Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Summing Up Term3

This is the last week of our human body unit. We've covered the eye, ear, heart and tongue. This week we had anticipated taking a week off but decided to do one more week-the digestive system.
As with everything we learn they incorporate LEGO. The apple is....an apple. The red flame is...chyme that is moving into the small intestines. The brown stick is....well I think you can guess what that is.
Today, we turned to music for our language arts class. I love how 'into' the filming A was.

Next week we start our Greek Gods and Goddesses unit as per A's request.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Splashin' Around

I was preparing to write the start of this post about how we've been just keeping our heads above water around here. I was going to explain how A is feeling much better but M fell ill with the flu this weekend. I was going to mention that E's mouth apparatus is driving him to distraction. It probably would have come up that February always feels like the longest month because I just want Spring to get here already.
 
But then I went online to get a picture to represent 'keeping our heads above water' and I found all of these great pictures.
 
This lady is keeping her head above water....in high heels...hasn't even dropped her purse and she's accessorized!!
And then there's all these pictures. They make 'keeping your head above water' look like something they do on purpose.
By the time I got done looking at pictures....I didn't want to whine on the blog anymore.

After we arrived at Cubs tonight I told E that he could go find his friends if he wanted to.
And he was off....like a shot...I think he said something like, "Thank goodness, Bye!"
But this guy is still my buddy.
There was an enormous crowd there for the potluck dinner.
This is an extraordinary group of people. We are so lucky to be involved with this.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Still Learning

We had a great time at co-op today. A is learning a lot in his weather class. And E is stretching his mind in his Rube Goldberg class.
 
Then the boys and I did an experiment. We weighed four pieces of gum. And then asked ourselves:
Would it weigh more or less after we chewed it?
The boys guessed it would weigh more....because it would have our saliva in it.
Then we chewed it. Well.....A and I chewed it.
E isn't allowed to chew gum with his mouth apparatus in. He was not impressed.
 Then when we weighed it again. And this time it was....lighter!!
What?? Surprised?
The reason why is at the bottom of this post.

Our new washer and dryer arrived today and M needed to level them.
What better way to get the job done....than with a headlight.
Your saliva dissolves the sugar in the gum. It weighs less without the sugar.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Vr-r-rooom

The boys were hard at work this evening.
 The Cub Car Rally is coming up soon and they have plans.

Riddle

The boys did a fun quiz at Grnny's house last night. I felt their answers needed to be shared.
 
If you were stranded on a deserted island what book would you take, what food and what person?
 
E-I would take "How to Survive in the Wild" and I would take manna for food and Grandad.
A-I would take my baby book and I would take brown beans andDad.
 
If you could have one superpower what would you want to have?
 
E-To be invisible.
A- To fly

Monday, February 18, 2013

Persuading

A-Persuasive

Today I’m going to tell you why homeschooling is more fun than school.

The first thing is you don’t have to take the bus to school and you don’t have to get ready. You don’t have to pack a backpack and you’re in your home and comfortable. Also, there’s less school to do so much more free time. And if you have a pet you can bring it to school and just go to the cupboard and grab a snack.

Also, you aren’t afraid to ask a question or make friends. Speaking of friends you make lots of friends in activities. Oh yah about activities you get to do lots of fun things in co-op and activities you do with your friends. And your mom or dad have to get the books that sometimes you pick out!

You get lots of days off like Granny day. Granny day is when you go to Granny’s and do lots of fun things and sometimes go to the museum. And people…..we’re socialized!!!

So now you know why homeschooling is better than school.


E- Persuasive

I’m going to tell you why guinea pigs are the best pet.

Guinea pigs are low maintenance. Cages are pretty cheap if you know where to buy it. You should go to RONA to buy a cement mixing container for 13 dollars. Man that’s a good deal. You only have to clean their cage once a week. And it’s not like you have to walk them every day.

Guinea pigs are very cute. They come in all different colors. They like it if they are not alone as in one. They are very cuddly and my guinea pig loves burrowing in the blankets. So if you like animals that are cute and cuddly and you don’t mind a little shedding you should buy a guinea pig.

You don’t have to walk them. You don’t have to hold their poop in a bag. And you don’t have to pick up hair balls. ICKY!

All these reasons are why Guinea pigs are the best pet.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

I Choose

 

Instead of being upset that M has a concussion....I choose to be relieved the injury was not worse.
 
Instead of getting worried about him not being able to work....I choose to be comforted that his work supports him.
 
Instead of being distressed that A is sick with the flu....I choose to be content that he will recover and is a good patient.
 
Instead of feeling exasperated that our washing machine is broken...I choose to be grateful that we are able to replace it....(the sick kid laundry can't wait but the laundromat is open on Sunday)
 

Friday, February 15, 2013

End of Week

 This picture warms my heart. I snapped it at our co-op on Thursday.
It's nice that the kids have the opportunity to spend parts of their day with kids of other ages.
And I think it's good for them too!
 I found this on-line, ........
"because of the mixed age group, the younger children benefit from the positive models of older children, often aspiring to their levels of capability. At the same time, the older children rise to the expectations of the younger children and teacher, being very responsible and having opportunities to lend and use their expertise."
I didn't have the opportunity to read this in its entirety but what I saw looked intriguing.

Today at Sword Class the instructor let the kids try on a reproduction of 14th century armour.
How cool is this?!
 
And here's A....looking fierce.
 
I had promised to make some playdough this week...talk about leaving it until the last minute!
I wonder how old they will be when they are too old for playdough?
Let's hope it's not soon.....now that I've perfected my playdough recipe.
 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Yum

We had a successful trip to a new grocery store today that claims to offer the 'best in Asian fresh'.
We picked out some new cheese crackers to try.
The boys grabbed some sushi for lunch. (They were introduced to sushi by GrndmDrdre and they've loved it ever since.)
And A could not walk away from these mushrooms.
I've never cooked enokitake before but he assures me, after looking it up with Grnny on-line, he can take care of it.
We're also going to take a much closer look at them under our micrscope tomorrow.
I was also able to find a couple of new meat substitute soy products that I'm excited to try.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

TickTock

This guy makes 37 look pretty appealing.
A family friend gave us a new board game some time ago but this is the first time we've tried it, it's called Cashflow. It was fun!
We didn't have time to finish a full game though when we stopped M was in the lead.

The kids have been well trained to look-freeze-smile when my camera comes out.
It's pretty funny how they'll stop mid-activity and assume the picture position.

But I noticed lately that E has been making a bit of a strange face when he looks at the camera.
So I asked him about it. He says that he wants to make sure people can see the part of his mouth appliance that goes across his bottom teeth.
So that explains it.


Can You Hear That?

Here's the 3 of us off to Cubs/Beavers.
Yes that's right....the three of us.
I may now always go by my official scouting name....Bubbles.
We are studying the ear this week. This was our experiment this a.m.
How do you get the rice on the saran wrap to move without touching it? See answer below.
We also played the listening game called "What's That Sound?"
I played 20 little short sound clips and they had to identify what the sounds were.
M found a great website with all kinds of sounds.
Too fun.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Blech and Yea!

I've been grumpy this weekend so I haven't posted. Nothing really significant...just a lot of little things. And rather than delve deeply into my complaints I shall list them all quickly and get them out of the way once and for all.
Theabsisstilloninthevan,thedvdkeepsmakingthisloudbuzzingnoiseandthewindshieldwiperstoppedworkingasdidtheturningsignal(thelasttwoarefixednow). Mwasawayforthreeweeks! Wehad2feetofsnowIhadtoshovel. Ehadhisbracesputon. AishavingacavityfilledonTuesday. InsteadoflosingweightasIwastryingtoIappeartohavegained1.5pounds.Mhasaconcussion.Thehandlebrokeoffthedishwasher.Thewashingmachinewon'tdoaspincycle.Thedryertimerdoesn'twork.Theweatherstrippingiscomingoffthefrontdoor.
And that is all I have to say about that.

On the other hand
 
M is making us dinner and........my kids rock.
 





Nana introduced this book to the boys. She had the boys make jars and they have been throwing extra change in there.

Today A emptied his jar into a bag and took it to church.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Un oeil

We have been studying the eye this week and I wanted to give the kids a concrete demonstration.
My fellow on-line homeschoolers turned me towards a great experiment.
I had set it up to use an arrow as what our eye was seeing. Naturally, they wanted to use a mini-fig.
The experiment worked and the kids really enjoyed it.
All day long the kids ask me questions about their mini-figs.
Does 'A' look better than 'B'? Does 'C' look better with sword 'E'?
Do you think mini-fig troll 'D' would beat mini-fig dwarf 'F'?
And they are seriously serious about these questions.
 

Update Dec2020

My Guy A My Guy E School Rooms at Home Deck the Halls It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas