December 2016

A relatively quiet month for December!

There were many ongoing projects this month, including out Ecology Class, 4-H Electronics class, and Cornell Lab Project Feederwatch citizen science project.

Hawkeye also went to a Christmas Bird Count Primer event with our 4-H Bird project, hosted by our local county Conservancy group. For this event, we split into teams and counted as many  birds by type as possible; for this particular event, Hawkeye was fortunate to be on a team with two experience birders, who were happy to talk birds with him and really took time to give him advice and tips. He was thrilled to have birding mentors for the morning!

Hawkeye also continued leading his 4-H project, Board Game Club. In his capacity as a Project Leader, he emails project members, books the library rooms for the meetings and leads the meetings themselves, all with my help when needed, of course. The monthly club is well attended, with about 30 attendees, from toddlers to adults all playing board games. They are such fun afternoons!

We took a two week break at the end of the month.

Reading
We continued daily reading practice (easy Readers, level 2)

Math
Hawkeye continues to work through Life of Fred: Farming, and averages two chapters each week.


History
We continued reading White Stallion of Lipizza, by Marguerite Henry, learning about the Lipizzaner horses and the training techniques of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria.

Waldorf Essentials
After completing our reading, summarizing and grammar study of the Buster Stories of Thornton Burgess, we moved on to learning about two Saints days, Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucia.
The study of Saint Nicholas, although relatively brief was a nice juxtaposition to the more contemporary image of Santa.

For Santa Lucia day on the 13th, we studied her story, made paper crowns (wreaths with candles for girls, and pointed hats decorated with stars for boys) and made St. Lucia saffron buns.

Ongoing Reading

Among the Forest People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson (completed)
     -A Mild Day in Winter

Among the Meadow People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson
     - The Butterfly That went Calling
     - The Robins Build a Nest
     - The Selfish Tent Caterpillar

The Burgess animal Book for Children, by Thornton Burgess
     - More of Peter's Long-Legged Cousins
     - Chatterer and Happy Jack Join
     - The Squirrels of the Trees
     - Striped Chipmunk and His Cousins
     - Johnny Chuck Joins the Class

Tree in the Trail, by Holling C. Holling
     - chapter 4
     - chapter 5
     - chapter 6
     - chapter 7
     - chapter 8
     - chapter 9
     - chapter 10
     - chapter 11

The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre
     - The Wily Dervish
     - The Numerous Family
     - The Old Pear Tree

Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
     - Aunt Harriet Has a Cough
     - Betsy Holds the Reins
     - A Short Morning
     - Betsy Goes to School

American Tall Tales, by Adrien Stoutenburg
     - Paul Bunyan
     - Pecos Bill
     - Stormalong

D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths
     - Athena
     - Poseidon
     - Apollo
     - Artemis
     - Hermes

Chapter Books Read
Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers, by Ralph Moody
The Magician's Nephew, by C. S. Lewis
Heidi, by Johanna Spyri
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson

Picture Books Read
Winter's Coming, by Jan Thornhill
Nuts to You!, by Lois Ehlert
A Rainbow of My Own, by Don Freeman
Full, Full, Full of Love, by Trish Cooke
Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild, by Mem Fox
The Legend of the Candy Cane, by Lori Walburg
The Animal's Santa, by Jan Brett
Cobweb Christmas, by Shirley Climo
Gingerbread Christmas, by Jan Brett
One Starry Night, by Lauren Thompson
The Twelve Days of Christmas, by Jan Brett
I Face the Wind, by Vicki Cobb
Night Tree, by Eve Bunting
Christmas in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Christmas in the Barn, by Margaret Wise Brown
Santa Claus and the Three Bears, by Maria Modugno
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston
Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?, by Jan Brett
The Night Before Christmas, by Jan Brett
The Wild Christmas Reindeer, by Jan Brett
The Legend of the Poinsettia, by Tomie dePaola
Stega Nona's Gift, by Tomie dePaola
Babushka, A Christmas Tale, by Dawn Casey
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry
The Night of the Las Posadas, by Tomie dePaola
Home for Christmas, by Jan Brett
The Baker's Dozen, by Heather Forest
Christmas Farm, by Mary Lyn Ray
The Little Drummer Boy, by Ezra Jack Keats
Hurry! Hurry! Have You Heard?, by Laura Krauss Melmed
Christmas Trolls, by Jan Brett
Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola
Christmas Dolls, by Tasha Tudor
The Nutcracker, by Susan Jeffers

Movies Watched
The Wind in the Willows, A&E

November 2016

We kicked off this month by attending a talk for our local Wildlife Conservancy group on Vultures, given by Katie Fallon, featuring her recently published book Vulture: The Private Life of the Unloved Bird.

Hawkeye learned about the nesting, breeding and eating habits of vultures, their physiognomy and quirks, and the speaker brought a vulture to the talk - which was fascinating!

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We went on a field trip into Washington DC to The Phillips Collection, an art museum. There we had a tour with a docent, which focused on just half a dozen works of art; the children in the group had the opportunity to discuss the context of the pieces, how they felt while looking at them, drawing their own versions of the works and creating their own tableaus mimicking the art. It was wonderful!

While in DC, we made a quick stop to visit the Bird House at the National Zoo; this is Hawkeye's favorite part of the zoo, and we stop by whenever we are able. The highlight of this particular visit was a walk past the flamingo area, and finding a few flamingo feathers that had blown out of the enclosure! Such a wonderful addition to Hawkeye's feather collection!

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Hawkeye's ecology class at our local botanical garden focused on  plate tectonics and fossils. For both classes, the teacher created hand's on experiments to demonstrate the concepts.

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Our monthly Wildlife Conservancy class this month was on geology; after a lecture given by a Federal Geologist, who specializes in out county's geology, with all sorts of specimens that the children participating were able to handle and examine. Hawkeye learned about rock types, mountain formation, rock identification and fossils. We then moved the class outside, to examine local rock formations, and spend time looking at the local landscape for a hands on lesson on geology and how to get clues on land formation from the rocks around us. 

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Hawkeye also began a monthly 4-H class electronics class, based on the Make: Electronics book. This class is very hands on and experiential, and a huge hit with Hawkeye! For this month's class he built circuits with electrical components, using pliers and wire strippers; the aim was to create a circuit able to turn a light on and off.

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This month also saw the start of Hawkeye's annual involvement in Cornell Lab's citizen science Project Feedwatch, in which he does a bird feeder count two days each week from November until April. This project involves a myriad of skills, from bird identification, tallying bird counts, online research of the weather and imputing the collected data on the Cornell Lab web site. For this, Hawkeye also makes suet cakes for the birds each week.

As birds are an ongoing fascination for Hawkeye, this project always leads to much research and discussion, including bird identification, migration habits, physiognomy and feeder preferences, weather influences and patterns, and the stories of John James Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson.

We also attended birding walks with our local Wildlife Conservancy chapter, where amateur birders gave Hawkeye tips and guidance on using binoculars, bird identification and building a life list. Hawkeye's dedication to birds and birding shows in his willingness to get up before dawn, and trudge through nature conserves in the cold and dark for the opportunity of bird sightings!

Reading
We continued daily reading (Easy Reader, Level 1 books) and played on the Teach Your Monster To Read app.

Math
We are working our way through Life of Fred: Farming (we average two chapters each week). We have also been enjoying some of the We Love Math books.

History
This month we continued out study of the History of the Horse curriculum from Beautiful Feet, beginning to read White Stallion of Lipizza, by Marguerite Henry. Hawkeye learned about the breeding and characteristics of the Lipizzaner, and the differences between the Lipizzaner and the Arab. As the book is set in Vienna, Austria, we did some research on that geographical area. But, for Hawkeye the fascination was truly in the ballet of the Lipizzaners and how they are trained to perform such feats. We watched You Tube videos on the Lipizzans and a PBS documentary, both of which sparked a fascination.

Waldorf Essentials
Continuing our work in the WE curriculum, we continued reading Aesop's animal fables, with Hawkeye dictating his summaries of the fables to me, and then identifying the nouns and verbs.
We also learned about Saint Martin, in preparation for Martinmas, before moving onto the moral animal tales about Muster Bear by Thornton Burgess.


Ongoing Reading

Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin (completed)
     - Casabianca
     - Antonio Canova
     - Picciola
     - Mignon

The Tree in the Trail, by Holling C. Holling
     - chapter 6
     - chapter 7
     - chapter 8

The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess (completed)
     - The Pine Grosbeak and the Redpoll
     - The Goshawk and the Great Horned Owl

The Burgess Animal Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess
     - chapter 1, introduction
     - The Cottontail Rabbit, Northern Hare and Marsh Rabbit
 
Among the Forest People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson
     - The Wild Turkeys Come
     - The Travelers Go South
     - The Ruffed Grouse's Story
    
The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre
     - The Cows
     - The Sheepfold

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths
     - introduction
     - Hera
     - Hephaestus
     - Aphrodite
     - Ares

Chapter Books Read
The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess
Henry and Beezus, by Beverly Cleary
Little Town on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Poppy, by Avi
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Trafton
Betsy-Tacy, by Maud Hart Lovelace
The Moffats, by Eleanor Estes
Skunked! Calpurnia Tate, Animal Doctor in Training, by by Jacqueline Tate
Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl

Non-fiction Books Read
Squirrel and John Muir, by Emily Arnold McCully
Thanksgiving Is ... , by Gail Gibbons
The Thanksgiving Story, by Alice Dalgliesh


Picture Books Read
On Meadowview Street, by Henry Cole
Black and White, by David Macaulay
Crow Boy, by Taro Yashima
Baby Brains and Robomom, by Simon James
Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt de la Pena
The Funny Little Woman, by Arlene Mosel
Night of the Goat Children, by J. Patrick Lewis
Round Trip, by Ann Jonas
Anna's Table, by Eve Bunting
The Great Day, by Taro Gomi
In November, by Cynthia Rylant
The Three Little Bears, by Paul Galdone
The Warlord's Kite, by Virginia Walton Pilegard
Apple Farmer Annie, by Monica Wellington
Come on Rain!, by Karen Hesse
The Little Red Hen, by Paul Galdone
Too Many Turkeys, by Linda White
Earl the Squirrel, by Don Freeman
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, by Alison Jackson
Over the River and Through the Wood, by Lydia Maria Child
Miss Suzy, by Miriam Young
Sharing the Bread, by Pat Zietlow Miller
Thanksgiving is Here!, by Diane Goode


Movies Watched
You Tube Videos featuring excerpts from The Magic Flute, by Mozart
Legendary White Stallions: The World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions, Nature


Podcasts
Classics for Kids: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
     - Child Prodigy Composers
     - What's a Rondo
     - Janissary Music
     - Mozart's Opera
     - About Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
     - The Magic Flute

October 2016

October was another full home education month for us!

We started the month with a 4H Project meeting on Monarch Butterflies. For this we watched a short movie on the migration of Monarchs, learned about their life cycle and their feeding needs. We were then able to release some butterflies that had recently emerged from their chrysalis'.

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For our local Wildlife Conservation group outing this month, we learned about seeds with a local expert botanist. Hawkeye learned about different characteristics of seeds, including seed distribution types, how seeds grow and the conditions they need.

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We went on a homeschool field trip to a local outdoor performing arts venue. It was fascinating to tour backstage, see how the scenery is raised and lowered, learn about the technicalities of managing the space and the sheer number of people involved.

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However, Hawkeye's big adventure of the month was an eight day trip to the Pacific Northwest! He visited many of Seattle's landmarks, including Pike's Place, the Space Needle and the Seattle Great Wheel (a permanent 175' ferris wheel, over looking Elliot Bay). He also spent time at the fish Ladder at Ballard Locks, a fascinating series of water steps and locks for migrating salmon.

A day was also spent at the Seattle Aquarium, where he learned about all manner of marine animals, and had the opportunity to hand feed a tank of sea urchins! Sometimes it pays to be really curious kid in the crowd, with a ton of questions!

Reading
We continued daily reading (Easy Reader, Level 2 books) and played on the Teach Your Monster To Read app.

Math
Working our way through Life of Fred: Farming (we average two chapters each week)

Waldorf Essentials
This month we studied Animal Fables; after the telling of the story, we would then either do a Charlotte Mason inspired narration, or the more Waldorf recalling of the story the following day. I helped Hawkeye write these summaries out, and we then introduced nouns and verbs within the summaries. 

History
We are continuing our work through The History of the Horse, from Beautiful Feet.
We finished reading The King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry; this month our reading inspired us to study the geography of England in relation to Morocco and then France, tracing the path of the novel's protagonist, Agba. We also discussed the monarchy and peerage system of England.
We also read Black Beauty by Anna Sewell; for this novel we learned about the Thoroughbred horse, tackle, and determining a horse's age by looking at it's teeth.
We also used our Horse Breeds of the World playing cards to play some basic card games; these were Hawkeye's first introduction into playing cards, and I found that there was a nice overlap between using the cards to learn about the different horse breeds and practicing math facts through the playing of games. Fun!

Ongoing Reading
My Book House, In the Nursery (daily)
Aesop Fables (daily) (completed)

Fifty Famous Stories Retold, by James Baldwin
   - The Blind Man and the Elephant
   - Maximillian and the Goose Boy

The Tree in the Trail, by Holling C. Holling
     - chapter 3
     - chapter 4
     - chapter 5

The Burgess Bird Book for Children, by Thornton W. Burgess
     - The Snow Bunting and the Horned Lark
     - The Screech Owl
     - The Ruffled Grouse and the Crossbills

Among the Forest People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson
     - The Undecided Rattlesnake
     - The Quarrelsome Mole

The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre
     - The Fairy Tale and the True Story
     - The Building of the City
     
Chapter Books Read
Henry Huggins, by Beverly Cleary
Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry
The Boy and His Horse, by C. S. Lewis

Non-Fiction Books Read
Hillary Rodham Clinton, by Kathleen Krull
Why Do Leaves Change Color, by Betsy Maestro

Picture Books Read
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, by William Joyce
I Want a Monster, by Elise Gravel
Do Princesses Scrape Their Knees, by Carmela LaVigna Coyle
Mossy, by Jan Brett
Farmer Will, by Jane Cowen-Fletcher
Children of the Forest, by Elsa Beskow
Foxy, by Emma Dodd
The Dollhouse Fairy, by Jane Ray
Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great, by Bob Shea
A Unicorn Named Sparkle, by Amy Young
The Seven Princesses, by Smiljanah Coh
The Very Fluffy Kitty, Papillon, by A. N. Kang
Today and Today, by Issa
Hachiko, by Pamela S. Turner
How My Parents Learned to Eat, by Ina R. Friedman
The Trouble With Dragons, by Debi Gliori
The Water Hole, by Graeme Base
Twelve dancing Unicorns, by Alissa Heyman
The Little Island, by Margaret Wise Brown