Spring Break

Ah, Spring Break. The week I stay home and hit the books hard, while everyone else and their dog is out crowding up all the fun places. Go to Thanksgiving Point with 2 zillion other people? No thanks, we'll wait until you're all back in public school so we can have the place to ourselves. 

I did get is some really awesome, solid school days over Spring Break. It felt good. Here's one of our art projects. A waterfront scene, done with construction paper and watercolors. The idea was to notice how the buildings would reflect upon the water, so that water is the color of the buildings. Pretty cool. Even Adelia joined in and did really well. 

Lincoln's

Ivan's

Adelia's

Adelia has been really interested in bugs for awhile now. Almost every night when I'm tucking her in, she tells me how when she gets up in the morning she's going to study about bugs for her school work. Sometimes I feel like she gets the shaft when it comes to school, because I spend a lot of time with the boys, and they pick a lot of our subject matter, and Del just sort of tags along. So during Spring break, I decided we'd do a little bit of studying about bugs, because I knew Adelia would like it. 

One thing we talked about was Monarch Butterflies and how the migrate thousands of miles every year, from Canada and North America to forest in Mexico, and aback again. We made butterfly sun-catchers to hang in the window. And watched a Wild Kratts episode on Monarchs. Del was in heaven. :) She's been asking for bug books for bedtime story each night. 

Lincoln has been learning about the Scientific Method at Harmony, and needed to conduct a simple chemical experiment over Spring Break that he could apply the Scientific Method to.

He chose to mix lemon juice and baking soda (which creates carbon dioxide, and replaces oxygen) to put out a candle in cup. He found, and conducted the experiment all by himself, all I did was light the candle and take pictures. :)


We have a Showcase coming up on Plants. For his project, Ivan wants to show how plants roots know how to grow down into the dirt. The answer is gravity. We are trying to sprout 4 different bean seeds, each facing a different direction. We think the beans will sprout and that no matter which way they are turned the roots will go down to the bottom of the container. I'm hoping we get far enough along in the experiment by Showcase time, but I think we may have started a little late. We'll see. But here's the set up:

We're keeping our fingers crossed that they sprout. :) My other kids still haven't come up with what they are going to do for their projects. Hopefully we think of something...we're kind of running out of time to get anything to grow in time.

Lest you think I'm a slave driver, you should know that we also went up to Hooper to play with Gramma Tam for part of Spring Break. And, Aaron had Friday off, and so we decided to make a wall around our front flower beds. We only got one side done. And we still need to put in the drip line and buy plants for that side, but it looks AWESOME! I'm so excited to get it all finished so that our front yard doesn't look quite so redneck.

Homeschool Showcase: Wax Museum

The Wax Museum is my favorite Showcase that we do each year. I love seeing what the kids come up with and the different ways they choose to present. It's fun.

This year, Lincoln, Ivan and Adelia decided to go as Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea. (They may or may not have been highly encouraged by me to do something that went together, so we only had to squeeze in the time to learn about 1 subject matter and make 1 poster, instead of 3. It just makes life that much easier to have them doing the same thing right now, judge if you must.)

 The kids and I read these two books from my new favorite series, in preparation for the Wax Museum. We also listened to a Jim Weiss CD titled "Gone West" which talks about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We also read a few different picture books that we found at the library.

I think the kids' favorite part was coming up with costumes. I admit I ordered Adelia's off of Amazon. But every needs a Native American costume in their collection, right? I'm sure we'll get our money's worth out of it. To go with her costume, Del wanted to wear her sparkly pink boots...very authentic, I'm sure. She was also delighted that Aaron came up with a way to use an infinity scarf as a carrier for Rapunzel, so that Rapunzel could be Pompy and ride on Adelia's back. Lincoln and Ivan both found hats in the dress-up box that they liked. Lincoln decided to wear his church vest with it, and Ivan opted for some suspenders fashioned from a pirate belt. And we drew on some sideburns using an eyeliner pencil. So cute, all of them!

Lincoln was Lewis, and wanted to focus on the journals that were kept along the way. His speaking part:

"My name is Meriwether Lewis. I was a secretary to Thomas Jefferson when he made the Louisiana Purchase. President Jefferson sent me and my friend William Clark to explore the new land, look for a water way across it, and claim Oregon Territory for the United States.  On our journey we found many plants and animals and things we’d never seen before. The groundhog is one example. We kept detailed notebooks of our trip that included many drawings."

Ivan was Clark, and he wanted to tell about meeting Grizzly Bears. His part:

"My name is William Clark. My friend Lewis invited me to be a co-captain on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the new land bought in the Louisiana Purchase. On our way we found many plants and animals. Once of the most dangerous animals we came across were Grizzly Bears. Once when we were hunting we saw a Grizzly Bear and we tried to kill it while it was asleep, but the first round of shots didn’t work. The bear came after us, and it was angry! We reloaded and fired some more shots. This time we killed the bear, and used it’s meat for food."

Obviously, Adelia was Sacagawea. She wanted her part to be short, and to talk about carrying her baby on her back. :) Her part:

"My name is Sacagawea. I was as a guide for Lewis and Clark. I carried my baby on my back all the way across the country and back again."

Here are all the kids who participated in Showcase. I loved the creativity that went into the costumes and presentations. Everyone did so well. Wax Museum is my favorite.

Native American Cultures: Southwest and Mesoamerican Region: Sand Drawing

I was using food coloring, and cornmeal, so of course I was expecting a gigantic mess. But my history class surprised me by doing really well with our art project today and keeping disaster to a non-existent minimum.

We learned about the Native Americans of the Southwest and Mesoamerican region today. The kids were great listeners today, and we covered the necessary educational material really quickly and glued some things into our notebooks. I try to do a little chart about each region, so the kids can see how the regions were similar and how they were different. I also try to find a few famous people from each region and talk about what they were famous for. And I like to put in a picture of how the tribes in each region dressed. Mostly I'm attempting to teach the kids that not all Native American's hunted buffalo and lived in tee-pees.

Our project this week was really fun. Medicine Men in the region used sand drawings to try and get bad spirits to go away. They did their drawings on the floors of homes, but we did ours on paper. :) I gave each kid a smallish  card stock rectangle and had them lightly draw a picture of something in pencil. Then, using paint brushes, the would brush glue onto a small section of their picture. Next they sprinkled colored cornmeal over the top, and then shake it off again. The cornmeal would stick to the glued spots, but not to the dry spots. They could brush glue on another spot and use a different color of cornmeal, creating fun sand drawings.

Native America Cultures: Southeast Region: Booger Masks

This week for history we study the culture of the Southeastern Native Americans. We talked about the different tribes that lived in the Southeast, their houses, clothing, food, beliefs and games. We learned about a Cherokee man named Sequoyah who made a Cherokee alphabet. And we looked at the influences Europeans had on the tribes when they came to the continent.

For our activity we made Booger Masks. These masks were worn before a hunt to inspire a successful hunting trip.

Biography Box: Neil Armstrong

All week long Lincoln has been working on this research project called a Biography Box. I think it turned out really cool.

First off though, I need to put two thumbs way up for the "Who Was" book series put out by Scholastic. The have a book on just about any famous person you can think of. The writing is well done, age-appropriate, and interesting. And it's got lot of pictures. These are great chapter books for kids who prefer to read about "real" things/people versus fictitious ones. They've been a huge hit at my house, a great addition to our library.

So Linc has been reading these biographies. Since one of our educational goals with Lincoln is to work on being able to summarize what he's read in writing, I got on Pinterest looking for a fun way for him to do a biography report and I found a template for this awesome Biography Box. I was in a hurry, so I just bought the template, but it would be so easy to make it yourself.

Basically it's a medium box glued on one side into a larger box. On each flap are different facts you learned (ex. 3 obstacles your person had to overcome, what they are famous for, 3 character traits, 3 fun facts, 3 objects that remind you of this person, etc.), or a picture of your person. Fold all the flaps up, and make a lid big enough to slide down over them, this will hold your box together, until you take the lid off to look at the facts. Pretty easy, but so much cooler than a report.

Lincoln's favorite part was doing the pictures. But he also said to me, "Wow Mom, I used to think Neil Armstrong was just a boring old guy, but now that I've read the book I know he did tons of cool stuff." So, I think the project was a hit.

Native American Cultures: Northeastern Woodlands

This semester my friend Wynter and I are teaming up again to teach History and Science. She's doing Space and I am doing Native American Cultures. I'm using the book Explore Native American Cultures! as a guide and for ideas for activities.

The first week, I did an introduction to what Native Americans are, where they came from, and the different regions that they lived in. We made a salt dough map of the United States, and painted each region of different color, and labeled them. In the subsequent weeks, we'll take turns studying each region individually.

The second week that it was my turn to teach, we learned about the Northeastern Woodland region. Since we only meet for History twice a month, it's not possible to do all the activities with the class. But because I think this is an interesting topic, I've expanded it a bit and am doing extra things at home with just my kids to go along with what we learn in History class. The last two weeks I've been reading Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare for family read aloud time. The boys are really liking it. We should finish up in the next day or two.

I think it's beneficial for them to see the vocabulary words we've been learning about for class being used in a story, and vice-versa. I made a crossword puzzle out of all the vocab words in the Northeastern Woodlands chapter, and told the kids if they did the reading and completed the crossword puzzle before class, that I would give them a treat. I assigned Lincoln and Ivan to pair up and work together. And it was fun to hear them say things like, "Our word is moccasin, oh! like the ones Attean's grandfather make for Matt in the story." Connections are being made, and that makes me feel like the work has been worthwhile.

Another day the boys made longhouses as a project. They decided that gluing straw all along the sides was a lot of work, and they weren't super interested in completing it. But they were very excited to tell their friends everything they knew about longhouses when it came up in class. :)

I actually really enjoyed the prep work for class this week. I felt like I learned a lot of cool things on an interesting topic. I knew the kids wouldn't be overly thrilled about writing down everything I wanted to share with them, so I made the a little printable to cut out and glue into their notebooks. And then we talked about the culture and customs of the Northeastern Woodland tribes, and then I told them about some of the well-known Native American people from that region. Turns out Wynter is a descendant of Pocahontas. Cool!

After the lesson we made Hiawatha Belts. The five shapes on the belt represent the five tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, the tree in the middle is the tribe whose land was in the middle and where all the tribes came together and buried their war weapons and agreed to be peaceful to one another.

Next up, Southeast region.

I Hate Ketchup

I am very behind on blogging. So I'm just going to try and catch up real quick, and move through events faster than I would normally. 

Science Fair

Our homeschool group did an awesome Science Fair. Each kid, or family, got to bring Science experiments that they'd been working on and present them to our group. Lincoln did a Naked Egg experiment, where he soaked an egg in a glass of vinegar for a few days. The vinegar is acidic and eats away the calcium in the shell of the egg, leaving only the membrane of the egg. You can shine a flashlight through the egg and see the yolk. 

Ivan learned about potential and kinetic energy by doing a ball experiment. He tied a ball onto a broom handle, Then held the ball up next to his face, and let it go. The ball swung, but didn't hit his face when it came back because it can't get more energy than what it started with.

Both boys did a great job. And so did all the other kids. There were some really great experiments. We enjoyed learning about them.


Family Together Time

The other Sunday night, we decided to make gingerbread cookies together as a family. There were six of us in the kitchen. It was kind of overwhelming, actually. I had to try really hard to be patient, and to remember that the point of the activity was to have some positive family bonding time and to make fun memories. I think I did a pretty good job, but I was very glad when it was time to put everyone to bed. It's not that I don't love family activities, but six people in the kitchen is a lot. And so is the mess six people make in the kitchen. Whew. But I survived. And the cookies were good. :)

Bunk Bed

We finally got Adelia and Oliver's bunk bed all painted and put up in Del's room. We still need a mattress for Ollie, so he's not sleeping in there yet. But he's not one bit intimidated by it. He climbs right up, and then gets down all by himself by jumping over the side and dropping to the floor. What a kid.

Library Cards

Our library only lets you check out 50 books at a time. I was finding that I was reaching my max just about every single time we went to check out. So, we decided it would be a good time to get the boys their own library cards. They were thrilled. I think we packed home the whole library! But I'm ok with it, because they also spent the afternoon reading. :)

Lincoln's Art Show

Lincoln has been taking and drawing/painting class at the Scera Center for the Arts this year. We recently got to go and see his first art show. He did two pieces. His drawing is called "Falling From the Sky" and his painting is called "Circles".

Shelves in Adelia's Closet

A little while ago, we bought Lincoln and Ivan a new dresser, and moved their old dresser into Adelia's room for her and Ollie to share. We tried putting both their clothes in it, but there just wasn't enough space. And there wasn't enough space in the bedroom to put another dresser. Solution: Aaron built shelves in Adelia's closet for Adelia to put her clothes on, and Ollie gets the dresser. It's working nicely. I don't have pictures of the shelves yet, but I did get a picture of this cute little helper. He likes to hand Daddy the tools. I can't believe that he's not going to be my baby anymore. I mean, he'll always be my baby, but not my youngest baby. How does that even happen?

Big Pumpkin: Writing Summaries and Art Project

Today we got down to business and started our focus on summarizing stories. I found a really cool method online called Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then. Which teaches the basic five things you want to look for when you are summarizing a story. I also wanted the kick-off into summarizing to be fun, we made an art project to go along with it. :)

We started off by reading a Halloween book, Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. It's one of my favorites, and it's also super easy to summarize.

After we read the story, I wrote the word "Somebody" up on the white board, and told the kids that when you summarize, the first thing you want to look for is the main character. Who is this story about? That's our "Somebody". So is this case, "Somebody" is the witch.

The next thing I wrote on the board was "Wanted". The "Somebody always wants something.He/she has a goal. What was it? In this story the witch wants to make pumpkin pie.

After that come "But". This is the problem in the story. What is stopping the main character from reaching their goal? What is stopping the witch from making pumpkin pie? In our story the "But" is...The witch wanted to make pumpkin pie "But" the pumpkin was stuck on the vine.

Then we get to "So". We already know the problem, "So" what is the main character going to do about it? How is he/she going to try and solve or resolve the problem? In Big Pumplin it looks like this, "So" the witches friends come over and they all work together to pull the pumpkin off the vine.

Lastly in the "Then" after the problem is solved, then what happens, or what do the characters learn? In our story it's simple, "Then" the witch makes pumpkin pie.

Altogether is looked like this on our board:

The next step is putting it all together into 2 or 3 sentences. I had my boys write theirs on a piece of paper with a pumpkin shape on it.

Lincoln's

Ivan's

Then for fun, we made covers for our writing summaries, using tissue paper and Mod Podge. When everything was dry we cut them out and stapled them to the front of the summaries. Then we hung them up on our closet door to display until Halloween.

I plan on using this outline every day with pictures books, until the kids (Lincoln mainly) get the hang of it, and then we'll work up to a little bit harder books, and then harder, and so on. We probably won't do a fun art project every time though. But I plan on this being our writing curriculum for the next little while.