November 1, 2011

Today we learned a bit about light bulbs, as November 1 is the anniversary of the date Thomas Edison patented his design of the incandescent light bulb.

For a little craft I started with this image:  http://www.edupic.net/Images/Science/light_bulb.gif
Cut out a frame from cereal box cardboard the same shape as the image.

Use a sharp cutter to trace around the black parts of the image and remove all the white.

Layer tissue paper under and over the cardboard, brushing it all with diluted white glue til it's all wet and stuck together.  Add the cut-out of the light bulb and add more tissue on top if you want to.  With the yellow bulb we did, with the purple one we didn't.

Let it all dry then trim to the shape of the bulb.  Hang on a sunny window!

I gave the little ones this picture to color:

http://www.handipoints.com/coloring-pages/fun-facts/thomas-edison/lightbulb.html

Meanwhile I went here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb

to get a proper diagram of all the parts of a bulb and went through it with Cara.

For some interesting history, which may surprise you depending how thorough your own teachers were when teaching you about the light bulb and electricity, check these out:

http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/edison.asp

http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Ontario/first_electric_light_bulb.htm

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lightbulb.htm

October 31, 2011

Did a bit of trick or treating around our block... but we put a fun spin on it by handing out homemade cookies to everyone who gave the girls candy :)   THAT led to a lot of funny looks and more than a few laughs.

October 27, 2011

Today we just did a fun little craft... inspired by this project at Oriental Trading Co.

I think they turned out pretty cute :)

October 26, 2011

Continuing with Pumpkin Week...

A small project for the little ones, sorting the pumpkins by size.

It's Math, is Art... it's Color by Number! :)

Now they've all snacked and are settled at the table with some peculiarly goopy homemade orange play-dough... I think I may try to knead some more flour into it and see if it improves in texture.  But in the meantime they're enjoying playing with it.  Naptime is looming and I can't wait... I'm way behind on some design work that is coming due!

October 25, 2011

Learning the life cycle of a pumpkin:

She said with a groan, "Math???" I said, "It will take you less than five minutes." And it did.  LOL

A little downloaded storybook that I jazzed up for the kids - and got C to read aloud for storytime.

And of course, more pumpkins:

October 24, 2011

Breakfast to kick off our pumpkin-themed week:  pumpkin pancakes and mandarin jack-o-lanterns

Today's highlight was a cute little woodcraft which missy took very seriously:

After-dinner fun:  Pumpkin Carving!  (she did the un-messy part)

Done!

September 14, 2011

I'm a little late posting this one because my computer decided to die a painful death... sigh... but anyway.  It's been replaced, life is good again and I'm working on getting caught up on everything.

A's page for today kept her busy for a while:

C's work:

Reading Comprehension

Health/Manners

Math

Geography (Expedition Earth) - South Korea

 pages from "Children Just Like Me"

 Also reading a bit from:

September 13, 2011

Today was a good school day... we actually got everything done that I planned to get done, and even though we started late we still finished before ten.  Later today we have a fall leaves craft to make, but before that we are going to spend a few hours out at the farm collecting our final CSA basket for the season.  (*sigh*)  Which should also provide an opportunity for the kids to collect a nice variety of leaves!

Social Studies - we read a little bit about Columbus.  We're using part of the Christian Light Education series for Grade One "God's Light in Social Studies"

Math -Still working on finishing up Horizons K Book 2

Reading - Also from Christian Light Education.  This is the first lesson to go with today's story, which was quite a long one.  The only words she hesitated on were "thou" and "seest", in the associated Bible verse.

Geography - Mapping Skills.  We did these pages last year but we're reviewing before going further in the book.

Expedition Earth - South Korea.  I can't say enough good about this geography curriculum, starting with its price of just $15.00.   There are a few books to buy as well if you want to do all the enrichment activities, or you can get them from the library (over and over  LOL)

September 12, 2011

We had a rough start, but a good finish... now the girls are off for a "recess" (aka, Mom's computer time).  Geography is put off til later in the day when the 2yo is napping - with any luck the older kids will run her a big ragged and she'll sleep well.


A's pages:

Writing letters

Matching Patterns

Sizes

More letters

C's work:

Copywork

Reading Comprehension

Math

September 8, 2011

Today got a little off-track, with a two-year-old on board who was slightly out of sorts for most of the day.  But we got the essentials done.  Geography was in the plans, but got bumped in favor of making birthday cards for one of our sponsored children and going out for a walk to the post office, a brief stop in the playroom at the deployment centre, and then out for lunch.  But that's all right - geography can wait til next week since I'm still waiting on a few books from the library anyway.

(The thermometer has so far hit 30 degrees for today, with a feels-like of 33.  That's 91.4 if you're into Fahrenheit.  That's h-o-t, HOT.  Which just might have something to do with the little one's touchy temper today.)


C's work for today:

Reading: Choosing the best word to complete the sentences.

Math: Skip counting, "half", getting familiar with the terms for some units of volume, a bit of US money

Also a page of Bible copywork, and then creating a birthday card for our sponsored child Maria.  Which I completely forgot to take pictures of, which stinks because it was really very nicely made!


A's work:

Math:  Dot-to-Dot

Matching pairs

Counting (and tracing my numbers)

And another dot to dot