Wordless Wednesday

In the Name of Science

All the kids had a great time with the Edible Cell

I've never been much of a science gal, most likely because of the boring way it was taught to me. Who wants to sit and read about all these scientific details that mean absolutely nothing to me? Yah, well, I didn't. But science is one of those subjects that homeschooling has brought fun into. I absolutely love teaching my kids science and I love learning along side of them.

We spent the first two weeks - 4 days really -- love the Apologia schedule -- learning about the history of anatomy and about the cell. Friday we had our first big project. There's another homeschooling family at our church that is doing the same curriculum this year so they joined us in making an Edible Cell. What better way to help the kids remember the parts of the cell than to have them build their own by sticking candies (organelles) into jello (cytoplasm)? I will forever remember that the mitochondria is bean shaped - as in jelly bean. Jelly Belly to be exact. We had skittles for lysosomes, fruit rollups for endoplasmic reticulum - some with nerds added as ribosomes, smarties were the golgi bodies, bits of licorice were centrioles and we finished it up with a big gumball as the nucleus. Will they (or I) remember every single thing we learned about each organelle and its function? Doubtful. But will they remember more than if they had just cracked open a (boring) textbook and mindlessly read about it? Absolutely. And most importantly, it's the hands-on learning that makes it an everyday part of our lives. Because I was right along side of them stuffing my cytoplasm with lysosomes and mitochondria, I'm now knowledgeable enough to have discussions with them about it. So next time they break open a box of nerds, maybe - just maybe - they'll think to themselves "I think I'll eat some endoplasmic reticulum today." And if not, I'll be able to remind them what they're eating without running to the book or a teacher's manual.

Adding the organelles

Liberty just wanted to pick out the candies I put in hers

so proud!

Looking good!

She stuffed hers full!

After they were finished, we flipped them out onto a plate and you could see all the different organelles floating in the cytoplasm. Awesome!

Catching up...

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to write anything so here's my attempt to catch up. I'm still on my journey to a healthier me. Since my initial weigh-in at the gym, I've lost 16 pounds and 4.1% body fat. More importantly, I've gone down two pant sizes and I know I'm getting healthy. Do I feel any different? Yes and no. I can tell my stamina, endurance and strength have increased. When I first started I could barely pedal backwards on the elliptical. Now I can easily do 15 minutes. As far as increased energy and feeling rested, nada. Supposedly exercise helps give you energy and not so run-down and exhausted feeling. Well, that hasn't happened here. I still sleep fine, but wake up exhausted. While I would love to not feel exhausted all the time, I'm not disappointed enough to give up. I know I'm healthier than I was 4 months ago, even if I can't feel it.


I'm still running. Crazy, I know. The 5K I had planned on running was unfortunately canceled. It's ok, I'll find another one. I'm still running 3 miles at a time, at a pace of about 13-15 minutes per mile. Just today I took the kids to a nearby paved trail and we ran/jogged/biked 3 miles together. Even with two kids on bikes, one running with me and pushing one in a stroller - and don't forget everyone's water bottle - we managed 3 miles in about 45 minutes. Not bad for a run in the hot Florida sun. I really enjoyed taking the kids and while I think it was a challenge for them, there was no complaining and everyone stayed together. They all seemed to enjoy it also. One of the best things about making these lifestyle changes is that my kids have noticed. I feel much better about the example I am setting for them by showing that healthy eating and exercising are both important. I want them to know that working out is not just something you do to lose weight, but something you do to stay healthy. 

Jacob's print fossil

In other news, homeschooling is going well. Most recently the boys are learning about fossils and rocks. Jacob was able to make a print fossil using clay and a seashell, which he then used to make a cast fossil. Joshua grew salt crystals and examined them with the magnifying glass and microscope.

In history we've reached the Age of the Crusades and the Diaspora. We still love The Story of the World and the activities that go along with it. Next, we'll be heading back to Asia for the invasion from Mongolia. I'm looking forward to making Chinese hanging lanterns and building a ger. That would be a Mongol home, similar to a teepee, that the nomads would pick up and take with them. 

Eating with chopsticks after reading about Asia

Next time I get a chance to blog, I'll share the excitement of our new hobby, geocaching. But for now, it's my bedtime.

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

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

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!!!

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.

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!

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.

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!

Wordless Wednesday

Rock Candy and a Seed

As part of our study of rocks and crystals, we are experimenting with making our own rock candy. Each child got their own jar, picked a color, and is making a string of candy. I sure hope it turns out!

We're also sprouting a bean seed in a jar with a wet paper towel.

Back to work!

Yesterday we started back to school after our Christmas break. I must say that I haven't encountered any of the attitude problems that typically prevail after any kind of break we have. There has been a little resistance here and there, but none of the stubbornness that is usual. Maybe my eldest child is maturing? One can hope.

We started back full swing in hopes of getting back into a regular school routine. The last few months have been difficult with me being sick and now that I'm feeling better, we need to make up for lost time. We're doubling up on history lessons for a few weeks in an attempt to finish up the first unit of our curriculum. I am anxious to get through it because the second unit begins our study on Ancient Egypt and I have so many fun, hands-on activities planned. I'm looking forward to it and I think the kids will really have fun.

Science is going well. We just started Day Three of creation and are learning about rocks and the rock cycle. We're going to grow rock candy and possibly some salt crystals. After that, we get to start studying about plants, sprouting a bean seed, growing a bean plant in a box showing how it will grow towards the light, and the typical "memorize the parts of a plant" stuff. It's so fun doing this with all the kids and seeing each of them gain something from it at their own level. The best part is seeing them excited about learning. They were thrilled tonight when I returned from the library with a bunch of books of the different types of rocks we talked about.

I discovered a fun new way to practice math facts. With Jacob, I use 3 dice. Each roll, he adds two dice and then multiplies the sum by the third die. He loves this game and it's great practice for his times tables. Joshua uses two dice and adds them together to practice his addition facts. Both boys are somewhat lacking in their math facts so I'm excited to have found something that they love doing.

Joshua and Leanna will both be starting new handwriting curriculum Handwriting Without Tears tomorrow. I'm hoping it lives up to its name. Leanna was excitedly looking through her new workbook today while Joshua was just glad we didn't have to start it today. But I think it will be a wonderful addition to our schedule and give them both the writing foundation that they need. I struggle with Joshua's writing ability and I'm hoping this will be the answer.

This week, Jacob started dictation. We started with a short poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was very impressed with how well he did and he was quick to point out that he only misspelled one word on "my very first time ever!"

Dictation is the method Charlotte Mason used to teach spelling and reinforce grammar and composition skills to her students. For a dictation exercise, give the child a copy of a selected passage and instruct the child to study the passage until he is sure of the spelling of all the words and knows of all the capitalization and punctuation. When the child is ready, dictate the passage one line or sentence at a time, saying each line or sentence only once and pausing while the child writes it. Be on the alert to catch any misspelling and correct it immediately. Start with short passages for younger children and progress to paragraphs and pages for older children. Charlotte started using dictation exercises with children around the third or fourth grades.

Jacob is in the next to last unit of his Pippi Longstocking grammer study. We're going to finish up reading the book this week and all three kids have asked about watching the movie. I'm excited about their enthusiasm. Jacob has done extremely well with the grammar study despite the fact that it may be above his grade level. I'm proud of the work that he's done on it. I do admit, I'll be glad when we're through. At that point, we're going to take things slower in grammar and focus on really solidifying parts of speech and sentence structure. In place of the study, he'll be working on a Florida scrapbook. So yes, I'm excited to get started with something new.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how well things are going. I will try and get some pictures put up of what we're working on very soon.

Wind and more wind!

In science we've been studying about air, air pressure, wind, and all the other things that go along with the atmosphere. We've learned how air effects everything around it, how powerful it can be, and most important, who controls the wind.

Luke 8:22-25 (King James Version)

²²Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go

over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

²³But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

²⁴And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

²⁵And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the

winds and water, and they obey him.

To be able to see the effects of the wind, we conducted an experiment with an origami boat. We placed the boat in a dish of water and blew "wind" to make the boat move. Light wind caused the boat to move back and forth slowly, but hard wind made our little boat capsize. The kids loved doing the experiment and had lots of fun blowing the boat back and forth.

color wheel and water play

We made a color wheel that shows that the color light actually contains all the colors.


Here's a video of Jacob demonstrating and me explaining how it works.

Joshua is learning about fractions and the relationship between parts of something to its whole. I used measuring cups and water to show him that (2) 1/2s equal 1 whole, (3) 1/3s equal 1 whole, and (4) 1/4s equal one whole. We had a lot of fun, only took about 10 mins, and he really grasped the concept.