Monday, December 27, 2010

I've learned how to share Pictures!

Now if I can only learn how to "take" them, LOL....

Here are my guys:


The oldest, trying on a scarf someone gave him....


My hubby, picking up the trash.  He's the reason I have all blonde boys....


The little guy, who I still homeschool.  He had to put on pajamas in order to be "comfortable" for opening gifts.  He's got on an Ireland soccer t-shirt he received, too.  And of course, he had to immediately start putting together the Lego sets....

Our tree:



...which is filled with homemade things and ornaments they love:


My husband's favorite: old-fashioned glass ornaments of all types.


Tons of tiny nutcrackers which my younger son currently favors....







And all sorts of homemade ornaments they've done over the years.  Especially those that included pictures of them....






The whimsical birds that are my favorites....










The red wooden bead garland, and a hand-crocheted angel someone gave us as a topper....








The silliness:

Big brother wearing the Saints jersey little brother received because he wants one, too....








Modeling his new, super-soft blanket with our cat (Poor thing, she's so glad to have a quiet house again.  She never knew when he was going to swoop her up....)


Hubby sitting in his chair, wearing his grinch shirt, watching A Christmas Story (holding the high power magnification mirror he got because he can't see any more, LOL....)  I wish I could figure out how to get these pictures to align on the page better, but oh well....


Drinking sparkling cider out of sherbert cups....  I just don't know about this boy....


And the wrestling, the inevitable wrestling....  ALWAYS the wrestling....  But he was very good with his little brother while he was home and I was happy about that.  He's now in a somewhat cool Florida, but at least their outdoor pool is very well heated, so he's not minding the wind too much.  It's supposed to warm up for them as the week continues.  I hope that all will go well.  This is the first big trip he's made away from home since a disastrous week at a scout camp when he was eleven....

And the snow - more than we've ever had in December.  There's been snow on the ground almost constantly since Thanksgiving and that's just unheard of for us here:



We've had a pretty nice Christmas around here.  It's pretty quiet now... time to read!

Regena

Friday, December 17, 2010

Week 16 Work....

This is the "end" of my first semester, even though I'm not technically through week 18 yet.  The calendar just fell funny this year and I couldn't manage 18 weeks prior to Christmas break.

For Bible, we finished up listening to the tape series we've been doing and will continue the little Advent/Christmas study we've been doing over the holidays. 

And may I just add here that I started reading about the dates and stories for "Old Christmas" back when I was in about seventh or eighth grade and one year I wrapped my alarm clock in a towel and put it in bed with me so that my parents wouldn't hear it.  At midnight on twelfth night I got up and went to the barn to see if  I could hear the animals talk, but they were trying to sleep, LOL.... 

I also distinctly heard jingle bells on the roof at about the time I was beginning to really question the idea of Santa Claus (and so have my children)....  So here's hoping that all of you have a very merry holiday season, as I always have!

Our algebra class got snowed out this week, so he finished up the chapter of fractions in Russian Math and today we did a chapter from a Mark Twain publication Geometry workbook.



Geometry Practice BookAnd may I just continue to gush over how much I like Russian Math?  I keep hearing that a lot of kids have problems as they get into higher maths with some of the basics such as fractions and decimals.  This book really works those subjects and helps kids get proficient in the basics so that upper level math will be simpler for them.







Copywork related to The Age of Reason and Peter the Great has been completed the last couple of weeks, along with some of the work from Lessons and Carols.  We'll pick L&C back up after the break and complete it then.

He continued with his 50 States geography and also did a project from another geo workbook on Asia.  I have liked the 50 States book because it has some writing prompts that I'm using with him and also has some research for him to do online to answer some of the questions.


cd1555The Exploring Asia book will be used at various times throughout the year when we're reading about countries in Asia.  It explores a variety of topics regarding the people, cultures, etc. as well as map work.

And we caught up with his SOTW map work, too.


In languages, he finished up the year with one last Spanish class and started work in a new chapter of Barron's grammar at home.  He did two lessons and took a quiz in Latin.  He completed chapter 16 in Greek.

He continued working with verbs and direct objects in Easy Grammar and continued with Vocab for the College Bound.  He completed the written work related to The Green Book and wrote a science fiction story for his last lit class.  They were supposed to have a breakfast with everyone from all the classes there after their presentations, but it all had to be cancelled due to ice!  Now I'm swimming in fresh fruit, LOL!  Guess I'm going to be wearing my hands out juicing this weekend.... 

He also finished up some of his writing projects (related to history) at home this week....

In Literature, I've been trying to finish up Three Musketeers and Witch of Blackbird Pond.  Since we were reading about India under the British this week, I read an illustrated version of Gunga Din and read from Just So Stories, as well as starting The Jungle Book.

Gunga DinA Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So StoriesThe Jungle Book



For history, we covered two chapters in SOTW this week, the one on the Ottomans and the one on India under British rule.  He read those chapters and outlined one section from the one on India.  I read aloud from some of our encyclopedias and other books on these cultures.  Nothing much interesting in history this week....  Ds read a book called India, by Donna Bailey, which is just about the culture.


For science, he continued with his Matter workbook, we'll finish it up shortly after the break.  I think it has been a good anchor for the chemistry work we've done this semester to help cement concepts. 

He completed a large block of experiments from Adventures with Atoms and Molecules, which also helped to cement concepts we've been talking about all semester.

We worked through the first five chapters (they're very short!) of Friendly Chemistry, which gets us through the introductory stuff and ready to start working with notation after the break.  He played Element Bingo (one of the games that goes along with FC).

He read Science Lab in a Supermarket, Bob Friedhoffer, and Science Factory Chemicals and Reactions, Jon Richards, and chose some experiments to do from them.  He did a few of those today.

Chemicals And Reactions (Science Factory)

He had his annual piano recital tonight.  He played three pieces in it.  He and his teacher played a duet of The Harmonious Blacksmith (Handel); He played a duet with a young neighbor boy who just started lessons - a nice variation on Jingle Bells; and then he played Pachelbel Canon alone.  He did a good job!

We had to leave the after party to rush to another late night soccer game - ugh!  I'll be glad when they are done with that place - at least we don't have soccer this weekend.

I hope everyone is ready for the holidays because they are upon us!  I've been asked every day for a week when I'm going to wrap presents and put them under our tree, so I guess I'm going to have to get that done this weekend.   Have a holly, jolly, happy, merry, wonderful Christmas everyone - and don't forget to listen for those jingling bells....

Regena




Thursday, December 16, 2010

Some of our Favorite Christmas Books....

I've been trying to cull out the little guy Christmas books for the past few years and it has been a continuing process to try to move books out of my house, despite the fact that we own multiple titles of the same stories!

Here are some that continue to be keepers:

The Night Before Christmas pop-up book by Robert Sabuda.  He does simple yet elegant paper constructions.



Here's a You Tube video of someone going through the book, although they don't show all the pop ups to best effect (sorry about the pop up add across the bottom)....

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-night-before-christmas-pop-up-book-robert-sabuda/2b3b30a04e18d50831772b3b30a04e18d5083177-333627786385?q=the+night+before+christmas,+robert+sabuda&FORM=VIRE1



The Snowman Storybook, Raymond Briggs --- and --- A neat, small version of The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Lynn Ferris

The Night Before ChristmasThe Snowman Storybook


Have you seen the video of the Snowman story?  Our symphony orchestra played it one year and played the music behind it themselves....  It's on You Tube in several parts.  I'll just link the first one and the others can be linked from there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeVaj4zkWy0

The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats - this is a Caldecott Medal book.
Texas Night Before Christmas
James Rice
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, Laura Numeroff
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Little Golden Book)
Barbara Hazen
A Golden Book

The Other Wise Man, Henry Van Dyke, retold by Pamela Kennedy

Lori Walburg
The Other Wise Man

An Amish Christmas, Richard Ammon

Firefly in a Fir Tree by Hilary Knight: Book Cover

I have the original, 1963 nutshell version of the Firefly book, but I think this edition looks like it has nice illustrations, too....

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Regena

Birds of Winter....

View ImageNow that we've had a few rounds of earlier than expected snow, our feathered friends are visiting our backyard feeders on a regular basis.

Who have you had in your backyard this season?

Windows make a perfect blind and we have a large one at the back of our kitchen with an ornamental cherry tree right outside.  We've filled it with feeders (birds do like them spaced out several feet), as well as adding more in surrounding trees.  We try to also keep out corn for the squirrels who are beginning to inhabit our neighborhood now that our trees are more mature. 

View ImageWhen there's a lot of snow on the ground, we take the top of one of our large plastic tubs (any type tray will do) and fill it with seed, too, for those birds who like to eat from the ground, such as the Mourning Doves.

With more mature trees, we've begun to attract Blue Jays to the neighborhood and we actually had a group of 6 in our yard just days ago.  They may be rather raucous, but I love them.  They are super intelligent!  And they're not nearly so raucous and messy as Starlings....
View Image
...which never seem to come alone....

View ImageView ImageToday, we've had an ever-present Cardinal and some Cedar Waxwings, but we've had such a large gang of Robins that most of the other birds are staying away.  I'm not sure why the Robins got caught too far north this year, but there are certainly more around than usual at this time of year.  I don't worry about the cherry tree supporting the couple that usually come 'round with snow, but with this group the food won't last long.  Robins don't eat bird seed, so they need all the berries they can get.  View Image

While I have several varieties of fruits around my yard, they seem to far and away prefer the cherries at this time of year.  Perhaps it's because they are heavily fermented now and the alcohol keeps them warmer in the cold, LOL.  It certainly makes them tipsy and we've laughed over drunken Robins falling from tree limbs, crashing into the window, etc. for years now (no harm has ever resulted - I guess the alcohol makes them more limber, too, LOL)....

While the Goldfinches are long gone, the House Finches are still here, along with the Juncos.
View Image
View Image
These are the dark-eyed variety.

If you have a large window, you can create a feeding area for birds even if you don't have trees.  You can use the outdoor poles that are meant for hanging plants to hang birdfeeders.  You should vary heights and provide spacing.  Putting some food in a tray on the ground will appeal to a larger variety of birds, too.  And don't forget peanut butter or fruit.  Many birds like these items, too!

Regena

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Books I used with First Grade Biology Studies....

General:
DK Why Are Zebras Black and White? Questions About Color
DK Why Do Sunflowers Face the Sun? Questions About Nature
 
Mammals:

I used DK's Picturepedia: Mammals as a spine, so based the order of the rest of my books on their spreads.

I used McGraw Hill's Complete Book of Animals along with biology for "worksheet" type activities.

National Geographic Mammals (This is a really nice set of books. I only got the one on Mammals, because it was free, but if you can't find the Picturepedias, these would make nice spines.) I used applicable parts along with the Picturepedia throughout this study.

I made a note to pull library books on various animals, such as aardvarks, etc. and checked to see that my library had titles on these animals, but I didn't generally written down the actual book names so I didn't even list those here unless I did happen to note a specific title.

What on Earth is a Meerkat? Jenny Tegar
(And I couldn't resist here) Riki Tiki Tavi
Otter on His Own (Smithsonian)
Skunks and Their Relatives
Cats, Big and Little
Cats: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
Animal Homes and Societies (I used applicable parts throughout this study; by Billy Goodman)
The Eyes of Gray Wolf
Foxes for Kids
Wolves for Kids
Bears for Kids
The Polar Bear: Masters of the Ice
Wild Bears, Seymour Simon
Jane Goodall: With Love
Gorillas, Seymour Simon
Aerial Apes: Gibbons of Asia, Geza Teleki
Mountain Gorilla, Michael Bright
Tamarins, Eric Braun and Sandra Donovan
Bats, Gail Gibbons
Magic School Bus: Going Batty (my library had this on video, too)
Mice are Amazing
Discovering What Gerbils Do, Seymour Simon
What is a Rodent? Bobbie Kalman
What's a Lemming? D.M. Sohza
Squirrels, Brian Wildsmith
Scamper, A Gray Tree Squirrel
Gray Squirrel at Pacific Avenue (Smithsonian)
Whales: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
Killer Whales, Seymour Simon
Whale, Seymour Simon
Horse Heroes (a DK reader)
Pigs and Peccaries, Anne Marie Schmidt
All About Deer, Jim Arnosky
Deer at the Brook, Arnosky
DK Picturepedia: On the Farm
 
Birds:

I again used a DK Picturepedia as a spine for this study. I'll bet the National Geographic book would be very comparable, as was the mammal book.

Again, I tied in pertinent sections of the Complete Book of Animals and Animal Homes and Societies.

Again, I didn't list categories of books I noted to check out unless I happened to list a specific title.

World Wildlife Federation: Birds
Usborne First Book of Nature - section on birds
Gone Again, Ptarmigan, Jonathan London
Clem: The Story of a Raven, Jennifer Dewey
Soaring With the Wind: The Bald Eagle, Gail Gibbons
Jays, Lynn Stone
Herons, Frank Staub
Spoonbill Swamp, Brenda Guiberson
Loon Magic for Kids
The Black Swan, Paula Hogan
The Puffins are Back! Gail Gibbons
Penguins! Gail Gibbons
Vultures, Roland Smith
The Book of North American Owls

Reptiles:

Used Can Snakes Crawl Backward? Questions and Answers About Reptiles, as a sort of spine.

Added in pertinent portions of the Complete Book of Animals and Animal Homes and Societies.

Slinky, Scaly Snakes (early reader)
Snakes, Patricia Demuth (early reader)
Discovering What Garter Snakes Do, Seymour Simon
All About Rattlesnakes, Arnosky
All About Alligators, Arnosky
Turtles and Snails: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic) - pertinent portions
Hide and Seek Science: Where's that Reptile?
 
Amphibians:

No real "spine".

Used pertinent portions of Complete Book of Animals.

Frogs are Fantastic (early reader)
Rainforest Ride (early reader)
Magic School Bus Hops Home
A Frog's Body, Joanna Cole
Growing Frogs, Vivian French
All About Frogs, Arnosky
Frogs, Gail Gibbons
Frogs and Toads, Steve Parker
Moon of the Salamander, Jean Craighead George
Salamanders and Newts: A Complete Intro.
Eyewitness Amphibians - video
What is an Amphibian? Lola Schaefer
A First Look at Frogs, Toads and Salamanders, Milicent Selsam
Amphibians and Reptiles in 3-D, Mark Blum
 
Fish:

Questions and Answers About Sharks
Eyewitness Fish - video
Fishes and Their Young, Alan Fletcher
Crinkleroot's 25 Fish Every Child Should Know, Arnosky
A Fish Hatches, Joanna Cole
Fish, Steve Parker
Brian Wildsmith's Fishes
Discovering What Goldfish Do, Seymour Simon
Tell Me Why: Fish, Shellfish and Other Underwater Life - video

Pertinent portions from Animal Homes and Societies.

Pertinent portions from the Complete Book of Animals.
 
Invertebrates - Ocean:

At the Ocean
Tide Pool, Rood
Starfish: Stars of the Sea
Exploring an Ocean Tidepool
Seashells, Crabs and Sea Stars, Christiane Tibbitts
Sea Jellies: Rainbows of the Sea, Elizabeth Gowell
Gentle Giant Octopus, Karen Wallace
Seashore Surprises, Rose Wyler
Seashells by the Seashore, Marianne Berkes
Is This a House for Hermit Crab? Megan McDonald
Hermit Crabs, Sylvia Johnson
Discovering Crabs and Lobsters, Jill Bailey
Lobsters: Gangsters of the Sea, Mary Cerullo
The Blue Lobster: A Life Cycle, Carol and Donald Carrick
Animals that Live in Shells, Dean Morris
Mollusks, Joy Richardson
A First Look at Seashells, Millicent Selsam
Shells are Skeletons, Joana Victor

Pertinent portions from the Complete Book of Animals.
 
Invertebrates - Land:

The Snail's Spell
Turtles and Snails: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic) - pertinent portions
A First Look at Animals Without Backbones, Millicent Selsam
Invertebrates, Alvin Silverstein
Sorting out Worm.... Samuel Woods
Mini-Beasts - video

Info. on worms from Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader 3 (I have their first three titles and like all of them.)

Discovering What Earthworms Do, Seymour Simon
 
Invertebrates - Insects and Spiders:

Used DK Picturepedia as a spine.

Completed pertinent portions of the Complete Book of Animals.

I utilized the Nature Readers a lot for this section. They provided a fun, gentle way to introduce odd creatures to younger children.

I also utilized pertinent portions from Animal Homes and Societies here.

Buzz! A Book About Insects
If You Were a Bug
Lady Bugs and Other Insects: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
The Life of a Butterfly
Usborne First Book of Nature - section on butterflies and moths
Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths, Arnosky
Eyewitness Butterflies and Moths - video
Butterflies and Moths, Bobbie Kalman
Amazing Worlds of Ants
Armies of Ants
Mysterious Castle Builders: African Termites, Tom Lisker
Termite, Karen Hartley
How Insects Build Their Amazing Homes, W. Wright Robinson
An Insect's Body, Joanna Cole
Ants Have Pets, Kathy Darling
Magic School Bus: Inside a Bee Hive
Honeybees
How Insects Build Their Amazing Homes, Robinson
Wonders of the Wasp's Nest, Sigmund Lavine
Water Bugs, Helen Frost
A Dragon in the Sky: The Story of a Green Darner Dragonfly, Laurence Pringle
I Can Read About Spiders (easy reader)
Spider's Lunch (easy reader)
Spiders, Gail Gibbons
Magic School Bus Spins a Web (video, too)
How Spiders and Other Silkmakers Build Their Amazing Homes, W. Wright Robinson
A Mosquito is Born, William White
(Fiction: I Know Why Mosquitos Buzz)
 
Plants:

Incredible Plants (but I did not use it as a "spine"; I used the Scholastic First Discovery books for this.)
The Tree: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
I Am A Leaf (easy reader)
Secret Life of Trees (easy reader)
Usborne First Book of Nature - section on trees and flowers
Fruit: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
Vegetables in the Garden: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
Plant Stems and Roots (easy)
Plant Leaves (easy)
Among the Flowers (easy)
Diary of a Sunflower (easy)
Flower: A First Discovery Book (Scholastic)
Plants Bite Back (easy reader)
Desert Giant (re: Saguaro)
Mushrooms and Molds, Robert Froman
DK Picturepedia: Food and Farming - sections on plants grown agriculturally
(easy readers: Orange Juice; Pancakes! Pancakes!, Carle)
 
The Human Body:

Used DK's My First Body Book as a spine.

Let's Explore: Me and My Body (DK)
Why Do We Laugh? Questions About the Human Body (DK)
Let's Explore Sound and Music (DK)
Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body
I Know Why I Brush My Teeth
Hooray for Teeth!
I Know How We Fight Germs
A Book About Your Skeleton
Look Inside Your Brain
Stop, Look and Listen: Using Your Senses From Head to Toe
Magic School Bus Explores the Senses
Why Boys and Girls are Different
Where Do Babies Come From?
Me and My Amazing Body
The Human Body Riddle Book (easy)

Library books for this subject:

Look at Faces, Henry Pluckrose
Faces, Shelley Rotner
Skin, Teeth and Hair, Anna Sandeman
Your Skin Holds You In, Helen Doss
All About Your Skin, Hair and Teeth, Donna Bailey
Hairy Science, Jess Brallier
Straight Hair, Curly Hair - Augusta Golden
Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles (video)
You Can't Make a Move Without Your Muscles, Paul Showers
Cuts, Breaks, Bruises and Burns: How Your Body Heals, Joanna Cole
The Human Body: The Inside Scoop! (video - Walt Disney)
The Heart and Blood, Steve Parker
Let's-Try-It-Out: About Your Heart, Seymour Simon
I Know Where My Food Goes, Jacqui Maynard
Food and Digestion, Steve Parker
My Five Senses, Aliki
You Can't Smell a Flower Without Your Ear! Joanna Cole
My Busy Body, Bobbie Kalman
Mystery of the Senses - video
Nerves to Senses, Steve Parker
Touch, Taste and Smell, Steve Parker
Finding Your Senses, Seymour Simon
You Can't Taste a Pickle Without Your Ear! Harriet Ziefert
Sleep is for Everyone, Paul Showers
Hear Your Heart, Paul Showers

Mixed Animal Groups or Habitats:

Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals
Wonders of Swamps and Marshes
A Picture-Perfect World
Around the World: Who's Been Here?
Under the Ground: A First Discovery Book
In the Forest
Night Creatures: A First Discovery Book
Endangered Animals: A First Discovery Book
One Day in the Woods, Jean Craighead George
Animals Do the Strangest Things
I Wonder Why Skunks are Smelly and Other Neat Facts About Mammals
Wild Animal Go Round (DK)
Animal Skin and Scales (easy)
Animal Feet (easy)
Animal Feathers and Fur (easy)
Munching, Crunching, Sniffing and Snooping (DK easy reader)
Amazing Animals (DK)
101 Questions About Desert Life
Amazing Nature (Barron's)
The Really Amazing Animal Book (DK)
Incredible Little Monsters (DK)
Incredible Great Hunters (DK)
One Day in the Desert, George
Wonders of the Desert
Wonders of the Forest
Wonders of Rivers
I see Animals Hiding, Arnosky
How Do Animals Talk? (Usborne starting point science)
Animal Senses
Explore the Wild
Look Again!
One Day in the Tropical Rainforest, George
Bamboo Valley (Smithsonian, I think)

We raised all sorts of critters and monitored them throughout the year.  We also took lots of field trips to zoos, reptile zoos, aquariums, etc. throughout the year.  Most zoos now have scavenger hunts and other worksheets that can be printed off to do before or after a trip (or while there).... 

It was great fun! 

Friday, December 10, 2010

Week 15 Work....

We continued our Advent study this week and will continue it while we're off from school, through the holidays, too.  I think we're both enjoying it!  We are listening to the last tape in our Bible series right now. 

Ds continued with Lessons and Carols copywork, as well as some related to the Age of Reason.  He's finally beginning to write in cursive more now when doing any of his work.  He's always had difficulty in writing, so I"m encouraged by this!

He continued with his outside algebra class and we're working through a chapter on fractions in Russian Math right now. 

He continued with his 50 States workbook. 

He attended his outside Spanish class and worked on grammar using the Barron's book.  In Latin, he did lessons 15 and 16, as well as taking a test.  He completed chapter 15 in Greek.

He's working on the verb section in Easy Grammar right now.  He started work in his Lit class on The Green Book.  He continued in his Vocab book. 

In history, we were primarily studying Russia under Peter the Great this week.  I introduced the topic by reading from our history encyclopedias, atlases, Eyewitness Russia, etc. and also read aloud from these books related to Russia: 

The Empire of the Czars, Esther Carrion

Folktales of the Amur, Dmitri Nagishkin

Folktales of the Amur: Stories from the Russian Far EastI love this beautifully illustrated book!

Peter the Great and Tsarist Russia, Miriam Greenblatt

Peter the Great and Tsarist Russia Since ds had already read two bios of Peter, I only read the portions about everyday life and "Russians in their own words"....


Ds read about Peter in Ten Kings and also read the Diane Stanley bio of him.


Buy Peter The GreatBuy Ten Kings: And The Worlds They Ruled

He also read the chapter on Russia in SOTW.  I did not make him outline this week.

Russian folktales that ds read this week:

Baba Yaga, Eric Kimmel; The Sea King's Daughter, Aaron Shepard; The Lang. of Birds, Rafe Martin

The Sea King's Daughter: A Russian Legend by Aaron Shepard
He's also reading from Russian Folk Tales, James Riordan:




I continued read alouds we started in past weeks.  I was able to pick up some further readings about Native American groups from the colonial time period that I didn't have time to start earlier.  I read aloud from:

Famous Indian TribesWilliam Moyers - an old, old book that my husband and his brother had when they were children....

I also read Nations of the Eastern Great Lakes, Bobbie Kalman




He continued working in his Matter workbook this week and also did the chapter on Water from Tiner.  Chemistry books I read aloud this week for further discussion of topics we've been studying this semester included:

Acids and Bases, Chris Oxlade; Chemical Reactions, Louise Spilsbury; The Periodic Table, Sharon Cooper
Buy Chemical ReactionsBuy The Periodic Table: Mapping The Elements




Ds also read Acids and Bases, Carol Baldwin


9781410909350: Acids & Bases

He did about 5 experiments from Adventures with Atoms and Molecules, as well as several experiments from some books we finished in past weeks and these we finished this week.  I've found this year that it's working out better for us to do blocks of experiments, covering many over the course of an afternoon, and discussing them.

Today, we saw a play, The Neverending Story, at our local children's theatre.  I have no idea why they decided not to do a Christmas play this year.  Then we went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the afternoon, so we've been in parallel worlds most of today, LOL!

It's been nice to have a few less outside activities this week so that we can get things wrapped up nicely before our Christmas break.  I hope everyone else is able to wind down before the holidays, too!

Tonight, we had to go to a 9:20 indoor soccer game.  I'm pretty annoyed with the facility where he's playing.  They insisted that all games would be on Saturdays.  Our first two were on Sundays, right in the middle of church time, and now our next two are late, late on Friday night.  Oy....  Needless to say, we won't be playing there ever again....  At least he's still really enjoying his soccer clinic, which is at a different facility.  I think we're going to be playing there for the second winter term....

Perhaps I should comment on our reading.  I know that I have him reading shorter, simpler books for lit in general this year, but I'm trying to move him into doing more science and history (non-fiction) reading,  and with the time that's being devoted to languages, too, something has to give.  Also, I'm not concerned with his reading speed or comprehension, and we're still enjoying read alouds with discussions very much.  Because he attends well and seems to be learning well this way, I plan to keep it up for at least this school year. 

He reads longer works on his own time, too.  He finished up all Paolini's books this summer (I don't really like them, but both my boys do) and started in on the Redwall books.  He just finished Salamandastron and got out the next one, Martin the Warrior, I think.  I thought he might be tiring of all the name calling by now (as I did), but the food descriptions seem to be keeping him hooked, LOL!  (That was my favorite part, too....)

We've got to get around in the warmer weather tomorrow and finish up Christmas shopping, get a tree, and get decorated.  We would have done this sooner, but the weather has been bitterly cold here and we've had snow on the ground until today....  Old age seems to have hit me suddenly this year, and I've been freezing to death the past week.  I actually went shopping tonight between the movie and the soccer game and lucked up with no crowds, so I'm just about done!

Regena
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