Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Noeo Homeschool Science Curriculum
Noeo Homeschool Science Curriculum was recommended by a person who uses Sonlight but doesn't particularly care for Sonlight's science curriculum. Sonlight has asked their customers for comments because it is looking at revising their science area next (language arts got a major overhaul this year). Noeo looks quite interesting... keeping this link for future reference.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Which Card Is Biggest?
Today I taught the boys a new card game. I called it Which Card Is Biggest?, but most people I know would think it was called War. I didn't want to have to explain the word "war", besides, now the title matches what we ask every time new cards are turned over.
It took a little practice for them to remember that A/ace was like a 1, and that J,Q,K were bigger than 10, in that order. We decided that Jokers were the biggest of all. DS1 added a rule that you had to tell a joke when the Joker card came up. I ran out of cards first and suggested that the boys keep playing. They wanted to stop, so we counted their cards to find the winner. It was a tie! Both boys had 27 cards and were very excited to both win.
It took a little practice for them to remember that A/ace was like a 1, and that J,Q,K were bigger than 10, in that order. We decided that Jokers were the biggest of all. DS1 added a rule that you had to tell a joke when the Joker card came up. I ran out of cards first and suggested that the boys keep playing. They wanted to stop, so we counted their cards to find the winner. It was a tie! Both boys had 27 cards and were very excited to both win.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Color Bottles & taxes
I taught a class at our co-op today. When I signed up I was very nervous. Last night, around midnight, I finished up doing our taxes and remembered that I needed to go buy supplies. It's a good thing that one of the nearby grocery stores stays open 24 hrs! Our nearest FedEx/Kinko's copy place isn't even 24 hrs anymore. :-(
Anyway, I got the supplies, DH finished reviewing taxes, and we e-filed at 2:00 am. Yeah! I didn't have to file an extension for the first time in 4 years.
Class went fairly well. I had 6 signed up, plus one tag along sibling. That was okay because his mom stayed and assisted, which I really appreciated. Another class was in the same room, but we did that intentionally, so the other teacher's kids would do better in my class. The craft/experiment I had was clear plastic bottles, half full of water, adding food coloring, then adding oil. Shake well & watch the bubbles mix then separate again. (Tape the bottle cap on with duct tape to prevent spills/leaks.)
It was basic color mixing and solubility together. Earlier there was a class on solubility for older kids, and a class on color mixing (with frosting & vanilla wafers) for any age. My class took the whole 30 minutes, which was longer than I expected, but that was because we did one step at a time one bottle at a time all around the table, instead all 3 bottles at once. The first 2 were just water, color, and oil (which was yellowish). On the third one the kids had the option of using Italian salad dressing instead of plain oil (much yellower with sediment), adding hand sanitizer, or adding alcohol.
Between my previous three bottles, the three DS1 made in class, and the one extra that I made at home afterwards, we have a full rainbow of oil/water color bottles to play with at home!
I had fun, and I think the kids did, too. They were very cooperative. I only made a big mess once (poured Italian dressing too fast). Next time I do something potentially messy I'll remember to bring paper towels to class. Yes, things went well enough that I am thinking of facilitating something again next semester. :-)
Anyway, I got the supplies, DH finished reviewing taxes, and we e-filed at 2:00 am. Yeah! I didn't have to file an extension for the first time in 4 years.
Class went fairly well. I had 6 signed up, plus one tag along sibling. That was okay because his mom stayed and assisted, which I really appreciated. Another class was in the same room, but we did that intentionally, so the other teacher's kids would do better in my class. The craft/experiment I had was clear plastic bottles, half full of water, adding food coloring, then adding oil. Shake well & watch the bubbles mix then separate again. (Tape the bottle cap on with duct tape to prevent spills/leaks.)
It was basic color mixing and solubility together. Earlier there was a class on solubility for older kids, and a class on color mixing (with frosting & vanilla wafers) for any age. My class took the whole 30 minutes, which was longer than I expected, but that was because we did one step at a time one bottle at a time all around the table, instead all 3 bottles at once. The first 2 were just water, color, and oil (which was yellowish). On the third one the kids had the option of using Italian salad dressing instead of plain oil (much yellower with sediment), adding hand sanitizer, or adding alcohol.
Between my previous three bottles, the three DS1 made in class, and the one extra that I made at home afterwards, we have a full rainbow of oil/water color bottles to play with at home!
I had fun, and I think the kids did, too. They were very cooperative. I only made a big mess once (poured Italian dressing too fast). Next time I do something potentially messy I'll remember to bring paper towels to class. Yes, things went well enough that I am thinking of facilitating something again next semester. :-)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Home School Mothers: the Beatrice Brigade
This article is a very positive, uplifting tome about home school mothers and the influence they have inside and outside of the home. He comes from the perspective that most home schoolers are Christian and "traditional", but yet he also recognizes the diversity of homeschoolers.
I know some wonderful women who are home schoolers but not Christian, some who would bristle at the descriptor "traditional", and some who fit both of those categories. I even find myself realizing that I am more "traditional" than I used to be, and certainly more than I used to think I wanted to be. I've changed over the years. Having kids has a lot to do with that, but just living life and maturing has a lot to do with it, too.
Keep reading past the first 4 paragraphs to get to the good parts.
I know some wonderful women who are home schoolers but not Christian, some who would bristle at the descriptor "traditional", and some who fit both of those categories. I even find myself realizing that I am more "traditional" than I used to be, and certainly more than I used to think I wanted to be. I've changed over the years. Having kids has a lot to do with that, but just living life and maturing has a lot to do with it, too.
Keep reading past the first 4 paragraphs to get to the good parts.
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