledge with the children. Then we moved on to the "Fundamentals of Drawing." These DVDs are very similar to the three day art classes that Mr. Stebbing teaches.  Lego-Man and Conductor participated in one a few years ago. Only Lego-Man remembers any of it though. 

 Photos of the boys working on their art lesson. 

The artist we studied today was Vincent van Gogh. We watched two YouTube videos. This one that showed lots of van Gogh's works and this one of a very adorable five year old girl recreating the moon in van Gogh's painting. We also used this website to get a really good close-up look of van Gogh's painting technique. I then challenged them to recreate van Gogh's "Starry Night." 

We finished off the day with piano practice and independent reading. Also my nephew was here and showed Conductor the neat electrical things his Papa gave him to try. This inspired Conductor to take out his electrical kit he had received for Christmas. He had brought it to me shortly after Christmas and told me he didn't want it as it was too hard. He's spent quite a bit of time today working on it and doing just fine. 

It's hard to see in this photo, but there is a red light lit up beside his hand. He was pretty proud of himself for getting this to work and I was very proud of him for persevering. 

Day #70/175 Days

Lego-Man

• Read John Chapter 5
• Work on Times Alive for 20 mins (TOS Crew product)
• Work on MUS drill page (multiplication facts) for 20 mins
• Do two TenMarks Worksheets (TOS Crew product)
• Create five new flashcards for words from VocabAhead (TOS Crew product)
• Day 2 of Sequential Spelling video
• Practice piano
• Complete state notebook pages/create cover for notebook
• Read next three chapters in Swiss Family Robinson
• Read next three chapters in John Adams: Public Servant

Conductor

• Read John Chapter 5
• Complete MUS tests for Chapters 18, 19, & 20
• Complete 2 TenMarks worksheets (TOS Crew product)
• Do Day 2 of Sequential Spelling video
• Practice piano
• Work on state notebook
• Read three chapters in Island of the Blue Dolphins
• Read for 20 mins in America in the Time of George Washington (he completed this today)
• AWANA verses

Happy

• Play Roman Town for 30 mins (TOS Crew product)
• Watch a "Speekee" video (TOS Crew product)
• Complete worksheets that go with Speekee
• Practice piano

Day #69/175 Days

Lego-Man

• Read John Chapter 4
• Work on Times Alive for 20 mins (TOS Crew review)
• Multiplication worksheets
• VocabAhead videos (create five flashcards for words) (TOS Crew review)
• Day 1 of Sequential Spelling video (I had forgotten I had this from last year. It's a freebie I managed to get and it covers almost a full year's worth of spelling. The boys will be using this from now on.)
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 mins (TOS Crew review)
• Practice the piano
• Complete state workbook (this has been an issue as his idea of finished and mine are different)
• Read three chapters in Swiss Family Robinson
• Read three chapters in John Adams: Public Servant

Conductor

• Read John Chapter 4
• MUS pages 20E & 20F
• Day 1 of Sequential Spelling video
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 mins (TOS Crew review)
• Practice piano
• Work on state notebook
• Read three chapters in Island of the Blue Dolphins
• Read America in the Time of George Washington for 20 mins
• Work on AWANA verses

AWANA club (2 hours)

Day #67/175 Days

Lego-Man

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• Roman Town (TOS Review product)
• Times Alive (TOS Review product)
• History reading (John Adams and Swiss Family Robinson)
• Read a Zoobooks on rhinos (he did this on his own with no prompting from me)

Conductor

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• Roman Town (TOS Review product)
• History Reading
• Math-U-See (correct 20A and do 20B)

Happy

• Get Ready for the Code pages 54-60
• Alpha-Phonics - Lesson 5a
• MUS 12C & 12D

I've been very pleased at how well Happy has been doing in his lessons. He has been very diligent in his work and he seems ready to learn. 

Together

• Watched "You Were There: George Washington." This was a video from Netflix that makes it look like reporters were interviewing George Washington while he was getting ready to cross the Delaware and another episode after he was made president (they watched this one later in the week.)

Day #67/175 Days - Art Class

Today we attended our weekly art class. The children were given the chance to "throw" some clay on the pottery wheel. They each had two turns to make a pot and loved it. While they waited for their turn they were given clay to mold and create whatever they wished. My boys love these monthly art classes.

After class we headed to one of the local parks to eat lunch and kill some time until our piano lessons. The two younger boys played outside for about 20 minutes but it was cold so they didn't last long. Thankfully the time went by fast and we were soon off to piano.

Since I had my camera I brought it in and snapped a few photos. Conductor loves going to piano not only to learn more but to also play. They have a great set of Legos they have been letting him use and he has been very good with the set. Today they had pulled out a different building set for him to use. He loved it! (I am saying "they" as our teacher is a 19-year-old homeschool girl. We go to her house and her 15-year-old sister is there as well as their mom so we all have plenty of company.)

Day #66/175 Days

Together

• We began our first lesson on Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). I think I'm really going to like this program - a lot! This is a Crew review product so I'll be posting a more thorough review on my regular blog in a few months.

Lego-Man

• Read John Chapter 3
• Work on Times Alive for 20 minutes (TOS Crew product)
• Continue working on VocabAhead (TOS Crew product). Lego-Man is picking five words to work on each day.
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 minutes (TOS Crew product)
• Practice the piano
• Work on state notebook
• Read three chapters in Swiss Family Robinson
• Read four chapters in John Adams: Public Servant

Conductor

• Read John Chapter 3
• Review Lesson 20 in Math-U-See
• Complete 20B & 20C in MUS
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 minutes
• Practice the piano
• Work on state notebook
• Read three chapters in Island of the Blue Dolphin
• Read America in the Time of George Washington for 20 minutes

Happy

• Get Ready for the Code pages 48-53
• Review Lessons 1-3 in Alpha-Phonics
• Do Lesson 4 in Alpha-Phonics
• Practice the piano

Day #65/175 Days

Yes, it is Saturday but we took a day off this week so this is the boys's "make-up" day. That and they needed some work on following directions and obeying Mom.

Lego-Man

• Bible Study - Read John Chapter 2
• Work on Times Alive for 20 mins (TOS Review Product)
• Math worksheets
• Make flashcards for five words on the VocabAhead video (TOS Review Product)
• Finish Christmas thank-you notes
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 minutes (TOS Review Product)
• Practice the piano
• Work on state notebook
• Read Swiss Family Robinson for 30 minutes
• Read John Adams: Public Servant for 30 minutes

Conductor

• Read John Chapter 2
• Complete math worksheets
• Fix errors on previous worksheets
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 minutes (TOS Review Product)
• Practice the piano
• Work on state notebook for 20 minutes
• Read Island of the Blue Dolphins for 30 minutes
• Read America in the Time of George Washington for 30 minutes
• Practice AWANA verses

Happy did not do school today. He came with me on a visit to my sister's to play with my nephew all day. They had a great time playing on the Wii, building block towers/castles, and generally having a good time being boys.

Day #64/175 Days

Lego-Man

• Bible Study - Read John 1
• Finish TenMarks worksheets (TOS Review product)
• Work on Christmas Thank-You notes
• Play "Roman Town" for 30  mins (TOS Review product)
• Practice the piano
• Work on state notebook
• Read to Happy
• Read to self for 60 mins

Conductor

• Bible study - Read John 1
• Complete math worksheets
• Finish all Christmas Thank-You notes
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 mins (TOS Review product)
• Practice the piano
• Read to Happy
• Read to self for 30 mins

Happy 

• Compete all worksheets (used winter activity sheets from KB Teachers)
• Finish all Christmas thank-you notes
• Play "Roman Town" for 30 mins (TOS Review product)
• Practice the piano
• Read Alpha-Phonics words on the chalkboard
• Pick a book for Lego-Man to read to you.
• Pick a book for Conductor to read to you.

Together

• Money Camp - final report
• 4-H meeting

Day #63/175 Days

Together

• Read: Seeker of Knowledge by James Rumford
• AWANA

Happy

• Get Ready for the Code Book A - pgs. 44-47
• Piano Practice
• Alpha-Phonics - reviewed Lessons 1 & 2 - did Lesson 3
• MUS - Lesson 12
• AWANA verses

Conductor

• State notebook
• Piano practice
• President research (read about George Washington in the DK Presidents book)
• Money Camp - final report
• AWANA verses

Lego-Man

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• Walking
• President Research/complete notebook pages (Washington & Adams)
• State Notebook
• Piano practice
• Money Camp - final report

Day #62/175 Days

Happy

• Get Ready for the Code Book A p. 34-41
• Alpha-Phonics - review Lesson 1, Lesson 2
• AWANA verses
• Greek - Lesson 3 (TOS Review product)
• MUS - pages 11E&11F
• Speekee video (TOS Review product)
• Piano Lessons
• Christmas Thank-You notes

Conductor

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• State Notebook
• Independent Reading (Island of the Blue Dolphins)
• Piano Lessons
• Christmas Thank-You notes

Lego-Man

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• State Notebook
• Times Tales (TOS Review product)
• President Notebook
• Independent Reading (Swiss Family Robinson)
• Piano Lessons
• Christmas Thank-You notes

Day #61/175 Days

And so it begins. We have made an attempt at using Tapestry of Grace. I'm using Year 3 Classic Design with the boys.

Happy

• Rod & Staff ABC book (biggest/smallest, left/right, tracing/copying) - I did realize this was probably now a bit young for him since it is a preschool program.
• Get Ready for the Code Book A - Letter 'M' pgs. 26-33
• Alpha-Phonics - Lesson 1
• Greek - Lesson 2 (TOS Review product)
• Math-U-See Lesson 11 pgs. C&D
• Piano Practice
• Speekee Video (TOS Review product)
• Read The 18-Penny Goose by Sally M. Walker

Conductor

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• Piano Practice
• Independent Reading

Lego-Man

• TenMarks (TOS Review product)
• Piano Practice
• Walking
• Independent Reading

Together

• Set up TOG notebooks
• Create covers
• Read The Revolutionary John Adams by Cheryl Harness
• Began constructing state and president notebooks
• Watched "This is America, Charlie Brown" video