A day out

Today was Princess's monthly book club meeting, so after finishing up some schoolwork we headed out to drop her off. The book they read for this month was Little Women (abridged versions are allowed). The girls also talk about an important woman in history, and this month's pick was Beatrix Potter, so we looked up some information on her yesterday. For their snack they ate ginger snap cookies and made yarn dolls for the craft that pertains to the book. Fun, huh?

Well, with big sister off having her fun, I decided that Spike and Sprout needed something fun as well, but without having to drive too far from where Princess was. First we went to the thrift store, which is always an exciting experience. Spike even found a VHS copy of Star Wars I. He has been on a bit of a Stars Wars thing for a couple of months, so how could I say no? That was a lot of happy bought for only 99 cents! After that we went out to ice cream at this cute little old-fashioned store. The kids both picked play-doh ice cream and I got peppermint stick, yum! We sat next to some beautifully decorated Christmas trees and enjoyed the treat. But this was not enough...there was more. We went to a nearby park, where they tuckered themselves out.



It was getting close to the time to pick up Princess, so we went and waited for her until she was finished up with her activities. And, of course, by this time Spike and Sprout had regained their energy so we all went to yet another park. I wanted Princess to get some time to run around as well since today was actually playgroup day, but we had to miss it for book club. Unfortunately, it was getting really cold so we had to cut the time at the park short. I am hoping for at least a few more weeks that we play at the park before the real winter weather kicks in. Playing outside is so much more fun.

Science

I have not gotten around to posting Princess's last science experiment, so even though it did not happen today, I am including it. She has been learning about solutions. The unit started with putting solutions together and learning how different substances dissolved and has moved onto separating solutions. The method that did with this experiment is chromatography. Princess took some strips of coffee filters and colored a dot on each with marker. The colors we used were black, brown, blue, and green. She dipped one side of the coffee filter into a water and alcohol solution, then watched as the filter absorbed the solution. As the wetness hit the marker, the the ink was separated into the different colors that went into it. Black was definitely the most interesting. We could see bits of pink and purple, along with orange and some bright blue. Spike also did the experiment. The kids pretty much always do each others experiments, although the one who is not required to do so does not have to take notes.

As the experiment was wrapping up, Sprout woke up from nap. Gotta love that nap hair!


Today we did an experiment from Spike's science lessons. He has most recently been studying simple machines. We learned about wheels and levers so far, and today was pulleys. We first measured the amount of newtons required to pick up the bucket we had loaded with stuff (including one of Sprout's snow boots), and then tested the amount of newtons required to lift with the pulley. To test the amount of newtons, Spike uses a spring weight that he gets a kick out of. We rigged the pulley up on the landing outside of me and my husband's bedroom where you can look down at the entryway, so the kids could lift the bucket up one floor of the home. They obviously enjoyed doing this, as they continued to play with it long after their required experimentation was over. Speaking of which...I believe the pulley is still there.


The kids also helped me make chocolate chip cookies today. I could tell you that this was a learning experience about measurement and all that, but honestly everyone just wanted some cookies.

Fun with Fresco

Today we got math, language arts, and art accomplished. Due to the kiddos other activities, we ran out of time for history, but you can only do what you can, right? Princess finished reading the retold version of Robinson Crusoe for literature and Spike read the entire small chapter book I gave him to read even though he was only supposed to read half. Little stinker got carried away.



Art was really fun today. The kids learned about fresco paintings. We read the book A Boy Named Giotto, which was about the painter Giotto di Bondone when he was a young kid. The kids liked the story, but they enjoyed doing their own frescoes even more.

To create a more authentic experience than mere painting on paper could provide, and as we are lacking in any plaster walls, I created some plaster tablet things. A couple days ago, I spread some wall plaster onto poster board, let it dry, and there you go! I did not take any pictures before the kids started painting, but I am sure that you can imagine what they looked like. The kids thought it was really neat and had a nice time painting on the plaster. And you know what? I think they will remember better just what a fresco is now.

Although she technically was not one of the students for the lesson, whenever paint is involved, Sprout is there. I let her paint on construction paper since she does not really care what she is painting on, as long as she gets to do it.

Princess's finished painting, which was purely from her imagination.

Spike's finished painting, inspired by his little penguin toy named Squawk.

Sprout's finished painting, apparently inspired by her love of paint in lots of colors.

Can They Build It? Yes They Can!

Today I took the kids to the local Home Depot to participate in the Kids' Clinic activity. For those of you out there who are not familiar with this program that Home Depot has, it is a free activity for kiddos where they get a kit to build whatever project is for that month. The clinics are held on the first Saturday of every month. If you want more information, go to the Kids' Clinic website. On their first visit, each kid gets a Home Depot apron. These are like the ones you see on the employees, just smaller. For every project they finish they get a pin to put on their apron. I have joked with the kids that it is kind of like Home Depot Scouts. This month the project was a tile trivet.

Princess and Spike have done these activities on a couple of occasions, but it was a first for Sprout. It was completely appropriate for her right now since she currently has a bit of a munchkin crush on Bob the Builder, and often asks me, "Watch Bob?" She felt mighty proud of herself hammering in the little nails, even if her hammer banging was not always on where it was supposed to be. The big kids did great and did not even need any help for me. I even offered, but they politely declined.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a clip of Sprout's crazy hammering.

A Beautiful Day

First off, I should announce that we have exciting news! Spike officially has his own e-mail address. The older kids have been e-mailing each other, me, their dad, and their grandmas at every spare moment. Don't worry, he did get the internet safety talk and had to repeat it all back to me before I allowed it.


Today we had playgroup. When the weather is chilly we all head to a gymnasium that the kids can run around in and get out their wiggles. When the weather is nice we meet at a park. The park is pretty much the unanimous favorite. Today was extra wonderful. The weather was just the right amount of chilly, the leaves were a pretty gold color, and the kids had a nice time playing.



Spike was attacked by a scurvy pirate, but since he posses some branch dueling skills of his own he was able to leave the fight unscathed.



Sprout found her favorite tree. Whenever we are at this park she spends quite a while picking at the bark on this tree. Something about it just amazes her.


I would have liked to get more pictures of Princess, but as soon as more of her friends arrived, she zoomed to the other end of the park to climb in their tree "clubhouse." From what she tells me, one of her friends had a box of pretty rocks that they looked through.

Science and Snacks

So these happened about a week ago, but I am including it now since it took my until now to get my butt into gear with starting a homeschool blog. I will be including some of the other things we have done up to the point later on.

Firstly, my kiddos love science. While they sometimes complain about math or language arts, not a negative word is said about science. And can you blame them, I mean, science is fun! Princess has been studying solutions lately. For her science experiment she used four different solvents which were soapy water, alcohol, vinegar, and cooking oil, and three solutes which were salt, baking soda, and sugar. She tried every combination of these in little plastic cups to see what dissolved and what did not (after making a hypothesis chart of what she thought would happen). She was correct of many of them, but there were surprises. Alcohol causes the salt to make clumps and not dissolve at all, which she thought was neat. Of course the kids could never tire of watching what vinegar and baking soda do when combined; the sudden fizz is even better when done in a graduated cylinder. And yes, I do realize my children are in their pajamas and Spike's hair is crazy, but it was pajama day so you will have to excuse our sloppiness.

Mixing, mixing, mixing...


All of Princess's solutions after she was finished.

The kids could mix vinegar and baking soda all day long if I let them.


A little while later, it was snack time. As Spike and Princess have been pestering me to teach them some cooking skills (and it is certainly not a bad idea since I do not want to be preparing their meals forever), we started doing some simple cooking classes. I found a printable kids' coloring cookbook on the Taste of Home website and we have started by working on those recipes. This was a fitting one for October since they were little spider snacks. The biggest lesson here was to not lick your fingers while preparing food, especially food you are going to be sharing! I made them wash their hands every time they put a finger with peanut butter on it in their mouths. They were happy with their creations in the end and enjoyed eating them.

Alas, Spike gets tired of my taking pictures sometimes.

Princess's finished product.

Spike's finished product.

Halloween

Can you feel the vibe of over-sugared children running around? Yep, that is right, Halloween was yesterday. The kiddos had plenty of fun this year, although I was originally worried that they would miss out by not being in public school and therefore missing class parties. If they thought about it at all, they did not say anything to me. First we had the trunk at treat at Grandma Lori's work; something they have looked forward to since last year. The amount of candy they got was crazy! We also had a party with some of the other homeschoolers in the area, a party at the library, and finally, trick or treating around the neighborhood. We unfortunately did miss my little nephew Lincoln's party, since I have not managed to develop an instant transportation device (might as well add it to the To Do list). Our son (I will call him Spike, per his request) was really looking forward to seeing the little guy. I cheered him up though telling him that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and is another chance to see his cousin.

Trick or treating was a lot of fun, although our little red-headed Sprout got pretty grumpy towards the end. She is too stinkin' independent! I have tried to explain that she is my little one and should at the very least hold my hand, but she does not seem to be buying it.

Oh yeah, as for their costumes this year, Princess was a dark fairy, Spike was a vampire, and Sprout was little red riding hood. Now to on the pictures!

What a cute trick-or-treater.

No, she is not eating sour candy. This is her super smile face that she likes to pose with sometimes.

Getting candy is amazing!

Spike liked getting to wear a cape.

Standing by his tombstone. Oh my!

We sprayed his hair black for Halloween night which was fun.

My cute dark fairy.

She loved this costume. I must say it did turn out pretty cool.

Watch out! She is going to cast an evil spell!