'15/16 Week 13 Days 3, 4, and 5

The three last days of our school week were very busy. The children worked hard during the day so they could have plenty of play time in the afternoon.

Thursday was our Park Day and we had lots of fun at a play ground in town. Friday after school, we got ready for the Nutcracker ballet. The children enjoyed it immensely, just like last year. The ballet venue was at a concert hall located on the university's campus. Walking the streets and looking at different campus buildings was an experience in itself. 
Saturday was a quiet school day. As we got home late the night before, we took it easy the next day.

Park Day! Saara has finally mastered the monkey bars.

Science. Andrew's favorite calss - TOPS. He is mapping, drawing, and building circuits.

At the Nutcracker ballet.

'15/16 Week 13 Days 1 and 2

I have enjoyed two rather quiet and uneventful days. The rest of the week is going to be very busy, we have a lot of things scheduled. 
Wednesday's classes, on the other hand, were not planned at all. It was Veterans' Day, and Dad was supposed to be off work, which means no school for us. But he was called in for a few hours. So, we did school for a few hours as well. 
And good hours they were. Andrew learned how to multiply with double digits, and later, he impressed Dad with his new skill. 

Andrew's last Fall Ball game.

Ending the season with a pizza party.

LA.  Learning to write about cause and effect.

'15/16 Week 12 Days 3, 4, and 5

These have been busy three days. We changed the clocks last weekend and we are not quite accustomed to it getting so dark so early. Rainy weather and cooler temperatures are making it feel like fall for real.

Our pace has slowed down a little and our school days are slightly longer than they used to be. Which is OK. We still are getting everything accomplished. 
Some highlights from these past three days: the children wrote short paragraphs about a restaurant they would open one day. Saara imagined an icy eatery at Elsa's ice palace. Andrew wanted a pizzeria at Naboo. Frozen and Star Wars have not got old yet for these two. 

Math test was not truly a highlight. Both children did not do their best (as I know they could have). It might have been the weather that made us all kind of drowsy that morning. The next day, the children finished their math problems fast and with ease and with correct answers. 

Andrew's science class with the new book we are reading is much more detailed on the level of atoms and molecules. We have taken our time to read and understand the text. Once we do, the tiny world of molecules becomes rather fascinating, like how forensic scientists detect alcohol or poison in blood. 

We finished our school week with a beautiful art project. Last time the kids learned how to paint different colors next to each other, like the impressionists did. Today, they used the same technique to paint their own sunsets. The results are worthy to frame, I think. 

Science. Saara has finished her chapters about human body. For a few days now, we have been learning about different kinds of birds. Here we read and watched a video about grebes.

LA. Our parts of speech card pack is growing bigger as we add new words to it. It takes us longer to sort through it as well.

A cultural experience. For lunch today, we had Polish pierogi. The kids helped me make them. It tasted good, but the dish was not a smashing hit with us.

Art. Painting an impressionistic sunset.

Love it!

'15/16 Week 12 Days 1 and 2

The coming weekend is promised to be rainy again. We are trying to be outside as much as possible. I even decided to postpone our art class until the rain arrives. Learning about artists and painting would be a perfect rainy day activity. 

School has been intense for Andrew, but not so much for Saara. She has been flying through her assignments. Andrew's work is a little more demanding, and we have been laboring hard on several fronts. I admire his perseverance. Although he grumbles every now and then, he accomplishes the task, and accomplishes it well. 

Scinece. Andrew on his own - mapping, drawing, and building different circuits.

'15/16 Week 11 Day 3 and 4

It started out as a normal school day, but halfway through, our city was put under tornado watch. So, for a good portion of our school time, we watched the news, made phone calls and a few preparations in case we did have to take shelter. Thankfully, the tornado threat did not last long. The warning was canceled and we went of with our school day. We got a lot accomplished.

Science. We finished this book ...

... and started a new one.

Math. Andrew is liking his math book this year much better than last year. The lessons are full of fun puzzles. We just finished learning something new: prime and composite numbers.

Thankful that the closest we came to a tornado was just a word on the screen.

LA. Our parts of speech sorting pile is growing. Today, I added a few conjunction words.

The last day of school this week ended with a Fall Fest at ta local church. The kids 'met' their candy quota and lots of friends.

'15/16 Week 11 Day 2

A full school day. Andrew finished his science book about Alexander Graham Bell. As the book talked a lot about telephones, we took a look at some important telephone numbers in our lives - anything from 911 to family members. The children taped the cards with the numbers to the insides of their binders.

For weeks, the children have been practicing their recorders. They have learned how to hold the recorder properly, how to cover the holes properly, how to breathe correctly, etc. They have also mastered nine songs with just three notes. Today, we added one more note, and will be practicing more songs with more intricate melodies.

The end of the day took us to a play ground in town. We had another fun Park Day. The weather was so beautiful, lots of homeschool moms came with their kids. 

After playing so hard at the park, Andrew still had energy left for an hour of baseball practice this evening. 

'15/16 Week 11 Day 1

This week is going to be a four-day school week. Andrew and Dad have dentist appointments in the middle of the day which allows us to do our reading assignments, but not much else. Besides, Dad's home!

Today, in science, Andrew was mapping and drawing circuits. He thought it was a rather easy task until his assignment included many parallel and/or series hook-ups. Things got complicated, but we were able to follow the instructions and draw the circuits correctly. 

This were much more fun and relaxed during our art class. We looked at the works of Claude Monet, and afterwards, the kids tried to color their own pictures of Monet's "Water Lily Pond". Not just color, but use the kind of brush strokes the impressionists did.

Science. Andrew used different circuit squares to build a complete circuit. It was much like putting together a puzzle.

Art. Andrew's first impressions of Monet.