Purrrfect Grammar

Kitty Participation

The family cat continues to be a source of laughter during the school day (a.k.a. a major distraction).

Today, we were playing our common "Parts of Speech" game. The kids write a crazy sentence on the board and we identify each word's job in the sentence and assign it a part of speech. We made cards to help us remember what the parts of speech are. The cards include pictures drawn by the kids, examples and definitions. If we stumble upon a word we can't easily identify, we being elimination our options. For example, if we know it's not a preposition, we move that card out of the way. Not an adverb? Move that card too.

And this is promptly when the family cat walks in and takes a seat in the newly vacated spot.

No distraction here!

I'm a Poet and I Didn't Even Know It

Poetry - Tea

An idea from The Writer's Jungle by The Brave Writer. My younger child does NOT like to read and reading out loud can be excruciating for all involved. However, introducing the Poetry Tea has been miraculous. Both kids ask to do it and both kids participate with eagerness and smiles. Yes, there is something sweet to drink (no one really wants tea). There are Jelly Bellys or brownies, or something else sweet to go along with the sugary drink. So, yes, I understand that the motivation might be consuming mass amounts of sugar, but this is a small price to pay to see both kids running to the table to read poetry of all kinds out loud. 

We do have to make a lot of trips to the library, otherwise our poetry seems to be all Shel Silverstein!

We're On Fire (not literally, this time)!

Burning For Knowledge

Today, we went on a field-trip to a local glass company. Part of their business is to melt down recycled glass, gathered within the community, and reshape it into beautiful works of art for sale. We were able to see the furnace that burns all day and all night. We saw several old crucibles, where the molten glass is held. But the best part was watching a worker scoop out the molten glass and form it into a block. 

It was great that this field-trip tied into our discussions of stained glass and the historic period, Middle Ages, many of us are currently studying. Even better, learning about another business that is right here in our own community.

Science is Good

Until It Causes Nausea



We took another trip to Hatfield Science Center to take advantage of another Homeschool Day. The kids were excited and, as promised, the day turned out to be a lot of fun.

During our “Magnificent Marine Mammals” day, we learned a lot about sea otters and river otters. The kids learned how to tell the difference between to two different otters and how they live and eat. They learned about a special technology used to track seal lions and figure out why they almost vanished from our west coast. They even typed in an extremely long DNA code to figure out which whale meat they were seeing.

The day is long. The drive is long. But with friends also attending classes today, the kids had a lot of fun.

However, unbeknownst to us, Hatfield planned a necropsy of a river otter, special for us today. The kids watched part of it, but when the "skinner" began his work, many left to find other experiments to do. Some of us watched in a separate room, on a big screen, through laced fingers. In the end, it was fascinating, but also nauseating. I'm glad there are other people in the world interested in doing that kind of work, so I don't have to. 

The Glass is Full

Full of Experiences

I continue to love how what we do is connected to past experiences. Today, the kids created their own stained glass pieces. They drew inspiration and knowledge from previous days. During Gargoyle Day, they talked about rose windows and briefly discussed the usage of stained glass windows. When picking colors, the kids remembered the color wheel introduced on Color Day.

The day began with an informational and historical discussion. The adults were prepared to extend class over two days so the kids would not feel rushed and would have plenty of time to complete their masterpieces. Impressively, the kids were focused and everyone finished their brainstorming, line sketch, and finished stained glass piece.

All that is left? Waiting for them to dry!


P.S. They're dry now!

Crystal Clear

Clearly Having Fun

Today we had a few friends over to lend a helping hand to a traveling mama.

I softly suggested that two of the kids make a menu and take orders for lunch. A project that utilized creativity, planning, research, handwriting, spelling and presentation. It was also a great way to get help in feeding 5 children what they want. The two kids jumped at the opportunity to complete this project successfully and everyone got what they ordered and everyone left the lunch table happy. 

During our time together, we also did two experiments with crystals. One, done with Epsom salts was completed the same day. The other experiment, done with sugar, would be complete by the next week. The kids had fun mixing coloring into their mixtures and taking turns adding the sugar. Both experiments needed to be tweaked a little. We had to add more salt to get the crystals to grow and for the rock candy, well, I did the wrong math and had to add twice the amount of sugar after the kids had left. Then I added more. And still, we didn't end up with very good rock candy. So, one experiment was a success and the other... a tasty flop.