Summer at the Library

We love the summer programs at the library. The children have been part of them for years now, and although, we were gone for a long time, we still managed to take part in some of the events there. Both children were familiar with the chemistry road show and the physics road show, bu they wanted to see them again.

The Juneteeth celebration at the Library. Saara met a teacher from Africa who taught children a lot about the African culture.

Saara got to play an African instrument in an impromptu performance with other children. She also learned a few word in the Swahili language and got to know some of the traditional occupations the people in Africa have. 

All the kids were also taught an African dance.

A little craft Saara made after the African hour.

The physics road show has been Andrew's and Saara's favorite for a couple of years now. This time both of the kids got to volunteer and help out with the experiments.

The chemistry road show is educational and entertaining. The children were glued to the program.

Our favorite librarian, Ms. Bobbie, helping out with one of the demonstrations.

'14/15 Week 37 Days 3, 4, and 5

These last days have been bittersweet. There are many books that we started reading last September and finished up just now. Books about native Indians, poetry, science experiments, and Bible songs - all done now. Kind of sad. And yet we all are happy that one more school year is behind us.

Although we have accomplished all our 180 days of school, we still have a few fiction books to read, both read-alouds and reading practice stories, some science experiments are waiting to be conducted, and a few more math lessons worked through. 
Then, truly, we can say that Saara's first and Andrew's third grade is in the past.

Summer play and chores. The kids had fun playing with the cut grass. They pretended it was like making hay in the old times. In fact, they took it all into the compost pile.

Science. The little seeds of corn that Andrew planted for his science experiments have grown taller than him.

Husking the corn. The variety we used for Andrew's science class yielded some sweet tasting corn.

Summer play. It is time to catch fireflies.

Science. Spotting Venus in the evening sky.

Saara taking a look at Venus.

Math. Andrew figuring out the volume of the box.

Last day of school. We baked a cake and made home-made pink lemonade to celebrate the last day of school. We wanted to do more, but this weekend is going to be very busy, so we were just happy to sit down for a while and talk about our favorite books we read this year. Andrew's  most favorite was "The Sign of the Beaver" ...

... and Saara's the biography of George Muller.

'14/15 Week 37 Days 1 and 2

One by one, we are finishing up books. Yesterday and today, we read the last chapters in four books. Slowly, the end of the school year is getting closer and closer.

Today, Andrew and Saara had yet another math test which both passed fairly well. 
In LA, the kids brainstormed for ideas for their last writing assignment. We looked through all the pictures I have been taking since the beginning of the school year. It was so much fun! And that is what they have to write about - their school year. The idea webs they created today are promising. I am looking forward to reading their compositions.

Softball. Just a few more games left.

Science. Saara presenting her facts about the planets in the solar system.

The corn seedlings that Andrew planted in spring are producing some mouthwatering cobs.

'14/15 Week 36 Day 2

There was a furious storm raging outside in the early hours. Nobody got any sleep until the storm passed. The rains have done a lot of damage in Texas these days. The loss of lives just a few counties over is horrible. During our prayer times in the morning, we have been praying for our safety and for God's help in the affected areas.
So, we slept in a little this morning and started our school an hour later. The whole morning passed doing science. Saara has read through all the planets in the Solar System, and she was ready to make her own little accordion book. Today, she colored and pasted the pictures. Starting tomorrow, she will write a few facts about each planet.
Andrew has entered the world of atoms and molecules. He, too, did some cutting and pasting and constructed a model of an atom on paper.

Science. The Solar System in the making.

Andrew used a hole punch and colored paper to make the picture of an atom.

'14/15 Week 35 Days 4 and 5

The days went past fast. On Friday, Saara close to flooded our table with water experiments. She was studying how the light travels trough water. She had a lot of fun, and I had a lot to clean up.
Also on Friday, the kids started to write a description of a painting. We are still learning how to write idea webs and how to use them in the writing process. I divided the assignment between two days. The first day they wrote down the ideas and penned down their drafts. The second day, we corrected and edited the drafts and they rewrote a clean copy. I am happy to see that both of them are feeling more comfortable with the task of writing, and that the process does not overwhelm them any longer. I have also seen that Saara has a natural talent for creative writing.

Science. One of many Saara's science experiments with light and water. The objects look broken in the water.

LA. Andrew working hard on his writing assignment.

'14/15 Week 34 Days 1 and 2

Another wet day. This, of course, meant no baseball practice for Saara. The kids had a chance to play outside in the morning before it started raining. The rest of the day we stayed indoors and worked on our school assignments. 

Andrew did a little victory dance as he understood how to solve divisions with bigger dividends. Something that looked so daunting to him at first turned out to be rather smooth and easy to solve. He is so happy!

Saara was learning about how it is possible to use mirrors to look around corners. We made a simple periscope and the kids had fun spying on each other for a while.

Science. Saara peeking around corners.

And spying on her brother with a homemade periscope.

LA. At the end of the day, Andrew presented his summery of George Washington's biography he finished reading a while ago to the whole family.

We had some visitors today.

'14/15 Week 33 Days 4 and 5

We finally made it to the store to buy a bag of m&m candy. With so many holidays evolving around sweets, we never buy candy, but end up rationing all the holiday booty. But we needed a bag of candy for Andrew's math assignment. Isn't math sweet?
Andrew had to draw a pictograph of different color candy found in a bag. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. He laid out the steps to organizing the data and presenting it as a graph. 
Saara had a sweet science project as well. We have been reading a book about space and the planets in the solar system. We have already reached Venus in our studies, but we backtracked a few lessons and revisited the different phases of the Moon. With Oreo cookies, of course. The kids remembered the activity from a couple of years back and were very excited to do it again. Sweet.

Math. Sorting the candy by color for a pictograph.

Science. After figuring out our crescents and gibbouses, the kids were ready to devour their Moon phases.

'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 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 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.