First Day of School~ Fall Term 2015

"Everyday is a School Day (And That's The Way We Like It!)"  is our intended mentality, but our reality includes new back-to-school activities  every now and again. 

It helps us pretend that we aren't weird home schoolers every day... only most of them. 

It also gives us a window of time to measure progress for our required annual review. 

One Year Ago:

 

Now: 

I took a lot of photos intending to hopefully luck into a few good ones to share, but to haven't found the necessary time or focus to sift through or edit photos, so here we are, squinty eyes and all...Scroll quickly....

Aletheia First Day Fall Term

Our Fall Term started last week.

We rearranged our classroom.

Started with coffee, of course... 

Rye insisted she wanted "real" coffee in her cup...

... I think she liked it. 

First Period: Individual Grade Photos

FISHER KAI

Fisher is in Jr. High now

6th-ish Grade

LOGAN ALEECE

 Logan is finishing Jr. High

8th-ish Grade

CHANDLER BRICE:

Chandler is a Freshman (& not very fond of having his photo taken) 

2nd Period: Group Photo

 AFTER SEVERAL ROUGH DRAFTS...

ALETHEIA FIRST DAY FALL TERM 2014-2015

 3rd Period: Group Work 

  A peek into one of our favorite classes: Rubber Pencil 101

(and a video about Earthquakes) 

Pre-3 runs simultaneously in the same room: 

Weather gal :

Fidgets have been added to each desk space~ a listening aid, believe it or not: 

A Book Butterfly:

Riley in her "Music Appreciation" tent..a.k.a. naptime:

She now says "I hate music appreciation!" 

There were many other things not pictured, like a lesson on Earthquakes,  LoF Decimals & Percents, LoF English, 100 Essays: Essay #1: The First Day of School, Lunch & Break Time, Books Aloud and more. 

We ended the day with cookies.

In an ideal world, maybe they would have been homemade cookies. That was the original plan, too, make a special treat to close out the day.

But, homeschooling (amongst other things) has taught me that we do not live in an ideal world and sometimes, one must wing it.

Reading Rye Bird

We Are Learning To Read:

The video of the entire book read thru is 12 minutes long because that is how long it takes us right now to read the entire first Bob Book... we must do a lot of discussing and sounding out and also 'television narration'.  

This past week, Rye watched an art/drawing program on t.v. so thru the entire book, she was looking at herself on camera and narrating the process as if there were viewers, and also as if she were instructing an art program about horses and the moon (because there is a moon in the beginning of the book and instructions on illustrating 'the man in the moon' were featured on the art program...and because she LOVES horses right now) 

YouTube Link: http://youtu.be/mvfMUEKKLUg

Presidential Fitness

Tomorrow will be the last day of Presidential Fitness season for Chandler and Logan.
Chandler made Presidential for most everything he tried, Logan made several National rankings and Presidential in the Mile Run and Curl Ups.
Next season, Fisher gets to join in and he can't wait!
Tomorrow is the awards ceremony and Logan plans to bring her camera along since I will be in Bible study.
Below are a few pictures from one of their last testing/practice days.

King Tut

While in Atlanta recently, the kids and I took in the King Tutankhamen exhibit at the Civic Center. The kids just wanted to see a mummy, but I made them stop and listen as I read to them from the different displays. This only lasted so long! They were disappointed that there were no actual mummies to be seen, though I believe they still enjoyed seeing some of the burial items. Probably the biggest impact item for them was the cat's coffin, which they were sure still contained an ancient mummified cat.
(I imagine they are right)
I personally found the detail of the carving fascinating and the many various "gods" with which they were buried the most interesting of all. I have heard about idols made from wood and gold my entire life, but I've only seen modern ones (you know, golf clubs, Hershey bars... whatever :)
We've been learning about Egypt in our Mystery of History studies, so seeing the artifacts first hand was not only a real treat but a great way to observe first hand some of the things we had learned.
Obviously, cameras weren't welcome beyond the foyer- but here is what we did take:

In what can only be described as "typical", the one item best retained in their memories from our Egyptian studies (thus far) is the one item I included just for fun. I fear that the only thing they may be able to describe about King Tut now, is that he was "buried in his jammies!"
(On the bright side, their pop culture horizons were vastly expanded in Steve Martin 101, whom they had only previously known as "Inspector Clouseau" from modern day Pink Panther takes.)

Tides & Thievery

Sometimes, things just work together, ya know?

If you ever find yourself studying the ocean's movement, and if during that study you are instructed to build a model ocean but can't find any sand, it may all work out anyhow, if you happen to live on a golf course and have one to three children who do not mind being sneaky little thieves on occasion.

That is how we managed our project...bunker sand snatched from the 15th hole:

(we really only borrowed it)

Frescoe Projects

One of our projects while studying Greek civilization was to create a frescoe, like the many found throughout their ancient architecture. This project turned out to be one of those "Mom does the majority" projects. Oddly enough, the kiddos were still extremely proud of "their" work and tickled to see their frescoe work hung in the schoolroom:

* Word to the Wise: Never mix Plaster of Paris in a large yet narrow mouthed jar.

Earthenware

As one of our projects to learn about ancient civilizations-Greece specifically on this particular day- we took to some Sculpey and made clay pots. After the children rolled their "snakes" of clay into a pot formation, I baked them and then we painted them(as well as large portions of our skin and clothes) The end product has been grouped with other projects that we completed...each child pretty much stuck with "their" signature color- Chan went red, Fisher blue and Logan pink/purple:

Smashing Fun

One of our lessons this past week was about Gideon. Our assignment was to imagine the loud clatter of breaking pots to be heard in the siege of the Midianites. Our curriculum thought this best achieved by actually breaking pots with a hammer. The kids LOVED this project- a little too much perhaps, as Fisher has laid claim to the protective goggles and wants to wear them all the time. He has also procured a small decorative baseball bat to carry around in case he needs to "break" things (because I took the hammer and hid it):

Warm Winter Day

Monday had to be the most beautiful winter day in recent memory. The temp outside was a balmy 76 or so, with just the slightest breeze to keep things pleasant. School was back in session for us, but after attending to the Must Do's, we skipped over the Can Wait's until Tuesday, tossed on some beach clothes and made a bee line for the shore. Ahh, flexibility... homeschool's silver-est lining of them all!

((making up words, also a silver lining))

There was no convincing the kids that the water was too cold. I told them "Sure, put on your suits" thinking they could learn the old fashioned hard way, but I forgot about their stubborn genes (not mine, I swear!!) and had to lay the law down (up to your ankles only) once we arrived, after their umpteenth

"It really ISN'T cold!"

There was football, sea shell gathering, splashing and backwards walking, some men playing Bocce, a stranded jelly fish, and dancing dolphins...just to name a bit, and all in the first week of January! If I ever start talking about moving somewhere colder and/or without an ocean, you have my permission to pinch me and promptly send me back to this post!

Printing Press Potatoes

In our Mark Twain studies we learned that, amongst other things, Sam (Mark) worked his way through the printing press career; starting at apprentice as a young boy and ultimately finishing as a bankrupted investor (in "promising" new press equipment that never quite got all the kinks worked out) in adulthood.
We looked at a photo where a young Sam had cleverly spelled out his name in reversed press letters so that it would appear correctly once printed. I then cut backwards "press letters" into potatoes and the children made prints of their own names. A snack of Printing Press Potato Salad followed our activity

(made from the pre-paint trimmings, mind you)

When Clay arrived home, I asked the children to tell him what they had learned about the printing press during our lesson. Logan quickly reported " They were made from potatoes!" (She later worried that the school newspaper we are working on may have to be printed in this same manner... I assured her we would use an inkjet, not potatoes. :)

Chandler's Golden Good Luck Medicine

Chandler's medicine is called "Chandler's Golden Good Luck Medicine", a neon yellow tinted sugar water with hints of lemon and strawberry. For your consideration, Chandler's Golden Good Luck Medicine:

• Grants ever lasting life
• Treats muscle pain
• Makes you stronger than anyone but God
• Gives you good luck
• Prevents heart attacks
• And much more!

All for only $5.95 per bottle!

Chandler's Commercial:

Fisher's Amazing Fruit Serum

Fisher's medicine is called "Fisher's Amazing Fruit Serum". He chose to use Strawberry and Cinnamon flavorings and tinted his syrup blue (what else?!)
With some help, he wrote what his medicine cured and decorated the label with a fruit bowl. For your consideration, Fisher's Amazing Fruit Serum:

• Restarts your heart
• Cures Cancer
• Stops you from getting drunk
• Fixes Coughs
• Relieves Muscle Pain
• Stops Fever
• Makes you stronger than bad guys
• And much more!

All this and it only costs $1!

Fisher's Commercial:

& Take 2, with boots (he insisted):

Patent Medicine Projects

I've been reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to the children, as well as a companion book about Samuel Clemens,Mark Twain for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities. We've enjoyed the book (finished it yesterday) and have plans to jump into Huck just as soon as we can make it to the library. The associated activities have been great for putting our hands inside the book and bringing the story out in more dimension.

One scene in Tom Sawyer involves Aunt Polly giving Tom the latest and greatest in the way of patent medicine: Pain Killer; which Tom promptly gives to Peter, the cat.

Needless to say, this was one of the children's favorite parts.

The Mark Twain book suggested an activity that complemented this scene well. The children were to make and market their own patent medicines. We started by talking about the bygone days of medicine men, the FDA and our current safety regulations today. We scoured the Farmer's Almanac for advertisements to get an idea of all the sorts of ailments that are in need of curing and then the kids began to brainstorm.

Over the weekend, a kind pharmacist gave me three free cough syrup bottles and the children began to do the activity in parts. They were to design a medicine, describe what maladies their concoction would cure,and make a 'commercial' touting their wares to Aunt Polly (and viewers everywhere!)

Most  ironically, while watching I Love Lucy during the weekend, one episode just happened to be about Lucy's commercial for Vitameatavegamin,

(in which Lucy promptly gets as lit as Peter the cat):

This made the activity all the more appealing to them and you may notice some similarities between their commercials and Lucy's stemming from their inspiration... namely the "and it tastes delicious!" bit.

Posts following this one will include the children's projects-- they were so anxious to taste their medicines, having to refrigerate them over the weekend and wait until the "commercial shoot" on Monday was almost unbearable.

My favorite aspect of all the many fun elements in this project is that they have completely  sold themselves on their own medicines. Sugar water, some drops of candy flavoring and food coloring-- they know and mixed all the ingredients themselves but have sincerely suggested that Clay or I use their own brand of elixir at various times this week, when it seemed we may need to be cured.

(ex. Clay forgot something, Fisher recommended his medicine which is good for memory loss- amongst many other things.)

I hope the following posts will prove to be as entertaining to you as they have been for me!

Trolley Ride

Before we went ice skating @ Savannah's SkatFest, the kids and I took a trolley around Savannah then picnicked with our lunch on River Street. It was a beautiful (and not too cold ) day for the outing. We learned some new things and just had fun together :

Ice Skating

If God had intended us to move around on blades, He'd have given us ice skates instead of toes...

Still, some crazy folks insist on renting a pair and risking their necks on the ice. Last night, we were numbered amongst them at Savannah's SkateFest. 

The kids thought they were going to go out on the ice and instantly be doing figure eights, hockey slides, etc... they were humbled, needless to say.

I have never been a big skater- ice or wheels. I prefer a little more control than those methods of travel which involve free gliding...nor have I ever really liked the idea of going endlessly in circles...WITH THE CROWD...  Still, it was fun to watch the kids give ice skating a go. They had a blast and were saddened when the session came to an end. They were asking to go again first thing this morning.... uh, oh...looks like we've started something.

The Salty Wife

In school, we were discussing Abraham, Lot and the story of Sodom & Gomorah. We talked about God's command for Lot to take his family and flee and the unfortunate pillar of salt incident that soon followed. Logan's observation was quick and resourceful: " Oh!... well, they could've used her to cook with then!"

Terrarium & Miscellaneous Fruit

Making greehouses from 2 liter bottles and baby food, plus some funky fruit we had for breakfast:

SCIENCE LESSON: The Atmosphere & Its Layers

Using some of the play doh made earlier, we rolled out "snakes" of

varying colors. The children then rolled these colors into one piece and cut them out using a small juice glass. Using a diagram we had printed, we then labled our atmosphere models in an effort to commit them to memory: