Magic and Mayhem

I haven’t posted a HS log lately so I thought I’d jot down some of what we’ve been doing. All the birthdays took up most of last week but a lot of neat stuff has gone on…

Science:

• We’ve seen “our” beaver several more times since that first visit and now we slow down the van and look for him every time we go down that highway. He tends to just sit on the far side of the pond, grooming himself. He’s a very mellow, very clean beaver! The baby named him Unk.
• Victoria and I watched a DVD about inertia this morning.
• I got two neat posters from the teacher supply store– the parts of a cell and laws of gravity/inertia/etc.
• We’ve been planting and caring for flowers and plants.
• The birthday party theme was “Creepy Crawlies” and the kids learned tons and did some wacky, fun games to teach them how it is to be a bug.
• Birdwatching continues. The kids have their own ID books now and their own binoculars (free from a historic site we volunteer at), so they are getting very good at it. They love some of the funny names like Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. They’re up to 85 last I heard.
• I got kids’ meals from Arby’s as a treat after the dentist appointment yesterday (one cavity for Anna and none for Victoria and Jack, yay!) and the prizes were DK books. I highly recommend these! There are 4 and we got Rain Forest, Ocean and Arctic animals. They are small but full of information and beautiful pictures, plus very well designed. All three kids were excitedly teaching me stuff from their books. Besides, they have healthier kids’ meals than many other places with options like fruit cups and turkey/cheese sandwiches.
• The kids and Dad played “Bird-Opoly” and had a great time.
• The Swan Release program, of course.

Social Studies:

• Anna and I read a book for bedtime over the past few days that took place in the early 1900’s in the south. A china doll was on a quest to find her owner, an orphaned child who’d moved to an orphanage in Atlanta. This led to discussions about orphans, horse drawn carriages, Georgia, old fashioned terms and customs and more.
• Victoria learned about Children’s Day (May 5) in Japan, and taught the family about it. We keep meaning to do more for Cinco de Mayo too, but we are always so tired from birthdays by then that we just rest!

Reading:

• We went to several libraries and got small stacks of books (for us it was small!).
• Anna is reading the Molly Moon series since her sister recommends it so highly.
• Victoria is reading the second or third book in the series and also checked out “Flush” from the author of “Hoot” (which we all enjoyed).
• All 4 kids have been happily reading or being read to.
• I’ve been reading to Anna at bedtime.
• Victoria got “The Daring Book for Girls” from Grandma for her birthday and is over the moon. She has wanted it for months. It really is a fantastic book and makes a wonderful gift.

Math:

• Jack continues to do math problems for fun and to drill the rest of us.
• All 3 kids had a long discussion about square roots and tossed problems at each other, though Jack was a little sketchy about the whole idea!

Writing:

• Jack, Anna and Victoria wrote thank you cards for the presents they got. I helped Jack spell out words on some of them to personalize them.
• Victoria has been blogging and emailing.
• Anna has been emailing.
• Anna has been writing poems and illustrating them on little index cards she hands out to people.
• Anna composed some more songs and wrote them down.

Art:

• The girls have been working on an altered book for a friend.
• Jack, Anna and Victoria made an elaborate town on the driveway with colored chalk. They named it JAVA town (for Jack Alex Victoria Anna) and have roads, a swimming pool, stores and more. They roller skate and use their scooters to navigate their town and make up story lines that last until way past dark.
• Jack, Anna and Victoria made clay pots at the petroglyphs and brought them home. Jack and Anna painted theirs after they dried.
• There has been lots of drawing and coloring, as always.
• Victoria has been doing more computer art. She has figured out how to animate it and had a pumping heart recently. I am amazed at what she accomplishes with software that we’ve had for years that we thought was very basic.

PE:

• The girls are still doing HS swimming. This Thursday is the last day but the city pool will open next month and they’ll practically live at the pool then.
• We’ve played a little soccer.
• Jack got a scooter for his birthday and uses it all the time. He lends it to Anna so she can play on it too.
• Anna has been roller skating with her skate shoes.
• Victoria has been using her scooter.
• All 3 kids have been playing outside on the swingset and just running, climbing and playing.
• Alex is getting good at walking! I thought I’d mention his PE too.
• The kids have spent lots of time at parks and lakes. It’s a bit cold to get in the water but that doesn’t stop them from trying. Victoria gets all the way to her knees before she gasps and runs out.

Misc:

• All three kids auditioned with Daddy for the Wilder Pageant. This is an outdoor production about the time the Ingalls Family (from Little House on the Prairie) lived in our area. Daryl has been in it 2 years and the girls have been in it 3. This will be Jack’s first year. Anna has been Grace Ingalls and Victoria was Carrie Ingalls last year. Daryl plays the town mayor and will probably play the same part (the director asked if he’d like to keep it and he said yes). They generally change the children’s parts every year so we’re curious who the girls will play. Jack will play Daryl’s son so he can keep an eye on him. The pageant is a huge commitment every year but it’s an incredible experience for the kids. Over 8,000 people typically attend and it is a pretty exciting (and educational) experience.

Goals for the next week:

• Work more math in with Victoria and Anna.
• Bake with each child, hopefully twice each.  I’d like to make up a lot of healthy snacks like pumpkin bars and some mixes like instant oatmeal mix.
•  Watch some more of the educational DVD’s from our new software package.
• Sit down and read more with all the kids, both as a group and one-on-one.
• Start a new lapbook with each child.
• Make a thank you gift for Kenae, their Japanese teacher, who is graduating from college and moving on to graduate school elsewhere.  We are going to try to find another Japanese student willing to teach our small HS group but we could never find a teacher as sweet and fun as Kenae!  She has really taught the kids an amazing amount, not only of the language but of the culture and customs.  It’s been a fantastic experience.