The little girl's favorite part of the Saturday visit to the Museum of Science and Industry was the IMAX show about sea monsters of the Mesozoic Inland sea of North America - or how film makers and archeologists believe it to have been. My favorite part of the visit was the exhibit on Star Wars, and I'm not even that fond of the movies. I enjoyed watching the children and Daddy explore the science behind the scenes. We got to see other things too like the gears in the Green stairway and the heart display on the top floor. The kids begged to spend the food time near the ball which "rolled" down the slopes of the Alps. It was also fun to see the Farm Tech display and watch the Daddy race to clean and set the milker on the fake cow's udder! Yep, I deleted the picture to protect the innocent though.
We're looking forward to Thanksgiving and seeing family in Iowa. I'm curious if my kids are growing old enough to not kill each other in the back seat during the 8 hour drive... to be continued - I hope
Monday, November 19, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Another Good Week
Well, what a week. I admitted that a trip to the doctor was in order and I even told them exactly what I wanted and where to send the prescription. If only I could raise such decisive children. Hmmm, maybe I have. The kids enjoyed the nature hike in a prairie today. An original prairie, we were told with ant hills and a variety of native grasses. There were non-native species as well and the children did a brilliant job paying respectful attention even though it was a bit brisk for the two hour hike. We saw a wooly bear caterpillar, a horsetail rush, goldenrod wasp gall, mink scat, grassy burrows, a vernal pond and played hide and seek in the tall grass (which nearly scared #1 out of his shoes). All the while today, our life science journals expanded with entries and sketches of each prairie item we encountered.
Treasure Island is catching on and the drawings these three drew of Long John Silver were priceless. We may finish the audio book tomorrow, but we'll never eat fish and chips the same way again. Each visit on Friday night dinners out must always include the durge, "fifteen years on a dead man's ship, ho ho ho and a bottle of rum." HA!
Spanish vocabulary is expanding as well as English reading skills, so we may start #1 soon on his Latin curriculum. It's an eight hour drive to Thanksgiving Dinner, so that'd be as good a time as any. Van gogh's Starry Night is done quite differently by each of my three artists, but still equally as fascinating. Addition is very important these days, because these three can do it outside while climbing the crabapple tree :- ) Geography study was enhanced as we discussed the story "Make Way for Ducklings" and identified some physical features of the Boston area (from satellite images and simple maps) as well as habits of ducks to molt etc. Finally, we may soon get a handle on the order of books in the OT and #1 may recite the Apostle's Creed by the end of the year (because he's a bright one he is - the pirate accent is difficult to translate in writing). ;- )
Treasure Island is catching on and the drawings these three drew of Long John Silver were priceless. We may finish the audio book tomorrow, but we'll never eat fish and chips the same way again. Each visit on Friday night dinners out must always include the durge, "fifteen years on a dead man's ship, ho ho ho and a bottle of rum." HA!
Spanish vocabulary is expanding as well as English reading skills, so we may start #1 soon on his Latin curriculum. It's an eight hour drive to Thanksgiving Dinner, so that'd be as good a time as any. Van gogh's Starry Night is done quite differently by each of my three artists, but still equally as fascinating. Addition is very important these days, because these three can do it outside while climbing the crabapple tree :- ) Geography study was enhanced as we discussed the story "Make Way for Ducklings" and identified some physical features of the Boston area (from satellite images and simple maps) as well as habits of ducks to molt etc. Finally, we may soon get a handle on the order of books in the OT and #1 may recite the Apostle's Creed by the end of the year (because he's a bright one he is - the pirate accent is difficult to translate in writing). ;- )
Monday, November 12, 2007
Johnson County Trip a Success!
We traveled on a half empty flight to MCI and found our friends to pick us up. I was enchanted by the little ones on this trip who I hadn't the opportunity to visit with on previous trips. We played with old friends. We visited the kindergarten teachers and had recess with the classmates who are now in first grade. I enjoyed BBQ and PK's pizza. Some school was entow with math, geography, and copywork of verses, but the hit of the week was the introduction to AWANA with our friends. We traveled back to ORD on a little more full plane. We may not be able to fly again until January because of holiday full loads, so we'll enjoy our earthbound expeditions until then.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Truly all three
Well, it's done. The first day of h-s all three children is complete. They studied the books of the BIBLE and the oldest is reviewing the Apostle's Creed. I'm trying to catch up on how far his math skills are and he is responsively patient. Reading, math and the difference between dolphins and sharks were covered. Finally, we listened to chapters 3-7 of Treasure Island while coloring Van Gogh's "Starry Night" outline from Enchanted Learning. Now it's time to pack - for we attempt to fly tomorrow :- )