FIAR Vol 4 co-op: Albert

I'm continuing our March wrap-up.  I fell behind this week as we travelled to Virginia for Rebecca's college orientation.  We also celebrated Daniel's 10th birthday!  More on both of those soon!

Our next book in FIAR volume 4 was Albert.  A very sweet and funny story about a bird and the man who is forced to stop and spend time with them.  

All of this study on birds has really kindled an interest in Daniel to learn more about birds.  He has spent time watching them at the feeder (and taking pictures and videos).  As well as feeding them and listening for them outside.  I love that he is beginning to be able to identify their sounds!  I've never been very good at that.  

 During our co-op, the kids learned about cardinals.  They colored and labelled a picture.

 And listened to a neat video.  (See link below.)

This video explains how cardinals make music using 2 sets of tubes coming from the lungs in order to make 2 different sounds!  An amazing look at the intricate design of the Creator.

 Next, they each got a bowl of berries and crushed them up as best they could.

 Then strained them to get a nice (and not lumpy) liquid.  Now it was time to paint.

 I loved seeing their creations and isn't this a great painting that Daniel made?

 Our snack was obviously berries.  For some reason, they weren't interested in trying some of the other foods that the birds in the story ate ... like bugs.  Can't blame them there!

I don't have many pictures from this one, but we still enjoyed our time with this delightful book!

Blessings
Leslie

March catch-up post

So far, I'm off to a good start on my catching up with my blog, right?  I've finished February and now its time for a whirlwind tour of March.  I'll post our Five in a Row co-ops in a separate posting.

As we spent time learning about pigeons in our last Five in a Row book, Daniel began to be very interested in the birds around us.  Our next FIAR book was also about birds which helped to encourage this new interest even more.

He enjoyed spending time watching and taking photos of the birds at our feeder.  Its been fun seeing him enjoying God's creation and wanting to learn more about them.

Our FIAR group went on a field trip to a skating rink.

Its harder than it looks or seems which I think was a surprise to some of them that had never been before.

Eliana didn't even try.  After we tried roller skating last month - which she hated, I figured this would not be on her top 10 list.  We hung out in the lobby with some other young friends that weren't skating.  Daniel loved it and is hoping to go back again during the summer.

Just liked this photo of these beautiful young ladies.  :)

As part of our Robin Hood co-op, we talked about fires and then proceeded to make one.  Each person worked to gather materials, build a fire and then strike flint to get it going.

I loved seeing the looks of satisfaction on each face when they succeeded.  And each one did!

This was a huge hit.

And of course, we had to cook food over the fire too.

Eliana liked having a hot dog too!

We celebrated Christopher's birthday at the beginning of his spring break before he headed off to the mountains with friends.  Happy 21st birthday!  I love you Christopher and am proud of you.  I love seeing how God is working in your life.  I pray for you daily that you would grow in your faith and love for God and that you would have the courage to follow where He leads.

He brought home one of his roommates for the night (Joe!) which we were all excited to spend time with too!

Joe and Christopher both were invited to to join in the game of Axis and Allies.  This is no small game and it takes no small time to play it either.

We also played some medieval games during one of our co-ops with Robin Hood.  (We also did some inside work but that doesn't always make for great photos, kwim?)  One of them is jingling where the person who is it is NOT blindfolded and everyone else is.  Nice twist, huh?  "It" has bells which he jingles and the others try to catch him.

Another game we played was How Many Miles to London.

 This game begins with “It” being blindfolded. The other players then stand in a line and ask “It” for directions. “It” tells them how many steps to take forward backward, left, or right they must go. Then “It” is led to the starting point and must follow his own directions. When “It” has reached the final destination, he must try to touch another player. The other players may duck or sway to avoid being touched, but they cannot move their feet. If a player is tagged, then he is the next “It” otherwise “It” must try again. 

We always end with a delightful spread and this time was no different.  Yum!  :)

For book club this month, we read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  This book had so many ideas to explore and discuss.  It is an interesting comparison to see how things were done and handled then versus now.  There are ways in which I see great improvement and some which I see great decline.

Dinner out with two of my dearest friends.  Thankful for both of these women and all that they have poured into the lives of my family.  Thankful that God has given me such wonderful friends to hang out with.

Nature journalling.  Its a very sporadic activity around here, but we do it when Mom things about it.

And some just hang out with their siblings.

At the end of the month, Rebecca and I drove to SC with a dear friend to attend the Great Homeschool Convention.  Afterwards, some of us from the FIAR website staff hung around for a couple of days with Steve and Jane Lambert.  It was a time of  refreshment and encouragement.

I'm thankful to see God's hand at work in building friendships that span many states.  We all met through the internet and it has been a blessing indeed.

March was filled with laughter, love and adventure.  What more could I ask for?

More (hopefully tomorrow) on our next FIAR co-op... Albert.

Love
Leslie

Happy Father's Day!

I have been blessed with a wonderful father.  I'm thankful for the many things that he taught me like having a positive attitude and looking for the best in a situation or person.  I'm thankful for the memories that we made while at home and also traveling.  I'm thankful for the example that he set for me, my family and many others.  

Daddy, I love you and thank God for you!

 I'm also thankful for my wonderful husband.  He is a great Dad to our children and I'm thankful for the time and energy he invests into each of them.

God has blessed me richly!  

Love

Leslie

FIAR vol 4 co-op: Angelo

A new fun book to explore and enjoy!  A delightful story with many layers of lessons and well worth the read!

We began with a devotion discussing Col 3:17

We then discussed the setting of the story (Italy).  We spent some time praying for Italy using the Operation World website information.  

The first lesson we covered was one on restoration which was the job of one of the main characters in the book.  We learned more about plaster from this site.  And one tidbit that was mostly interesting to the adults is the origin of the name "Plaster of Paris".  Is this something that you have heard?  I never had and found it intriguing.  Paris was known as the "capital of plaster" in the 1700s because plaster was widely used to coat the wooden walls of houses. This helped protect against fire. Gypsum plaster became known as "plaster of Paris."

We did our own wet fresco painting following these instructions.  

When Plaster of Paris is mixed into a paste, it hardens into a smooth solid with a soft  malleable surface.  It hardens quickly, before the water in it evaporates, so it does not shrink as it dries.  In our story, stucco or plaster is used to repair buildings.  It can also be used as an art form.  We discussed fresco painting and then did our own following these instructions.

Snack time with ideas from the book.  Pasta which they made into "nests" like the last picture in the book.

Daniel showing off his nest.

Everyone gathering around for food.  LOL

 We learned about pigeons in the form of a quiz.  I asked questions to see that they knew.  Here are a few if you want to test your knowledge.

1.  Are all pigeons black like Sylvia?

2.  What is a young pigeon called?

3.  What is the life span of a pigeon?

4.  How many babies does a pigeon have?


Answers:
1.  No, they come in many colors

2.  A squab

3.  10-15 years

4.  They usually have 2 eggs per clutch and can have up to 8 clutches per year.

And did you know that pigeons are able to recognize all 26 letters of the English alphabet and can be taught complex actions and responses.  They can remember large numbers of individual images for several years!  This next fact fascinated me.  During World Wars 1 and 2, they saved thousands of lives.  Here is one site with more information on this.

And also how to draw a cartoon one from this site.

We ended with a bird's nest treat.  Note the 2 eggs as was typical for a pigeon.  These are made from rice krispies.

Here are the finished fresco paintings.  All interesting and unique.

We enjoyed this book and learning about a lot of different topics.  Such a fun way to explore our world.

Blessings
Leslie

B4 FIAR co-op: The Red Carpet

I'm still doing a catch-up focused on February.  The month we focused on the delightful book The Red Carpet.  There are so many fun things to explore in this book!  We had a great time together enjoying some of them.  

We first read the story.

 Then each child received a picture/word card and was to listen for their word when it was read.  They then matched their word to the one already on the door.

 Next they all worked on building the town.  Each one had a building or location to make and some worked together on their sites.

 It always delights me to see Eliana participating as she has come a long way since we first started doing this co-op.

 When the town was complete, a "red carpet" was wound through out the buildings.

 Everyone enjoyed seeing this ...

 and then driving their vehicles through the town.

 One of the craft projects involved making a stoplight.  Eliana likes gluing so this was a hit.

 Next they made pictures using vehicles and paint.

 Eliana did this and only wanted to use one color and vehicle while others embraced lots of colors and various vehicles.  All fun.

 Lastly, we enjoyed a snack.  Not the "stop light" colors of the snack too.

Our time spent with friends is always sweet and fun.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to share learning and memories with our friends.

Blessings
Leslie