Three Kings' Day

The Three King's Day on January 6th is celebrated in Estonia and, I found out, in Mexico as well. Interesting. 
Today, Saara and Andrew painted a picture to celebrate this holiday. The idea came from the Caryola website: paint a picture, sprinkle it with salt, and after it dries, wipe off salt and glue silhouettes to the perfect starry background. I used a cardstock paper instead of the watercolor paper and the outcome was not as 'starry', but the kids had fun and loved the craft nevertheless.

Because I was packing up Christmas decorations, we moved our craft time from the table to the floor. Which was not a bad idea as paints and salt were involved.

To speed up the drying process, we used a blow dryer.

Saara's wise men and camel.

One more week of winter break left. Happy New Year to all!

Santa's Wonderland

We celebrated Saara's fifth birthday at Santa's Wonderland. It is a rather unique place. Charles and I visited it years and years ago and barely remembered a thing. So, it was like for the first time for all of us to enter into this fun and festive and busy and sort of magical world of lights. Millions of them.

Our journey started off in the true spirit of Christmas: during our short ride on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the Wonderland, the children were belting out "Jingle Bells" for all to hear. It was precious! 

Once we arrived and got our tickets, we entered the Western style Christmas village which was a destination in itself. There was so much to look at and experience. I believe, Saara's favorite part was the fake snow that fell on her (and others who happened to stand under the bubble machine). 

The hayride through the forest of lights was cold but so very beautiful. Saara and Andrew loved every minute of it. I had hard time getting decent photos of them because they were not sitting still but trying to take in as much of the sights as possible. 

It was a lot of fun for the little ones and for us, adults, as well. God willing, we might do it again next year.

'12/13 Week 17 Day 3

Our last day of school in 2012 started with a serious cooking lesson. Andrew desired to have pancakes for breakfast and I told him, he can have them if he makes them himself. He did. Heavily supervised, but he did and enjoyed eating them. So did Saara.

In history, we read some more about the early Greeks. Andrew barely remembered the story of the siege of Troy and the story about the Trojan Horse from last year. So, I have a good starting point for our next lesson after the break. I also want to revisit the Greek gods and goddesses for fake as they were they gave to the world a lot, and I am not talking just the names of some planets.
 
Now then, school is out for two weeks. It is Christmas time. 

Andrew learning how to flip pancakes.

Mopping up after yourself is an art in itself.

Kitchen duties after breakfast. Now, Andrew, how about Christmas dinner?

In a year or two this sight will be a history. They grow up so fast.

From my home to yours: Merry Christmas!

 

'12/13 Week 17 Day 2

What a blessed busy day! Our science class was a cool one today. We continued our studies of water and this time we focused on water's 'skin'. We made our own 'wishing well' and added coins to a glass full of water until it bulged. Our other experiment with a floating needle did not turn out as well. Even the 'scientist' on the DVD said it will take a few times and extreme carefulness to get the needle floating. He surely succeeded, but we got tired of our sinking needle and decided to move on to water drops and their form and - most fun of all - bubbles. Instead of a wand, I taught Andrew and Saara to use their hands to stretch the water/dishwashing liquid solution and blow. Saara even managed to blow a huge bubble.

Tonight, however, was the night of the much anticipated concert of the various homeschool choirs. We have been so blessed to have been a part of it. Andrew and Saara have faithfully attended the practices and tonight performed to the best of their abilities. Together with other Starlight Singers and Precious Notes they did a great job.

Tomorrow then, we will wrap up our lessons for the season and start enjoying our Christmas break. Finally :o)

The homemade 'wishing well'.

The homemade bulging water.

For once, it is OK to soak the table. All in the name of science.

The work of a water fairy. Too much Tinker Bell.

Reviewing of the odds and evens.

Bubbles.

Clank and Bubbles. I'm telling you - too much Tinker Bell.

Starlight Singers dress rehearsal.

Thank you, Mrs. Lassiter for the pizza!

Ladies and Gentlemen! The Starlight Singers!

Joy to the world!

 

'12/13 Week 17 Day 1

This week is going to be a short one. No need to overdo ourselves. I'd rather be baking Christmas cookies, belting out Christmas songs, and making all sorts of Christmas memories with my kids this time of year than burying ourselves in the depths of the curriculum. 

Because yesterday we had to take a sort of an 'emergency' drive out of town, I did pack in as much school work today as I could. I know where I would like to push the pause button on our studies before Christmas break, and I would like to get there by Thursday. So, we did our letters, reading, math, spelling, etc. portions meant for today (and some of yesterday's). 
Both kids liked looking up the old Greek statues of the ancient gods and goddesses. We were half laughing how little clothes those statues had on. I am teaching my kids about appropriate and modest clothing and why our family chooses to dress the way we do. But also, I will not make a big deal out of the skimpy clothing of the Greek statues nor the pages in the history books nor the works of some famous painters. They are not much different from the society nowadays: whatever store one goes in, especially in summer time, one is bound to run into someone who has more skin than clothes on. I will always remember a colleague of mine who said about raising kids: no need to shelter them, but there is a high need to teach right from wrong. 

Tomorrow is a big day for Andrew and Saara. Saara's choir and both of theirs bells choir is ready to perform. I am excited and nervous. I think, I am coming down with the stage fever.

'12/13 Week 16 Day 6

We had a short school day today. We did a thorough reading and spelling practice and read about some amazing animal facts. The rest of the day we spent out of doors. Shorter days and busy holiday schedule has not allowed the children to play outside to their hearts' content (nor has it allowed me to work in the garden). We remedied this today and came back inside only when the sun started to go down. 
Before bedtime, Saara brought me a heartwarming surprise: she came in the kitchen with a library book, opened it up and started reading! Seriously, even words I have not yet covered with her, she must have figured those out herself. I was thoroughly impressed. We might have another linguist in the family.

'12/13 Week 16 Day 5

I did not share with my kids about the massacre in Connecticut. I can not get my own head around it - how on earth someone could do that? Little children! How could one even point a gun at them? I have no words to describe this horrible-horrible tragedy, let alone explain it in simple terms to my kids. As a parent I am heart-broken for the families who do not have a little one to tuck in bed tonight nor a smiley face to enjoy on Christmas morning... I can pray, and I have and I will. 
I am also praying for the children who survived and little children everywhere that they would not be scared to go to school again nor their parents scared to send them. 

I learned about the shooting during our lunch break. Until then, I had conducted our classes with a light heart, but it sure got much heavier once I read about it in the news and thought of all the grieving parents. 

In history, we took a good look at the Hittites. I found a rather informative video clip about them and the battle of Kadesh and how the Hittite Empire was discovered. It served as a colorful companion to the information we read about the Hittites in Andrew's history book.

Our science lesson was so engaging that we were almost late for the choir practice in the afternoon. We were studying the deep sea weird creatures. I remember doing the same lesson last year, but this time we were able to find a ton of good video material on the Youtube and it was deeply interesting. 

The choir practice was the last one this year. Next week we will have the long anticipated concert. I am very excited for Andrew and Saara! 

Anatolia, the Hittites, the battle of Kadesh - brand new information for Andrew.

Saara's last choir practice this year.

It was also Andrew's and Saara's last bells practice.

The 'mandatory' playground time after the practice.

I am not sure this was 'mandatory' but pretty impressive of Andrew.

'12/13 Week 16 Day 4

What a special day! Saara has been letting EVERYONE know for a month that she will have her birthday before Christmas. And she did - she is officially five now. 
Despite the streamers and banners and a promise of a yummy cake when Dad got home, we did some serious schoolwork today. I did postpone our history class till tomorrow, because we looked at our own history since the day Saara was born. Children loved going over some old photos and watching videos of Saara taking her first steps, Andrew making her laugh, etc. It was sweet. We should do it more often than just a few times a year. 
Tomorrow, then, I will have a six-year-old and a five-year-old in my class. Amazing!

Our science experiment from yesterday worked! The ice pushed the lid off.

Makes me want to be little girl again.

Birthday Girl hard at work.

One of Saara's presents was a sewing machine. She would be the fourth generation of tailors/dressmakers in our family.

'12/13 Week 16 Day 3

A lot was going on today. At least, it seemed so. 
Saara finished her science book and was very sad to see her favorite bears go bye. 
Andrew did an extensive review of the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt. Saara decided to start reading her own toddler Bible for the reading practice.
Both kids were excited to do a number of experiments with ice in our science class. 
Saara and Andrew enjoyed a matching game from Saara's High Five magazine. 

Full day. A good day.

Andrew underlining vowels in our Language Arts class.

Egypt. Still there.

Saara hugging good-bye to her science book.

Andrew talking about icebergs.

Waiting for the ice to melt.

Salt makes ice melt faster. (it also ruins one's boots)

Pressure made Andrew's ice cube melt much faster.

'12/13 Week 16 Day 2

Saara's Bible story this morning talked about David cutting off a piece of King Saul's robe. I had never truly thought about it, but cutting paper and cutting fabric are two different skills. There is even a difference when cutting different fabrics. Andrew and Saara can cut paper easily and rather accurately. They have never really needed to cut fabric, so we devoted a few minutes of our school day to practice this skill. It was not easy at first, but as soon as they both figured out the kind of grip they needed to have on their scissors, they were doing very well for the first time. This is a kind of practice, I would like to try again some day. 

So far we have enjoyed all of our Read Aloud stories. I must say the present one "Understood Betsy" is a mouthful. The sentences are long and complicated and the amount of new vocabulary is huge. I find myself pausing after every paragraph and explaining and rewording everything the kids just heard. The story itself is good, though. 

Another fun thing we attempted today was a balloon powered paper airplane. Saara has been learning about different sources of energy and her book suggested some experiments with balloons. Sadly our plane and balloon did not collaborate. They just plopped down, no matter what we tried. The kids did not mind it very much because one of their favorite things to do with balloons is to blow them big and then let go and watch them rocket everywhere. That fun activity brought our day to an end with lots of laughs.