'14/15 Week 32 Day 1

Yesterday was spent at the dentist again. We still did some math and reading, but it did not count for a full day of school. Today, however, we tackled the everything with gusto. Andrew, Saara, and I were knee deep in science about light. Both children's lessons are talking about the same subjects, so they both were part of each others classes. Also, Andrew and I watched some videos about Newton's first law, and then tried an experiment about inertia. 
For Saara, and Andrew too, the today's highlight was watching a documentary about gladiators and the Colosseum in Rome. Saara donned her paper laurel wreath for the viewing, but then decided she did not like being an emperor after all, and took it off.

Science. Saara dividing objects into opaque, translucent, and transparent.

More objects to check.

Andrew trying inertia on a raw egg.

A writing assignment. Andrew helping Saara understand the importance of flowers. It is so neat to see when they are understanding a subject well and are able to explain it to others.

'14/15 Week 31 Days 3 and 4

Wednesday did not count as a whole school day. Andrew had a dentist appointment in the morning, and for the rest of the day, we caught up on some reading assignments, and Saara filled out her book report.

Thursday went by fast. The main event was our short  trip to another town for Saara's first softball game. She did really well and, athough their team lost, had a good time. 

On Friday morning, we grabbed our buckets and headed out to the dewberry patches. The kids had already cleaned the couple of spots around the house, and we were ready to check out our regular berry place. There were some and many more coming.
Andrew finished his book report and, in math, started to learn about line and line segment. 

Saara's fist softball game.

Picking our first harvest of dewberries this year.

'14/15 Week 31 Day 2

This was a fun science morning. In addition to reading on in Andrew's science book, I am going back to the chapters we covered last week and having the kids watch explanatory videos and try their own hands at some experiments. Today, we revisited the centripetal force. I thought, whirling a full jar of water round and round would be a hit, but instead, the kids loved a whirling coin trick in the balloon much better. 

Science. Andrew matching the definitions with the terms.

Centripetal force in action. The coin going round in the balloon as long as the momentum lasts.

So, it is possible to have a full jar upside down without any water spilling out.

'14/15 Week 31 Day 1

I should say, our day was rather intense. Somehow, Andrew and I veered off our school subjects to some serious topics like responsibility, imperfect people, second chances, etc. Yes, we finished our school work in good time still, but I believe, the one-on-one conversations we had accomplished much more today than just a lesson. The kids will grasp the facts of life, the good and the challenging, when they are ready. 

'14/15 Week 30 Day 5

Oh, what a fun morning we had! After Saara finished reading "Amelia Bedelia" by Peggy Parish, we followed her example and baked a lemon meringue pie. The kids saw first-hand that the process was much more than putting 'a little of this and a pinch of that in a bowl'. There was the crust that we made from scratch, then the lemon filling, and, finally, the meringue topping. It was a fun cooking class, and the pie tasted heavenly. Here's a link to the recipe we used: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pies/lemon-meringue-pie/

In the afternoon, we took a little walk around the property. We noticed a lot of pretty spring flowers, and ... a yellow bellied racer. We were on the bridge checking out the rapids in the creek, when Saara noticed the snake down below. We watched it for a while and then left it alone.

The children making the lemon meringue pie.

Thank you , Amelia, for a delicious idea.

Japanese honeysuckle

Bluebonnets reading for next spring.

Indian paintbrush

Pink evening primrose

Wine cup

Pleated-leaf iris

Yellow bellied racer.

'14/15 Week 30 Days 2,3, and 4

These last few days have been rather busy. Between school work, baseball practices and a game, ballet class, we did not have much time for anything else. 
The school days have been good. The kids had another math test. Both kids did excellently. Andrew and I have been knee deep in lots of new science words, like velocity, momentum, acceleration, inertia. I need an additional lesson to make sure we understand each one of them. 
Saara finished her story of Amelia Bedelia, and in addition to the book report, we are going to bake a lemon meringue pie, of course.

Science. Saara's lesson was about how light travels and how it bounces off objects. We did some fun experiments with the mirror in the kids' bathroom.

As the thunderstorm cancelled tonight's game, we got busy making a couple of pizzas from scratch. The recipe: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/pizza-crust/dfd30165-0b22-47aa-b192-268be25e138d

'14/15 Week 31 Day 1

The early afternoon brought us the news that Saara's softball game was cancelled because the fields were so wet. So, we were not in much of hurry to get the school assignments done. I had time to explain Andrew the difference between perimeter, area, and volume. 
The weather outside was beautiful, so, instead of a practice at the park, we took the bats, gloves, and balls and did our own practice in the front yard.

Math. Saara practicing her solids.

Baseball Opening Day.

What a wonderful event! Our whole family spent the whole day at the park. We took team pictures, the kids worked in the food tent helping serve, they got to play on lots of bounce attractions, we took part in a silent auction, the opening ceremony, and, finally, Andrew had a game that was cut short because of a sudden downpour. Great family and team time.

Saara's in her team picture.

Andrew helping serve tea in the food tent.

Saara had the same job during her work hour.

The time before the ceremony was filled with lots of fun in the bounce houses.

Before the rain showed up.

'14/15 Week 30 Day 4

I am not the only one who teaches around here. This afternoon, Dad took over a math assignment and explained to Andrew about checkbook and writing checks. I was just grinning big watching those two working together. What a sweet sight.

We will have no school on Friday. There are a lot of preparations to do before the big baseball season opening on Saturday. We will spend the whole day at the ball park, and it promises to be a lot of fun!

Math. Saara learning about solids.

A lesson in writing checks.

One more practice before the opening day.

Andrew's radishes are in bloom.

'14/15 Week 30 Days 2 and 3

Two days of hard work. Yesterday, we were done with our school just in time to get ready for the Aggie baseball game. It was tons of fun for the family and Andrew's baseball team.
The fact that Andrew caught a cold and ended up with a raspy voice and a runny nose, was not fun. We are praying, he will be well enough to play on Thursday. 

If yesterday we did a number of hands-on projects with Saara, then today, we did a lot of reading. Saara started a book about Pasteur and his study of microbes. She also finished reading her reading practice book and will write another book report soon. Besides, Saara was very privileged today to be taken to her ballet practice by her daddy.
Because of Andrew's cold, I wanted to keep him indoors, and to keep him entertained, I found an old Disney movie based a book we read some time ago - Johnny Tremain. Youtube can be pretty amazing.

Science. Saara continues to learn about mirrors and reflections. Here, we made a square out of one toothpick.

We also made a kaleidoscope. It did not work.

We brought out the real thing.

Andrew finished studying his first ever biology book. It was a fun adventure.

LA. Writing a story about  Needle and Balloon.

Aggie Baseball Game

Andrew's team invited the boys' families to go to a field trip to one of the Texas A & M baseball games. Lots of people came. The boys had a great time bonding as a team, and everyone enjoyed the game. The Aggies won, of course.

Before the game, the kids were invited to check out the campus police and emergency vehicles.

Waiting for the game to begin.

During the singing of the national anthem, Andrew and Saara were among the other kids on the field. Andrew and Saara got to stand next tot he A&M pitcher Turner Larkins.