Music On Monday

First off, Happy New Year!  I have been battling this cold.  I have kidney disease so I can't really take anything to make the symptoms better.  So, I just suffer from a cough which can be exhausting.  I am feeling much better now, though.  One of the things I absolutely love about homeschooling is the flexibility it affords me.  I have decided to take this week off as well since I didn't actually get anything accomplished.  I will just cut days from our spring break if I feel we need those days back.

Caitlin got a keyboard for Christmas a couple of years ago, and while she has played around with it I really would like her to learn something from it.  She now has an interest in a Ukelele, but right now that is not in the budget.  So, I will encourage learning the piano.  She also can sing quite well and I hope to get her to practice some singing lessons.  We love Youtube, use it all the time for all kinds of great resources.  Below, is a beginner lesson in learning to play the piano.  There are more in the series and you can just follow down the list.

DJ loves playing guitar and singing.  He is the leader of the Youth Praise Band.  I am hoping to foster her love of music a little more too.

Frontier House PBS Series

While looking for some more fun ways to learn about the West, I came upon a PBS series called Frontier House. It is on Youtube, and I believe there is more than one season. We watched episode one, so far, and I was surprised at how realistic it was. It takes modern families and puts them in a Pioneer setting. Caitlin, and I both have enjoyed it so far. Check it out if you are studying the West, or Pioneers.

Caves and The Great Plains Planet Earth

DJ has finished his lessons on biomes. I was surprised caves were not included as a biome. Caves have their own ecosystem, and structure of life. The two videos below are portions of the award winning Planet Earth series. You can view the whole hour episode for each on Youtube. I tivoed these before Christmas, and DJ will be watching them today. As beautiful as the caves episode was, I couldn't watch it all. Too many bugs and icky critters for me. The Great Plains was very good and I enjoyed it very much.

Lesson Plans For 01/24/11:

DJ:
Art: Google Doodle contest entry
Writing: Fishy Monday: Moon Wrasse
Planet Earth videos
Math: Saxon 54
Spelling: Chapter 14, write each word three times each

Caitlin:
Planet Earth
Sight words game
Math: Addition
Art: Google doodle contest entry
Rabbit care
Clock work, calendar work, skip counting

The Sproutwells Are Coming To Your Neighborhood

Watch this short, cute video on the Sproutwells, and then we can chat about them.



So what did you think? They were kind of cute, and funny. Just a typical fruit, and vegetable family trying to make it in the human world sproutwells Cute concept, cute characters, kind of snotty kids which is typical for modern cartoon characters.

What vegetable, or fruit would you be? I said a tomato, and my 8 yr old laughed, and said that would suit you. I said why, and he said because they are always red, which means they are hot heads. Very funny I said. A tomato would suit me though. I am short, plump, and just a teensy weensy bit red, sometimes.

You will notice, in the clip, the neighbor who is obviously not used to having different people in her neighborhood, and the typical pre set notions that come with that. I will be interested to see, where the writers, go with the story line. It was a very short clip, with the neighbor, leaving obviously not liking her new neighbors. There is one other clip available, on youtube, just go to youtube, and type in Sproutwells, to view it, then share it with all your friends and family, and this clip too. Let them all pick what vegetable they would be, and why. It could be a fun game.