Homeschool Days December 2020

On Friday we completed our 20th week of school and began our Christmas break.  It was also our 100th day of school.  Yay!!!

Here is a look at some of the things we did during the month of December. 

We studied the countries of North Korea, Russia, and the Republic of Guinea.

The boys had their last Awana class for the semester.  To close out, Cruz had to recite all of the verses he had learned this quarter.  I am so thankful to have this class available to us.  It has been a blessing!

In our homeschool Bible class we studied the Christmas story and sang Christmas songs each day.  We also did this Advent reading as a family each morning after breakfast.  A highlight was also a study on Lottie Moon.  The boys hear us talk often about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering but we have never studied who she was and how the offering began.  In addition to resources we found on the IMB website, we also watched several YouTube videos that highlighted her life and work.  It was a great study! 

                                                                          Ben reading

                                                                       

                                   Cruz reading a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  He loves those!

          Cruz also read a book from the Happy Hollisters series called The Mystery in Skyscraper City. 

                                           Ben read these three books and did a report on each.

He also learned about the States of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Iowa. Here are his fact sheets and art projects.

Cruz finished his first semester of IEW online.  His final assignment was to write a poem and illustrate it.  He wrote an acronym poem using the word love.

Spelling is not his strongest subject but I have seen a lot of improvement this year.  Here he is practicing his words on an online program we use.  

                                        Santa Cruz practicing his spelling words on the board. 

                He does not see this math grade often so that face shows you our excitement when we do.  

 

Here is Cruz reading a history lesson.  December's unit was titled The Nation Expands.  We learned all about the westward movement, the Industrial Revolution, the growth of factories and mass production, cotton and slavery, reform movements, the Texas and Mexican War, the Oregon Trail, and the California Gold Rush.  It was a great month of learning more about the history of the United States.

In Science we studied the Cardiovascular System and learned all about the heart.  As we went throughout our study we did a model of the heart using cardboard, paint, marshmallows, and toothpicks. 

                                                                       our heart model

                                      We made a stethoscope and listened to our heartbeat.

                                                          learning about the pulse

 

And of course we watched several great YouTube videos to reinforce all that we were studying.

                      You can imagine my smile when I read this assignment that Ben completed.  

                                     I also smiled when I saw this note he left on the board.

                          and then there was this note I found from his brother.  I had to laugh out loud. 

To finish up the semester we ended our school day baking Christmas cookies.  It also went well with our study of Lottie Moon (she was known as the cookie lady). 

                                                                    It got a little messy. 

ready for icing

They did a great job decorating.

and that's a wrap!!!  

Hello Christmas break!  We are glad it has arrived.