MFW Weekly ideas

OK...these are not my ideas. I got them from another blog, A Homeschooling Grandma. But they are some good ones.

• Week 1 - Watch The Vikings Who Don't Do Anything, just for fun. Buy a poster with the pldege so he will learn it quicker. Let him listen to Red Skelton's explanation of our pledge (There are many versions via video on Youtube). Geo-caching would be fun for mapping. Watch the Columbus video from Nest Entertainment.
• Week 3 - Spend some time singing songs about the Name of Jesus, like "There's Something about the Name" and "Praise the Name of Jesus." (We love music!) I purchased ($3) the Focus on the Family radio theatre "The Legend of Squanto."
• Weeks 4-5 - Spend more times in the stars. I love H.A Rey's books. Yes, he did write more books than Curious George. I have his, The Stars. It is an old hard-backed discarded library book. I bought his paperback version of Find the Constellations at the Planetarium. I recommend them. The way he connects the starts to make the constellations makes a lot more sense than the elaborate pictures that they overlay on the stars in most books. I bought this at the planetarium. We will probably not make the planetarium this year as we went last year, but I am planning on inviting a star gazer, creationist speaker with an 11 inch telescope to visit our support group, either week 4 or 5. We may or may not watch Disney's Pocohontas since it took so many liberties. We will sing songs about Jesus being the Light of the World, This Little Light of Mine and many more. I have found that the Names of Jesus give you a lot of material for Christian music. Also, I got the free CD from American Vison.org called, "America: The Untold Story." I think this will be too old for 2nd grade, but I may find some exerpts. Williams Bradford, Nest Video. I'd like to visit the Cherokee Heritage Center and maybe the world's largest totem pole or possibly Gilcrease Museum. We could also visit a local candle manufacturer for a "light" field trip.
• Weeks 6-7 I will explain about Ellis Island and tell of our ancestor that came to America. I will explain what the bread is in the Lord's Supper. We will make homemade bread and possible go to a bakery field trip.
• Weeks 8-9 We will sing "Rock of Ages," I Go to the Rock," "Praise the Name of Jesus," "The Cornerstone," and any other "rock" songs. We will re-visit the story of the Wise and foolish man. We will get out our rock collection and try to add to it. I want to take a trip to a local rock museum and we will also fly a kite (no key!). The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is a favorite of mine, but we will discuss the discrepancies in it. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington and Paul Revere Nest videos. We will also be electing a US President so we will read, "Woodrow for President."
• Weeks 10-11 Songs about thirsting and living water - "As the Deer," The Nutcracker will probably begin about this time, but it is not cheap. We may go see it, or may just get the video from the library. Will schedule a field trip to a pumpkin patch in the next few weeks. Save a gourd on a vine for use on weeks 20-21.
• Week 12 Birds, Birds, Birds! We are big bird watchers. We may go down to the lake and look for Eagles that nest in the winter here. Song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow." I know a man that has a garage full of canaries and also a man that trains homing pidgeons. We will read about Maria Tallchief, Indian primadona ballerina (Nutcracker/ballet) who lived not too far from me. Might travel to her home.
• Week 13 Thanksgiving, pumpkins, pilgrims, food!
• Week s14-15 Songs about Jesus being the Way the Truth and the Life (Looking for Masterlife songs, anyone?) Birds again, see week 12 activities. Wk 15, I will do some things on the Erie Canal, sing the song and I am trying to find the old movie about a girl and her father who lived and worked on the canal.
• Weeks 16-17 I think this Immanuel week will fall after Christmas for us, but we will sing the songs anyway. I would like to find a weather school going on or a field trip to a local weather station or find a storm watcher that will give us a talk. This would also be a good time for a trip out of state, maybe to Daniel Boones stomping ground, Mammoth cave and Casey Jones for next week (TN)
• Weeks 18-19 Sing songs about the Lamb, "Behold the Lamb." See trip above. Watch SGT. York old movie. Sing some cotton-pickin' songs like Cotton Eyed Joe or Negro Spirituals. January is a bad time to visit a ranch, there is no sheep shearing going on. We'll have to do that later, probably April. Ahh! Johnny Appleseed. There's not apple trees blooming or bearing and we can't even plant one, but The Value of Love, the Story of Johnny Appleseed, one of the ValueTale series is a favorite of ours. We might even wear a pan on our head for the week - not! There is a lot of Lewis & Clark stuff on the net because of the recent anniversary. I did get a Jim Weiss CD called, American Tall Tales, with Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Pecos Bill on it.
• Weeks 20-21 Sing songs about the vine. I can only think of one and it was also a Masterlife song. I wish someone would help me find where I can get hold of the Masterlife scripture songs. We will definately sing "The Battle of New Orleans." It is a fun song. I will buy a poster with the national anthem words. We'll watch the Swan Lake ballet and dance around with it. Not a good month to plant anything.
• Weeks 22-23 Human Body studies. Still looking for my old favorite book about this. We will watch the movie, "The Miracle Worker." Ranger Bruce at the yahoo group, SequoiaMinistry has some interesting kid friendly stories from an old, out-of-print book about the Poney Express. We'll watch the Nest video, Helen Keller.
• Weeks 24-25 Songs about King Jesus. We will probably watch "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Good time to watch Little House on the Prairie or find the video series cheap. I wish the circus was in March.
• Weeks 26-27 The song, "Lord, Make me Like You," comes to mind.
• Weeks 28-29 "The Lord is My Shepherd, I walk with him Always," song comes to mind as well as "The 90 and 9." and "Savior, Like a Shepherd led us." Abraham Lincoln, he could not tell a lie! I have a ValueTales book about Abraham Lincoln, called Respect. There is also a Nest Video about Lincoln. Appalachian Music and the movie "Christy."(WV), Field trip to the Little House on the Prairie in Kansas.
• Weeks 30-31 Another MasterLife song, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." Waaah, I wish I still had my book. Trains will get a lot of our attention this week.
• Weeks 32-33 Songs about the Word, "Thy Word," "The B-i-b-l-e." The Pledge to the Bible. We'll probably do another volcano experiment, it's always a kick. It might be a good time for another extended trip out West - Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore. Week 33 is our homestate. Plenty to do here. The re-enactments of the Land Run take place in April. The movie, "Far and Away" has the most fantastic scenes of the Land Run and is about Irish immigrants, but it is not a children's movie. I will skip through it and explain the times, the poverty, the American Dream, the Sooners and watch the Land Run at the end. We will extend the Oklahoma study into the summer with field trips to see the outdoor musical, "Oklahoma!," Pawnee Bill's Wild West show in Pawnee, Frontier City in OKC, Cherokee Stip Museum in Perry, National Cowboy & Western Hall of Fame in OKC, Fort Gibson, Woolarc, Will Rogers Museum, Frankoma, Harn Homestead 1998er Museum, Rose Hill One Room Schoolhouse and more. The Wright Brothers and Edison videos from Nest will be watched also.
• Week 34 We can't make an igloo in May, but maybe with sugar cubes. We will discuss the Idititod, Sled dogs, watch, "Iron Will" and "Snow Dogs" and maybe "8 below." We will listen to a CD of "The Call of the Wild." We have been to Hawaii, so the pictures will come out. Maybe we will learn the hula. I'll be there is a video at the library to teach you.