Strassner Academy: Week 10

Well, I have been rather poor about documenting our journey over the last few weeks.  I got so accustomed to having Casey around in October, it came as quite a shock when he went back to work.

We've had doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, gymnastics and ballet to contend with.  The kids did a lovely presentation in front of our co-op about their trip to California, and particularly Disneyland.  I tried to persuade them to speak about something a little more personal, but they were so excited and enthusiastic telling everyone about their favorite rides, I of course gave in.

Last week, we learned the story of Moses and studied the letter I.  We did a really fun crayon and watercolor fall leaf painting.

Leah studied the pyramids and did her class presentation on Pharaoh Kufu and The Great Pyramid, which tied in nicely with the story of Moses.  She has also been hard at work on Geography. 

 

She is learning to draw the continents - we call it "blob mapping," because it is just a loose approximation, but it really helps to conceptualize where in the world things are.  

Those were about the only photos I took from last week... so moving on!

This week, we dove into the story of David and Goliath, and R is for Rock.  

The battle is the Lord's! - 1 Samuel 17:47

The kids absolutely loved this lacing project, which we used to create David's shepherd's pouch.

We dipped Logan's little race car in paint and drew letter R's, then cut footloose and did freehand race car paintings.  

We painted rocks using several different techniques.  

We played letter review hopscotch. 

But the most fun activity of all was reenacting the Goliath tale.

We measured the wall, which, luckily is 10 feet tall - plenty of room for Goliath's hulking nine foot stature.  Earlier in the week, Logan had made Goliath out of a paper plate, googly eyes, a puff ball and some pipe cleaner.  It didn't take much to secure him in place.

Then, we took aim, cried out "THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S!!!" and let our stones fly.

So... let's just say, they're not exactly crack shots as David was.  

Plus, you know, they're a little bit lower to the ground.  Definitely held them back - nine feet is really high!

It took them a few more tries than the five stones that were in David's pouch, but they did eventually get him square between the eyes.  I think they even managed to knock him off the wall!

And oh my goodness, they had SO much fun!  This little activity ended up being replayed, over and over, for a good half an hour.

This week, Leah worked hard on Eastern Asia.  Geography isn't exactly my strong suit, but we're working through it together. 

 

She's really coming along with her Geography, particularly because there is so much of it to learn.  Even more so because many of the cultures we're learning about are ancient ones this year and often different from their modern day counterparts (okay, so this week isn't a good example of that!)

The last two weeks have been busy and chaotic, and I'm even though he hasn't been gone very long, I'm already looking forward to Casey's return!