Little Scientists

During my MANY hours

of perusing the web

for 

curriculum

I found a recommendation for

an at home hands-on science club.

The Magic Schoolbus Science Club

by the Young Scientist Club.

They send a "kit" once a month

that is complete with everything you need for 

about 7 experiments

all relating to the same subject.

We got our first kit a few weeks ago,

(it was a little late)

but I haven't broken it open yet.

After being HOUNDED unmercifully

by the two that these kits are intended for 

I broke down and agreed to open our second 

kit today.

It was on magnets.

Here is what it looked like:

It included:  3 bar magnets, 1 curved one, iron filings,

a little plastic bowl, a small lodestone rock,

a 3"x3" piece of cardboard, a little car

and a bunch of plastic bags.

And a book with instructions.

They created 7 experiments

to use with these items.

And asked questions,

we have started science notebooks now...

The first was to discuss and play with the polarity on the magnets.

Then we experimented with the lodestone rock and iron filings.

Then attached a bar magnet to the car and pushed and pulled it around without

touching it.

Then the boys got to test different objects to see which ones would attract a magnet.

I took creative liberty with a few items.  Thought the kids

would get a kick out of testing some odd stuff.

And yes - I misspelled Chuck E Cheese

I was in a hurry getting the boys set up 

with daddy and this final assignment as I was running

out the door to take A to dance class.

They got to play with the magnet and iron filings and make designs and see how strong

it was (2 different experiments with this).

and my favorite:

We made a compass!!!

Ha!  How cool is that??

Along with talking about magnets,

we are still working on our plants.

The magnet thing showed up so we used it.

(And loved it)

but it didn't fit "neatly" in with the 

seed and plant lessons.

I have put it away and will pull the magnet

items out again when we get to magnets.

Tuesday, we checked our lima bean plants again

and discussed the difference in 

monocot seeds and dicot seeds.

Daddy learned something at dinner

that night, from J!

Here they are sorting out different seeds

and putting them in their group.

Look at the concentration on my sweet J,

he is working SO stinking hard 

on his reading and spelling!!

He was getting a little frustrated cause mommy isn't "telling him" how to 

spell everything, I am being mean and making him 

sound it out the best he can.

So he was mad at me and struggling with 

one of the seed names here but spelled the rest

almost perfectly.

(Meanie mommy, I know)

So in Math, I did have R go through and take about 4 tests,

that resulted in us skipping about 16 lessons.

I am struggling...

I don't want to push him ahead too much.

I want to make sure that he is getting 

a GREAT foundation.

Unfortunately, that means doing

the "easy" stuff a little more.

It really shouldn't be hard 

at this age.

So I might challenge him a little more and time

him on his math worksheets.

He is VERY competitive...

but might have to add time to his

final if he gets wrong answers

because he rushed through.

I dunno...

still working on this thought.

We wrote another letter today.

It is nice to get letters back from family.

I actually have one sitting waiting to be mailed.

Guess I need to get on that!

R was asked what his favorite subject was

in one letter,

his response:

Science

and this was 

BEFORE

we did the magnet lesson.

Made me feel good.

I realized that little T hasn't made it in the posts lately.

So here is one for him...

showing off his new kicks!

I purchased my first set of

crocs EVER!

Well, knock off crocs,

so croc-offs??

He was less than impressed and 

we had a TIME

keeping them on his feet.

So not sure how much wear these

bad boys will get,

oh well.

Welcome...

Welcome to our new site design!!!

I love it!

I have been gaining readers

(thank you!!!)

and 

heard that my previously 

chosen font was a little hard to read.

So...

WELCOME

to the
NEW

and

IMPROVED

"Are We Really Doing This???"

Hope you like it - 

I do!!  

As usual, 

we are always busy in this house.

First,

our first bean growing experiment was a

FLOP!

Well, let's just say - 

it STUNK!

Yes, 

pun intended there!

I wanted something without dirt

that would allow the boys 

to watch what was happening.

Being newbies, I decided we would follow

some directions on the web...

even though it was a bit contrary to what I thought...

they had success, 

so I figured we would try it.

Well

it didn't work for us.

I chose NOT to cover

our container to keep the moisture in.

(per directions, but against my better judgement)

So our paper towel would dry out.

Apparently I was making it 

TOO

wet when I re-moistened it.

So this is what we got...

I *wish* I would have thought to have snapped

a picture of the boys faces when I suggested 

they smell them.

HAHAHAH!! 

(Is that mean??)

Then of course we used that as an 

opportunity to briefly discuss

"rot".

So here is round 2.

I started on Saturday.

And as you can see,

this time chose to 

put plastic wrap over the top

to keep the moisture in.

And guess what...

This morning (Monday)

here is what we found!

WHOO HOO!!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

That's the way we spell success.

(Did you do the cheer in your head with me?)

I have been starting to think about what curriculums to use next.

I like most of what we are using and will keep with it.

But am considering different options for math and language arts.

We will see what we come up with.

J is doing a GREAT job with his reading!  

Makes a momma proud!!

The K Abeka language books we are using is actually 

going too slow for him,

so I looked through it last night and we are going to

speed things up a little

and skip some pages.

We are supplementing with

ReadingEggs.com

and

Starfall.com

(the free trials/versions).

We dropped Time4Learning about a month ago.

Did I already say that? 

It was a great program and I highly recommend it,

BUT

I wanted more hands on stuff with my kids

and 

less computer time

and

it was $35 a month.

I would rather put that into more

books for them

instead of computer stuff.

R is doing great with math and language as well,

but they are still not moving quite quick enough for me

and 

I HATE to waste this stuff,

so poor thing is doing a LOT

of reviewing lately.

But I think we are going to start getting to some interesting

stuff in a few weeks (I hope).

Either that or I am just going to 

break down and let him take a bunch of the tests

and just see where he starts struggling

and start from there.

Cause we have GOT to

get to some challenging stuff

SOON!

I have been struggling to come up with some stuff for A to do.

She is slowly dropping naps.

(NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)

So today,

we hit Michael's for some 

some ideas.

I bought some pom poms

and we had a pair of tweezers that came with 

a bath toy.

(Don't ask)

Then I had some silicone muffin cups.

And viola...

A worked on sorting

and colors

(with a little tutelage from J)

 today!

This girl sat at the table for

OVER an HOUR

today with us working

with these few items.

She actually pulled it back out while I was cooking dinner too.

I gotta come up with more more of these things!

(That don't require tons of supplies and prep work!)

This weekend was busy too.

I *think* we have found a home church!

It has only taken us 4 months.

I also think we have finally found a section of town we want to be in.

(Sort of)

While at church on Sunday,

the Cub Scouts were 

recruiting.

So we stopped and chatted.

R was in Scouts 

back home

and J always wanted to go.

Well, this new group is letting 

J join early!

So starting next week...

both boys (and daddy)

are headed to scouts!!

I am so excited.

And it seems like such a great group!

Can't wait to start posting pics of my 

scouts!

All 3 of them!!

Because of the delay in getting started back with Scouts

we didn't want R to miss anything

or be behind...

so he and Daddy started going through his

requirements for his

Wolf Cub badge.

He has done most of it, 

but there are a few things left to do.

So, we are going to work on those together.

One requirement left

 is "Health and Nutrition".

One thing you have to do is 

help plan and prepare a meal.

So daddy and R are worked together on 

dinner Sunday night.

He took the 

"Set it & Forget it"

motto literally.

And,

A has a candy stash!

HAHAH!

The kids got some candy in goodie bags

from last weekend's 

birthday party.

The boys put theirs on/in their desks.

A chose to put hers in 

one of her kitchen 

cupboards!

I thought that was 

all too fitting for a female...

already hiding her candy in her kitchen!

Love it!!

Roller Skating & a Rodeo Field Trip (& Lots more...)

Our fish tank is finally coming together.

We apparently shocked the fish when we 

put all of them in the tank

at the same time

we lost 3 the first 24 hours.

Unfortunately they were all J's fish.

We let each of the older 3 kids

pick out a fish.

And since they were schooling fish,

we supposedly had to get 3 each.

The neon tetras are the ones 

that didn't make it.

We got "hardier" replacements.

And everyone seems to be happy.

R got 3 IDENTICAL fish

but swears he can

tell them apart...

so he named them.

(its a long way from Uncle Jack's but its a start!)

We were invited to a birthday

party on Saturday.

A roller skating party...

not the best idea with 4 little ones.

But everyone

did

FANTASTIC!!!

We got skates on the older boys

and let them skate around on the carpet.

R finally got up the nerve to make it out on the rink.

We are tough in this house and MADE him

go around the rink 

(holding on)

one time.

PRAISING him

and getting overly

EXCITED

when he completed it.

He waited,

then decided to try it again.

Then that was IT!

He turned into a little speed demon after that.

But keeping his balance with those flailing

arms was a SIGHT!

We finally made J got out 

and go around the rink once

too.

He was more apprehensive but

he responds really well to the 

excitement and praise too.

So he stayed out there but hugged the wall

almost the entire time.

He finally started getting brave when it 

was about time to go.

A...

oh my mercy!

I had no idea about skating for her.

Honestly, hadn't even planned on her skating.

They had the little plastic "starter" skates

that fit over your regular shoes...

guess what shoes she happened

to be wearing that day!

She kept trying to make her way out 

on the rink,

but neither daddy nor I were

brave (or dumb) 

enough to get ourselves

skates.

So we did our best to keep her off of the rink.

I finally caved and let her get on.

I walked around the outside of the rink

within arms reach.

Every time she bit it

I looked over the rail and said

"Where'd you go?"

With a big smile on my face...

she popped right and kept right on going.

They all LOVED it!

Needless to say,

both boys were

literally black and blue

and had knots on their

knees and elbows 

though.

:(

Little T was even patient enough to

let his big sister put the skates on

him!!

He made it onto his feet briefly,

but I didn't let it get too far

since he is new to this whole

walking thing as it is.

School is going well.

We have incorporated

history and religion

into our studies so far this week.

Tomorrow we will look at our 

lima beans...

I peeked 

and noticed that one is sprouting...

more on that in a later post though.

We have decided to try out 

our green thumb on aquatic plants...

so the boys planted some aquatic bulbs 

in the aquarium...

we will keep you posted on those as well.

I also have an art project planned.

Will fill you in when and if that works out. HA!

This week we also went

on our first

homeschool field trip!!!

I have always loved participating in the kids

schools and was room mom when they were 

in public school 

and did my best to stay involved!

I loved doing the field trips 

and ALWAYS wanted to be there

but with the littler ones at home...

I couldn't.

I can't express what it meant to me to 

take all of my kids on this field trip.

It was wonderful!!  

The kids were great and we had a great time!

We went on a trip to the San Antonio Rodeo!!!

It was basically just a tour 

of some of the exhibits at the rodeo.

It is a lot like the State Fair 

that I have gone to for as long 

as I can remember back home.

But smaller!

Apparently all the exhibits and rides are

built around the rodeo and stock show.

So the main draws are those items...

with the exhibits and rides 

being almost an after thought.

I would love to go back

and see the 

REAL RODEO 

though.

Might as well...

already brought out a little

of my inner redneck since

we have been here 

at the Monster Jam!

We had about 45 people I think go with us.

The craziest part...

there were only 8 families!

A checking out the chickens...

J Checking out the pigs...

Then we all had to stop and pose as a cow!

I have volunteered to be

the field trip coordinator

for our group

and attempt to plan about

one field trip a month.

Wish me luck!!

 Here are some other random pictures

from this week with one straggler thrown in there...

Enjoy!

No explanation needed or available for this first set:

 I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the set of skates on this kid!

My mercy - that is a serious skater!  

Look at those wheels!

 "Fook Mommy - my bawberry has a hiney, hahahah!"

Oh good gracious...

Guess who got to feed himself yogurt for the first time...

I think he did well, 

kinda.

Today - 

Mommy:  "A, if you don't take a nap you cannot go to dance class"

This was a first... 

Impressive coloring job by my newly turned 3 year old!

She got this picture from dance class...

we got to go since she took a nap.

Then tonight I discovered that there are camera settings

on my phone...

hopefully I can take better pictures now.

Here is one under the new settings.

And final random picture of the day...

To ring in the new year

we decided to purchase a piece of 

exercise equipment. 

We finally had room for one.

It arrived unassembled...

in an AWESOME box!

And we all know the 

deal with kids and boxes...

We still have this silly box...

wonder when we are going to get to 

throw it away!

Some School Stuff

We have really started falling into a little bit of a rhythm

since we got our new supplies.

Everyone seems to enjoy having structure,

mommy too!

We have been using the "menu plan"
contrary to the previous post.
(The meal tonight was NOT a redo)

It definitely makes my day a little easier.

The kids have enjoyed their new books.
And are blowing through their books too!

L got a Kindle for her birthday so that keeps her busy (sort of)

while we are working on school work.

And T just wanders aimlessly,

playing with whatever happens to be out at the time.

Today we did our first Science lesson

our of the CHC Behold & See 1

and took it a couple steps further...

The lesson was to open a few re-hydrated

large lima beans and look for the little 

starter plants. 

They really enjoyed peeling the skins off, 

then breaking them apart and examining the insides.

Not all beans had a little plant in them, but most did.

Then we discussed the differences in the dried beans
and the re-hydrated ones.

The size, texture, ease of peeling
and opening.

And we learned that the bean is the food

for the baby plant...

so, we decided to grow some bean plants.

The boys brought some seeds home from co-op 

a few weeks ago and they 

attempted to plant them in 

sand toys with dirt from the backyard.

I just let them.

But decided that we should try to do some

inside.

We did 2 batches:

one of dried beans

and

one of re-hydrated beans.

We put them in clear containers

with a wet paper towel 

so that we can monitor their growth.

Here is Day 1:

 I am looking forward to watching them grow and watching the kids watch them grow!

This teaching thing is neat
especially
watching MY kids ENJOY learning!!

After we finished our lesson, we had a few re-hydrated beans left over.

I caught J, later that afternoon, sitting on the floor peeling 

the leftover limas.

Then there were a few leftover dried ones,

he asked to put them in water...

go ahead J.

Then this morning, he peeled those and 

explained to his little sister

what he was looking for 

and then showed

her what 

the little plants looked like

and which part of the plant were the leaves

and which part was the stem.

Makes a momma proud!!