Our first month of homeschool FLEW by!! Just a few days ago I filled out our first attendance record and faxed it to the county, as required by GA law. It doesn't seem possible, but this is already week 7! We have been very busy.
We are about half way through Charlotte's Web and plan to finish by Friday so that we can watch the movie and have homemade pizza for lunch while we watch. We had to get on a list to borrow the movie from the library, we were able to pick it up today. Both Nic and Syd are very familiar with the library now, as we are there every few days to pick up another hold. They both enjoy using the computers as well, so that is one more activity that they can do together regardless off the 5 year age difference :)
The past few weeks we have studied seasons and weather. Stone Mountain is offering a Snow experience which ties in nicely, but unfortunately it was rescheduled for later this month. We went ahead with our studies and will enjoy the real snow later. In the meantime, Nicholas made his own snow using a science kit called "Insta Snow"!! It is really a polymer that acts like a sponge and sucks up the water you pour on it - its a chemical "cousin" to what is in diapers. In fact, after we made the snow, we cut into a clean Pampers diaper and made some of that stuff too. It was not fluffy and light like the snow, it turned clear and gel like. Nicholas lit up when he saw the change, which takes only seconds. I grabbed my camera for the 2nd batch, but regret not filming the first. I love to see him so excited about learning!
Seasons and weather leads into life cycles, it's a natural transition. The library has been a huge help with lots of kid friendly videos and books on these topics. We read all about how apples grow, and will be planting our own from the apples we eat this week. In the meantime, we have planted cantaloupe, strawberry and carrot seeds indoors. Once they grow for 8-10 weeks, they will be transplanted to our outdoor garden (in the works). Our local nursery opens in 2 weeks, so we will be buying some small plants from them as well. I think Sydney will get a kick out of planting outdoors - she got herself into some trouble with the potting soil in the dining room, so this will be an adventure. Nicholas and I will be attending a luncheon on organic gardening this spring as well, hope that helps us! Jeff took the day off to stay home with Sydney so we can pay attention.
I am feeling more adventurous now and have looked into a homeschool group for our county. I think it would be nice to have friends to meet at the playground and other activities during the daytime. We are going back for a 2nd homeschool class at the Zoo, I found a history class that meets once a month, and found that the local Bowling Alley even has homeschool days twice a week. I am not sure if any of these will be the right fit for us, but we are ready to get out there a bit more I think, so we can at least try! I asked Nic if he missed seeing kids his own age everyday, and honestly, he gave me a questionable dirty look and said point blank "No". I guess that answers it. But I still want to try and help him make friends with kids that won't tease him. I think he is just scared of being teased again.I know he had no problems sticking up for himself, in fact he was so good at it that he wound up being the one in bigger trouble in school because of it mostly (not fair, but I won't even go there right now) but it still hurt him to be put in that position in the first place. Every kid needs friends.
We are about half way through Charlotte's Web and plan to finish by Friday so that we can watch the movie and have homemade pizza for lunch while we watch. We had to get on a list to borrow the movie from the library, we were able to pick it up today. Both Nic and Syd are very familiar with the library now, as we are there every few days to pick up another hold. They both enjoy using the computers as well, so that is one more activity that they can do together regardless off the 5 year age difference :)
The past few weeks we have studied seasons and weather. Stone Mountain is offering a Snow experience which ties in nicely, but unfortunately it was rescheduled for later this month. We went ahead with our studies and will enjoy the real snow later. In the meantime, Nicholas made his own snow using a science kit called "Insta Snow"!! It is really a polymer that acts like a sponge and sucks up the water you pour on it - its a chemical "cousin" to what is in diapers. In fact, after we made the snow, we cut into a clean Pampers diaper and made some of that stuff too. It was not fluffy and light like the snow, it turned clear and gel like. Nicholas lit up when he saw the change, which takes only seconds. I grabbed my camera for the 2nd batch, but regret not filming the first. I love to see him so excited about learning!
Seasons and weather leads into life cycles, it's a natural transition. The library has been a huge help with lots of kid friendly videos and books on these topics. We read all about how apples grow, and will be planting our own from the apples we eat this week. In the meantime, we have planted cantaloupe, strawberry and carrot seeds indoors. Once they grow for 8-10 weeks, they will be transplanted to our outdoor garden (in the works). Our local nursery opens in 2 weeks, so we will be buying some small plants from them as well. I think Sydney will get a kick out of planting outdoors - she got herself into some trouble with the potting soil in the dining room, so this will be an adventure. Nicholas and I will be attending a luncheon on organic gardening this spring as well, hope that helps us! Jeff took the day off to stay home with Sydney so we can pay attention.
I am feeling more adventurous now and have looked into a homeschool group for our county. I think it would be nice to have friends to meet at the playground and other activities during the daytime. We are going back for a 2nd homeschool class at the Zoo, I found a history class that meets once a month, and found that the local Bowling Alley even has homeschool days twice a week. I am not sure if any of these will be the right fit for us, but we are ready to get out there a bit more I think, so we can at least try! I asked Nic if he missed seeing kids his own age everyday, and honestly, he gave me a questionable dirty look and said point blank "No". I guess that answers it. But I still want to try and help him make friends with kids that won't tease him. I think he is just scared of being teased again.I know he had no problems sticking up for himself, in fact he was so good at it that he wound up being the one in bigger trouble in school because of it mostly (not fair, but I won't even go there right now) but it still hurt him to be put in that position in the first place. Every kid needs friends.
1 comment:
Hi Mrs Mom! Congrats on surviving the first month of homeschooling. They say the first month is the hardest as you settle into a schedule. I homeschool and love it. I see you found insta snow. I too, found it on the Steve Spangler website along with a lot of other good science experiments to do with my kids. Have you tried the water gel? It is very similar to the insta snow/ baby diaper activities. Here's a link if you are interested - http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1278
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