I guess that is how this blog is. I feel like I haven't done enough, and then I come here and write all the things we've done, and I feel a bit better.
And with that, let's review our homeschool life these past two weeks:
For science, we had a lesson on metals. We talked about all the characteristics of metals and did experiments to exemplify those characteristics. We talked about luster, conductivity, solidness, malleable, elasticity, ductile and hardness, and here is a photo of me listing them as we explored each one, but you can't read it very well.
The next week we talked about Soluble vs insoluble. We made water/oil lava lamps as part of this which everyone loves:
We also brought out the nail polish and talked about how nail polish is not soluble to water, but it is to acetone and then we brought out the nail polish remover. Guys, during this lesson 8 years ago, I wrecked a table with nail polish remover. I was not going to do this again. I put on a table cloth.
Well, the kids got really carried away with the nail polish (I think most little boys have a secret hope of playing with nail polish and can fully feed that hope when their science teacher tells them to) and I didn't clean up right away, and there was a HOLE in the table cloth, and my table noticed. Whaaahhh.
For history, we finished off Ancient Greece by learning about Alexander the Great. Although Alexander didn't actually build Alexandria (by the way, did you realize that he had founded dozens of cities named Alexandria? This is my third time teaching this, and I only just realized it.) But anyway, although he didn't build Alexandria (in Egypt) he did make plans for it. So we ended up focusing on this very important city.
We made light houses as our activity.
Then we started Ancient Rome. So fun. Our first lesson we learned about Romulus and Remus. We read a cute children's book about them, and at the end, it just says that Remus went away to hunt some more, and I couldn't help myself, and I said "But then Romulus killed his brother just because he went over Rome's wall." My little cuties' chins dropped, and I realized that I had probably scarred them for life. Oh well. Nothing like a good history lesson to toughen you up.
We also talked about how Romans were not creative and just stole their culture from the Greeks and Etruscans. As our activity we made murals on my walls.
Do you see Jupiter up on a cloud with his lightning bolt? Love it.
We then learned about the greatest soap opera in history: the story of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and Augustus.
I don't know what's wrong with me, but I LOVE those kinds of stories. I want to know more. I also love learning about Henry VIII.
However, we didn't watch the movie. I watched it eight years ago, and it is NOT a kids movie.
We made catapults as our activity and vaulted marshmallows throughout the house. Of course that was a hit.
Next we talked about Pompeii. I should tell you that when I say "I scarred my little cuties," I'm not actually talking about my kids. I'm talking about the Hocksteins and Smiths that usually join us for our history lessons.
Let me give you an example of how sensitive these kids are: when I showed them Mulan when we did ancient China, they were absolutely terrified and put their hands over their ears and closed their eyes, and could not handle it. And that was even after I skipped the first part with the Huns, and before the Huns showed up again.
With that in mind, imagine me showing them reenactments of Pompeii being destroyed and people dying everywhere, and lava bombs falling on families. Yeah....not sure what possessed me to do that but....I did.
ANYWAY, they actually handled it quite well and then we had our own volcano that we erupted (courtesy of my mom.)
And as for other social studies, we celebrated the Chinese new year. This was epic. It was at Cayleen's and we had tons of Chinese food, and Cayleen had put together craft stations where they were making dragons and lanterns.
But the creme de la creme was when Cayleen brought out banana boxes and covered them with table clothes to create a Chinese dragon. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen, and I don't think the kids will ever forget it.
As for other news, we had a learning fair last Friday. Maxwell chose to do a booth on 3D printing, and he was incredibly excited about it. He made a couple snails with his 3D pen and then designed a 3D snail on the computer which he printed. Then had people vote on which one they liked best. He also wrote his own essays to go along with the posters.
By the way, did I ever mention that Maxwell fixed our dishwasher by 3D printing a part that he had to design? Well, he did!
Hyrum did one about how to memorize math. It's interesting, because even though I have to drag him through the dregs of math, he knows he's ahead of his grade in math, so it gives him tons of confidence. Just goes to show that you need to work on everything, not just focusing on correcting their weaknesses.
William did a booth on "other countries," which was basically me just going through our photos library and printing off a ton of photos for him. He loved showing everyone the frogs from Vanuatu.
And Daniel of course chose "Growing Food." How did I get a child who loves to garden? Sometimes that apple falls very far from the tree.
He wrote definitions and explanations under all those photos and titles.
Another cool thing that happened is that my homeschooled niece got her mission call!!! She's going to Ukraine, which is where our ancestry comes from. Out of the entire family, her parents (and their kids) are the only ones who have ever cared about doing their genealogy, so it was incredibly special for her to be called there.
Also Heather Burton (who might actually read this...hello!) put on an amazing night of teaching about vision boards. It was very inspirational. I love good friends and mentors!
And last but not least, Abraham and William have gotten half way through the "Pre Reading" level in All About Reading in just one month. Which is really good, because I feel really behind in teaching William.
He has needed this, and I don't regret starting with the pre-reading level. When they ask "Say berry. Now say it without the first sound." They CAN NOT do this. They don't get that they are supposed to say "airy." Soooo typical of dyslexia. I can't help but think of how Barton teaches this and wonder if I'm doing the right thing by not doing Barton.
They are LOVING AAR. Which I could never say about Barton, so what the heck. I'll continue. Besides, I didn't start Maxwell with Barton until he was half way through with grade 3, and William's still in grade 1, so I still have time to experiment.
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