'14/15 Week 25 Day 2

A very foggy morning turned into a beautiful, though cloudy, warm day. We could not get our school work done fast enough to go outside. I even postponed the kids book reports till tomorrow when it is supposed to be rainy and freezing. It is amazing how fast the weather changes here. 

This afternoon, however, it was a bit archery and warm-up exercises for Andrew in preparation for the soon-beginning baseball season.

Science. Andrew is so proud of his bean sprout.

We planted a number of sprouted seeds into the former 'incubator'.

'14/15 Week 25 Day 1

As we have been somewhat behind with our reading practice schedule, I have increased the number of pages the kids read. They, especially Andrew, seem to actually like reading more. They are very encouraged to see how they 'fly' through the book. 

Today, both children finished reading yet another book, and they already saw me printing out book reports. Hopefully, the weather holds, and we can go outside and gather some materials for a review activity I have planned to go with one of the books. I am excited!

Math. Saara reviewing months of the year.

'14/15 Week 24 Day 5

We have been watching the corn and beans sprout for a long time. Andrew has been recording his observations in his journal. It has been a somewhat tedious task, but Andrew understands that keeping accurate records is part of science.
Our hands have been itching to get the emerging roots into the soil. Finally, today, we planted our first sprouts. They will serve as growth samples. In two days, then, we will start measuring.

Fire Station

This afternoon we were part of a fire station field trip. It was very informative, the kids learned a lot and saw first hand how the firemen respond to an emergency. 
 

Andrew and Saara were not shy to read off the white board and answer questions about fire safety.

Saara revealing one of an answer to the fire safety quiz.

Crawling low under the pretend smoke.

Andrew making a pretend 911 phone call.

We never got to see the end of the fireman's safety suite demonstration. All the men were called to respond to an emergency.

Watching the fire trucks speed away.

I had never seen a skillet this big before. Neither had I seen locks on fridges before.

'14/15 Week 24 Day 4

We had a rather intensive day. The reason - to finish school work before it was time to leave for our field trip. Still, we managed to squeeze in our reading assignments. Andrew, my slow reader, is enjoying reading and the stories he reads. The chapters of the books are just the right length and so is the vocabulary. But their favorite is still the read-aloud time when I am reading to them both old books and new ones. I love that time too.

Science. Day 6 of our beans and corn.

A lesson about monocotyledons and dicotyledons.

 

'14/15 Week 24 Day 3

Andrew finally got to use his home made scales again. He was so excited to do it. His science project with beans and corn is getting more interesting. More than ever, there is a greater emphasis on writing down observations and measurements. Andrew is working hard on both, recording and experiments. I believe, he fancies himself quite a little scientist.

Saara, on the other hand, danced her afternoon away in her ballet class. I know, she fancies herself as a little ballerina.

'14/15 Week 24 Day 2

There was not a dull moment in our school day today. There hardly every is, but today was full of activities, both projects and writing assignments. 
We spent half the morning doing science projects. Saara was demonstrating some water and air tricks, and Andrew took his first look at the sprouting bean and corn seeds.
As Saara finished her reading practice book about an owl, she filled in a questionnaire about the stories in the book, and at the end of our school day the kids painted watercolor pictures of owls. We also read about cool and warm colors. 
I was a busy day, and I feel tired but blessed and ready to have another day just like today.

Science. Keeping the tissue dry under the submerged cup. A trick.

Although there are holes in the bottom of the cup, the water inside is not running out. A trick.

We made a whole in the cover and the air started pushing the water out of the cup. Cover the hole, and the water stopped leaking. A trick.

Saara about to make the water flow upwards.

Andrew drawing the pictures of the best sprouted bean and corn seeds.

In addition to the new words Andrew learned while doing his radishes project, he picked up a few more today.

LA. Saara had fun answering questions about Owl and his various activities.

Art. Using basic shapes to draw an owl.

We also used different methods to achieve the desired effect. Here, Andrew is sprinkling white paint onto black paper to create stars.

The kids cut out the water color owls and glued them on the starry background.