On the Road Again.....

On the road again...yes like the Willie Nelson song......... That is what I kept hearing this weekend, running through my head as we hit the trails on our bikes again for the first time in over a year.

Beautiful isn't it........ Notice the winding path........

I'll be honest......I really wish I had been walking and taking pictures instead of riding. You know that saying about the wind in your hair.......ya, that's not me. If I am moving so fast that there is wind blowing my hair my brain says "stop immediately!" "Imminent danger!" And if I am standing still and the wind is blowing that hard it usually means take cover- at least to me anyway. 

Add that to the fact that I have an aversion to anything that is fast moving ,and this beautiful windy road, that happens to be creating that wind in your hair sensation means only one thing -nausea. It's really pitiful I know but the first 15 minutes of this ride were excruciating! The only reason I have this picture is because I happen to be sitting on a bench trying to make the lightheaded feeling I was then experiencing, go away. I have a picture which my husband thought would be funny to take to prove it, but I do not intend to show you a photo of myself bent over my bike head resting on it's seat anytime soon.... not pretty.....

I will however share a picture of my husband which I snapped while he wasn't looking and while he was waiting for me to recover ....and get a photo of the windy road for posterity....... I think he's pretty cute!

This one was taken with his knowledge with one of our sweet girls.

Stopping for a rest and checking out a few plants..........

   

I digress............

Luckily this trail happens to become a little straighter as it continues and adjusting my gears to create greater tension/ grip on the road seemed to do the trick and make the rest of the ride MUCH more enjoyable. 

I always use the excuse that my husband is a better leader - true- and so he is at the head of the pack while I am at the back - supposedly keeping behind the children so no one gets left behind- which is also true- but partly because I get to go slower, since going fast scares the life out of me! It also has another benefit........

I get the best view! 

While I may not have had time to "smell the flowers"

In the end, it sure was a sweet ride............

A 6.5 mile ride to be exact! So proud of my kiddos!

  

  

  

How do you organize your day?

One of the questions I get asked  most frequently is "How do you homeschool three kids at once and get everything that everyone needs done"?

I will admit that when I started homeschooling my first child it was tough because of the learning curve. But by the time I added on the second child I felt like it was easy peasy to do. Then came the third child and boy oh boy was that tough for me. It took a while before things got smoother. I know of other people who homeschool three children and they say similar things, so I thought I would share what seems to work well for us right now although by no means is this concrete. I have found that we are most successful when we are flexible with  and open to changing things up if and when they no longer work. You'll also notice that the first thing we do is our Bible Lesson - pray first, then start your day- I can only tell you what works for us :) I am going to plug "One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms" by Jackie Wellwood one more time.....

So here is an example of today's "schedule"    

K	A	L
Bible: Student Discovery Bible Jesus Chooses a Tax Collector pg. 235 Coin Craft after lesson	Bible: Student Discovery Bible Jesus Chooses a Tax Collector pg. 235 Coin Craft after lesson	Bible: Student Discovery Bible Jesus Chooses a Tax Collector pg. 235 Coin Craft after lesson
Science : Thermal Energy/ Expansion ( Science Text) Experiment: Floating Tea Bag Experiment: Balloon Expansion	Science : Thermal Energy/ Expansion ( Science Text) Experiment: Floating Tea Bag Experiment: Balloon Expansion	Science : Thermal Energy/ Expansion ( Science Text) Experiment: Floating Tea Bag Experiment: Balloon Expansion
Latin: Review Lessons 2-4 Vocabulary : Type or print	Latin: Review Lessons 2-4 Vocabulary : Type or print	Latin: Review Lessons 2-4 Vocabulary : Type or print
Math ( Meet with me)	Reading ( Independent)	Reading ( Independent)
Reading ( Independent)	Math ( Meet with me)	Online: Multiplication.com
Math ( part 2- Independent)	Spelling	Math ( Meet with me)
Spelling	Online: Multiplication.com	Grammar( Meet with me)
Grammar ( Meet with me)	Grammar ( Meet with me)	Spelling

So, everything that is highlighted in green means that I taught that lesson. You will notice that that Bible, Science, and Latin are taught as a group.

Now, I know that some of you have super little ones and are trying to school with babies or toddlers. When my kids were that age I would have activities that they could do alone like puzzles, blocks, play-doh, chalk and chalkboard, coloring with crayons or markers, stringing beads( large ones), scooping cotton balls, rice,  or macaroni with big spoons and transferring between bowls etc. If you have babies you can always school while they are napping or if they are content while they are playing quietly.  The nice part about when they get a little older is that you can always let them work online doing games that reinforce previous lessons. If you scroll to the right of the blog page a tab with sites that we like to use will come up. I should also add that I recently found a site called KidZui which is a safe internet search site for kids. Lots of great topics they can look up including things like the Yellow River/ Huang in China, as well as funny little videos and songs with dogs and kittens etc. They are parent and teacher approved before they go on the site. I waited until we had been using it for several months before sharing it just to make sure there weren't any problems and so far so good. We have never come across anything inappropriate. While the site is safe, I will note that  I do not allow them to surf any site without my supervision. I give my 10 year old a little space in that I am not sitting with her, but I am always in the room she is in  listening and occasionally looking at her screen .

I also want to mention that many subjects can be taught outside on a back porch table while smaller brothers or sisters play in a sand box or on swings.

There are many more possibilities but those are a few that we employed and which worked well for us.

So, just a  few pictures from today with sites that explain what we worked on before I go .....

This is the "coin craft" the kids worked on today that went along with our story " Jesus Chooses a Tax Collector"
The kids drew a picture of themselves on one side ( funny - none of my kids have red hair)  and on the other side they drew a picture or wrote down how they  were valuable to Jesus.

Anything that requires a fire extinguisher has got to be fun right?
Floating/ Flying  Tea Bag Experiment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKF3OKxwM8g

Right before lift off!

Balloon Expansion Experiment


http://www.ehow.com/info_8320986_thermal-expansion-science-experiments-kids.htm

Hot water warms the air inside the bottle and the balloon blows up





Take the balloon out of the water and watch it deflate. This was fun and went on for about 15 minutes back and forth.

   

Discovering Passover

You can't know where you are going until you know where you have been.....

That is why it is important to me as a Christian that my children know what the Passover is. It is important that they know why Jesus went to celebrate it, and appreciate the symbolism and the beauty of the story. For the "one" who is going to celebrate at the festival, a festival of remembering when God free's his people, and a festival where it is remembered that a lamb is sacrificed, using it's blood to cover and protect God's people, is then a festival where at the weeks end, the "one", becomes the lamb himself.

We started Wednesday with a video from Chabad.org  that reviewed the Passover story. You can go to the site and decide which of several video's are appropriate for you childs age. They have several available. I will  let you know ahead of time that this is a Jewish website and so there are some small differences in the stories that you may not be use to. We simply discussed any differences after the movie. Watch them first to make sure you are okay with their content. We followed that with a discussion about the Passover and how Jesus becomes the lamb. Of course this meant that a craft was in order....

A lamb craft- a few simple supplies, you can find any template that you like or just make 2 different size ovals for the head and body. 

This is what one of our crafters made , they were all different, some used  pasta shells, others cotton, and still others a combination of both . They added a lavender collar to the lamb because Jesus is Royalty.

From there because we were on the topic of lambs we went to you tube for a video called "Will Ewe keep me warm"? Made by the Utah Ag Classroom. The kids loved this one, I could tell by how quiet they were the whole time! Find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09iWNtU-sw4

In science we are working on Physical "vs" Chemical change and so we did an experiment with wool. Steel wool that is. We took a piece of steel wool and soaked it in white vinegar for one minute, we then felt how warm the steel wool was, from there we took the steel wool and placed it in a mason jar for 5 minutes with the lid on. At the end of the 5 minutes we discussed the changes and why they occurred.

A few supplies and eager "scientists" 

Steel wool soaking in vinegar for 1 minute

Steel wool in the mason jar. Notice the cloudiness of the jar. That is due to heat being produced by oxidation.

The result after 5 minutes in the jar. A rusty piece of steel wool. 

For a complete set of instructions and the how and why please visit:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/steelwoolvinegar.html

Today, Thursday we talked about the last supper, and what it is that is eaten at Passover. We started with the story of the last supper. 

Thought I would share this. This is a picture of the Student Discovery Bible we use and is geared at ages 7-11. We really enjoy it.

From there The kids worked on coloring a Seder plate as I talked about the 15 steps of the Seder found at this site:

 http://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/1609/jewish/The-Seder.htm

We also looked at an interactive Seder plate online found here:  

http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/mediaplayer/flash_cdo/fileid/434480/aid/269147

A picture of their plates 

Part of our lesson included information on the Afikomen bag. It is used to hold matzah. We also discussed the game that some play which includes hiding the Afikomen bag at the beginning of the Passover meal. The person who finds it then gets a prize or treat.

These are their decorated afikomen bags.

We are going to attempt making matzah tonight for their afikomen bags...........we shall see.......

Here is our guide:  http://judaism.about.com/library/3_howto/ht_makematzah.htm



O.k. on to science, still focusing on Chemical change, and an egg is part of the Seder plate sooo.......

We are working on how to make a disappearing eggshell. The idea is that you take an egg, place it in a glass of vinegar, and watch. Immediately you will see bubbles ( carbon dioxide). This is caused by  the vinegar- an acid reacting with the calcium carbonate of the shell. This is also what causes the shell to disappear( in about a day or so).

Our bubbling egg immediately after adding the vinegar. You can use a raw or cooked egg for this, it  doesn't matter.

Well, I won't be blogging tomorrow because  I will be cleaning my house and preparing for our Easter guests, but I would like to share with you one little tradition that we do each year on Good Friday. That is the tradition of planting Jelly beans or candy. Each year we bury jellybeans or another small candy, just as Jesus was buried that Friday night. On Easter morning, the kids will find lollipops or other candies on a stick that have sprouted from where they planted their jellybeans. While they are a bit old for this, it is still something they love and want to do. When they were younger it was a fun and easy way to discuss/ explain the burial and resurrection of Christ. While I know I have pictures of this somewhere finding them would be quite a task! 

I will leave you with an image my oldest drew just a few weeks ago in church...... 

Rejoice! He lives!

Happy Easter!

       

        

College Day

So before I get to all the details of the day I should give you a little bit of the backstory. My husband and I met at a local college. My mother, after I had already graduated, went back to college at the very same school. She is now employed at the college. Because of this we were able to participate in "Bring your child ( in our case grandchild) to work day". We went last year and had a wonderful time but this year was even better!  So here are a few pictures of what we saw and learned about today!   

This is early this morning at the college after they had decorated their name tags and were waiting for the day to begin. Can I point out that I woke them up at 6:30 a.m. so we could be there at 8:30 a.m.? But it was worth it! 

A picture of them in front of a painting of the first president of the college . He was president for 30 years!  

Touring the college library- they also have a food court inside!

At the health building looking at trophies

Inside the gym burning some steam

Sweet! The Planetarium! 

I wish I would have been able to take a picture during the show. We got a 45 minute lesson that  amazed me! We learned that Saturn has an ice moon. That means that it has a moon ( named Enceladus)  with volcanoes that spew ice instead of lava. The official term for a volcano that shoots frozen water, methane, or ammonia is a cryovolcano. This is why there is a ring of ice around Saturn!  Seriously blew my mind! Eh... I mean the kids .........

This is at the science lab. They had three -10 minute stations all centered around the theme of germs. This was one. The germ games on the computer.

This was the second station they visited. Mock germ gel was applied to their hands and they were able to look at it under special lighting and see the "germs" glow. The orange is the germ gel. 

At the third section they were given black lights and asked to go around the lab and look for germs. Hot spots were handles, knobs, and keyboards.   The science department gave out bio-hazard  stickers and hand sanitizer to each child at the end of the activity. 

This was Legal Affairs. They went over the rules at school and home. They then picked a small toy or object out of a bucket. Once selected,  they were then asked to write a rule about their item. For example, if you selected an eraser, the rule could be, never chew on your eraser. They were able to keep the object they picked, and were also  given pencils from the department.   

Looking at the wall plaques on the way to visit the Fire Science department.

Fire Science! How cool  is it that they let us look at the supply room- and tools!

More Fire Science supplies!

Dragging a "child dummy" at the Fire Science activity. He/ she is very heavy by the way! 

They let them use the hose to knock down a cone!

In the "burn building" Students of the college get real experience fighting fires.  The ceiling is 600+ degrees when they are inside and it is lit! Glad we are not real students! 

Emergency Medical Services did not disappoint. They re-enacted an emergency visit to someones home. The little boy simulator talks and answers questions about how he feels during the simulation. My little boy happens to be suffering from some pretty severe allergies right now and has been coughing like a banshee for about a month. They asked if they could record his cough to use for the simulator- so funny! They also had other children act out/ say a few lines to add to the simulators vocabulary.     

Visiting some of the other simulators at the EMS department.

Criminal Justice included a little "basic training" with the kids. SO funny!

The "take down" in the Criminal Justice Department

Beating up a few  "manly targets"

It was a wonderful and busy day! And I wish I had more energy and space to share more of what we learned and did because it was a wonderful experience. I am so thankful to all of the people who made this day possible. It was truly amazing that they would take a day to welcome so many young children through their doors and educate and feed them also- pizza party! 

 Before our day was over we needed to make a quick stop over at the co-op to pick up our goodies. I couldn't resist getting a picture of one of the pretty little chickens that walk around there.  

Before I close I have to say this. To all of you ladies who work outside of the home and have families, and then come home and cook and clean.......my hat's off to you! I do not know how you do it

 everyday! We got home at almost 6:00 p.m.I am wiped! 

Alright, well, that is it for today, I hope you come back tomorrow and see what we are doing to celebrate and learn about Passover.  

Lent and Pretzels

Today was a lot of fun! Continuing with our Easter/ Spring Season lessons we worked on a pretzel themed day.
That sounds strange I know but  there is a Legend regarding the pretzel that says it was originally made by a monk during the Lenten season who gave them as treats for children who learned their prayers. They began calling these treats Pretiola which is the Latin word for little treat. How cool is it that we added another Latin word without trying! That word later became pretzel.  There is a cute story that explains it called "The Legend of the Lenten Pretzel" You can read the story here:
 http://www.sundayschoolkids.com/activities-lent-easter/1-legend-of-lent-pretzel-instru.htm

The craft to go along with our story was a "Pretiola" wreath made from pipe cleaner and a wooden wreath frame

And the result of our craft.

We then moved on to Science where we reviewed the topic of Physical "vs" Chemical change in our text. We discussed how heating/ cooking food is a form of chemical change. We followed that lesson by watching  "The Magic School Bus Ready Set Dough" The kids in the show visit a bakery and discuss chemical change.

From there I found on Scholastic.com a lesson for chemical change that included pretzel making. Hooray!

The directions from Scholastic.

You can find it here: http://www.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=2850

And the results of our "Chemical Change"  lesson. 

I know I always blog about Science or Bible or some other craft but here is a little proof that we really do other subjects -Ha! 

 Well that was our day. Tomorrow is the start of Passover but we will be waiting until Wednesday to start that. Come back tomorrow and see why!