Week 33 Day 3

I think, today we watched things on the YouTube for at least an hour. It was that interesting. First, we took a closer look at how the astronauts live in their space station. There's a number of really interesting and informative video clips out there. Life in zero gravity is so much different from ours. Can you imagine sleeping upright attached to the wall or floating around in your sleeping bag? We also watched a video about how astronauts are trained to move in zero gravity space. It did not look easy at all. 

The other thing that glued us to the computer screen was our geography lesson which was all about avalanches and Mt Everest. We looked at avalanches already months ago, but Andrew did not remember much, so we reviewed some facts and watched some video clips. As to Mt Everest ... I had to contain myself because I am drawn to anything Mt Everest or K2 or any other higher elevation in the world. Just mention the word "sherpa" and my ears prick up like rabbit's, or "base camp", or even "thin air". I found a couple of nice clips to show to Andrew and Saara where I could point out some essential gear and the weather conditions the climbers have to face. 

Andrew declared, he wants to climb Mt Everest. He can dream, can't he? The reality of climbing the mountain is so much harsher, though and he does not know that yet. It has always puzzled me, why would people spend precious money and time to conquer a summit when they even do not know if they will make it up there alive or down alive, or escape frostbites and still have their toes and fingers when they go home. May-be it is not the mountain that puzzles me, it is the people.

Week 33 Day 2

 The forecast promised rain for the afternoon, so we changed our plans for the morning and headed out of doors for an hour first thing after breakfast. We took a nice little walk checking for any wind damage from last night and I picked a pretty bunch of black eyed susans. A spot of sunlight in what turned to be a rather gray and rainy day. 

A few days before, Saara had come up with an excellent idea of how to summon both her and Andrew back indoors. From our lessons about the cowboys and their life we learned about the triangle that was used to let everyone know the food was ready. We saw one tied to the wagon at the museum as well. So, now we have our very own triangular school bell thanks to Uncle Tom and Aunt Jean who gave the triangle and a number of other fun instruments as gifts to the kids two weeks ago.

We could not wait to get our hands on our science experiments today. They were all about air bubbles and fizzing. I grew up on a natural carbonated water (http://www.varskavesi.ee/index.php?id=41) and I have never tasted better water in my life! 
Today, we made our own fizzy water and more. The most fun was the experiment with Seven Up and raisins which kept going up and down in the drink even long after I had 'closed' the lab and cleaned up any messes.
The children's favorite was the experiment with the powdered sugar (of course) and having the concoction of citric acid, baking soda, and sugar pop in your mouth. My whole goal was for Andrew remember two words: acid and base, and when mixing those two with water we can make bubbles.

Week 33 Day 1

 Finally, we are back to our normal learning/teaching schedule, at least for the next four days. Our past two weeks were filled with new experiences and tons of things to learn and remember, I missed my time with Andrew and Saara and all the fun stuff we used to do together. 

Like today, we used a story in Andrew's 'Highlights' magazine for our reading practice. It came with a recipe, which we followed to the T and had a very tasty snack for lunch. 

In our geography lesson, we continued reading about mountains. Last time, we looked at the flowers and animals that live in the mountains and especially in the Alps. This was the first mountain range that Andrew learned about back in August while we were reading the story about William Tell. The picture of the Edelweiss prompted me to watch "The Sound of Music" with the kids last week end. It not only showed the beautiful scenery of the Alps, but also included a lesson in history of WW II. 

But back to the mountains, we watched some video clips on the YouTube about downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. My two poor Texans have never had enough snow to try these winter sports, but at least they can know the difference. We also looked up the highest elevation in Texas, which is the Guadalupe Peak very far from where we live. One day, may-be, we can take a trip and see the mountain for ourselves. 

Our science class was all about movies or moving pictures. Already some time ago Andrew got a sort of a zoetrope as a toy with his meal at some restaurant. We have lost all the paper strips that came with it, so to illustrate the beginnings of the movie making, I made a strip of my own, and to my surprise it worked! While reading to Andrew about the movie projector and reels, etc. I had this nagging feeling like I was teaching him about a cassette player or a type writer. In this digital age or ours, I wonder, do they even use reels any longer? This world is changing so fast ...

Fourth Game. May 5, 2012

 The temperatures are not the same any longer - it is getting hotter which makes both the practices and the games more challenging. I am thankful for the Bible verse Andrew has been learning "Let us keep on running the race marked out for us" Hebrews 12:1 It is always one thing to learn about determination and quite another to actually put it into practice. Andrew's coach is phenomenal - she knows how to keep the boys going till the last whistle. 

Today, there was a lot of cheering and high fives on Andrew's part. The Rattler's scored, but also learned to give some space for the other team to learn about co-operation and not smother them with a rather heavy offense.

On my part, I want Andrew to see that when he scores, it is not only him - it is a team effort.

The Week The Church Was Built

Our past week did not see us sitting down very often nor doing any 'official' schooling. Nevertheless, we saw and learned a lot. 

Our last story time at the library was special not only because of the Cat In The Hat character reading the stories once again, but also because we had Auntie Jean join us. Saara knew how to engage her in reading books both at the library and at home. 

After the story time, we watched a long train go through the downtown. I believe, the engine driver gave an extra 'toot' or two of the ear-blasting horn when he saw the kids waving. For Andrew, the most exciting car was the one that carried a few tractors.  

None of us in the family had never been as close to a building process as we were last week. Andrew got to participate in the frame raising of our church building that was finished within 24 hours. Amazing! We were standing at ta safe distance watching the workers busying around like bees in a hive. In the afternoon we drove over again to see the progress, and both kids were actually able to walk into their classrooms that were all ready for Sunday. 

(See more, including a video, at http://www.cornerstonechurchcs.org/church_in_a_day.php  )

Andrew managed to talk us into taking Uncle Tom and Aunt Jean to the museum of natural history again. He really likes that place. I am glad we went. In the discovery room they had a display of a working beehive. We went round the building later to see where the entrance to their hive was. While doing that, Andrew literally stumbled over a pretty blue robin's egg. We had no idea how this egg ended up in the flower bed, but after admiring it for a little, we put it back where Andrew had found it at.

The blessed but hectic week is over and we are almost recovered and back in the saddle. Tomorrow, we will spend some time reviewing and catching up on some subjects. I have missed teaching, I must admit.

Fourth Practice. May 3, 2012

The past week with its many events and inhumanly early mornings is finally catching up to us. This is Andrew before his soccer practice. He slept all the way to the fields. Thankfully, he realized all the fun he would be missing if he just slept through it. It was hot, but he and the others endured and finished the practice with flying colors.

Third Game. April 28, 2012

Andrew got to score again! It certainly lifted his spirits. More than that though, he enjoyed the game and even when he got 'injured' in the field he was ready to go back in as soon as he was allowed to.

I, on my part, loved the idea of supplying players for the opposite team. The Penguins were short of players so the Rattlers lent a helping hand and swapping each other out turned their reversible shirts around and joined the other team. That's sportsmanship for you.

I also loved the kids piling up on the the coach after the game was over. What a fun morning we had!