An Egyptian Experiment

The shaduf consists of an upright frame on which is suspended a long pole or branch, at a distance of about one-fifth of its length from one end. At the long end of this pole hangs a bucket, skin bag, or bitumen-coated reed basket, while the short end carries a weight (clay, stone, or similar) which serves as the counterpoise of a lever. When correctly balanced, the counterweight will support a half-filled bucket, so some effort is used to pull an empty bucket down to the water, but only the same effort is needed to lift a full bucket.

With an almost effortless swinging and lifting motion, the waterproof vessel is used to scoop up and carry water from one body of water (typically, a river or pond) to another. At the end of each movement, the water is emptied out into runnels that convey the water along irrigation ditches in the required direction.

We decided to build our shaduf out of k'nex using the design for making a lever. It worked really well except for swiveling from left to right. But it gave the kids a good idea of how the Egyptians got water from the Nile River to irrigate their crops. Jacob wasn't interested in helping at first, but once we get the water out, he joined in.

Tying the "bucket" onto the shaduf

Seeing how it works. You can see Jacob is getting interested.

Scooping up the water

Scooping more water. Jacob decided it was pretty cool after all.

Cookie Time!

I decided to make peanut butter cookies today. Normally, I make all my cookies from scratch, but I had a mix I was given that needed to be used. Leanna helped roll and press them. Yummy!

Rolling out the balls

Pressing the cookies with the fork

She took her job very serious

Beautiful cookies

Yummy!!

March Update

Time for an update on our schooling adventures! We've been pretty busy these past few weeks, making up for the time we lost last fall. The plan now is to finish a few subjects before Baby #4 makes her appearance and continue a few subjects into the summer.

Joshua is doing very well with reading. I keep reminding myself, it doesn't matter how many workbook pages he gets done, the goal of phonics is for him to read. His phonics curriculum is one thing we'll be continuing through the summer in order to finish. He hasn't yet developed a love for reading, probably due to the struggles that he has with it. But we keep trudging along and I know he'll get it.

Jacob is tackling the parts of speech in grammar. He can identify nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. He's having fun incorporating some of these new words into his creative writing. I always love to read the things he comes up with.

Leanna can read the phonics alphabet chart without any help now - which means she knows all the letter sounds and clue words. We've worked a tiny bit on blending letters, but she doesn't seem completely ready.

Math is going very well for both boys. We'll definitely finish up by June. Joshua is telling time to the minute and Jacob is having fun drawing shapes on coordinate planes. Leanna is practicing counting and adding.

Science and history continue to be the favorite subjects. We are into animals now in science and are learning the characteristics of each classification. The kids are adding things to their Creation notebooks all the time. This week we learned about fish and next week we're onto birds. We'll finish up with a trip to the zoo to see all the different animals we learned about!

We're almost done with Tirzah for history. The kids are enjoying the story and so am I. Our next project is to make an shaduf (pronounced shay-doof), which the Egyptians used to get water from the Nile River to their crops. I also have a few other things planned, I just need to find the energy!

Jacob is also studying Florida history and putting together a State scrapbook. I'm hoping to end the study with a trip to the http://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/index.html which has several exhibits on Florida history as well as history of our specific area.

All in all, we've had a great time the last few weeks. We've gotten a lot accomplished and the kids are really enjoying learning. There have been a few rough days, but many more days that remind me why I love homeschooling.

Fish Collages for their Creation notebook

Slow Cooker Tuscan Bean Soup

1 lb small red potatoes, cut into fourths (about 3 cups)

4 medium carrots, sliced (2 cups)

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans (15 to 16 oz each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed

3 1/2 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)

2 cups diced fully cooked ham

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1. In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except parsley and oil.

2. Cover: cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.

3. Stir in parsley and oil before serving.

Taken from

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-tuscan-bean-soup/acd7d081-0eea-4a42-8209-93d81aa1be49

This was a very easy, great recipe. Everyone loved it.

My Budding Artists

For science this week, each of the kids drew the life cycle of a frog for their Creation notebooks. They had a sample to look at and I think all of them did a fantastic job!

Jacob

Joshua

Leanna

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

from Recipezaar.com

http://www.recipezaar.com/Chocolate-Zucchini-Bread-220

1½ hours | 25 min prep

SERVES 10 , 2 loaves

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups zucchini, peeled, shredded (about 1 medium)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla.
2. Stir in zucchini.
3. Combine dry ingredients; add to zucchini mixture and mix well.
4. Pour into two greased 8x4x3-inch loaf pans.
5. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until bread tests done. Makes 2 loaves.

I substituted 1/2 cup applesauce for 1/2 cup of the vegetable oil.

Wordless Wednesday

Jacob's favorite Olympic Sport (if you click the picture, it will enlarge so you can read it)

Science Fair Winner

Jacob participated in the Homeschool Science Fair at MOSI today. His project was to make a battery out of nickels and pennies and experiment with the different number of coins. His hypothesis was that the more coins he used, the higher the voltage the battery would produce.

He had to mix vinegar and salt to make an electrolyte solution that would enable the electrolytes to pass through. He did 3 stacks - 4 of each coin, 8 of each, and 12 of each. And he was correct, the stack with 24 total coins produced the highest voltage. He used daddy's multimeter to measure the voltage. And just for fun, Papa gave us a small low voltage LED light to experiment with and see if we could get it to light up.

We ran two trials, well a few more really, but only two that we reported, and the data was different. Jacob learned, with some help from one of daddy's co-workers, that the difference in voltage readings could be due to the current not flowing exactly the same since the coins are not completely flat. If they don't make a good connection, the voltage won't be as high.

For the fair today, Jacob built another coin battery (we couldn't save the old one because the electrolyte solution dries and it stops working) to show the judges and have on display. I helped him get everything set up and made sure he had the multimeter and the LED light working. Then parents have to leave. The kids are left to face the judges completely alone. They are questioned by 3 judges, are expected to be able to explain their project and answer any questions. I took the two others and we went to waste an hour or so playing at the museum.

After the judging was over, I reclaimed Jacob and we headed for a quick lunch break. That was when he broke the news that the multimeter's batteries died. Great, I thought, there went his chance of winning. He told me one judge got to see it working, then they found some batteries to let him use to show the other two judges. Whew, crisis avoided and I felt much better. He said that he was able to show the judges the voltage, the LED light, and explain about why his experiment had different data for the two trials.

On to the awards! There were not as many participants this year, probably less than half of what there was last year. There were five in his age group, ages 6 to 9 years. Out of those five kids, Jacob won first place!!! He was so proud of himself and we were both proud of him!! He decided all the hard work and effort was worth it.

Jacob mixing the salt for the electrolyte solution.

Wetting the paper towel pieces that go in between the coins

Helping Daddy measure the voltage

Yea, it lights up!

The finished project - Money Power

At the fair setting up

Testing to make sure it's working

The winners for ages 6 - 9 years

First Place!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Reading to your kids

Our current list of read-alouds:

Tirzah
Mummies & Pyramids (Magic Tree House Research Guide)
Space: A Nonfiction Companion to Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House Research Guide) - starting this one today
The Tale of Despereaux- yes, we're still working our way through this one
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - I'll count this one even though it's daddy's book with the kids, which I consider above and beyond "school".


And on the shelf ready to be started within the next week or so are:

Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House, No. 3)
Hour of the Olympics (Magic Tree House #16)
How to Make a Mummy Talk

Why so much reading, you ask? And why all at the same time? This is the part of our homeschool that has been shaped by the Charlotte Mason method.

For example, Charlotte’s students used living books rather than dry textbooks. Living books are usually written in story form by one author who has a passion for the subject. A living book makes the subject “come alive.”

Tirzah is an example of a living book we're using for Ancient Egypt. The author tells the story of Tirzah, an Israelite girl, living under the rule of the Pharaoh. They are waiting for Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. Although we just started, the kids are excited about listening to what happens next. And because of their knowledge of Bible stories, they already know what will happen when the last plague hits Egypt and the Israelites are finally allowed to leave.

Although some may not, I consider many of the Magic Tree House books to be good living books for us. Yes, they may not be the highest quality literature, but they captivate my children and we have learned so much from them. I have found books that cover both history and science topics, as shown in the lists above.

Now to my confession. I never really enjoyed reading to my kids when they were tiny. Yes, we're all told how important it is to read every day to your baby. But really, how boring is The Cat in the Hat when you've read it 100 times already to the same child who really couldn't care less? My love of reading to my kids started to develop over the past year and a half to two years. What could be more exciting than having your kids hanging on to every word of Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, or The Tale of Despereaux? And hang they do, waiting for what will happen next. Even Leanna, at 4 years old, follows along, listening intently. Now, do they sit quietly in one spot, never moving, doing nothing but listening? Heck no, not in this house! We typically pile on my bed for our read-alouds and Jacob will usually snuggle beside me. The other two are either on the bed or the floor, sometimes coloring, sometimes playing quietly with toys, but listening all the same. Then comes one of my favorite parts, narration.

A key component of Charlotte Mason’s method is narration. In simple terms, narration is telling back in your own words what you just read or heard. It’s a wonderful evaluation tool that requires much thinking and assimilating on the student’s part.

Jacob is developing wonderful narration skills and can repeat, almost word for word sometimes, what he has just heard. Joshua participates a little, mostly with lots of prompts from me asking what happened. And Leanna will try and answer a question or two. But I know they are listening, even if they can't remember every detail. We also do drawing/coloring narration. All three kids are great at coloring what they have just listened to.

My other favorite part is listening to Jacob read, especially when he has asked for a turn. One of our main goals for our children's educations has been to instill a love for reading. I think we've done a fairly decent job with Jacob. He literally devours books that are above his age level and reads any time he can get a chance. Hearing him read from the Bible, our read-aloud, or even from his favorite comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, makes my heart swell with pride. Joshua's reading skills are coming along and I hope that it will be soon that he can join in on reading aloud to the family.

My only complaint about our read-alouds? Not having enough time. I struggle with fitting it in and some days we don't get to read at all. Those other things, like math and language arts, seem to get in the way. I had a lofty goal of reading for an hour or two every single day. Of course, that hasn't happened, which is why it's taking us months and months to get through one book. But the kids remember. They only need small reminders of what happened when we last read and we are back to the adventure in the book.

With all that said, I think it's time to grab our space research guide, snuggle up in bed, and launch a rocket into space to see what we can learn about the solar system.

Starting our Journery to Ancient Egypt

We started our study of Ancient Egypt by creating a salt dough map of Egypt. It's amazing what you can learn from salt, flour, and a pizza box!


The kids measured and mixed the ingredients, then patted it out into the shape of the country. They each took a turn painting some of the water and the land. We labeled the different parts and talked about why they were important. We learned why Upper Egypt is actually south of Lower Egypt. It's higher in elevation, which is also why the Nile River flows north. We learned that the Nile River is the world's longest river and that the Sahara Desert is the world's largest desert. We talked about why the terrain is grassy along the coasts, but desert and dry where there is no water.





The best part is that they remembered everything we talked about and shared it with daddy at dinner. We also started reading Mummies & Pyramids (Magic Tree House Research Guide). Today we're planning on making a reed boat, using straws for reeds, to show the type of boat the Egyptians used on the Nile River. Check back for more pictures!

Nature study: Trees

Today we spent some time outside looking at the oak tree in our front yard. The kids each drew a picture of it and picked a leaf to go in their Creation notebooks. Jacob did a "Tree Detective" worksheet, noting the trunk texture, leaf shape, type of nut/seed of the tree, etc. It was very windy and the kids had to weight their papers down with rocks!

A Story

Wordless Wednesday: Picking out flowers

Scientific progress

Just an update on our experiments. Our bean seed has sprouted nicely. Tomorrow the kids will draw one more picture showing the progress. Then we're going to plant it in some soil.

You can see how the bean part opened up at the top now and leaves are emerging.

The carnation drinking the yellow water has turned a dull, yellowish color.

And the carnation drinking the red water has at least one flower that has turned a pretty pinkish hue.

I'm not completely sure about the rock candy. The water level is going down some, showing evaporation is happening, but the string doesn't seem to have any crystals on it yet. We'll keep waiting.

And this is why we switched

This is Joshua's writing on regular notebook paper.

And this is his writing on the Handwriting Without Tears paper.

I am so glad that we made this switch. The paper alone is a much better fit for him, but also he's relearning how to form all the letters and numbers.

Making Progress

Our flowers are slowly beginning to slightly turn colors. If you look very closely, you can see a bit of green in the first and red in the second. If you click the pictures, they will show up larger.

Our bean has also sprouted! It has a tiny root coming out the bottom and a stem coming out the top. Very exciting!