India and History Plans for next semester

We didn't do science last week because I was in Arizona.  I feel like I've missed a lot of science.  Well, we already did science for this week, so stay tuned for that post.

We learned about Ancient India in history this week.  Maxwell loves the "Just So" stories by Kipling.  We learned about Hindu gods just a bit and studied how they often have many arms to show their many powers, and so we made silhouettes of ourselves with many arms.

Then we moved ahead about a thousand years in time and learned about the Taj Mahal and how it's decorated with mosaics.  We made mosaics of our own.  Warning! do not smash ceramic plates to make mosaic tiles.  That was not the brightest idea on my part.  Sharp shards everywhere....not good.

For field trip we cut down our Christmas tree! With homemade apple-raspberry cider, chile and a fire, it was a grand time.

And Maxwell sneakily chopped down his own tree.

Okay, now for my record of what we are doing for history next semester.  The Four Year Plan spent way too long on the etruscans and Russia for my liking (her son went on a mission to Russia and there was an Etruscan exhibit when she made the book) so I did a major over haul, and I'm still a couple activities short.

January-Ancient Greece

life-size maze (myths)
Paint gold on black pots
Olympics
Paint Coins (philosophers)
Puppet Theatre
Make miniature lighthouse (Alexander)
Library treasure hunt

February-Ancient Rome

Bullas (Etruscan)
Marbling (Myths)
murals
Portrait busts (forum)
arch/volcano (pompeii)
Marshmallow catapults and togas (Caesar)
make aqueducts from tap to bath (Cleopatra)
Make sheep (Jesus's life)....We're doing new testament next year, but I felt I needed to show the historical context of when Christ was born.
IDEAS WANTED (early christian suffering/lions in colosseum/gladiators/Nero)

March-Medieval Europe

Make shields with crosses (Constantine)
Holiday fun (Pagans)
Make swords (Huns/Visigoths)
Castles made with marshmallows and ice cream cones (Camelot)
make a round table?---not sure about this activity
Coat of Arms (Charlemagne)
Medieval banner (Ottoman)
Make fancy boats (Vikings)
Crowns and Princess cones (Crusades)

April-Medieaval Europe Continued

Stained glass (cathedrals)
Ukrainian Easter eggs
Robin Hood hats and bows and arrows
Ring around the roses,  make paper posies and burn them (black death, London fire)
Illuminations with gold leaf (pilgrimages)
IDEAS WANTED (Joan of Arc)

May-Renissance

Make printing press out of abc stamps (Gutenberg)
IDEAS WANTED (Martin Luther)
Paper Airplanes (Leonardo Da Vinci)
IDEAS WANTED (Henry VIII)
Make ruffled collars (Elizabeth I)
Maypole (Shakespeare)
Make puppets for our puppet theatre (Shakespeare cont.)
Paint on bottom of table (Michelangelo)
Carve statues (Bernini)
Be in dark with flashlight and charcoal with pre-made outlines of objects (Rembrandt and Vermeer)

If anyone out there is reading this, I would love help with the IDEAS WANTED gaps.

Molecules, Math Olympics, and Africa

Last week we were back to normal since my sister's family left.

We had fun in science.  We learned about how molecules are atoms put together.  We had gummy bears be different kinds of atoms and toothpicks stick them together to make molecules.

We also talked about the difference between physical change and chemical change.  We ripped paper (physical) and burnt it (chemical) and a few more examples.  We also talked about the difference between mixtures and compounds. We made cake batter (mixture) and baked it (compound.)

We also got iron fillings and put it in sand and then sulphur. It was easy to see that it wasn't a compound because you can separate the elements using a magnet.

We then took sand and sulphur and melted them together making iron sulphide (a compound)....it really worked! but the process had stinky moments.  I had to go begging the high school chemistry teacher for the iron and sulphur.  I went into his supply room and began to covet all the science goodies.  I asked him if normal people could buy this sort of thing and he said "of course not, are you crazy!"

I had really wanted to show how you could separate a water molecule with electrolysis, but the experiment fail miserably....yet again something I will get a kit for next time around.


For history we switched gears and learned about ancient Africa.  No particular event, city, or public figure, just ancient african culture as a whole.  We read lots of books like "a story a story" and "why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears" and talked about oral bards.  We made little finger puppets and masks to help tell oral bard stories.

The kids had lots of fun with the puppet supplies....

This week, the homeschool section of the school district put on a "math olympics."  I was quite impressed with the amount of stations and how well they were catering to families.  There is a lady here that really is the back bone to all these type of events everyone lovingly calls "Granny Wendy."  She was one of the first people in Cardston to homeschool, and she's amazing.

Maxwell is actually liking math and lately has asked for extra worksheets to do, which he does in his "office" with his abacus.  What ever house we have moved to, Maxwell always seems to find a cosy place to call his office.  It's usually behind a sofa.  I sure love him.

Arabian Nights

Before we learned about Persia and Arabia, we learned about the second Babylon and learned about Daniel and Nebakanezer. Most history books just clump the new Babylon with the old, but I decided to study Mesopotamia-Egypt-Israel-Babylon-Persia because that's the order of the Old Testament, and it makes the most sense to me.

We made our own Ishtar Gate to study Babylon.  All that was missing was the hanging gardens!

Has anyone out there actually read the Arabian Night stories?  One word....WACKED!!!  Especially Ali Babba and Sinbad, but even though they're warped, I must admit I still find them intriguing.  I find it amazing that woman, even slave woman, were often the heros.  However, I can totally see why Esther was so scared for her life if she was brought up hearing stories like these!

We wore tubans (I actually watched a youtube video on how to tie a turban,) made pita bread that actually puffed up like it should, and made genie lamps out of tin foil, but instead of oil in the lamps we just put a candle.  Maxwell loves the Arabian Night stories....humm time to return them to the library.

For science we learned about atoms again.  I think I'll start with atoms next time I teach chemistry because that makes more sense to me.  We made a marble atom model and a gumdrop atom model, and made an atom model where the nucleus was a brick and we made a chalk line 15 ft from the centre to show how atoms are mostly space.  I think some of it sunk in.  Using candy helps.

This week we went to the monthly poem recitation that my incredible friend Eve does.  Maxwell loves to perform.

My niece, Briana, has really inspired the household to make books.  There have been many books made this week.  Briana made one for Hyrum that he has me read him every night called "Super Hyrum."

I found that the "bed" way of learning "b" and "d" wasn't being that effective at this point in the game, and I went back to this theory that my friend Nicholeen taught me.  The truck either runs into the Back of the Bear or the Dog's nose.  This has seemed to work better for Maxwell.

And even though we had our track and field day a month or so ago, I thought I would include this video that my amazing sister-in-law made of the event.

Israel and Atoms

We continued learning about ancient Israel with King David.  We made sling shots of course.  These were a hit, especially since the 5 smooth stones were marshmallows! They were made from wire hangers, rubber bands, and leather from a purse I bought at our second had store. They worked really well.

That was it for history...yah, I'm a slacker, but when you have guests....well, slacking is allowed.

Science was good, I think.  We talked about atoms.  We talked about how they are too small to see, so we poked objects in play dough and tried to guess what was inside, and talked about how this was kind of like how scientists find out about atoms.

We also talked what makes up an atom and we reviewed + and - charges.  We had balloons pick up pieces of confetti and had balloons repel each other.  Kids always love it when you bring out balloons!

Maxwell is doing really well with his reading program.  It is going at a pace that he's really comfortable with.  He is starting to make headways, and it's exciting to watch.

This week, we are studying the "b" and "d" words, and my sister has this great way of reminding kids which is which.  I made a poster for Maxwell to remember her concept (Maxwell helped me colour the bed on the computer):

Do you get it?  if you put your hands in fists with your thumbs up, then you make a bed, and so your left hand is a "b" and your right had is a "d" so you just have to look at your fists to remember which is a "b" or "d."  It seems to be working so far.