Welcome To The Jungle

The other evening we met our fears and ventured into the dense marshes local to our house. We got a cool picture of this toad and the sunset was stunning.

LOL just kidding. I won't go anywhere near marshes this time of year. The sunset was taken on the opposite side of our home and the toad lives in a old pool pipe in our backyard. This toad is very cool. We have owned this house for exactly four years today. Every summer I hear him down at the bottom of the pipe croaking. We have never seen him in person though. The other evening Caitlin spotted his eyes in the dusk of evening. We got this shot of him peaking out of his pipe. I assume it is the same frog because it is such a great and safe spot to make your home. Now for a Science project I will have the kids look up the kind of frog, or toad that it is, and learn all about it.

The flooding in my hometown in upstate NY is slowly receding. My sister's home was spared, but so many others have lost everything. Even the hospital I used to work at had to be evacuated. I worked there for many years and this never happened. My little hometown is not even recognizable.

Last night, just after midnight, a pipe under the hose exploded. Thank goodness my husband was still up and quickly turned off the water to the house. You don't realize how much you appreciate flushing the toilet until you can't. I feel your pain Anne. Luckily we have the pool and could scoop the water out of there to flush the toilets, which my husband didn't think of. He was able to fix the pipe himself, saving us a boat load of money.

How Asphalt Is Made

Today DJ has a Science lesson on how roads are paved. The video below explains how asphalt is made. It does skip here and there, so you have to be patient. Tomorrow I will share some cute Memorial Day crafts I found, for the younger kids. Both kids continue towards finishing up the remainder of their school work and looking forward to summer break. We are also in the review process. Even though we take a summer break, Caitlin will continue with Head of the Class first grade lessons each day over the summer. Why? Because we didn't start it until January and I would like her to complete first grade so I can use the second grade as her main lessons next year. DJ is no longer doing it, because it was too much with all his other lessons included. I probably will not use the sixth grade for him, even if they release it before next year starts, because I already have his curriculum set out. DJ will also take the summer to do a math lesson each day, to complete the Saxon 54 book and begin Saxon 65 in the Fall. He may have a couple more ancient times lessons to complete as well, but not many. He will begin Medieval Times in the Fall. We only have like ten more days left in the school year, and everyone is ready for a break.

Perigee Full Moon

I must admit, before I began to homeschool my kids there were a lot of cool things that I never payed much attention to. The Perigee Full Moon, also known as the Super Moon, only occurs about every 18 years. It is closer to the earth so it appears larger and brighter than other full moons. The two shots above were take one the night of the Perigee Moon, and the other at the beginning of Dawn the next day. I take our puppy out very early so I got the shot as the moon was just going behind the trees. Because DJ and I are still learning to use the digital camera at night, we were unsure of the setting to use. You can see the difference after I got to play with it in the morning. This is just a note to me, and will mean nothing to my readers. For night time pictures, the flower must be off, and the lightning bolt must be enclosed in the oval, to get the best shots. For those of you who want to be photo enthusiasts, don't throw away your instruction books, as I did 7 years ago when I received the camera as a gift. It takes wonderful pictures, but it helps if you know what all the settings are ahead of time. Anyway the video below is wonderfully educational, please share it with yourself and your children.

Oh for those of you who read my blog regularly, DJ took 2nd place for his sea lion photo, this past Saturday in 4H fair. Caitlin got a Cloverbud ribbon. The first place ribbon went to a beautiful rabbit picture.

Earth KAM by NASA

Are your kids learning about space? The Earth KAM website is put out by NASA and the International Space Station. You will be amazed at the images they are capturing. You can also use the Hubble Site, to get images from the Hubble Telescope. These are free and they have lesson plans and standards for your use in your public school classes, or homeschool classes. We have used these two sites a little bit, but next year we will be using it much more. Even though I bought DJ a Science textbook for next year, I will be using a lot of lesson plans I have found on some awesome websites that have more detailed lessons and activities all laid out and ready for you to use. See my archives for lessons from the National Zoo and Seaworld.

How To Make Rock Candy, Fortified Cereal Science Experiment

We were actually going to make this for our playdate tomorrow, but I had no idea it took so long, and you need quite a few Mason Jars to make enough for everyone. So I will aim to make it for an upcoming playdate. It really is quite simple and you can make a variety of colors and flavors.

Last Thursday we did a Science experiment to teach about fortified food. You will need a strong magnet, a refrigerator magnet is probably not strong enough, cereal that has at least 50% iron without adding milk. You can find that info on the label of the package. Then you just pour some cereal in a bowl and crunch it up into small pieces. Then swirl the magnet around in the crushed cereal. Using a magnifying glass have your children inspect the magnet, and ask them what they think is stuck on the magnet. DJ got it on the second guess. He guessed sugar first but then quickly realized that sugar is not attracted to a magnet. Then explain how cereals and other foods are fortified to aid in getting proper nutrition for children and adults. This is an easy and inexpensive Science experiment. Only took maybe ten minutes, if that.

Weather Fronts and Sea Turtles

Last Tuesday we went on an electronic field trip to Gulf Island Shores. I printed off the lesson about Sea Turtles, and this week we are finishing up with it. There are other lessons available as well that you can print, and other field trips you can take. View my archives for the full description. We are also still learning about Weather, and weather fronts are the topic today. The videos below will all add substance to your lessons and kids love to watch them. The pool is still not completely cleaned, and this blog needs a good link scrubbing as well. Both of these hopefully will be accomplished while we are on Spring Break next week.

Lesson Plans For 03/08/11:

DJ:
Science: Sea turtles, weather fronts, thermometers
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Spelling: Chapter 20 write each word three times each
Art: Draw sea turtles in natural habitat
Math: Saxon 54
Language Arts: Types of sentences
Sign Language
If time permits play weather games at Weather Wiz Kids

Caitlin:
Science: Sea turtles, dinosaur coloring page
Art: Draw a sea turtle
Math: Money ID, subtraction, space shapes
Language Arts: Describing words, suffixes
Phonics: Letter g
Word Search
Reading: Happy and Max
Following Directions: Worksheet
Printing Practice
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Animal and Plant Adaptation

Today is Science, and today the kids are studying plant and animal adaptations. Enjoy the two educational videos below. Habitats is something you learn in every elementary grade, right up to fifth grade. It is stressed a lot. Because coloring consumes so much of first grade, Caitlin is surrounded by coloring assignments today.

Lesson Plans For 02/08/11:

DJ:
Science: Adaptation, Bouncing Back reading with questions
Math: Saxon 54
Sign Language
Spelling: Chapter 16 write each word three times each
Language Arts: Nouns
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Caitlin:
Science: Tadpole life cycle, dinosaur coloring, winter coloring page, owl coloring page, family tree
Printing Practice
Language Arts: Long oo, predict outcomes ws, odd word out ws
Math: Subtraction
Spelling: Numbers word search
Phonics: WS letter a
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Plants, Pollination, and Photosynthesis

Continuing with our lessons about plants and pollination. This week we are covering photosynthesis. I read an interesting article in National Geographic about de-forestation and the destruction of soil. Without plants this great planet of ours can not survive. They provide us with the oxygen we need to breathe and survive. Plant a tree, plant a garden, plant something. As our population continues to grow, we will need more and more plants to feed the population, as well as give off oxygen for the population.

Lesson Plans For 01/25/11:

DJ:
Science: Plants and photosynthesis
Math: Saxon 54
Spelling: Chapter 14, write each spelling word three times each
Sign Language

Caitlin:
Science: Hibernation, plants and pollination, dinosaur lapbook, animal book, seasons lapbook
Math: Addition
Language Arts: Consonant digraphs or blends
Sight Words- with syllables game
Printing Practice
Color and find words in a group: Word find
Words to know: Worksheet
Calendar work, clock work, skip counting

Biomes: Life In The Grasslands

Tomorrow for Science class DJ is starting Biomes, which is basically a fancy way of saying animal habitats. This will be an easy four weeks for him, because he can probably teach it. Tomorrow's biome is the Grasslands. The video below is for him and his sister to watch. Use it and enjoy it in your lessons. Caitlin is doing insects and the Grasslands. Since the first is on Wednesday I will be sharing our two new ideas for Advent Calendars for the 25 days of Christmas. Be sure to check back, I am ultra frugal, so anyone can make these.

Lesson Plans For 11/30/10:

DJ:
Science: Biomes: Life in the Grasslands
Math: Fractions, mixed math
Spelling: List 9 write each word three times each
Sign Language

Caitlin:
Science: Dinosaur lapbook with last drawing, Grasslands, insects
Printing Practice
Spelling: List 9
Language Arts: Blends, compound words
Read sentences to color the picture: WS
Sight words, clock work, calendar work, skip counting