Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Homemade instruments
Truly Sacrificial
I will do just about anything for my kids. Yes indeed, that is MY BLOOD. Joseph wanted to look at blood in the microscope.
Ok, it wasn't really that heroic. I needed to check my blood sugar anyway (I am diabetic.) But I spared a little extra to put on the slide so we could look at it at high magnification.
It was interesting! Joseph was disappointed that we couldn't see white and red blood cells individually. Of course we couldn't...we have a low mag light microscope and I believe cells are so small you need an electron microscope to see them. Still, it was fun looking at the swirls and patterns.
A Little Visitor
Hmmmm, what could it be?
Ah! A very little snake (in the middle of a meal, no less.)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Chicken Update
We have a date with a butcher, and the chickens will soon be lunch (or dinner.)
It's still a couple of weeks off, but we did decide to turn our chickens into meat. They've done even worse this week -- averaging 4 to 5 eggs a day. Their time is past.
We plan to purchase 10 more chickens after this batch is gone. Then in the spring, we'll get 10 more. We hope we will then have 2 miniflocks and will not have to get rid of them all at once.
We hope our chickens are tasty. They are a little old. They are organically fed and have wandered freely in their pen. They have lived a happy life for chickens and I hope will provide tasty and nutritious meals for our family.
It's still a couple of weeks off, but we did decide to turn our chickens into meat. They've done even worse this week -- averaging 4 to 5 eggs a day. Their time is past.
We plan to purchase 10 more chickens after this batch is gone. Then in the spring, we'll get 10 more. We hope we will then have 2 miniflocks and will not have to get rid of them all at once.
We hope our chickens are tasty. They are a little old. They are organically fed and have wandered freely in their pen. They have lived a happy life for chickens and I hope will provide tasty and nutritious meals for our family.
Random Thoughts on the first 4 weeks of homeschooling this year
This week marked the end of 4 weeks of homeschooling for this school year.
How has it gone? I will give it a qualified, "It's going well". Qualified because I am still not as organized as I would like to be.
I'm doing something new for the older 3 children this year. I am making a calendar for each week for each child, with the assignments listed for each day. So Naomi, Lydia, and Isaac merely have to look at what has to be done on Monday (or Tuesday, etc.) and do each assignment, crossing it off as they go.
Sounds simple, right? Well, we're learning some new skills here. Sometimes not everything does get done. Sometimes things are crossed off that have not yet been completed. In that case, the child in question ends up doing work when he or she would rather be doing something fun, like computer game time.
Joseph doesn't read well enough yet to have a checklist. He also requires more one on one teaching. We don't spend a great deal of time working together but we are getting the basics in each day. He and Isaac are also doing Five in a Row unit studies with me, and are listening to the Story of the World on CD after lunch.
Joseph is an interesting little character. I wondered if he was dyslexic, but I don't think he is. He is making very good progress with reading and doesn't seem to struggle too much with phonics rules. He is a long way from fluent, but he is learning steadily.
Math is, so far, a challenge. I have used Miquon with the older 3, but decided that Joseph needed a more linear path than Miquon easily provides. So I'm going with MathUSee for Joseph, starting with Alpha.
Lesson 2 or Lesson 3 (I can't remember which) is about learning how to count to 20. This boy can count to 20 out loud so I thought, NO PROBLEM. He has his number stamps and we are going to breeze through this.
NOT true. He has a terrible time with switching numbers, so for example he wants to write "31" for "13". He asked me why we can't put the 3 first. We talked about place value and I was outwardly patient, but inwardly distressed. Why is he struggling with such a simple thing?
Kevin pointed out later that day (when I was muttering worriedly) that this question of his is a good one. Truth is, we COULD write the number 13 as "31" if we used a different system for numbers. If we were using a binary number system, 13 would be...well, I don't remember. Something weird like 1110. We use a number system based on 10, and we write left to right with the higher place values to the left. We could have switched it around and it would work. This is just the construct we chose to use.
So maybe Joseph is just a different kind of thinker and needs to understand that some things are just "done a certain way" but it is just a construct, a way for us to communicate. It is like letters...no particular reason that "A" looks like it does. Someone came up with it. If we used a different alphabet, the sound made by "A" would be represented by a different symbol. I don't know, maybe we are reading way too much into his question. It did help me realize he may think differently than I do and I need to be patient.
What else? Well, Miriam is technically old enough to be in kindergarten, but I've not done a lot with her so far this year. She and Angela play very well together and I usually don't pull them away from their play for school. I will try to do a bit more as the year goes by. Miriam is a "math girl" and is doing CRAZY things with math. A couple of days ago she was playing with one of the 100 blocks for MathUSee. It is a 10 by 10 grid of squares. She asked me, "Mom, what is 10 10's?" Then she immediately went on to ask, "What is 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10?" I said to her, "What is it, Miriam?" Without a pause, she yelled, "100!" with a big grin on her face.
That's abstract thinking for a 5 year old girl! 2 of her older sibs are major "math kids" so it is not too surprising but wow, fun. I think math is going to come very easily to that girl, as it has for Isaac and Naomi.
Speaking of Naomi, she is toiling away at fractions and they are a bit hard for her. A challenge is a good thing. Right now we are reviewing the rules for multiplying and dividing and adding and subtracting.
I'm pleased with how Naomi and Lydia are doing with writing. Lydia has made substantial progress with putting her thoughts down on paper. Naomi is writing like a beautiful maniac. Check out her blog if you have any questions about that. She wrote a LONG, involved, and interesting fairy story for her newsletter and posted it on her blog. It is quite amazing for a girl her age, I think.
Isaac continues to do very well in math and reading, with writing being a challenge. We are doing writing eight exercises, a form of midline exercise, to help him with letter reversals. Isaac and Joseph are also doing other daily midline exercises from Dianne Craft's book.
In the middle of all this activity is of couse baby Sarah, who is 9 months old. I took her in for a well child checkup, and was shocked and dismayed to find that she had plummeted in the weight chart in the last 3 months. At 6 months, she was on the 40th percentile weight line for her age group. Yesterday, she had dropped to the 5th percentile. The practical upshot is that only gained a little more than a pound in 3 months and is still well under 16 lbs. Her height and head circumference grew as expected so we think she just hasn't been eating enough. I feel terrible for not noticing, but we've never had a hungry baby who was so chipper. She has slept beautifully and is usually a content child, so really did not act like a baby who wasn't getting enough to eat. However, I've been supplementing with formula after nursing her, and she has been attacking the bottle. It is no huge surprise, but my milk supply is inadequate. This has happened before but I thought I was doing better this time around. Nope.
So, I'm going to feed this girl up and she is going to be drinking a lot of formula. I'll take her back in the month and I hope we'll see better weight numbers.
There is never a dull moment around here. I've thought more than once that if I could JUST focus on homeschooling and the house, I could keep my head above water, so to speak. It's the extra stuff -- the doctor's appointments and the people coming to check the roof and the need to take cars in for maintenance and so on that seem to be the "straw that break the camel's back."
BUT, we have so many blessings that I take for granted. I can turn a handle, and water runs out of pipes into our house. We can drink clean water whenever we want. We have a washer and dryer for our clothing. We have grocery stores to buy food so I don't have to have a giant vegetable garden and can tons of veggies.
I know if I had to do any of those things, my life would be truly overwhelming. As usual, I'm praying for wisdom to prioritize my life, and evaluate how I AM spending my time. There is limited time and limited energy here, and I must allocate my resources wisely.
And I must trust my precious Lord and Savior. Yahweh gave us these children and He led us to homeschooling. He WILL make a way for us to do what we should do. He will not provide the strength to do what is extraneous and outside His will. May we have the wisdom to discern what His particular will is.
How has it gone? I will give it a qualified, "It's going well". Qualified because I am still not as organized as I would like to be.
I'm doing something new for the older 3 children this year. I am making a calendar for each week for each child, with the assignments listed for each day. So Naomi, Lydia, and Isaac merely have to look at what has to be done on Monday (or Tuesday, etc.) and do each assignment, crossing it off as they go.
Sounds simple, right? Well, we're learning some new skills here. Sometimes not everything does get done. Sometimes things are crossed off that have not yet been completed. In that case, the child in question ends up doing work when he or she would rather be doing something fun, like computer game time.
Joseph doesn't read well enough yet to have a checklist. He also requires more one on one teaching. We don't spend a great deal of time working together but we are getting the basics in each day. He and Isaac are also doing Five in a Row unit studies with me, and are listening to the Story of the World on CD after lunch.
Joseph is an interesting little character. I wondered if he was dyslexic, but I don't think he is. He is making very good progress with reading and doesn't seem to struggle too much with phonics rules. He is a long way from fluent, but he is learning steadily.
Math is, so far, a challenge. I have used Miquon with the older 3, but decided that Joseph needed a more linear path than Miquon easily provides. So I'm going with MathUSee for Joseph, starting with Alpha.
Lesson 2 or Lesson 3 (I can't remember which) is about learning how to count to 20. This boy can count to 20 out loud so I thought, NO PROBLEM. He has his number stamps and we are going to breeze through this.
NOT true. He has a terrible time with switching numbers, so for example he wants to write "31" for "13". He asked me why we can't put the 3 first. We talked about place value and I was outwardly patient, but inwardly distressed. Why is he struggling with such a simple thing?
Kevin pointed out later that day (when I was muttering worriedly) that this question of his is a good one. Truth is, we COULD write the number 13 as "31" if we used a different system for numbers. If we were using a binary number system, 13 would be...well, I don't remember. Something weird like 1110. We use a number system based on 10, and we write left to right with the higher place values to the left. We could have switched it around and it would work. This is just the construct we chose to use.
So maybe Joseph is just a different kind of thinker and needs to understand that some things are just "done a certain way" but it is just a construct, a way for us to communicate. It is like letters...no particular reason that "A" looks like it does. Someone came up with it. If we used a different alphabet, the sound made by "A" would be represented by a different symbol. I don't know, maybe we are reading way too much into his question. It did help me realize he may think differently than I do and I need to be patient.
What else? Well, Miriam is technically old enough to be in kindergarten, but I've not done a lot with her so far this year. She and Angela play very well together and I usually don't pull them away from their play for school. I will try to do a bit more as the year goes by. Miriam is a "math girl" and is doing CRAZY things with math. A couple of days ago she was playing with one of the 100 blocks for MathUSee. It is a 10 by 10 grid of squares. She asked me, "Mom, what is 10 10's?" Then she immediately went on to ask, "What is 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10?" I said to her, "What is it, Miriam?" Without a pause, she yelled, "100!" with a big grin on her face.
That's abstract thinking for a 5 year old girl! 2 of her older sibs are major "math kids" so it is not too surprising but wow, fun. I think math is going to come very easily to that girl, as it has for Isaac and Naomi.
Speaking of Naomi, she is toiling away at fractions and they are a bit hard for her. A challenge is a good thing. Right now we are reviewing the rules for multiplying and dividing and adding and subtracting.
I'm pleased with how Naomi and Lydia are doing with writing. Lydia has made substantial progress with putting her thoughts down on paper. Naomi is writing like a beautiful maniac. Check out her blog if you have any questions about that. She wrote a LONG, involved, and interesting fairy story for her newsletter and posted it on her blog. It is quite amazing for a girl her age, I think.
Isaac continues to do very well in math and reading, with writing being a challenge. We are doing writing eight exercises, a form of midline exercise, to help him with letter reversals. Isaac and Joseph are also doing other daily midline exercises from Dianne Craft's book.
In the middle of all this activity is of couse baby Sarah, who is 9 months old. I took her in for a well child checkup, and was shocked and dismayed to find that she had plummeted in the weight chart in the last 3 months. At 6 months, she was on the 40th percentile weight line for her age group. Yesterday, she had dropped to the 5th percentile. The practical upshot is that only gained a little more than a pound in 3 months and is still well under 16 lbs. Her height and head circumference grew as expected so we think she just hasn't been eating enough. I feel terrible for not noticing, but we've never had a hungry baby who was so chipper. She has slept beautifully and is usually a content child, so really did not act like a baby who wasn't getting enough to eat. However, I've been supplementing with formula after nursing her, and she has been attacking the bottle. It is no huge surprise, but my milk supply is inadequate. This has happened before but I thought I was doing better this time around. Nope.
So, I'm going to feed this girl up and she is going to be drinking a lot of formula. I'll take her back in the month and I hope we'll see better weight numbers.
There is never a dull moment around here. I've thought more than once that if I could JUST focus on homeschooling and the house, I could keep my head above water, so to speak. It's the extra stuff -- the doctor's appointments and the people coming to check the roof and the need to take cars in for maintenance and so on that seem to be the "straw that break the camel's back."
BUT, we have so many blessings that I take for granted. I can turn a handle, and water runs out of pipes into our house. We can drink clean water whenever we want. We have a washer and dryer for our clothing. We have grocery stores to buy food so I don't have to have a giant vegetable garden and can tons of veggies.
I know if I had to do any of those things, my life would be truly overwhelming. As usual, I'm praying for wisdom to prioritize my life, and evaluate how I AM spending my time. There is limited time and limited energy here, and I must allocate my resources wisely.
And I must trust my precious Lord and Savior. Yahweh gave us these children and He led us to homeschooling. He WILL make a way for us to do what we should do. He will not provide the strength to do what is extraneous and outside His will. May we have the wisdom to discern what His particular will is.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Garden Produce
Our garden is smaller this year than last, but we are still getting lots of veggies.
It has been a GREAT year for zucchini. Most people in the family are not enthralled with plain zucchini, though they will eat it. I dice it and cook it in margerine. But they all love zucchini bread and we've made a fair amount of that as well. Kevin cooked some on the grill last weekend and I heard good reports (I was out of town so didn't eat it myself.)
We also have a number of squash.
These were the first green beans of the year. They were planted late, and are finally ready to pick. Fresh green beans with bacon are SO SO tasty. We're excited.
I don't have a picture of our tomatoes, but we are getting boatloads. I am the only one in the family who likes raw tomatoes. Kevin loathes them. I can't eat a million tomatoes, so I am freezing most of them. I just core them and toss them in freezer bags, and I'll use them for stews and soups through the winter and spring.
We've gotten a lot of cucumbers as well, but they have been bitter lately. I am not sure why. Anyone know?
It has been a GREAT year for zucchini. Most people in the family are not enthralled with plain zucchini, though they will eat it. I dice it and cook it in margerine. But they all love zucchini bread and we've made a fair amount of that as well. Kevin cooked some on the grill last weekend and I heard good reports (I was out of town so didn't eat it myself.)
We also have a number of squash.
These were the first green beans of the year. They were planted late, and are finally ready to pick. Fresh green beans with bacon are SO SO tasty. We're excited.
I don't have a picture of our tomatoes, but we are getting boatloads. I am the only one in the family who likes raw tomatoes. Kevin loathes them. I can't eat a million tomatoes, so I am freezing most of them. I just core them and toss them in freezer bags, and I'll use them for stews and soups through the winter and spring.
We've gotten a lot of cucumbers as well, but they have been bitter lately. I am not sure why. Anyone know?
Field Trip to Daddy's Workplace
I'm behind on blogging so this happened a week ago.
Kevin realized he had forgotten something important at home, so I offered to bring it into work.
We decided on a quick field trip into his office complex. He works in an engineering complex at a local military base.
Our older children have gone into work with Kevin a few times, but not the younger ones.
I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the labs, but here are a couple in his office.
The 2nd picture was a demonstration of what Kevin does all day :-). He has a PhD. in Materials Science and Engineering (and so do I.) I am sure many people wonder how engineers spend their time. Long ago, I visualized engineers standing on top of dams or bridges, or hunched over chemicals in a laboratory.
Kevin and I have never worked on bridges, but both of us have toiled away with chemicals and complex instrumentation in laboratories. Kevin, however, discovered he enjoys administration more than most hands-on work, so right now he is supervising a group of people. He spends much of his time on the computer and at meetings. And he is very good at it.
Our second son seems to have a scientific/engineering bent. He kept asking, "Where is a lab with lots of dangerous chemicals?" Hmmm, that's intimidating when coming from a little guy! We did open a door to show him some dangerous chemicals but obviously didn't let him get near them!
The highlight of the trip for most of the children was a giant freight elevator, the size of a medium sized room. It is used for hauling large and heavy equipment from ground level to the laboratories, but people can ride in it as well. The children were enthralled and impressed.
It was a fun, and valuable, trip. We want our children to see people working in a variety of environments. As a child, I didn't know what most people did in their jobs. I hope we can have our children "job shadow" a number of people during their school years.
Kevin realized he had forgotten something important at home, so I offered to bring it into work.
We decided on a quick field trip into his office complex. He works in an engineering complex at a local military base.
Our older children have gone into work with Kevin a few times, but not the younger ones.
I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the labs, but here are a couple in his office.
The 2nd picture was a demonstration of what Kevin does all day :-). He has a PhD. in Materials Science and Engineering (and so do I.) I am sure many people wonder how engineers spend their time. Long ago, I visualized engineers standing on top of dams or bridges, or hunched over chemicals in a laboratory.
Kevin and I have never worked on bridges, but both of us have toiled away with chemicals and complex instrumentation in laboratories. Kevin, however, discovered he enjoys administration more than most hands-on work, so right now he is supervising a group of people. He spends much of his time on the computer and at meetings. And he is very good at it.
Our second son seems to have a scientific/engineering bent. He kept asking, "Where is a lab with lots of dangerous chemicals?" Hmmm, that's intimidating when coming from a little guy! We did open a door to show him some dangerous chemicals but obviously didn't let him get near them!
The highlight of the trip for most of the children was a giant freight elevator, the size of a medium sized room. It is used for hauling large and heavy equipment from ground level to the laboratories, but people can ride in it as well. The children were enthralled and impressed.
It was a fun, and valuable, trip. We want our children to see people working in a variety of environments. As a child, I didn't know what most people did in their jobs. I hope we can have our children "job shadow" a number of people during their school years.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)