Lots of Science Fun

Our season of "extreme busyness" is well underway. The kids performed in the Tween Company showcase last weekend. They did a great job and the show was really well done. They explored lots of different movements and spaces. They even had the audience move onto the stage while they performed in the seats. Unfortunately, the show's lighting was especially dark this time, so my camera was not able to take high quality photos.

Here is Tom Sawyer posing in one of the dances.

Little Red Riding Hood is on the far right siting up.

Tom Sawyer is on the left and Little Red Riding Hood is on the right.

Another Birthday ~ We had a lovely birthday dinner for Grandma. Little Red Riding Hood bought her a ticket to the showcase as a gift.

A Science Adventure at the Library ~ We attended a fantastic program at our local library where we learned all about liquid nitrogen. It was taught by a man who gave a wonderful presentation, including pouring the liquid nitrogen on the floor several times. It made a cold wave of gas that came over our feet. It was so cool! We followed up with this video to reinforce the concepts he taught.

Life Skills ~ We have been working on life skills and budgeting for some time now. The kids are being given $50 to pick out their own clothes for this summer. I told them that I would provide a swimming suit and two or three outfits of my choosing beyond what they could purchase with their own clothing allowance. Little Red Riding Hood shopped for her clothes this week. She asked to go to a local children's consignment shop. I think she did a good job for her first budgeted shopping spree. She thought carefully about what she had at home that still fit from last year and what would coordinate nicely. She got four complete outfits, an extra shirt and a pair of sandals. Tom Sawyer will be doing his shopping in the next week or two.

Our School Week ~ 

There was lots of learning this week. I love weeks that go smoothly. Here is a list of our learning:

• Read Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring ~ a lovely book about Martha Graham
• Did research for their next paper which is on Martha Graham
• Watched Appalachian Spring, which is a delightful play created by Martha Graham
• Finished two language arts workbooks this week
• Completed four Teaching Textbook lessons
• Started our lotus seeds that will turn into lotus flowers
• Started reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 
• Read five more chapters from the book, The Pushcart War 
• Watched three hours of the DVD, A Story of Us, which gave us a nice review/overview of World War II to September 11, 2001
• Spent several hours in independent reading
• Completed four lessons from Draw Write Now Book 2
• Watched CNN Student News daily
• Finished Lesson 3 of Minn of The Mississippi 
• Learned about the International Space Station
• Explored out latest Tinker Crate box, which is about polymers
• Attended writing and math classes at homeschool co-op

The kids made slime, putty and a bouncing ball with their Tinker Crate box. They conducted lots of experiments with their creations. There are a few more great creations to make next week. 

The last picture in the collage is the Mindware catalogue. There are some great science things in there. My dream list for next year is getting really long. What a blessing to homeschool!

Blessings, Dawn