A Classic Science Experiment

Most of us at one point or another have done the old vinegar and baking soda volcano experiment. And when I say most of us, I mean most of you, because this was actually the first time that I've ever done it. Strange, I know...what can I say?
Anyway, I totally intended for the girls to do it last week, but for this reason or that, we never got around to it. I usually wait for Friday's to do fun projects like this but I figured that if we were actually going to ever get to it we'd better just do it first thing Monday morning...so that's just what we did! Here is how we did it...

First, gather all your ingredients (and then pose for mom while she takes the first of many pictures.)

Next, measure and mix the flour and baking soda.

Funnel the mixture into a plastic pop bottle...aka...your volcano.

Add red food coloring...you know, because lava is red.

For the following step, first warn the kids that the next ingredient is very stinky...then laugh hysterically as they cough and gag while you measure out said stinky ingredient. Make one of them pour it into the bottle so you can take a picture.

 Then, prepare for the show!

Even little sister joined in the fun...she loved the bubbles!

And that is how it's done. Before we did the experiment we did a few worksheets that explained the ins and outs of a volcano as well. I think the girls really enjoyed this experiment. Hopefully they learned something from it!

As for the rest of school we are continuing in our bible study learning about the 12 disciples and some of Jesus' first miracles he performed. We also visited Nigeria, Africa this week. We read a book all about Nigeria and did some fun worksheets.

In science, we finished up the chapter on vertebrates, and did this fun worksheet. We also started the chapter on invertebrates...which consists mostly of bugs...YUCK! We will have to finish this up next week.

We are changing up our curriculum a bit once again. The girls have been doing their math and language on-line since we started back up in January. When we started I told them we would try it out and if they decided they didn't like it or it wasn't working for them we would find something else. Well, it's working fine, but they aren't enjoying it as much as I had hoped. Maybe it's just the fact that they don't enjoy the subjects period,but since I am paying for the use of this program each month I am going to cancel it find something else.
Speaking of math, at one point, I was thinking that shooting myself in the foot might be less painful than trying to help Annabelle learn division...seriously!!

Africa

As I mentioned in my last post we have had a few changes with our curriculum and it seems to be working really well for us. I am still using the geography portion of MFW but I am changing that up a bit too to better suit our needs. They have it set up to study one country for three weeks, but there just isn't enough material to drag it out that long, so I decided to add a few countries to the list and study them each for one week. So far we have visited Kenya, Egypt and Madagascar. While in Kenya we studied about the African safari animals that roam the land and the girls even made their own safari!

While we were in Egypt we read about the pyramids.

 Of course, the girls had to make their very own pyramid too!

The next two weeks we will continue our study of Africa visiting Nigeria, and lastly, South Africa. 

 

Here is a list of what else we have been doing:

• In Bible class we are learning about Jesus and John the Baptist. I think the girls are really enjoying this study and it blesses my heart to see them taking it all in.

• In science we studied about plants last week. The girls planted their own little flower pots so they could track their growth.

 

• It would have been successful until I accidentally knocked one over into a boot when I was getting ready to leave. I guess putting them by the door was not the best idea, but it's the only place with a shelf  that gets any sunlight.
• This week we studied the five categories of vertebrates.
• Next week will be invertebrates.
• Even though we technacilly dont need to go out of the house to get to school I let the kids have a "snow day" so they could enjoy the big storm we had. 
• I took advantage of said "snow day" and organized a few kitchen cupboards...
• and took a nap!
• The girls are continuing their math and language skills on the computer. They seem to enjoy that a lot more than what we were previously using.
• I did NOT say that they enjoy math or language arts!
• I am very thankful that we are finally getting the hang of this homeschool thing. I was really worried there for a bit.
• Last, but not least...I have started looking into next years curriculum!

Well, we've made it through almost two weeks of school and I have to say I think it has been our best two weeks of the whole year! The kids are loving the new curriculum that we've started. I don't think they have complained about doing school work yet! YAY Mom!! And I am finally feeling like I am getting into a grove with my weekly preparations...in fact, I'm a week ahead of schedule!

As I mentioned last week we started a new bible study. I finally feel like the girls are actually learning something. The study has us reading out of the Bible and then it goes into more detail about what is going on in those particular verses. I am actually learning things too which makes it even better! The best part is that it holds the girls attention and they look forward to what the next lesson will be.

They are also really enjoying our new science books. Right now we are learning all about our bodies and how perfectly God designed them. Again, the girls are loving it and it holds their attention enough that they are actually able to answer the questions without needed to much prompting from me!

We are still continuing our geography lessons from ECC. Last week we studied France, and this week we are in Germany. The kids are really enjoying their lessons this week because last month we visited Frankenmuth which is a German based town. They were so excited when they saw pictures of the traditional German clothing just like they saw people wearing in Frankenmuth!

Sammy is still working on learning his letters. Last week was the letter O and this week is the letter W. He is beginning to learn to read and is finally starting to pick up on how the letters work together. We hit a brick wall there for awhile but now it's all starting to make sense to him! He really enjoys learning!

So, that's it for now. All in all I would say school has been great! THANKFULLY! I was really worried there for a bit that maybe I had made a mistake, but really all it took was a little change and figuring out what works best for us.

Second Semester

This week we started our second semester. Although I hadn't really planned on taking off as much time as we did in December, I am glad that we did. It was very much needed by all of us and I think now we all feel refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the school year.

As I posted before we made a few changes to our curriculum. Of course, I second guessed myself wondering if I did the right thing or not, but so far it has proven to be successful. I signed the girls up for an on-line program called Time4Learning which includes math and language arts. The girls are loving it! I think they enjoy being able to use the computer (and I don't mind since they are learning) and they like not having to do all their work together. The program also has science and social studies but the girls didn't care for either of those. I decided to just continue the countries and cultures portion from our ECC program. As for science we have started a few new books called Exploring God's World and Enjoying Good Health. We also started a new Bible program which in just these first two days has taught my girls more than the one we were using from ECC. I just hope that these new changes continue to hold my girls interest.

Yesterday was our first day back and I really expected it to bomb...I mean who of us were really ready to get back to reality after a long Christmas break. By some miracle though it was a great day! In fact Annabelle told her dad last night that she likes school now! She's been the one giving me the most grief about school. So...I'm not holding my breath, but I will take what I can get!

Sammy is still working away at his kindergarten program. This week were are learning about the letter 'O'. He is starting to put words together and sounding them out. I try to make him feel so good about himself when he reads a word by himself. As adults we taking reading for granted and I don't remember what it was like learning to read but it's not as easy as it seems. It's not easy for me to teach so we are both learning together.

So...here's to a fantastic and (hopefully) successful second semester! May it be more fruitful (and less stressful) than the last :)

Change

Okay...I'm going to be honest here...not that I'm ever not honest, but you know what I mean. I started this blog with great expectations about sharing our homeschooling journey. As you can see by the frequent posts our first few weeks everything was going quite well. We were all gung-ho (or at least I was) about keeping on schedule and we would finish all our work with time to spare.

Then....it happened. Little by little our perfect schedule started to spiral downward. One week we'd end up running here or there because of one thing or another but still getting at least the minimum amount of work finished. Then, the next week the kids would huff and puff about school so we'd end up skipping  a few days because I was too upset to deal with them. We'd still manage to get most of our work done, but not all of it. I vowed to myself that I wasn't going to let this happen, and then I got sick for a few weeks. My energy level (and brain function for that matter) were skim to none so needless to say once again school went by the wayside. Before I knew it, a week had gone by and we had only attempted school one day!

At this point I am feeling very frustrated. I can see that my kids (the girls at least) are not enjoying school. I understand that many kids do not enjoy school, and as a mother of a child in public school I wouldn't have much control over that. But, as a homeschooling mother, I certainly do! Isn't that the point of homeschooling anyway? So, after having an eye-opening discussion with a friend and fellow homeschooler I have decided that it is time for change. I am still going to homeschool my kids of course, but I have decided to change our curriculum. All kids learn differently, so I am actively seeking what will work best for my kids...you know, because I can!

I am not exactly sure on which direction I will go yet, I am of course praying for guidance. I know that we are where God wants us to be, at home, together. I know that God wants me to be more involved and in charge of my children's education. But, I also know that the discord that had been taking place in our household is not part of his plan and it definitely is not part of mine!!

Where Have We Been?

Well, we've been here but due to some health issues I've not really found the time (or energy) to update our blog. After we finished up in Mexico we took the following week off because the week was filled with appointments and errands. Also, the "principal" was out of state so we thought we deserved a mini vacation too!
The next week we "visited" Canada. We were supposed to be there for two weeks, but since we took one week off I decided to combine our studies into one week so we would not get behind. Even with combining two weeks into one it was an easy week...thankfully because I have not been feeling well at all. My energy level is pretty much non-existent and my brain is on the fritz! So...I did not get many pictures from Canada but here are a few fun projects we did.

Polar Bear Soap Carving

 

We learned about the Canadian natives called Inuits. They are basically the same thing as Eskimos and they live in areas within the Arctic, from the northeastern tip of Russia, across Alaska and northern Canada. Historically they carved images of the animals they hunted or in traditional myths and stories they told, or as toys for their children. Today they make carvings as works of art or to sell to support their families. They have always carved out of materials that they find in their own environments. We carved our polar bears out of ivory soap because it is so soft and easy to carve. It was a lot of fun...and smelled good too!

 They also made igloos...and thought it would be fun to pose their polar bears near the igloos. Wonder where the Inuits are???

This week we are headed south to Brazil. We are done studying North America so now it's onto warmer climates in South America. Maybe the warm air will clear up my yuckies...you think???

Week Six: Fiesta!

Well, this week was a little crazy to say the least! There has been a nasty bug going around and I have tried my best to avoid it, but unfortunately I finally fell victim to it. The good thing was that this week's schedule (as far as school work goes) was pretty light to begin with, so I was able to take a day and get the rest that my body needed to get better. We did our regular lessons, continuing our studies in Mexico, but mostly we focused on making our decorations and pinata for our Fiesta! It just so happened that my mom's birthday was Friday and we had planned to have a Mexican feast that day to wrap up our time in Mexico so we decided to take the party to Grandma's and have a big ol' Mexican Fiesta!!

Here are the kids working on the pinata. We blew up a balloon for the shape, then did many layers of paper mache. Eventually it was ready to be covered with layers of crape paper and filled with candy!

We chose to use green, yellow, and red because they reminded us of the pretty Mexican dresses girls wear. Following another Mexican tradition we made paper flowers with tissue paper in the same colors...see them in the front of the picture? They were fun and super simple!
For dinner we had a traditional mexican meal of burritos and tacos. We had planned on making our very own tortilla shells, but time and my health just did not permit for that. But, my sister was so kind to make a "sombrero" cake to go along with our theme. It turned out great...and was delicious too!

The Birthday Girl with all  her grandkids!

After dinner and cake we went outside to break open the pinata. All that work smashed in a matter of minutes...but it was fun and so worth the joy on those precious little faces!