A couple of days ago (Wednesday) we decided to go on a fieldtrip. The Henry Ford Museum is having a Lego display which is ending in January so we decided to go before it is gone. The dummy above is not part of the Lego exhibit but the kids had fun with it. It was sitting next to a lego table where you build a contraption with wheels and roll it down a ramp.

They were able to build with oversized legos which were especially fun for amber.

The lego displays were the best part about it especially the dragon and the knight.

They also had displays of buildings like the Sears tower, Eiffel Tower, World Trade Center and a large model of some Detroit buildings with some lego train sets going around it. Overall the Lego display was nice but somewhat of a let down. We were all expecting a little more from it. But I have to say it was worth the trip and we had a good time.

Christmas Cobwebs

Today Amber woke of with a cough and runny nose. We were supposed to be out all day going to a mom's group, gymnastics and catechism. Instead we stayed home and had a fun day. This is one of the activities we did. First we read the Christmas Cobwebs book.

Than we gathered our supplies of different colors of paper, glue and different colors of glitter. You also need a toothpick or the end of a paintbrush works well.

Than the kids made either circles or other shapes on a piece of paper with glue. Using the paint brush end they ran it through the glue to smear it a little in random spots to make them look more like cobwebs.

Then they went crazy with the glitter. We used up a lot of glitter but they enjoyed this craft. My 11 year old, 8 year old and 2 year old could all do this together and they all had fun. And the pictures turned out nice too.

Well it has been awhile since I have written a new post. My hard drive on my computer crashed and had to be replaced. So I did not have a computer for about a week. Then things were pretty busy for awhile because of Christmas, recitals and birthdays so I was very distracted. I will try to catch up on some of the things we have been doing.

For Science they have been studying mollusks such as clams, mussels, and many other sea animals with shells. For math Emily is doing lots of subtraction, clocks and calendars. Christopher has been working on multiplication, angles and fractions. For History we have been studying Ancient Greece and learning about the difference between Sparta and Athens. Christopher started a new spelling book from CHC. He was doing Phonic Zoo with Emily but was really hating it. So we are trying something new. We will see how well he likes the new book. They are both studying Latin and grammar as well. Amber has been busy painting, building with blocks, puzzles and playing on the computer.

Today was the first day of Christmas vacation so the kids are very happy. We are not doing any regular school work but will be doing some learning games and activities. Will probably go on some fieldtrips and just have some fun learning time. They will also help get things ready for Christmas. It makes for a much less stressful time.

School with Amber

So far most of my posts have been about Christopher and Emily. The reason for this unfortunately is that Amber often does not get much attention while we are doing school. Today I attempted to change that. We spent some time building with Tinker Toys.

She practiced her alphabet and her counting.

The other challenge we had today was Christopher. He is not motivated to do his school work. So today we spent some time trying to change that. Encouraging him to be more independent with some of his subjects and to follow through with directions. He was given extra work and had to spend time alone in his room after dinner until bedtime. Hopefully tomorrow he will be more motivated.

Don West's Art class was today. The kids drew a picture called Fountain of Life. The top picture was drawn by Christopher and the bottom one was drawn by Emily.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Today we went on a fieldtrip to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. They have a special performance that they put on for kids to teach them about orchestra music, instruments and different composers. One of their favorite composers that they learned about was John Williams and they played one of his pieces from Indiana Jones. He also composed soundtracks for ET and Star Wars. The kids were complaining before we got there. They thought they would be bored but were willing to go to get out of doing school work. Both of them actually really enjoyed it. It definitely was a fun and successful fieldtrip.

What a blessing our homeschool friends are! We had a All Saints Day Party today with our Catholic Homeschool Bible Study group and had a great day. Everyone pitched in and had a lot of fun. We had presentations, games, cookie decorating, a quiz with prizes given out and a lot of great food.

We started the day with the kids giving presentations on a saint of there choosing. The older kids gave oral presentations that they had prepared, some with posters and some in costume. Even the younger ones were able to participate by telling us a little about there saint. Emily was dressed as Elizabeth Ann Seton who was an American who started the first

Catholic Schools. Christopher was dressed up as St. Jerome Emiliani who was captured during a war and imprisoned.

While in prison he converted to Catholicism and devoted the rest of his life to helping orphans and the sick.

After the presentations we let the kids have a little fun. They played the Queen of All Saints game were they had to throw halos into Mary's Crown. Then they went to St. Anthony's Lost and Found and searched for St. Anthony medals buried in moon sand. One of the favorite activities was St. Martha's Bakery

where they frosted cookies. After all the cookies were eaten we came back together and quized the kids on what they knew about their faith. Everyone was able to win a prize of holy cards and stickers. Last but not least we all went to the kitchen and had a feast. We had delicious pumpkin bread, gourmet sandwichs, juice and other snacks. What a great way to end the day. Then the kids were able to have some free play time while the mom's could sit around and chat.

A Different Kind of Day

Today I needed a change. We had been in the house most of the week and I was getting cabin fever. So I decided to take school on the road. We all got up and out the door early and went to morning mass at St. Margarets. Grandma met us there and then she took Emily and Amber to her house. Emily took her school work with her and Grandma helped her get it done. Christopher got some alone time with mom which we both love. After going to the gym for a quick workout we went to Olive Garden for lunch. That was a nice treat. Then we stopped at Target so he could spend his Target gift cards he got for his birthday. The last stop was Starbucks. We both got a Grande Chai Tea and settled down to do school work there. Christopher worked on his math lesson learning adding and subtracting fractions. It was pretty easy for him. Then we did a Latin hangman and crossword puzzle together. We also corrected his rough draft paper he is writing about some frogs and Zeus. We are studying Ancient Greece right now so it all ties in. Then he took his dreaded Verb test. Grandma brought the girls home shortly after me and Christopher got home and we ended our fun adventures with the girls riding there bikes around the block a few times enjoying the nice fall weather. So overall it was a great day!

Rough Day!

Well, today was a pretty rough day. All the kids and I where slow in getting out of bed. And we were really slow in getting school work started. So most of the day they were goofing off, fighting, complaining, etc. And not getting much of there school work done. Amber is pretty happy if she can play on the computer while we are doing school work. But if I don't let her she is causing all sorts of problems and interuptions. They were so bad I even took away there video game privileges for the day.

We did get some work done. We started Unit 7 of Connecting with History which is on the Divided Kingdom 930 -722 B.C. It covers the time of division between Israel and Judah as well as Ancient Greece. They also did a lesson from Unit 3 in writing in which they had to develop an outline from an Aesops Fable, The Frogs Who Desired a King. Tomorrow they will be writing there story using there outline. They also worked on Latin, cursive and math. Didn't have time for science but will try to fit that in tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow goes better. I will try to change my attitude for the better and maybe that will help.

Confused

Today was an interesting day. My mother in-law came over at 9:00 am so that I could go out and run errands and get a test done on my gall bladder. So I made a long list of things for the kids to get done. They did spelling, math, Latin, memorization, grammar, cursive and reading. It is amazing how quickly and without complaints they got there work done. I was gone pretty much all day but school still got done. When I am here it seems so much harder to get things done with complaining, whining and lack of motivation. So why are they so good about getting there work done when I am not home? Hmmmmmmmm? I will have to think about that one for awhile.

COLUMBUS DAY ACTIVITIES

Today is Columbus Day so we did some fun activities. First we read a story about Christopher Columbus. I had found this really nice pop up book about his journey to America. Yes, it is a pop up book and no it is not for small children. It actually gives a lot of information but in a very fun way. The book is titled, "The Voyage of Columbus In His Own Words" Auther Stacie Strong. I also found some other information online about him that I did not know. That he was a very devout Catholic and one of his main reasons for the journey was to evangelize. Also that he prayed every day with his crew. That is something that you would never learn in school!

Next they had to draw a map of the world identifying all the continents and the equator. Then they put in the route that Christopher Columbus traveled in 1492.

Today we did't do any book work. On the first Friday of the month we attend mass with our Catholic homeschooling group. It was nice to see so many homeschoolers at mass together. Then all the kids eight and up went to art class. The have a wonderful art teacher. His name is Don West and God has truly given him a gift. He starts out by given them a copy of what there picture will look like. Then he takes them step by step through the process of completing the picture. He also tells wonderful stories and encourages them in there Christian faith. He is definitely a blessing to the homeschool community.

The pictures that the kids come home with are amazing. We have started a binder and save
them all because they are so good. These pictures are what they did today. It is called Breakthrough.

I never thought that I would start a blog. A few of my friends have them and I have been reading them. Then I thought how nice it would be to have a record of our homeschooling. So I have jumped on the blogging band wagon. So here goes!

We are studing sharks and rays from the Zoology book Swimming Creatures from Apologia. It is a great book and we are having lots of fun with it! We learned how sharks have the Ampulae of Lorenzini which detects electrical signals given off by other fish. This is one way that sharks are able to locate their prey. Today we did an experiment to see whether these electrical signals travel better in fresh water or salt water. First they filled out a scientific speculation sheet where they had to come up with there hypothesis. Christopher's hypothesis was that electricity would travel better in fresh water and Emily's was that electricity would travel better in salt water.

For the experiment we took a large battery and hooked up a piece of wire to the negative and postive connections. One of those wires was connected to a light bulb holder. Another wire was connected to the other side of the light bulb holder. Than a nail was taped to the other end of this wire. Another nail was also taped to the end of the wire connected to the battery.

Then they tested it to see if it was hooked up right. They took each nail and touched them together. The light bulb lit up so they new they did it right. They were pretty excited that it really worked. Then they got a glass of water and dipped the nails in the water (not touching) and the light bulb did not come on. Then they dipped the nails in salt water and the light bulb came on. So their conclusion was that electricity travels well in salt water but not at all in fresh water.