Stone Castles

We have been in the middle ages for history this year, and we are currently learning about the rise of stone castle building and knights and chivalry and feudalism and all. So, what to do but build a castle, right?!

Notice the outer and inner walls, outer shorter for archers to be able to shoot over it, inner taller for defense.

Notice the crenels and merlons and drawbridges (and the extra-wide windows because narrow slits were too difficult...)

And the rounded corners that are less easily destroyed than straight corners....

And can I mention how wonderful glue guns are?!!! Why do I never remember to bring mine out for crafts like this??! We finished up quickly, and then they could actually play with them right away!
Next is the painting process, so stay tuned.....

Recommended Games

We have recently been enjoying these:

• Math Dice Jr.
• Quirkle
• Blokus
• Perplexus

Just wanted to share what we have been enjoying. :)

J-Term

January is such a hard month to come back to after the holidays. It is long and cold and often snowy, so it's hard to get out much. So, I planned a J-term as an experiment for this year. Instead of jumping right back into what we have already been doing, we are going to take a break from some things and do some more "fun" stuff. What will we be studying?

Math (continue with Singapore and the flash card system I made for review of math facts, as well as Sprints on Thursdays)
Spelling (continue with All About Spelling and spelling bees on Thursdays)
Grammar (continue with First Language Lessons)
Piano (continue)

And what are we adding/changing?

History - take a break from Story of the World (after we finish the castles we have been working on this week) and do a short unit study on Felicity and Kirsten (American Girl).
Science - we finished up our Botany course a week ago, so instead of jumping in with a new curriculum in January, we are going to review chunks of it at a time and then have a written test and "field" test each week. I am considering this chemistry course for Feb.
Writing: I purchased a new writing book that my friend, a 2nd grade teacher, uses in her class - Steps to Writing Success (level 2). We will be working through it beginning in January, and I am getting excited about how it is laid out!
Music History (time permitting) - Use the books, The Story of the Orchestra and The Story of Music
Sewing - so far we have sewn several pillowcases and bags for church/co-op; now we need to work on our book covers and laundry bags

So, we'll see how much we actually accomplish, but at least I have tentative plans. :)