Friday, May 28, 2010

Is it enough for you?

16«Çünkü Tanrı dünyayı o kadar çok sevdi ki, biricik Oğlunu verdi. Öyle ki, O'na iman edenlerin hiçbiri mahvolmasın, ama hepsi sonsuz yaşama kavuşsun.

Project Fair with Other Home Schooled Children


Monday, May 24, 2010

Philadelphia visit to family & schoolday at Independence Hall w/ cruise by the Liberty Bell was Brilliant! Cheese steak sandwich from South Philly good too!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

According to the Placement Test for Saxon Math...

Our rising oldest places into Saxon Math 5/4 for the fall. I'm thrilled and look forward to more math adventures with the math program that the Daddy likes.  Until then, we continue working on division in MathUSee Delta and maybe a little Epsilon about fractions.  Very few howls of disdain were uttered by said student. Being the first born, he was generally pleased to please.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Are Molecules Attracted by Charges?

"Adventures with Atoms and Molecules, book 1" by Mebane and Rybolt is written with a down-to-earth perspective. I wonder if they knew that a home-school mom, with a healthy love of science and maybe even chemistry, would be using it to teach her kids about charged molecules.  The experiment went off without a hitch and my kids had very few hang-ups about writing the lab sheet (they haven't been doing this task as often as we are directed). We talked it through and even explained the whole thing later to the nuclear engineer dad at the dinner table. Yippee for my kids at chemistry today and for Paige at Elemental Science who put the whole package together!

(spelling mistakes when whole-heartedly completing a lab sheet in second grade are allowed and encouraged if one is actually answering the questions oneself with one's own words.)

Friday, May 14, 2010

Last Artistic Pursuits Project


Officially, we finished Millet from the last chapter of the Artistic Pursuits book.  The assignment asked for a diorama. I pictured a painful ocean box with lots of blue for water and fish and other squiggly things. But, another idea from the crowd suggested the back yard. We look out at it from our "classroom" and it is pretty easy to break down into pieces that each person could work on by themselves. G3 took on the storage shed and compost bin. G2 did the fence all by herself, except for the part about gluing it to the base which took some folding magic.  G1 was in charge of the non-scalped tree and the greenery behind the tree. The twins took on the garden plot and hostas that surround it.  I think they also had the job of the boat and trailor too.  All in all, each learned lessons about teamwork, 3 dimensional work and scale of each piece.  The tree stood up with a corndog stick behind it. You can see the white fence thermometer that I got for Christmas last year. And you can see the green trash cans that have part of our raised garden in them. Soon, I'll post pictures of the real garden all planted and growing.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I am grateful to the Higher Power and Intellegent Designer that He didn't listen to my plan about how my life should go. All I wanted was two hands full, but it was His plan that I should have three, and His plan is soo much more BRILLIANT than anything I could have EVER thought of in my wildest dreams! Plus, I get to teach them and demonstrate a life worth living.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

CHEMISTRY: WORK & ENERGY W/ A RUBBERBAND?

HANDS-ON                                                                              
READER

3G Landscaping

BEFORE                                                                      AFTER


Sunday, May 2, 2010

Pour Only the Gas, Not the Liquid

Weight of Air versus Carbon Dioxide


More chemistry with 2nd and 3rd graders via the Elemental Science directions. A yard stick, 2 paper bags, graduated cylinder with baking soda and vinegar, and, my are those heeleys on that boy's feet? Better yet, look how well the Daddy cleans the stove top. It's a good day!

AWANA and CBS End as Summer is right around the Corner

Last week AWANA ended and this week CBS meetings are ending. We will not see these people as much, but we are looking forward to a summer of swimming, reading, travel and friends (after all we are quite socialized). We will continue these activities in September, but for now, soccer on 4 nights a week and two games on Saturday is keeping us busy. The garden is also showing progress as we pick up our shopping list of native perennials at the Forest Preserve on Thursday and move in a cubic yard of drainage gravel up against the foundation of our house to improve drainage (mulch added atop as well).  The lessons continue as one child is moved into the guest room so that each have their own room.  My Gs grow and loose teeth (gain permanent teeth), and before you know it - they'll be graduated and off to college like our cousin later this month. Endings and beginnings...

P.S. and we pray for Gramma's shoulder to heal so we can see Great Britain WITH her.