Week 19 - Anatomy, Handwriting, and Dinosaurs

 Happy week 19 - 

We are deep into the depths of dinosaurs. Last weekend the boys worked long and hard on a project and then came running to get me. They wanted me to come look at Micah's room. They had turned it into an aviary (complete with flying pterodactyls from the ceiling) and giant, ferocious, meat eaters on the walls. There were even blue pieces of construction paper on the floor that were filled with paper fish for the dinosaurs to eat. It was impressive. I've decided not to consider how they hung the ones from the ceiling. I'm sure it was creative and I don't think I want to know. 

My runs each morning have been wonderful. I have been in the woods, at the beach, around the neighborhood and occasionally on the treadmill. 

Emmett is now reading Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Clouds. We are reading it aloud at night with Micah. They seem to really enjoy it. He continues to read poems from Langston Hughes and is learning elements of stories. We have come to the end of the physics and engineering and have started in on Anatomy. This week I traced each of the kids on paper and for the next 18 weeks or so, we will be filling them in. He continues to work on geometry - angles, triangles, etc and he rocked his mid module assessment! Cursive is still a favorite and we've ordered a new Spanish book to try and increase his confidence. 

Micah and I read Fly by Jane Yolen this week. This was not a story I was familiar with. We talked about ways to say things with creative language to make them more interesting. He practices with his word list each week and we have picked back up with handwriting to make sure that his letter formation is solid. We continue to work through the Grade 1 Fundation book. Phew, even first grade occasionally tests this tired mom's brain. Micah's science lesson was all about air and the atmosphere. This was interesting to him. He enjoyed the vocabulary and the discussion about the stratosphere and the troposphere. He is participating in the anatomy lessons and we have some cool dinosaur things planned for next week. He has also been playing his own football tournament in the backyard. Each day it is a new game leading up to the championship. Always in shorts and yes, it is freezing. 

Handwriting

Jonah worked really hard on 10 frames and pattens this week in math! He's got it! He also finished up all of his letters and so we have gone on to flashcards and other puzzles to strengthen his skills.  He has been asking to play basketball and soccer this year. I'm sure his dad will also encourage baseball. Here's hoping we can do some sports this year. Fingers are crossed for the covid craziness to subside.

Norah and Jonah and I picked up a few library books we had on hold. It was a fight but I managed to get them both in the stroller. This was a miracle as Norah almost always insists on walking. 

We also all sat down and watched the Inauguration on Wednesday. Oh my stars, what a morning. I was so moved watching it all that my heart almost couldn't take it. I hope that someday the kids will look back on the history that was made. 

On to week 20!

Peace and love

Kate

Week 18 - Landforms, Density, and Syllables

 It's always a good week when there is a birthday in the house. This week we had two! On Wednesday, Jonah turned 5 and Patrick turned 40. Hooray! Jonah's requests were a "Fancy Santa Birthday" and a "school holiday" so we got out the table linens, the goblets and the candles. I got a set of Christmas dishes that we can use year after year and I hung back up the Santa painting. 

We all dressed in red and/or green and it was quite festive. 

Yes, this was the best photo he would give me. *eye roll*

This is my chocolate kid. Chocolate layer cake with chocolate vegan butter cream frosting and vegan chocolate brownie ice cream 

Not only do they share a birthday, they also share gifts! Jonah gave the jacket to dad and kept the helmet and badge for himself. We got a good chuckle out of this. Thank you Barb and Levin!

Earlier in the day, Grammy read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" on FaceTime. 

It was a lovely day and Jonah was quite happy. I think Patrick had a good day too, although he worked for all of it except birthday lunch. I do have it on good authority that he was pleased with his new dumbbells, even though he has to go pick them up himself. Do you even know how hard it was to find sets of 15# and 30# dumbbells?! Good grief. 

Don't mind our off key singing. 

But I do love what he says after we finish. Be still my heart. 

"Isn't it a Christmas miracle when it's a birthday?" 💓

Moving on to the school news...

For math, Micah has been learning how to accurately measure things. How to line them up to tell which is longer or shorter and using a ruler to measure with units.  He is progressing through his Fundations book for 1st grade. We started talking about syllables this week, which he thought was great fun. Lots of clapping and coming up with words that fit the "rules" in his book. 

Syllable practice

In science, we talked about bodies of water. We made a "tray shoreline" for the lab and it was fun to go back a bit to talk about previous topics like erosion. He made lots of hypothesis and had fun watching the "waves" he created. We made a big mess and had a lot of fun. 

How the waves work on the beach. 

We also reaped the reward of the rock candy experiment. 4 of the 6 jars turned out well and so that was cool! Emmett loved it (what's not to love?), Norah took a few licks, and Micah and Jonah were uninterested in actually eating it. 

We also got some time outside. Micah always prefers to play football games in the yard by himself but he took a break to play with the favorite dinosaur. This topic has come back up thanks to a Nintendo Switch game and I have a sneaking suspicion that dinosaurs will be a focus for school in the upcoming weeks. 

Emmett continues work with geometry and angles. He gets annoyed with me daily as I remind him of the importance of accuracy and neatness in his work. I keep reminding myself that he will hopefully see the value years from now in math classes. Oy. He is using a protractor and straight edge and learning all of the new terms that geometry brings. 

In science we finished off last weeks lesson on density with another quick experiment. On the suggestion of Anica, I pulled out 5 liquids, including water, and he poured them equally into glasses. He then poured them into a clear up-cycled water bottle to see if they would mix or layer and in what order. He told me his guesses prior to the experiment and then we checked back to see how close he was. He then wanted to let it sit overnight to see if they would become even more obvious and he was interested to see that they did, in fact. 

After settling over night

His next physics lesson was on solar energy and for engineering he was going to build a small s'mores solar oven. We never ended up with a sunny day so that project will have to wait until the following week. 

For language arts, we finished up "Finding Langston" and talked more about The Great Migration. He read and copied down a Langston Hughes poem and continues to work on his cursive each day. 

Jonah has learned all his letters! He was unimpressed with "Qu, Queen, qu". 

"That one is too hard mom." 

I got out some word forms for him to try too. He thought those were ok. I had to laugh because I thought that I would get to sit down and do a few with Norah but she didn't need my help. I continue to be amazed at the things that each one of them excels at. She can look into the letter box and pull out exactly the one she needs next. She identifies it with her eyes even if it is upside or backwards. She is able to identify and tell me about half of the letters, especially her favorites. Here's to learning through osmosis. Just crazy to me. 

Jonah and I also played some trucks outside. I was the dump truck and he was the digger. I was then banished because I wasn't doing it right. Ahaha. I promised him another try one of these days. 

Norah is just hanging right in there with us. She holds her own daily and is always right in the mix. She was interested in Micah's math cubes this week but they were pretty tricky to put together so that was a good activity to work on together. 

All in all, a lovely birthday week. 

Cheers!

Kate

Week 17 - All the Science

 Week 17- January 3rd - January 10th 2021

Happy January. We finally got back into a semi-routine with school. Micah and I continue to read "The Secret Zoo". He has started his own book about a Zoo. Stay tuned for the plot. He is on page 6! He is also moving along with his sight words and word lists. 

His science lesson this week was on landforms. We talked, read, and watched all sorts of things about caves because that was where he was drawn. At the end of the week, we attempted a lab that would show us how stalactites and stalagmites were made. This was good in theory and also a complete flop. Ha. We did a quick pivot and opted to try our had at making crystals, a.k.a. rock candy.

Stirring to make a concentrated solution.

The set up for the failed stalactite experiment. 

New set up!

Jonah is working his way through the Kindergarten Fundations book. He is not a big fan of coloring or drawing but can be encouraged by his brothers who talk about Ms DiCarlo's "three start coloring".  "Fight the white, mom," he says. He is also working on patterns and counting/small addition problems with the calendar and DreamBox math. 

Norah got new grammy mittens and a hat and she was glad to have them on her bike (yes we added a helmet after the photo). She also went over to the Meetinghouse at the church to help work though some camera/lighting problems with mom and dad. 

So. Many. Buttons. 

Emmett and Micah and I are reading Finding Langston. He has a small project that is based on The Great Migration that he is working on a bit. He also continues to study the work of Langston Hughes, although I am not sure he is sold on poetry quite yet. His physics lesson this week was about density and his engineering lesson was related to floating and flying. He did a classic salt/fresh water experiment with eggs. I think that the concept of density might need a bit more work. 

This is the end of a cold, grey week. Looking forward to a bit of time outdoors next week and some cold sunshine, fingers crossed. 

Cheers!

Kate

Week 16 and 16.5 Christmas and New Years!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all! December 20th, 2020 - January 2nd, 2021

We opted for two weeks of light school and lots of playing these last two weeks. The kids did about two and a half days both weeks and it was lovely to keep up a bit but also have a nice break. 

School highlights these last two weeks have included a really neat science lesson via Zoom with our friend Anica Brown right before Christmas. She recently retired from teaching science and we actually met her at our last church home. Her lesson fell right in line with Micah's science curriculum this week as she shared some information about microfossils. Anica spent some time on the The JOIDES Resolution (JR) which is a research vessel that drills into the ocean floor to collect and study core samples. Per their website, "scientists use data from the JR to better understand climate change, geology and Earth’s history. It is a part of the International Ocean Discovery Program and is funded by the National Science Foundation." She showed the boys the ship and told them all about the cool science that was happening. At the end we cast our own fossils which they thought was pretty fun. I didn't get any photos as I was trying to keep the younger two occupied and listen in with the older kids. Phew. 

Emmett's science lesson this week was all about magnets! Since he got in on the fossil and research ship fun, we saved the magnets for this last week. Of course, what's not to love about magnets so they all had a turn with the compass and the magnetic "tricks". 

Emmett's other exciting advancement this week was learning to write his name/signature in cursive. He thought that was so cool and he wrote it over and over and over. So many letter "E", "M" and "T" in that name. Ha!

Micah and I continue to work through his math curriculum. I came into the kitchen one day to find this...

Fairly creative use of the magnetic numbers and correct (after he fixed it), I might add. 

We also played a matching game to help with understanding of the equals sign. That concept seems to be a bit of a challenge. We have switched over to saying "is the same as or equals" so that it makes more sense. 

Oh, and while Emmett was learning cursive, Micah learned how to tie his shoes! I'd say that is a huge first grade win! 

Jonah has been working in his Fundations book with me each day but these last two weeks were a bit of a wash for him. I am completely ok with that. Jonah is my Christmas guy and he's been in the Christmas spirit since June! 

On the last Sunday in Advent, he and I made some button cards so he could practice his name. He wanted me to place and glue the buttons and he wrote the words.

Later that day, we all went outside to play in the snow and we saw Santa drive by in a classic convertible! He waved and honked at the kids and they were pretty stoked about it, especially since it was snowing again!

The next day, he and I also made a snowman, which he has wanted to do for over a year!

I even snuck in a 3 mile run in the snowy woods with E! 💚

We celebrated the winter solstice on 12/21 with a fire in our new fire pit. We acknowledged the longest night of the year with light and fire and warmth (and a roasted marshmallow or two)! We talked about how the days will start to get longer bit by bit and the nights will get just a bit shorter until it is summer again. Over and over again. 

On December 23rd, the boys helped Patrick and Rev. Cydney put up the outdoor Nativity Walk. They were so happy to be outside and honestly, just happy to be with their dad. Despite the fact that there were no in person services this year, he worked endlessly for weeks and we didn't see much of him until the morning of the 25th. They had fun and worked hard getting everything together and the Nativity Walk was quite a success. Kudos to Patrick and Cydney for their ingenuity! 

On Christmas Eve day, I started a fire and we performed our birch bark burning tradition that we have done each year. This started in 2016 when we moved to Connecticut and left almost all of our traditions behind. We discovered that there was a gentleman that would light a fire in the fireplace at the little park across from the church on Christmas Eve day. He had sharpie markers and bags of birch bark and you could write an intention for the new year, or something that you might want to let go off from the previous year, or maybe just a wish or a prayer. After you wrote it on the bark, you threw it into the fireplace and watched it curl up and send that thought into the universe. I loved it so much and then in 2019, the city removed the fireplace. We invited this same guy to bring his little chimney across the street and hold the same open door policy in front of the church in 2019 and then shortly after that... he moved away.  By golly, this is the one tradition that I had leaned on and so I collected birch bark from fallen trees on my runs in the woods and we had our own little private burning. Micah wrote "foxes" and wished for all the foxes to be healthy and taken care of. Jonah wrote that he was grateful for "Santa and the spirit of Christmas". Emmett wrote "I wish that covid will be gone in 2021.) Be still my heart. 

Christmas Eve was strange this year for us, just as it was for everyone. Patrick sat in the Meetinghouse alone, streaming the services that he and his team had put together. He turned the lights on in the sanctuary to red and green and they looked really cool from outside through the stained glass. 

Through all of the noise, laughter, and rambunctiousness, Norah has just stayed right in the middle of things. She loves to help me in the kitchen and often you can find her measuring the extra ingredients or cutting something up. 

She is also a big fan of a small cup of decaf coffee with almond milk or a splash of soy creamer. Oy, don't judge me. 

Christmas came with excited kids and lots and lots of games. Santa brought Mouse Trap and that was really fun for Emmett since he had studied Rube Goldberg. 

Other favorites include Scrabble, Sneaky Squirrel (thanks Betsy!), Outfoxed (thanks Steve K!), and Husker checkers. 

Micah and Jonah have had great fun with a train that goes around the track or on the floor. (Thanks Craig and Vance!) And Jonah can almost always be found on the floor somewhere driving his new firetruck and ambulance around. 

Santa came through with a blue arctic fox for Micah. 

Norah painting with her dot paints (thanks Betsy!)

Just a little tea for everyone. (Thanks Grammy and Pops!)

Also, I don't have a photo yet but Grandma Barb and Grandpa Levin sent Norah some play food and pots and utensils and that has been a hit with all 4 of them. 

In the week between Christmas and New Years Day, Patrick had the good fortune to assemble a treadmill that he surprised me with. I think that Emmett, Patrick and I will all enjoy it. Yesterday, I ran in Japan, Patrick ran in Greece, and Emmett ran in Thailand in an elephant sanctuary. Cool, right?!

Our family New Year's Eve tradition is to have "Fancy Dinner". This started before we even had kids. I think the impetus was that I can't hardly stay up past 10p and neither of us really enjoys going out. Each year I make a fancy meal and this year we went extra with the good wedding china that had never been out of the box, candles with crystal candlestick holders and goblets for everyone, not just the grown ups. The kids loved being trusted to use these things. It was so fun to watch them. I figure if a plate breaks or a glass breaks, who cares. We will clean it up and try again. I was disappointed that the new chargers for the plates and the table runner didn't get here in time but it was still lovely. 

Our menu this year included...

- vegan cream cheese with cranberry chutney on crackers

- mashed potatoes

- vegan macaroni and cheese baked with bread crumb topping 

- portobello mushroom steaks with avocado chimichurri 

- baguette with vegan butter

- sweet and sour Brussels sprouts with grapes and chestnuts

- vegan pumpkin creme brule (with vegan chocolate cheesecake as a backup plan, which we did end up needing)

- a splash of red wine or sparkling grape juice 

And so, with that, 2020 draws to a close. We have homeschooled for 4 months and I would have to say that in most ways, it has been a success. I wish you all joy, health, happiness and most of all hope for 2021. 

Happy New Year and Joy to the World.