hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

Okie doke, so in addition to daily math, the kids kept busy this week doing GeoPuzzles, math and thinking skills games on the computer, and actual reading out of science books. I was also reminded by a fellow homeschool mom that the fair was accepting entries to the exhibition hall. I had forgotten, but when I mentioned it to the kids, they really wanted to participate, and both of them found something they have previously done to enter. Grace entered her watercolor called "Bird", and Zak entered an ink sketch he titled "Dream." And guess what? Zak won first place! Though I don't think there were many other entries that shared his medium in his age bracket. I'm bummed that Grace only got a participant ribbon, because I seriously love her painting. We literally took it off our living room wall and brought it, frame and all, to the exhibition hall. But she seems un-phased, and both kids are looking forward to next year when they will have time to wor...

So, late Friday afternoon, Zak strolls into the kitchen, gets down a plate, pours a little water in it and sets it down on the table. "Can I show you something? It just takes a couple seconds." "Sure, just a second." I finish the seam I was sewing and then scoot over to get a better view.  Zak goes into performance mode. "I have in my hand plain ordinary folded paper." (He holds it out to show Grace and I, and turns it over to show the underside.)  "We all know that all living things need water to grow. Right?" We nod. "But what about plain ordinary paper? Water can't make paper grow...or can it?" He sets the folded paper in the water, and his surprise blossoms before our eyes!  "See, water can make even paper grow!" We cheer and marvel. And then I make him do it again so I can take pictures. We marvel again. Zak runs off to go back to his YouTube viewing. But Grac...

So last weekend while all of my kids were out of the house, I rearranged and reorganized the kids room, part of our room, and the living room. So school work itself was pretty light this week since I was still doing a number of touch ups on things. In an effort to maximize storage and access to frequently used items, minimize clutter, and keep Kit from demolishing all of the big kids treasured possessions, we made some changes to the bedrooms.  Before After After swapping the girls' dressers, we then had room for lockers. Yup, I found lockers on sale at Home Depot online, and it was a very helpful solution to fix several problems.  1.) They gave me a place to put Kit's school supplies, without it being open shelving, which is irresistible to Kit. Out of sight, almost out of mind, is a very important rule with her.  2.) It gave me a place to put away, but still have within the big kids reach items that Kit is not allowed...

Monday was our first day of school! Even though we do school all year, I like to make the start of a new school year "official". The last couple years did not lend themselves to anything big, but this year things have been much smoother all around, and I am really excited about how many of our friends have started homeschooling either last year or this year! So I wanted to do something a little more special this year. Monday afternoon we had a First Day of Homeschool Science Party! Not all of our homeschooling buddies could make it, but we ended up with 10 "students" ranging in age from 2-15. The science nerd in me was completely geeked out! And I loved it! I set up science stations around the house for the kids to check out, build, play with, and eat! I made fact sheets about each one and supplies for them to play with. There were six stations:  what makes popcorn pop  mad science fizzy drinks (pop rocks in Hawaiian Punch and Sprite) ...

This program is awesome. This should be part of regular school. This should be part of regular life!

Our little break from the old routine seems to have had a positive effect. Both the kids have been much more excited about rekindling some of our previous subjects and focusing more attention on them once again. They were especially giddy about science this week. And conducted several projects. Here's a sampling of the "coolest" stuff. Zak found some swimming creatures in a puddle and captured a few for study. He looked them up online on the suspicion that they were most likely mosquito larvae. They were indeed. So we allowed him to keep them and observe their transformation. He had caught twelve. And after about four days, he insisted on releasing the six surviving adults. I told him only outside. He agreed. It was 34 degrees outside. No, I did not feel sorry for them. They are mosquitoes ! Later in the week Grace wanted to do "fun" science. I wanted to avoid a huge mess. "Want to play with the food coloring in wat...