Witches and Pirates but no Halloween

This week we had to say goodbye to the Leavitts. For the first time, we are living in a foreign country without family. We are going to miss the Leavitts so much, but especially Nate. We love you buddy!

But we are making new friends...like the ones we met yesterday when Dustin saved a wind surfer from dying....yeah. True story.

We found out Dustin was taking a dinky kayak out on very choppy waters to rescue a downing windsurfer during our pirate treasure hunt. Which brings us to....

SOCIAL STUDIES

We learned about pirates. Real pirates. I've changed what cycle I teach pirates in, and consequently I feel like we've talked about them twice as much as any other subject. Black beard, jolly Rodgers and a swashbuckling good time. We had a treasure hunt as our activity. Behold my cute pirates:

Hyrum really got into making a movie about it:

And since it was halloween (which doesn't actually happen in Vanuatu,) it was the perfect time to talk about the Salem witch trials. What a weird but important history lesson! We made ghosts as our activity. Daniel decided to hang his because that's how they killed the "witches."

As part of the Salem Witch learning, we are in the middle of reading "The Witch from Blackbird Pond." I loved that book when I was younger, but as I'm reading it to my kids, I'm realizing that it's vocabulary is a higher level than anything I've read to them before. Maybe that's a good thing. I don't know.

We also learned about King Philip's war for social studies. Sigh. I had forgotten it was between the pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. Sigh again. History isn't pretty, is it? It's nicer to think of how wonderful that first Thanksgiving was and not to think about King Philip's war fifty years later.

How could things have been different? How could the combining of two worlds happened peacefully, or should they have never come together at all: only on vacations. "Let's go on vacation the country of Cherokee. I'm tired of this English winter and how crowded it is here." Hummm. Weird to imagine.

SCIENCE

Umm-I still haven't started up a science club, but Daniel HAS started a bug collection. That counts, right? I WILL do a science club this week. I WILL!

MATH

Maxwell's-by the way, Maxwell ran out of videos, and I was so upset because that meant I hadn't uploaded all of them for this book. Maxwell was not sad at all. I called up Video Text, and they were so nice and helped me out. We are back in business! Much to Maxwell's dismay.

Hyrum's- we're still going over fractions:

Daniels

And Williams

I had to include William's because I just had to mention something interesting.  William really did do these problems. Handwriting Without Tears can take credit for his numbers. You can hardly tell his writing from mine. The 10= is William figuring out every way that you could get the sum ten. Isn't this great math? Isn't he clever?

But he couldn't get the words "before" and "after." He can count by odds and evens up and down. He can add quite well, but the words "before and after" are hard? That's a little insight into the dyslexic mind. We're woking at it, and we are almost there.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Maxwell's

Hyrum's- well, things went a bit better and we got through reviewing somethings he needed to, and let's see if we can finish lesson 9 this next week. That's my goal.

The Warrior Elements....Continued

"Okay, get on. I don't know how fast this will go, but which ever way you lean will turn you in that direction."

When Flame got on, he did not know what it would do. All he knew is that it would go really fast. Flame said "Are you ready Vipe?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, remember that what every you lean is the way you go, so lean down in back and that should take you up into the air."


Daniel's
The Adventures of Digital 3s....Continued

"Because ancient legend says you will save half of the water tribe, Jack will save a quarter, and Twister will save a quarter."

"How will we save you?" I asked.

"I kave zero clue. All I know is that will happen." said Droplet.

Twister said "Guys, can you help me with Jack. He still has wounds all over his body."

I said "Sorry, I totally forgot about you guys. How do you make a healing potion?" Then I suddenly remembered a great wizard who had taught me how to make potions. "Wait, I know how to make one."

"Oh, so that voice was right. You are becoming a warlock." said Twister.