Last Day of School

Well, we made it through our first year of homeschool! We had some ups and downs but the kids really loved it and said they want to homeschool forever. Well, I don't know about that. We'll take it one year at a time and see how it goes. :)

This semester I signed up Will for a program at our umbrella school called Fine Art Fridays. He gets to do music, art, bible, karate, sign language, science plus snack time and lunch. It's a full day and he loves it! Friday, the 19th was his last day at school then we finished up a few other things this week before officially calling it quits today. We'll still do some math and reading through the summer though.

Some serious, fun & silly pics. I can't believe how quickly the school year went by! I thought it would go a little slower being at home, but still so fast. You guys are done with 3rd grade and Kindergarten!! So big. Love you guys!

Tennessee Aquarium

My parents bought the kids tickets to the TN aquarium for Christmas and we finally got to use them! It would've been nice for Daniel and my dad to go as well, but mom had a couple days off and the timing worked out so we took them. They loved the field trip! And we'll take some time this week to go over some creatures we saw.

We went to the aquarium Tuesday, May 2 and decided to stay in a hotel the night before. This way we could get there early enough for a full day trip without leaving crazy early in the morning. The kids love staying in hotels, so this was just an extra treat to the already exciting field trip. :) We arrived Monday about dinner time and to our surprise, the hotel was offering a complimentary dinner! Then we all swam in the pool and relaxed before bed.

Breakfast was included as well, so we filled up before heading to the aquarium for a fun day. On our way home, I asked the kids their favorite part and the sharks, esp. the underwater caverns was the majority response. They also really enjoyed swimming! It was a fun trip and while opening a ticket may not be as exciting as a toy, they have an experience and memory to last a lifetime! :)

The kids LOVED this little underwater cove. We all sat in there and hung out for
awhile. They enjoyed watching the fishes and just being in this little hang out spot, ha!

Learning about the heart

This semester we've been studying the human body for science. I don't have specific curriculum designed around this, but do have several books. This Usborne book pictured below has been awesome for this study and I also have a Children's Human Body Encyclopedia. Plus we'll review videos online when we need extra explanation.

Anyway, right now we're studying the heart and blood and their functions in the body. I found a great idea online for a fun, hands-on activity. So the red water gel beads are your red blood cells, the white ping pong balls are white blood cells, the cut up pieces of felt are platelets and the water it's all floating in is the plasma. All of the kids loved this activity, not just Will & Maggie. It was a really fun learning activity and a great way to get a lesson to "stick."

 And then they started putting their feet in. Sillies. 

President's Day

Daniel was off work Monday for President's Day so we took a little field trip to The Hermitage. It's nice having a president's home nearby especially for a homeschool field trip. Will has been here at least twice on school field trips and I actually took Will, Maggie & Jake here several years ago with a friend. But Daniel had never been with the kids and there's always something to learn.

We enjoyed a nice morning visiting the mansion and walking the grounds but one of these days I'd like to go by myself so I can read all the signs and really take my time. After a couple hours, the kids were winding down so we left for a late lunch.

Odds-n-Ends

January seems like it's always a low-key month. Christmas is over, school is back and things are just mellow. If any other month besides December preceded January, it may not seem that way but the juxtaposition certainly leaves January feeling quiet. Here's some of the happenings:

I started a new spelling program with Will at the end of November and I hoped to complete it before the semester ended. We sailed through pretty quickly, but with the business of December, we just didn't get it done. We had a couple lessons left, so we finished up before officially starting second semester next week. We're working on a few subjects this week, but easing back in. 

 We bought Oregon Trail for one of Will's Christmas presents and thought he'd be stoked about it. But if figured if nothing else, it brought back some nostalgia from our childhood. Will hasn't sat down to play yet, so Daniel and I decided to tackle it. This was our first game and we both died of snake bites! We played several more times and were winning (making it to Oregon) so we realized we weren't playing correctly -- don't know why Daniel didn't read all the rules to begin with. By the time we were playing full bore, we got nowhere near the end. This game is hard! :)

Ant Study

This semester we're doing several things for science- nature study, various science projects, scientific method, a little space and some other things sprinkled in. I may continue nature study next semester as well, but wanted to get in another study before the weather gets too yucky to comfortably sit outside and study. I decided studying ants would be fun- some great principles we can apply to our life on work ethic.

To really supplement our learning, I thought an ant farm was the best way to make this study fun and interactive plus really make it stick. The ants arrived on September 29th and boy am I glad Daniel was home! I followed the directions but they were not easy to get into that farm. They started going everywhere and Daniel had to pick some up and get them in that farm. I was freaking out a little. But once we got them in, they started working almost immediately.

Allie was very interested in watching them. They all spent time watching the ants work, especially those first few days. It was sad when they started dying, but amazing to even watch them take care of their dead. We were able to apply everything we saw with what we read, colored & labeled. So cool. Glad we did this.

After they were all gone, we studied a little more and today we made ants on a log as a fun treat to finish the study. The kids didn't enjoy these nearly as much as the worms in dirt for our earthworm study. Shocking... celery vs. pudding.

Overall this was a really fun study and a good learning opportunity for the kids. They enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and I think we all learned something new.