Forces, Friction, and our Awesome Library

Well, I feel like school's in full swing now, but no history got done. I just don't know how to make time for it yet.

I'm starting to learn how to cope with things that were "freaking me out" at the beginning of the school year.

First of all, Abraham.  It's still hard, but I have learned how to nurse and teach at the same time, and just put learning on hold for the moment to focus on the littlest member of our school.  Having his bumbo chair in the middle of our school work helps his moods.

William likes to draw while his brothers write and he loves to be in the middle of the action, and hasn't been more exasperating than usual. Except when he empties ALL of the cereal.

I've decided that I have to condense my tutoring. I just don't have an extra eight hours a week for other children.  But I can't NOT teach them, so I'm teaching then all together=two hours instead of eight. Better than nothing.

And Hyrum got his cast off. He still can't walk properly or be in gymnastics, but things are progressing.

I have now done two weeks of science.  The first week was our introduction to physics. We learned about forces and gravity. We learned all about "push" and "pull" and as part of this, we had a tug-of-war.

I have more kids in my club than last year. We even have a couple girls this year. I don't think they've noticed they're the only girls.

This week we learned about friction. I was thinking that maybe next time around I'll teach inertia first. That makes more sense to me. The friction/lubrication lesson is always one of my favourites. We had kids pulling each other around the floor on sheets, and we skated on shaving cream to show what happens when you get rid of friction.

Last time around I did this inside, and it ruined the finish on my floor. This time I did it in the garage and some kids got bonked on the cement. Maybe next time I'll do it on the grass….

I haven't gotten much history done, which bugs me. I have had a lot of mental space still going towards this dumb political nonsense. We've also been actively trying to inform our community through things like flyers, and that's taken up a lot of time.

Blah….and it's not over yet.

Thank goodness my community ended up teaching my kids social studies this week. We went to an awesome story time. (Our library always has awesome story times.) The native Blood Tribe came and the elementary did some dances and the middle school preformed some songs. This was PERFECT for history this month. Serendipity is wonderful.

We've also had culture days here. Some of my friends put together an awesome Guatemala experience. Here's my nephew at one of the booths.

Also, the alternate school has started their co-op.  In addition to gymnastics, Crystal has been teaching the kids book making, and Heather Burton has been doing creative writing. The creative writing especially has filled a hole in my kids education. So grateful to be a part of this group.

Yes that is Hyrum with his tongue stuck out. Yep.