Children's Requests

Little Miss loves to draw. I guess I should clarify ~ she loves to draw HORSES. :P
She presented me with this drawing and asked me to grade it. Seems Little Miss would like to see Art incorporated into Suaemoc's school day. ;) How does one grade such a masterpiece? Of course, Little Miss is her own worst critic and felt she deserved a "D". Still, she brought the original photograph from the magazine to me so a comparison could be made between her rendition and the original. While I still felt her drawing to be a display of extreme artistic talent, Little Miss stood over my shoulder, eagerly awaiting constructive criticism.
The drawn horse's nose is less elongated than the photograph from the magazine. The photograph has much lighter shading in the horse's throat. The concho is drawn smaller than the one in the photograph, too, but such details are minor in attempting to come up with an appropriate grade to assign to the wonderful artwork of a 14-year-old.
As the prodding continued, I knew I needed to satisfy Little Miss's need for a grade. In the back of my mind, I wanted to say "A+", but knew she would be unhappy with receiving a perfect grade for what she truly felt was imperfection. So, Little Miss's "Pyro Thyme" drawing received a grade of "A-". She was pleased. :)
I suppose we can make Art a creative part of Suaemoc. It is, after all, a way to express oneself and release imagination. How I will be able to critique the children's art projects remains to be seen, as every child is a Picasso to their mothers.
The Little Boy is not without his opinions! For Writing today, his assignment was to persuade me to accept an idea he has for Suaemoc. We discussed persuasive writing and building ideas from the least important to the most important. He chose to present the idea of having gym class as part of our home school routine. ;)
"Gym should be part of school every day.", he begins. Every day? That's ambitious. He continues with his attempt to persuade me to agree by stating, "Gym is fun." Is that a good reason to have gym every day? ;) He concludes with: "It's a way to keep active and fit. Gym also is good in helping to be more healthy." Well, I can't argue with that! :)
Alright, Suaemoc will have gym class, then. Beginning today, the children each had to do Wii Fit exercises for 15 minutes. Did they stop after just 15 minutes each? No! :P Knowing that it would prove difficult to tear them away, they weren't allowed to begin "gym class" until they completed all their other assignments for the day. It is a fantastic idea to encourage fitness and staying active. The Little Boy's persuasion was effective. "A+"! :)

100th Day Scavenger Hunt

The children had fun searching for 100 things matching 100 descriptions. :)




Little Miss had to be peeled away from the something "soft" she found...






After finding all there was to find at home, we decided to head outside.
What better place to explore than...







THE BARN! :)

There are many things to be found at the barn, that's for sure! The Little Boy thought the barn wall matched the description of "multi-colored" and thought it most funny when Cyclone tried to steal the snack he brought ~ a baggie full of peanuts and cashews. :)
Having a difficult time trying to find something that begins with the letter K proved much easier when catching sight of the kindling for the fireplace.
Little Miss, of course, made the horses run and play in order to have a LOPING HORSE for something that begins with L, and a PRANCING HORSE for something that begins with P. ;) She took pride in the fact that the horses' stalls were something she could list for "clean".






Little Miss found it difficult to find something that changes, but finally ended up deciding on "trees".










The Little Boy thought the easiest thing to find was something that opens and closes because there was a gate right in front of him.
Little Miss chose something flat as the easiest thing for her to find and decided right away that the floor fit the description.







And yes...


...there really are ITTY BITTY PINE CONES! :P

Some of the children's answers surprised me, and after I pointed out a bunch of other items that fit the category, they were surprised that the obvious wasn't so obvious. ;) It was a fun activity in Suaemoc's continued celebration of reaching the 100th day of school hurdle.



Now...there's only 80 days to go! :)

One Hundred Inspiring Scriptures

Suaemoc's second 100th day project was for the children to identify 100 Scriptures that inspire them and to tell why they're inspired by those Scriptures. :)

This was a project the Little Boy and Little Miss worked on together to compile one group of 100 Scriptures and their thoughts on them. They enjoy Psalm 37:27 because it's reassuring that God gives us a chance to change, and Psalm 34:18 because God is close to us and wants to help us. Ephesians 6:1-3 is hanging on both their walls to remind them that God is happy when children obey their parents. ;) The children appreciate how much God loves us by providing his Son as a propitiatory sacrifice, as brought out in John 3:16, John 17:3, 1 John 4:9, 10, and Revelation 1:5. Knowing that God remembers all the good that we do (Hebrews 6:10) is a heartwarming and encouraging thought that inspires them to keep on enduring through difficulties they face, and the fact that God knows our limitations (Psalm 103:14) helps them remain motivated, as well.

Agreeably, the favorite Scripture of Suaemoc is Psalm 37:4. God wants to give us everything our heart desires! Can anything be more inspiring? ;)

First of Suaemoc's 100th Day Projects

Friday, January 22, 2010, is Suaemoc's 100th day of class. :)
We're celebrating this accomplishment all week!!

The first of our 100 days projects honored animals. Little Miss and the Little Boy worked together, cutting up magazines in search of 100 different animals to put together in a collage. Don't think this wasn't a learning experience! After they ran out of the more 'common' animals they could think of, their list of 100 different animals wasn't even halfway complete. ;) They had to research different species and go exploring through animal books to find 'new and exciting' animals to include. In doing so, they learned lots of fun facts about...well, at least 100 different animals! :)

Can you find all 100 of the animals in their collage?

1. Goldfish
2. Dove
3. Tiger
4. Elephant
5. Llama
6. Pig
7. Cow
8. Orca Whale
9. Penguin
10. Elephant Seal
11. Komodo Dragon
12. Humpback Whale
13. Wolf
14. Kangaroo
15. Scallop
16. Sea Otter
17. Giant Squid
18. Manatee
19. Sea Turtle
20. Seahorse
21. Walrus
22. Cookie Cutter Shark
23. Moray Eel
24. Hammerhead Shark
25. Flashlight Fish
26. Jellyfish
27. Ostrich
28. Iguana
29. Toucan
30. Bat
31. Chipmunk
32. Guppy Fish
33. Blue Jay
34. Garter Snake
35. Clown Fish
36. Scorpion
37. Worm
38. Cuttlefish
39. Flying Squirrel
40. Salamander
41. Gecko
42. Flying Fish
43. Fox
44. Possum
45. Chicken
46. Porcupine
47. Beetle
48. Koala
49. Cicada
50. Earwig
51. Cardinal
52. Butterfly
53. Ladybug
54. Caterpillar
55. Bee
56. Ant
57. Golden Retriever
58. Spider
59. Squirrel
60. Dolphin
61. Cat
62. Arctic Fox
63. Mongoose
64. Skunk
65. Anteater
66. Arabian Horse
67. Paint Horse
68. Hackney Horse
69. Warmblood Horse
70. Friesian Horse
71. Saddlebred Horse
72. Crocodile
73. Appaloosa
74. Gotland Pony
75. Angelfish
76. Mako Shark
77. Great White Shark
78. Manta Ray
79. Whale Shark
80. Marlin
81. Swordfish
82. Tuna Fish
83. Narwhal
84. Barracuda
85. Bluefish
86. Sperm Whale
87. Zebra Fish
88. Electric Ray
89. Guitar Fish
90. Hermit Crab
91. Starfish
92. Sea Snail
93. Mole Crab
94. Octopus
95. Puffer Fish
96. Owl
97. Frog
98. Goat
99. Chinchilla
100. Fly

Stay tuned for more 100th day celebrating! ;)

2010

Unbelievably, 2010 has arrived. Suaemoc has been in session almost 100 school days. Little Miss has the proven ability to begin a high school course, and the Little Boy is developing into quite a Big Boy, ready to tackle the fourth grade.
American School is looking to be the way to go for Little Miss's high school curriculum, although The American Academy offers a Horse Management elective. Horse Management is divided into units, each with several assignments and a quiz. There is also a midterm test, and a final. The units cover: Unit 1 - Introduction to the World of Horses Unit 2 - Safety, Equipment and Trailering Unit 3 - Overview of Equine Body Systems Unit 4 - Nutrition and Feeding Unit 5 - Routine Health Care Unit 6 - Conformation and Lameness Unit 7 - Health Problems and First Aid Unit 8 - Life Cycle, Breeding, and Genetics Unit 9 - Breeds of Horses. Knowing that she has such a passion for the equine, I feel this would be a fantastic elective to add to her high school curriculum. Whether she goes through American School for her diploma, or The American Academy, taking the Horse Management course would be beneficial for her. It is possible for her to just take that course through The American Academy while taking her other high school classes through American School. I suppose there's still time to make a decision on which course will be the most beneficial and appealing to her.
I am looking forward to being able to give the Little Boy more individualized attention for fourth grade. Since Little Miss will be responsible for doing the majority of her high schooling online, Suaemoc will be focused on the Little Boy. He has some definite interests that we'll be surrounding ourselves with. He loves weather, for example, and doing science experiments and projects. He is always asking to learn about different animals and has a genuine interest in doing so. He is inquisitive and enjoys doing things hands-on. It'll be good to shift the attention to things the Little Boy can work out his own way and become fully involved in. The jury is still out on whether we will continue with Spectrum for his curriculum. It would actually be nice to get away from a traditional textbook form of school with him and take a more "unschooling" approach. The Little Boy needs to have his creativity coaxed out of him more. When he tells stories, he's very imaginitive. That imagination needs to be captured and put into more clear thought-patterns, however, and we need to strengthen his ability to put it all down in writing.
Suaemoc looks forward to venturing onward in 2010. We're planning to have some fun for our 100th day, which we'll be sure to share. :) There will also be a Suaemoc 8th Grade Graduation for Little Miss, so stay tuned for those details. It's a big deal to become a high-schooler and she has worked very diligently in her elementary and middle school years. Graduating to high school will be an excellent opportunity to show her we recognize her academic accomplishments and we support her as the learning adventure continues. <3

Versus

The little boy has been curious about the differences between things that are similar. ;)
Here are a couple of the projects that he's done. :)