And now it's time to try and figure out how to get costumes back to the right people and what to do with sets and props-
We also had our Gymnastics Finale! I have absolutely loved it that the Homeschool organization has been doing gymnastics this winter. At least we've had SOMETHING to get us moving and out of the house!
For science one week we learned about erosion, and how water, wind, and glaciers can all effect it. In the mist of it, we talked about how surface area effects how fast things get eroded, and how if something is broken up, there is more surface area. What better way to show this then with Rice Crispy treats? ;) We frosted the surface area of a cake pan full of treats, then cut it, then we had to frost more, then we cut that and had to frost more, etc. The boys of course loved this.
We also had not so yummy experiments, like seeing how fast water flowed through different soil (rocks, sand, clay.)
This week we talked about water and how it effects the earth. It was pretty low key since only two boys came (by the way, I would have girls in my class, but there are no girls! Well, hardly any. Homeschooled kids in my neighbourhood seem to all be boys, and that works out just fine for me.)
Anyway, for one of our experiments, we made rivers. We talked about how water takes the path of least resistance.
For geography, we learned about Israel. We made groggers as our activity. In my international craft book, they suggested a complex, time consuming grogger. I went online and found people making them out of legos....Legos please! We watched the veggie tale "Esther" while making grogger noise. Little did we know that it was ACTUALLY PURIM! Haha perfect timing.
We also studied Saudi Arabia. We made prayer mats as our activity. We made stamps out of potatoes to make geometric designs on our mats. It didn't end up as pretty as any Arabian mat, but the boys had fun, and that's the point....right?
We studied Iran and Iraq at the same time. That worked out just fine, and it was easier to distinguish the two. For the record, when I was teaching about the gulf war last year, I had a hard time finding any books on it. The book Iraq by Paul Mason gives a pretty good account of it.
For our activity, they decorated their names written in Arabic. As an art history buff, I am aware that muslims are forbidden to have art that could be an idol. This limits them to art made out of geometric design (sometimes with flora) and calligraphy.
And in other homeschool news, I had a quick "mom's retreat" the other day with some other moms (obviously.) As homeschool moms, these are very cleansing. You need breaks from your kids that you see 24 hrs a day! Seriously! and girly talk is always needed. This retreat was way too short.
I had planned on making my sight word cards there, but I talked too much to get very many done. These are a lot harder then it looks, but stories that make up a sight word really help my kids learn them.
"Who is that king with the throne and money?" "Where is the pirates treasure? By the palm trees." Yah, I got the idea to make the "w" palm trees with treasure from "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Remember that movie? (I'm not sure who I'm talking to when I ask questions on this blog, but I think my sister reads this at least---hi Danette!)
The library had an awesome Dr Seus birthday with cool seus trees make of pool noodles and tissue paper. They went all out.
So it was Leprechaun time again, and my boys got really into creating traps like always. They even made couches, beds, and swimming pools this year!
And I thought I would throw in this really cute photo of the boys:
So that's it! We are off for the next few weeks to the south. Utah, Arizona, Idaho- just not frozen (still) Alberta. I'll do some school while we're gone, but it will be low key.
Speaking of low key: I felt like I gained ten pounds last week. This pregnancy is in full force. I suddenly can't bend over, sit on the floor easily, or even walk fast. My energy is sapped. I think "low key" is the rule for the rest of the year. If I hardly get anymore geography done---blame the baby constantly kicking me.
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