Katie's unit project is butterflies and so far we have ID'ed a butterfly we found in NC at the beach, observed many in our butterfly bush and checked out and printed a book of commonly seen butterflies at the National Zoo with the intention of keeping a log we can chart in some way later. We also visited a butterfly exhibit a the Science Museum in Boston--real live butterflies and a chart we could use to ID them.
Zack's project is volcanoes. He has a volcano-building kit he got for his b-day, that we will probably crack open tomorrow. So far, he's seen live pictures of Mt. St. Helens, looked on the globe for some, read a book on volcanoes and seen pictures of a volcano in Africa that has the only flow of a certain kind in the world.
Ever notice that once you put your attention to a thing, it suddenly pops up all over the place? Who knew there'd be a special exhibit at the Science Museum or that Nat Geo mag would have a spread on a special volcano?
So, today--
After morning ablutions, clean up and breakfast, we headed off to the farmers market to learn to pick out fresh fruit and veggies and about counting change.
There was a playground and trails at the park that hosts the market so we went over to check it out. Zack hooked up with some boys and Katie chased them all over the place threatening to spread girl cooties. On the way out we tried a short trail where Katie and Zack tried to climb up a tree via a vine. It was harder than it looks in the Tarzan movies. The trail went by a wetland area so we took a look a the water lilies and noticed that there was actually a frog on almost every one. We talked about why the lily pads didn't sink, why cat tails get so fuzzy and the value wetlands have to local ecology and how they would have helped New Orleans if their wet lands hadn't been developed for building.
We also read on a sign about how wet lands help filter water and also talked about how trees need the CO2 we produce and we need the Oxygen they produce.
Home for lunch (leftovers from King Street Blues-yum) and Katie and I went downstairs to clean up the craft area so we could decorate the puppet she made last week. Zack decided to look over the Smithsonian kids' site about plate tectonics and volcanoes.
Katie made a lovely puppet:
We then did some lego building, here's Zack's Dr. Octopus blaster:
We ended the "official" school day with math. I gave the kids a choice of flash cards, a computer game or worksheets. Katie went for the flash cards, which she used with buttons from my mom's old button box (have found a million uses for these!) and Zack started in on the 2nd/3rd grade Reader Rabbit math program where he tried to make enough change to get someone out of a trap.
Katie started dance lessons today and due to a mix up of her age, ended up at a class that was really too young for her, so she stayed for the next class, which she will take from here on out.
Home for dinner, basement clean up and the night time routine and I'm about to head up to read a few more chapters of Around the World in 80 Days. Where did the day go?!
Hope your day was full too.
--Liz
3 comments:
Hey Cool, Didn't know you were home schooling. Kudos and good luck! My children are getting into Drew first time in public school. Adam is a very tired guys - getting off the bus with a pounding heart. Lots' of excitement in school. Two years in Waldorf environment - where they really soften the impact on consumerism, commersialism to a minimum. I know they will be ok of course. Any change is but scary and great at the same time.
I didn't sign my comment - Good Luck Liz!
Hi Liz: Thanks for including me in your list. The blog is adorable and I am so glad that the kids are doing so great. I still think of them as babies, so this is all too much for me to comprehend. School?
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