Re-Learning

We're all learning

I love it when I get to learn something too. The kids were doing some homework for a Chemistry class they're taking. I helped the younger one with a few of the calculations. In doing so, I realized, I LOVED what they were doing. I vaguely remember doing it, myself, way back in time. But I didn't remember these calculations having the specific name, stoichiometry. It's all about balancing. I'm really good at it... when it's on paper... between molecules. I just wish life balancing was as easy.

(written July 31, 2015)

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. 

My Mistake

Lead by Mistake

I think it's fun that my kids get to learn from my mistakes, not just their own. Being home with me, most of the time, they are able to see a lot more of my mistakes as I make them.

Today, I left the room while boiling eggs. I completely forgot I was cooking until I heard a loud banging noise. I thought the kids were hitting the wall with a stool or book or... I really couldn't imagine why they were making such a racket. When they yelled through the house that they weren't doing anything, I came to investigate and found my eggs like this. The banging noise I heard? Eggs exploding and popping all over the kitchen.

I am also reminded that even though we all learn through our experiences, we can forget and may need to re-learn some lessons. Things I re-learned today and hope my kids learned too:
1) Always set a timer when working in the kitchen
2) Exploding eggs are very loud and go very far (I was still finding bits and pieces hours later)
3) Forgive yourself for making a mistake you know you should have been able to avoid
4) No one's hurt? Then laugh!

Do You Hear What I Smell?

"How did we get here?"

I find myself asking that question, although not really needing an answer. 

We have been studying hearing, one of the five senses. My son, who was only in public school through kindergarten, has not really studied the human body much. On the other hand, my daughter, who made it through 3rd grade in public school, says she has studied it three times already. So, I am attempting to teach them both at the same time. I try to make it simple enough that my son will understand, and yet interesting enough to challenge my daughter and possibly teach her something new. To take "hearing" into a deeper level, we studied more about frequencies. Not as much as I'd like to and hopefully we'll do more. 

So, how did we end up doing an experiment with spices, making homemade "scratch and sniffs"? I couldn't remember until one of the kids reminded me that I read from a book about the five senses, focusing on hearing. But while we were reading, we happened across this experiment and thought we'd give it a try. 

I love that about homeschooling. That we can get side tracked and it's ok. In the grand scheme of things, we're still on target, still going to make our yearly goals and yet we took a wonderful side step to do something off schedule and I couldn't even remember how we got there.

Scientific Proof

Science is Amazing

Thanks to another homeschooling mom in our community, we were able to participate in another wonderful field trip. This time, we went to Oregon State University for some hands on experience in microbiology. This field trip was definitely worth the long drive in so many ways. 

First, the kids were able to look at samples using very nice equipment. The college students, who lead our kids, gave instructions on how to keep their work area clean, gave hands on help with microscopes and showed them how to use a bunsen burner. Our kids were exposed to aseptic methods, information on identifying samples and safety rules. 

Second, the group of college students that helped were diverse. Half of them were women and there was a sampling of different ethnicities. I remember being around 10 years old and meeting college students for the first time. They were so tall and so very important. I remember wanting to be one because they just oozed coolness. Now an older, biracial, woman (and mom), I was excited to see my daughter meet her first college student. How wonderful that she was able to see students from various backgrounds working in the science industry. 

Third, the main student who led our group was a very well spoken young man. I figured him for a graduate student, but found out he is an undergraduate for another semester. He not only led the kids in their work, but also gave us a tour of the campus. During the tour, he gave a lot of commentary on what college could be. Not only studies in academics, but also a lot of learning of life skills. He spoke of the mistakes he's made and how it's gotten him where he is today. He talked about the research OSU inspires and that the work they are doing is to affect real life, to make changes, to do something. I am not doing him justice, because in his quiet manner, he really said it well. A lot of what we parents tell our kids, but now it's coming from someone "cooler".

Overall, it was a fantastic field trip. One that will stick in my mind... if only to make me want to go back to college again!

Run, Salmon, Run!

A member of the homeschooling community set up a trip to see the Salmon Run with the guidance of one of her friends. I've read about how this is a perk of homeschooling, utilizing resources close by, but living it has been amazing. So, on his day off, our guide Tim, took us on a fantastic tour of the salmon. 

The weather cooperated very well. It rained off and on during the 50 minute drive, but once we got there, the rain eased up. I was worried I wouldn't be able to take photos, but I was lucky enough to take many, too many to choose from, so there are a lot in this post.

From the road, we were able to see and hear the flowing river. 

Beautiful trees watched us as we continued on our path.

Tim, our instructor for the day, asked that we be quiet as we watched the salmon swim. Loud noises could disturb the fish on their journey. It was extremely difficult to keep quiet. When you see a fish jump 5 feet into the air trying to go up a large waterfall, you can't help but squeal with delight, cheer the fish on, hoping it'll make it this time! We did get to see a few fish discover the fish ladder and make it up to the next level. I have never seen anything like it and was exhilarated by the experience of watching the salmon jump.

Our hike back up to begin the next segment of the trip.

Our next and final stop was a few minutes down the road. 

More beautiful sights awaited us.

The kids loved looking over the bridge to see the calmer part of the river where we'd be spending our afternoon. From the bridge, we did not see any live fish, but a few dead ones were spotted. We learned that scientists come out to count the dead bodies. To keep track of which ones have been counted, they cut off the tail, so if you see a tail, it has not been counted yet.

More beautiful trees surrounding us on this day.

And here is our classroom for the day. Love it!

I am not a fisherman. I have fished, but I am not a fisherman. There are fisherman in my extended family, but I am not a fisherman. I have always found a reason to be somewhere else when the fish were cleaned. Therefore, it was pretty cool to see the gills of this fish. Note: A sad part of spawning, for the female fish, is that after she lays her eggs, she dies a few days later.

This time, no cheers. We were on our best behavior at this part of the river. Giving our respect to the female fish trying to find safe places to lay their eggs and to the males trying to fertilize them. It was a majestic time with the quiet trickling of the river, soft steps of onlookers, and the occasional splash from a salmon.

Here you can see the tail fin and dorsal fin of a salmon near the rocks.

This seems to be a centipede? Seems to have one set of legs per body segment and segmented antennae. But, I'm no bug expert. I do know, however, that there were tons of them on this tree and that the younger boys were enthralled with them.

Hands On Science

Today we went on a field trip to the Hatfield Marine Science Center for Homeschool Day. There were several sessions the kids could sign up for and all of them were hands on experiences. It is a bit of a drive, so we did have to wake up early, but it was worth it. We ran into many homeschoolers, which made lunch time a fun reunion of friends.

The first session the kids put together a whale skeleton. After hearing information about different whales, the kids were asked to dive into 2 buckets of bones. They put them onto the table and began to assemble. After the kids were done, the instructor took them outside to see an "already assembled" whale skeleton to see if they thought they were finished or if some changes needed to be made. The kids decided a few changes were in store and went back inside to fix their skeleton. It was fun to watch them fit the puzzle together with team work. 

Our next session was studying rocky intertidal ecosystems. The kids began with an empty aquarium and were asked to introduce one species after another. The last, but not least, was a sea star! Even us big kids were excited at the opportunity to actually hold one in our hands.

The last class of our day was using microscopes to see differences in sand from various places. This was a lot of fun for the kids to see things up close and a reminder to me that I really want a microscope for our home classroom.

My biggest lesson I learned today... to include my oldest when ordering tickets. She was super sad to miss out on dissecting a squid and I completely understand. I assumed incorrectly that it would be too much for her. I stand corrected. I hope we get the opportunity to go back and get that squid!

Doing It Myself

I am trying something new this year, doing it with my kids. That may sound funny, because, of course I'm homeschooling with my kids. What I mean is, really doing the assignments with the kids.

For example, instead of asking them to write for 5 minutes while I go check my emails, I am writing for 5 minutes with them, with pencil and paper. I am finding that the kids are more receptive (duh) when I'm working along side them and actively participating. Instead of asking them to read a book, I read it out loud. My son (7) is a reluctant reader. He can read very well, but he's not interested in sitting still to read a novel. But if the whole family sits together to read a book out loud, he's willing to snuggle under a blanket and listen for a long time.

This year, I've also begun reading poetry to the kids. We have started with Shel Silverstein. The greatest thing has happened. While I read, the kids are jumping in to read the poems too. They take turns with me, reading different poems throughout the book. My son's body squirms with delight as he reads a poem out loud. My daughter (10), who can read a novel or two a day, is forced to slow down while she reads out loud. I've read that reading out loud can help a fast reader slow down and absorb more of the grammar and spelling (of course, this may not help as we're reading poems that defy grammar and traditional spellings!) I'm still excited, as the two of them look forward to reading time now that it is often a group effort.

Somewhere else I am trying to actively participate is when we do anything artsy. I often have a specific idea in my head that I want the kids to create.  Just as often, they have their own artistic voice they want to explore. When my idea doesn't match their idea, I go nuts. I am the mom who says, "but wouldn't it be better if the sky were blue?" or, "what if you tried coloring inside the lines next time?" I hate it as I do it, but I can't sem to stop myself.

The solution has been so simple, I'm bummed I didn't make the realization sooner. Now, when I have an idea, I complete that idea alongside my kids, while they do their own thing. This way, I get to see my idea through to fruition and my kids are allowed to do whatever their creative minds want to do without my nagging voice. I do hope that I never give the message that my art is "better" or "right" but that it's just another interpretation of the task at hand.

My daughter's representation of how many connections neurons can make:

And my son's representation. He is definitely the generation of initialisms and emoticons LOL :)

Take Apart Day

I read about "Take Apart Day" in one book about homeschooling. I forget the book now, but as I search on the internet, I see it's something that kids do all over the country. I liked the idea, so I organized a day within our homeschooling community.

Kids came with items to take apart. We had zip drives, CD players, cassette tape players, computer mice, keyboards, and more. The kids had a lot of fun hammering, prying, and unscrewing the items. They said it was fun to do something that mom and dad usually say "No" to.

We were lucky that one homeschooling dad joined us with his son. The pair of them had strong knowledge of electronics and were able to explain things to us. The day was a success, with many happy kids, and only a few needing bandaids!

Fun with Colloids

My daughter likes chemistry, so I asked her to pick out an experiment she'd like to do. She picked colloids. We whipped up a batch of Goop for both kids and played all morning. My son refused to get his hands dirty, he hates the feeling, so he played carefully with a spoon.

Recipe: Makes enough for 1 child…..

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
small bowl, tin pie plate, etc.more water
Food coloring (if desired)

Add the water to the corn starch in a small bowl, tin pie plate, etc. Mix it together using your hands. If you need to add more water, add just a couple of drops (especially after playing with it for awhile).

Brains for Lunch

We finally began our first unit for the fall, brains. In our normal thematic unit fashion, we studied books and videos found in the library and on line. Here we are dividing the brain into their left and right hemispheres using cauliflower and food coloring. Then one brain shows the different lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital). The other brain shows the cerebellum and the brain stem. 

Blowing Bubbles

Today, we hosted a Bubble Day at the park. It was a great turn out for the homeschooling community. The kids had a blast playing with bubbles we made ourselves and reconnecting with friends.

You Take The Summer Off, Right?

I get these questions a lot. Will you take the summer off? Will you school through the summer? Well, my answer is, "Yes!" and, "I don't know." to both. I feel that we have changed the way we live our daily lives. Slowing down, answering questions and really focusing on the process and not the product as much. Therefore, we will continue this life style through summer, and honestly, I hope for the rest of our lives.

However, I did put away the math and other curriculums and replaced it with lots of out door activities. We live in an area where it rains a lot in the winter, so I feel we must get out and enjoy every last bit of sunshine when we can.

So, when one parent in the homeschooling community said she was going to host an Egg Drop,  I decided to not participate. I didn't want to take the time to research, create, or build anything for an Egg Drop. It is summer, my brain is ready for a break. But, then I got a call from another parent saying she is doing it with another friend and would I like to drop my oldest off to create something within a few casual hours? Hmmm, this sounded good, so I dropped my daughter off and when I picked her up, she had her egg drop container all built and ready to go.

Today, we went to the Egg Drop and my daughter dropped her container from 10 feet and from 15 feet. Her egg survived both drops! Not bad for summer, right?

Finding Moments

Or is it moments finding us? I had seen that there was a local rocket club, one of its members was also a member of our homeschooling community, and I was curious. I saw that my niece and nephew were starting to get involved in this community as well. Today we decided to check it out.  It was great weather, perfect for staring into the sky as you followed a rocket's trajectory. It felt like a mini-air show as we sat in our lawn chairs cheering each rocket's successful launch and safe return to earth. 

That night, a partial eclipse of the moon was scheduled to occur. We spontaneously invited family over to watch the short eclipse. There were rain clouds coming and going, so we were worried we wouldn't see anything. However, the clouds thinned, and we were able to see it with the naked eye, as well and through our experimental paper holes.

What a fun filled day it was.

Crystals Stick Together

As the Easter holiday came around, I saw a lot of suggestions for egg crafts and activities. I was intrigued by one in particular, how to make your own geode in an egg shell. There were a few websites out there, and many of them pointed to Martha Stewart's Crystal Egg Geodes. I wanted to try it, mostly just for the fun of it, and besides, they are so pretty!

A few months ago, a few kids from our homeschooling community participated in a Science Fair. One of the kids did her study on crystals and we happen to be friends with her family. So, I called her mom up and asked if they'd like to make these geodes with us and would her daughter feel comfortable sharing her science fair display and knowledge with us again? She answered, "Yes!"

Her oldest daughter brought her display to our home. She then explained to us about what she learned while studying crystals. How they form. The different kinds. Where to find them.

After learning about crystals, we all got to make our own in the egg shells I had prepared the night before. A few days later, we were able to hold the beautifully colored crystals the kids had made.

Coincidences and Their Infinite Possibilities

When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities.- Deepak Chopra

I am continually surprised by the coincidences we experience as we venture along our new educational path. Serendipity, kismet, luck, coincidence. Whatever you want to call it. Certain opportunities didn't present themselves to me before, or I wasn't able to see them. Now that my eyes are open and I am looking, I see opportunity everywhere.

My daughter loves chocolate, science and hands on creating. So a perfect gift, from her grandparents, was this Make Your Own Chocolate Kit. At the end of a unit, my daughter asked if we could do a unit on chocolate next and finish the unit by making the chocolate from the kit. I had loose plans for our next unit, so was able to think about it and say, "Yes!" The next day, we went to the library and gathered tons of books. We were ready to learn all about the history of chocolate, making of chocolate, farming of the cacao tree, fair trade laws and more.

The day we began our new new unit, I received an email from the homeschooling group we joined. The author of the email stated they were putting together a tour of a local chocolate factory and asked if anyone was interested in joining them. Serendipity, kismet, luck, coincidence! We replied at once before spaces filled up.

Thanks to the homeschooling group and the parent who organized the tour, we were able to see something so cool right here in our own town. What a fantastic addition to our unit on chocolate! From the library, we learned a lot about the bean, from plant to factory and the process the bean goes through until it is chocolate. I incorrectly assumed the tour would be more on this, reinforcing what we learned. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this factory melted chocolate and formed it into shapes, bars, pretzel clusters and more. Most of this work, they do by hand! So, we got to see, in person, what happens to chocolate after it's created, a great extension to what we had already learned.

I'm still amazed that this tour popped up right after we decided to study chocolate. But, as I said, I am finding more coincidences like this one. We saw cool skeletons at a local farm museum right after we completed a unit on the skeleton. The children's museum has an exhibit on the planets, and our first unit was the solar system. The list goes on. While these coincidences may have existed before, I didn't see them before. Maybe it helps knowing the kids' curriculums first hand, maybe it's that we have more free time to explore opportunities that present themselves, or maybe it's just my willingness to go out and "do it". Serendipity, kismet, luck, and coincidence are everywhere and I feel lucky to be able to take advantage of them!

Journey North

I had read about Journey North's Mystery Class, Tracking Sunlight to Solve a Mystery but didn't think I would try it. But then my sister-in-law said she was going to do it, so I thought, with her as a support system, I would give it a go.

Turns out, this project was bigger than I anticipated. There is a lot of charting to do and I was anal about it. Therefore, I did a lot of the charting. While the kids were able to look up the information to report, and get started, I really wanted the charts to be "exact", so I ended up finishing up the shading of the charts. I guess, if you had a large class and could divide the kids into groups, and each group was in charge of one chart, then the work doesn't seem to daunting. But for two kids and one adult, it was a lot of work. There were a lot of sighs and grumbles when I'd get the charts out.

However, in the end, the charts were beautiful and really did show the kids a clear visual of what the sunlight was doing in different parts of the world, which I thought was worth all our hard work. Next year, perhaps we'll do fewer weeks, try it digitally in a spreadsheet, try glue and strips of paper, or figure out another way to do this so it's not so much precise coloring!


As we were reading the city clues and seeing if we could figure out what the 10 mystery cities were, we found ourselves glued to our globe. This was great in helping me incorporate geography and cultural studies without me having to do a lot of the research or planning. It just happened as we explored the globe or ran to the internet to see what else we might be able to find that would fit the clues

Some of the cities were very tricky and took a lot of time to figure out. Others were more easily discovered. In the end, I felt a bit of disappointment as we didn't correctly guess all 10 cities. Old feelings of school and failure came back to me. Wanting to do well and be the best. Yet feeling conflict, as this is not my area of interest and I did not want to spend any more time to get an accurate answer. After a few weeks, I went back to look and we actually got more right than I originally thought. For example, on one, we named the region instead of the city name, so, as the teacher, I granted our team a few points for that!

For me, this project was a challenge. Geography is not my strongest subject, so it was a stretch for me to display energy throughout the whole process. However, I do think it was worth it. The graphing of sunlight visually showed what they learned about the earth's rotation, tilt, etc. from studying the solar system earlier in the year. I love how the two different units tied into each other. And again, I love that we were able to huddle around the globe each week.

Plants and Beyond

Learning all about plants:

We just completed our latest unit on plants. After reading and researching about photosynthesis, chlorophyl, and root systems, we dived into a few projects. We tried to germinate an avocado pit (once with a conventional pit and once with an organic pit, both faile

d) as well as a potato (failing now). I'm not sure why they aren't working, other than I do *not* have a green thumb. We followed directions, but for whatever reason (maybe it's winter and we don't have enough sunlight) they did not sprout.

We did get to explore a local store (3 miles from home) that we've never been to before and found it to be a fabulous, locally owned store. There, we purchased seeds and grew some wheat grass and cress (pictured in a heart formation) which worked great in less than a week. We had fun sketching them each day as there was a lot of rapid growth to keep us interested.

At the end of our unit, we made Japanese gardens and wrote Haikus to display with them.

Daughter's garden and haiku (could not convince her it was not a zen garden):

"A Zen Garden"

Here's a zen garden

Zen gardens are beautiful

I made mine today

Son's garden and haiku

"My Seeds"

Seed grow in the soil

They need water and sunlight

They become flowers

Yes, We Wear Pajamas

The Gravity of the Situation:

We completed our study of forces, with a big focus on gravity. At the end of this unit, we made a giant marble run using pipe insulation, plastic bottles, painting tape, and empty tubes from wrapping paper, toilet paper and paper towels. This was a fun project completed on the weekend so we could include dad (or more to the point, so I did not have to do it alone!) And yes, we often wear pajamas beyond breakfast (although, since this was the weekend, I think no one will judge us.)

Toilet Paper (is very important)

I'm finding that many of our art projects, experiments, etc. are a great use for empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls. We used to recycle them at the curb every week, but now, they are a hot commodity and we keep most of them "just in case".

Comets, Bubbles and More

Can't wait for Halley's Comet?

Then make your own! As part of our first unit study, on the solar system, we learned about asteroids and comets. We decided to end the unit by making our own comets with dry ice, sand, and salt. It was a learning experience for me as well, seeing as I had never purchased dry ice before. The store clerk wasn't too enthusiastic in figuring out how to make 5 pounds out of the small pie

ces they had, so I took a 10 pound bag and we made the most of every ounce!

Hands on experience:

We invited the cousins (yes, my brother and sister-in-law are homsechooling their children too, lucky us!) to join us to help create the comet. Having only four children in our "class", allowed each one of them to really get hands on experience instead of just watching the experiment happen. And because we had so much ice, we were able to do the experiment more than one time, make a giant bubble with soap, and more.