Friday, September 12, 2014

I love impromptu science stuff

Yesterday I called this week a wash for academics.  Well, that changed this morning.

When I logged onto my Facebook this morning, the first thing I saw on my feed was a post by local channel 10 meteorologist Chris Bradley.  He said that the aurora borealis (also known as the Northern Lights) will be visible as far south as the Ohio River tonight.  Of course, the forecast for here in central Ohio is a lot of cloud coverage so chances of seeing it are low.  I took the opportunity to tell the kids about it and we looked up pictures of the lights online, learned about the science of it happening, and we are planning to stay up late tonight to try and catch a glimpse through all the clouds.

Then I saw on my feed further down that a friend made a "naked egg" with her kids.  I looked it up online and thought it sounds fun so we have an egg turning naked now.  Tomorrow we'll take the naked egg and put it in colored water to show how the water flows through the egg's membrane, and then we'll put it in corn syrup if I have any to shrink it and discuss what happened with that.  Lots of science fun on a whim, I love doing science like this.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Week in Review

Yes, I'm doing a week in review post on Thursday.  That should tell you what this week has been like for us.  First, we had it 100% confirmed that Lydia has mono and even which specific strain it is (yay for modern medical technology!).  That was on Monday morning.  Wednesday we had Nathaniel's 4 month checkup and shots, which shot our afternoon in the foot.  Plus, this week Scott started a new schedule at work so he's now working 5:30am-4pm every day so we are adjusting to that as well.  Did I mention also that Scott and Preston both are sick as well?  We are pretty sure Scott has bronchitis and suspect that Preston either has mono as well or he caught that respiratory virus that is going through the midwest and putting kids in the hospital.  Either way, he's recovering slowly, sleeping a lot, and just a little beast to deal with between the grumpy attitude, horribly gross runny nose, and the fact that when he's awake he isn't slowing down much at all.

Needless to say, this week has been a bust for us academically.  We did manage a couple days of math,bible, and English but that's about it really.  I give up, we'll try again next week.  I started our school year 3 weeks before the local school started specifically so we could be flexible like this, but dang I didn't expect to need it this soon.

I'm also getting really tired of 3 different math things going at once.  So I'm taking the scope and sequence of the 2 formal curricula we're using to create an outline for me to follow, and then using the third thing (Khan Academy) as a supplemental thing for "math games day" that we'll do once in a while.  My plan is to push forward with the outline until each kid is ready for algebra, then we'll pick up formal curriculum at that level.  This should give us what we need there as far as meeting needs for my math whiz kid while also working for my average kids and giving the extra support my struggling learner needs.  I'm hoping to work on my outline tonight after the kids go to bed, when it is quiet so I can focus and think.

Sunday, September 07, 2014

Week preview 9/8 to 9/12

We've been pretty busy here the last few weeks.  Jordan turned 7 last week, Nathaniel hit 4 months old the same day, and Lydia has been sick for the last month.  Several doctor appointments to figure out what is going on with Lydia has been the name of our game here, and tomorrow at some point I'll be getting a call with lab results from our latest appointment to rule out mono.  Lovely, isn't it? *sigh*

So, I'm going to try and look ahead and be positive.  We do have appointments on Monday and Wednesday plus a picnic and club meetings on Friday (thank goodness all are the same location and host otherwise I would be frantic trying to pull THAT one off) so things are going to be a little different for us I think.

In history, we're going to start our explorers unit study.  I got this lapbook from Hands Of A Child to do this month with the girls, and am going to be reading some good books to go with it.  We're just easing our way through it and enjoying where it takes us, as is my goal for history this year.  I have some library books to go with it just for a little bit of fun, and we'll probably hit up Pinterest for some ideas of fun projects to do with it if we feel a desire.

Science, we're going to keep going in our God's Design book.  This term we're studying the human body, so we've got a lot going with that alone.  I'm also adding in some experiments from the Apologia elementary anatomy and physiology book as we desire to do some hands-on, so we're pretty heavy in science for now.

In art, we are going to learn a bit about DaVinci and his art and inventions.  There is actually a bit in our science book about him, which is what we're going to read Monday, so this is going to be a bit of a crossover lesson for us.  I'm going to have to spend some time searching for a site to view some of his art, inventions, etc. with the kids because I got overwhelmed trying to pick a book at the library for this purpose.

In math, that is just going to keep on going.  Melissa is almost done reviewing skills that we've needed to brush up on, Lydia is going to continue drilling her multiplication facts, Kim is getting ready to graduate to multiple digit multiplication, and Jordan is drilling basic addition and subtraction facts plus working on measurement and telling time.  All is working perfectly in the math department, and I am very happy with where we are at there.

In English and language arts, Lydia is working on writing a book just because she wants to.  Melissa is learning the parts of speech, and the other girls are working on reading a passage and retelling what the passage was about.  We are also doing cursive lessons with the 3 oldest while Jordan fine-tunes her manuscript writing and we correct some reversals that occur regularly.

For music, I have no clue yet.  I'll figure it out later.  Melissa is working on learning to read music, which is going about as well as trying to teach me how to be patient.  In other words, we may just kill each other before she finally gets the hang of reading music.  We'll keep plugging along though, and maybe I'll see if there are any YouTube videos that I can use to try and help with this.  She so wants to learn to play piano and several other instruments, so she needs to learn to read music so she can develop that skill for real.  She can pick up music by ear, but reading music is going to really get her moving if she's serious about playing something (even if it is just for fun, like with me and piano)

That is about all I can think of right now for our look ahead to this week.  After all, it is close to midnight here and I'm starting to get tired.  Being sick recently, taking care of sick kids and husband both, and taking care of everything while Scott works 70+ hours a week the last few weeks has drained me pretty good.  Hopefully this week's new work schedule for him brings him home before the kids go to bed each night like management says it will.

Have a great week folks!