Monday, February 28, 2011

Futuristic horse art by g#3


  As we prepare to go skiing later this week, many items on the weekly planner checklist are being completed.  This one of my g's in the picture finished 2 grammar lessons from First Language Lessons level 3, so I asked him to complete the next lesson in Artistic Pursuits after Cubism and Picasso. There was an initial struggle with the rational realist that he is.  Then he moved into the surreal of the possibility that a horse structure could become evident in the aluminum foil and tape.  Although, as you can see, he still isn't quite sure. 

Mind boggling that someone who can create all kinds of planes and shapes with zillions of Legos, and can't imagine that a horse shape can be made in aluminum foil. I wonder if I'm creating a monster who may keep "borrowing" my box of foil every time my back is turned. 

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Science AND Art: Balance along with Calder mobiles



Yes, that is a hockey puck.

Physic notebooking along with blue artist pages for Mr. Calder
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Blessings

 Physics discussed balance, sound, light and gravity.











AWANA grand prix event took place with fun and friends. 

Ice skating for the first time with other home schooled kids.






Community Bible Study continues with the study of Peter for both kids and mom.
I get to read and soak up wisdom from "One Thousand Gifts" on http://www.incourage.me/2011/02/one-thousand-gifts-chapter-four.html.  History and art, math and spelling continue as normal. Even grammar is moving along at an acceptable, year-ending pace.  The snow is melted, all 36" of it and left "snirt" behind. Swim lessons end this week and we begin a new session next month.  Ocean habitat study is going well and we've moved onto discussion of seals and sea cows.  The kids enjoyed seeing "Fiddler on the Roof" with us last week in the CYT stage and again on video from the library this week. Plans for travel are discussed and visits from far away friends are explored. The Daddy gets to move to his new office this next week downtown on the whatever floor of a HIGH building. So much going on and a few pictures to pass along what we see.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Sleeping Bag School and Mega Glue

So, It's a bit cold in our neck of the woods. Yes, that's a colloquial phrase that means we received a great deal of snow and are enjoying some indoor time. While doing school this week, we bundled into our sleeping bags on the couch or recliner and did the best we could from there. We listened to "Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan about a Mexican girl who is forced to move to California during the United States Depression Era. My kids were riveted to the story which tied so closely into our study of the Boom/Bust years after The Great War.  We also finished listening to "Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis and look forward to "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" read by my all-time favorite British actor Derek Jacobi.

We were able to read about civil war in Spain and the rise of Franco to power.  At the same time, Hitler started "rebuilding" the "Fatherland." We listened to the "Corrie ten Boom Story" because I didn't get the movie, "Hiding Place" for the correct week. It was probably better to listen to the story rather than watch the movie. Maybe we can still get it from a nearby village library who has stricter rules than our own.  But, while 2 of my kids are barking like seals with a cold, it is better to let the healthy big brother help the Daddy and his snow blower clean out the driveway to the one lane street that is plowed.

Doing math and spelling, history and some art from our sleeping bags is ok, but it is necessary to get out of the sleeping bags and do the Henri Matisse collage work with lots of glue from the kitchen counter. We also worked through several sound science labs at the kitchen counter too. Then hopped back into the sleeping bags to write paragraphs (whether 3 or 5 sentences) about the assignments for the week.  We're planning our ocean boxes too from the sleeping bags while we answer questions about the whale chapter in our ocean habitat book.  My last G is reading about Ms. Frizzle's whale watch right now in order to drop that book back at the library.

No AWANA, French, piano lessons or extraordinary sound science with Crazy Roger's Physics Phun. And very little play time outdoors with below-zero wind chill.  But, we got extra time with the Daddy while he worked from home and prepped yet another Latin lesson with him for the next time. We practiced our individual languages and looked a little at the French materials. We read lots of Boxcar Children stories while we were warmly wrapped in our sleeping bags and contemplated how much glue it took to attach anything, because the size of the glue bottle is meant to inspire the size of the project.