This week we've taken school on the road and have been doing our work at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Thanks to the generosity of Miss Wendy, we even get to practice piano down the street each day. So far it's been a huge success. We get our work done while the grandparents are at work, then we have the evenings to share together. The kids have really enjoyed sharing the things they've learned with new people. Apparently, they're tired of just discussing it over dinner with Dad.
Right now our unit is on animal adaptation. They put on a puppet show last night with puppets they made to discuss how animals adapt to desert and arctic climates. We did an experiment with "blubber" (crisco) to find out how well it protects from cold, and they've learned about different animals that estivate during the summer to stay out of the heat. Yesterday they also used natural resources to build their own model boats, then floated them in the sink and made adjustments as needed. It was a VERY busy day.
This morning I ordered the curriculum for next year. We're trying something new that may enable us to be even more mobile. The company is now offering online curriculum, and the kids thought that would be great. Aiden was thrilled to learn that he could type most of his answers and then print out the worksheets instead of having to hand write everything. I think he'll love that since he can type much faster than he writes, and editing is much easier. Zoe liked the idea that websites will be embedded in the text and easily accessed for more research on topics. Next year is the first year the curriculum is student driven. The lessons are all written with clear directions for the kids to follow, and I can help as much or as little as needed. I'm very interested to see how this works, and a little sad to give up some of the reins to allow them more independence. They sure are growing up fast!
Either way, having our curriculum online might make it easier to be more on the go. Next time I won't have to pack the crate of books and supplies if we want to spend a week studying somewhere else. I'll just need to find a way to cram the piano in the trunk!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
New Unit and School on the Move
This week we've started our last unit for the year on exploration and survival. The next few weeks we'll be studying animal adaptation and reading Abel's Island. So far it seems like a really fun unit. I can't wait for the last part that focuses on simple machines and culminates with making our own Rube Goldberg!
Our piano "experiment" is going really well. In this case it's more of an observation than an experiment with the goal being daily practice. Everyone has discovered that they learn things very quickly when they practice more than 3-4 days a week. Both of them are now progressing quickly through book 1, and we've started planning Aiden's book 1 recital for sometime in May.
On Saturday we pack up our school books and head to Cleveland to spend the week doing school at Grandma and Grandpa's. I'm not looking forward to the 10+ hour drive, but at least we have 3 books on cd to listen to while we travel. If they can manage to get all their work done during the week, we'll be able to do this more often. I don't think it will be an issue because my parents are still working during the week, so they'll be gone all day while we're doing school. I am looking forward to not having all the other things I normally have to do during the week! Maybe that's worth the 10 hour drive.
Our piano "experiment" is going really well. In this case it's more of an observation than an experiment with the goal being daily practice. Everyone has discovered that they learn things very quickly when they practice more than 3-4 days a week. Both of them are now progressing quickly through book 1, and we've started planning Aiden's book 1 recital for sometime in May.
On Saturday we pack up our school books and head to Cleveland to spend the week doing school at Grandma and Grandpa's. I'm not looking forward to the 10+ hour drive, but at least we have 3 books on cd to listen to while we travel. If they can manage to get all their work done during the week, we'll be able to do this more often. I don't think it will be an issue because my parents are still working during the week, so they'll be gone all day while we're doing school. I am looking forward to not having all the other things I normally have to do during the week! Maybe that's worth the 10 hour drive.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Pi Day
We had a great time on Sunday. It was the first time we celebrated Pi day. The kids made invitations that they gave to their grandparents and the neighbors. The party started at 1:59 and was over at 3:14. They thought that was great.
We started out with a brief lesson about Archimedes who discovered pi, how it's an irrational number, and then went into finding out how the number is derived. The kids found 5 different circles, measured their circumference and diameter, then found the ratio of each. Then they found the average ratio for their 5 circles. Both of them were pretty close to pi.
Of course we had to also eat pie! What pi day party would be complete without a slice of pie?! So we took a short break to have some cherry crumb pie. Then they made pi necklaces using ten different colored beads to represent each number 0-9. The necklace started with a special bead representing the 3. Each of the kids went out to 150 digits. So if they start reciting pi to over 100 places, you know how they're doing it!
This week is spring break for everyone. I've spent it so far doing spring cleaning and planning out the rest of the year. We have some great things coming up including a trip to Cleveland, a unit on Greek Mythology, Science Camp, book clubs, and ordering next year's curriculum!
We started out with a brief lesson about Archimedes who discovered pi, how it's an irrational number, and then went into finding out how the number is derived. The kids found 5 different circles, measured their circumference and diameter, then found the ratio of each. Then they found the average ratio for their 5 circles. Both of them were pretty close to pi.
Of course we had to also eat pie! What pi day party would be complete without a slice of pie?! So we took a short break to have some cherry crumb pie. Then they made pi necklaces using ten different colored beads to represent each number 0-9. The necklace started with a special bead representing the 3. Each of the kids went out to 150 digits. So if they start reciting pi to over 100 places, you know how they're doing it!
This week is spring break for everyone. I've spent it so far doing spring cleaning and planning out the rest of the year. We have some great things coming up including a trip to Cleveland, a unit on Greek Mythology, Science Camp, book clubs, and ordering next year's curriculum!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)