End of school pictures!

To celebrate all of our hard work during the school year, we had an open house with our homeschool group. The kids all brought examples of their work and put them on display for family and friends to see. (Just like open house at public school!)

Elise had been studying U.S. history this year, so her end of the year project was about Abraham Lincoln. She wrote a paper about his both his public and private life, completed a lapbook about him, and made this diorama of the cabin where he was born. It all turned out great! Isaac was interested in the King Cobra, so we learned as much about this snake as we could! He also completed a lapbook about King Cobras and made a diorama. He did not like to paper mache the snake; he doesn't like to get sticky and dirty. He did like to spray paint the snake, add salt dough to and paint the box. The plants he chose from our yard and we hot glued them in place (I tried to let him do this but he burned himself; I guess a little help is OK!) The project turned out fantastic!!
This year, first grade, Isaac will learn how to knit. We are starting with finger knitting. He is excited to learn because Elise and I knit.
This was his first attempt!

I just learned a simpler finger knitting technique that will be a better starting point! I am excited to teach him!

(The smile below looks a little fake to me,

I think he was a little frustrated with the knitting!)

Here is Elise knitting a backpack for a stuffed animal! She is a natural when it comes to anything creative!

We got out watercolor paints and sea salt.

I showed the kids how the salt affects the color of the paint as it dries. The pictures turned out fabulous, so I cut them into letters and we used them to write "ART" above our art gallery!

This was Joe's first time watercolor painting.

I think he had as much on himself as he did on the paper.

He had a blast!

Camille always enjoys painting!

Isaac had a hard time believing that it was OK for his paper to be so wet (important for the salt technique)! Once he got past the wetness factor he did some beautiful work. It is nice to see him developing his creativity into deliberate work, rather that just throwing paint down on the paper!

Today, we turned in our Garden in a Wheelbarrow project to the county fair. It turned out great and it was a lot of fun. We would definitely do it again, but not next year!This is a science fair project board that we used to display our "evidence of learning." I divided it in half; one side is for Isaac and the other for Elise.

Isaac learned about where food comes from; seeds and plant life cycles; beneficial v. harmful bugs in the garden; sorting & counting seeds; he also wrote a story and a poem; and much more!

Elise did a large research project on Urban Options for Self-Sufficiency, which included the topics gardening, chicken keeping, and meat rabbits. She also did research on a moth that appeared dead on our porch and discovered that it was the Tomato Hornworm in the caterpillar stage. She also learned about the plant life cycle, the parts of a flower, Colony Collapse Disorder and wrote many poems.

We also discovered mushrooms in our wheelbarrow which led to an impromptu lesson on "NEVER eat a mushroom you find in the yard, even if it is growing in your raised bed, or wheelbarrow garden!"

Our plants did not grow very well, so Elise got to do some observations and conclusions about why that might be and added her findings to our project. When we got to the fair, several other wheelbarrows had similar components to their projects.

It did turn out nice, though. Elise made glittery signs welcoming the viewers to the garden, and naming the plant types, as well as, the kids names. Isaac made fences from popsicle sticks for a chicken run. Elise printed out pictures of a coop and chickens that are the same type as Daisey, Dolly and Charlotte. We added all of it to our wheelbarrow garden.
It was really fun to put all of this together today! Showing the kids how all their hard work really tied together was great also! They did work hard, and in the end it showed!

Chickens!!

Everything is ready for the chickens, which will arrive at the post office the next morning.
We got the call to come get the chicks! When we picked them up the mail carrier told us they had been chirping since they came in early that morning. As we drove home I thought this was a lot of noise for five little chicks. When we opened the box, this is what we saw! Twenty day old baby chicks! What a surprise!

Here are the chicks in their temporary home in the laundry room.

Twenty adorable little fluff balls!

This is Elise holding her favorite, Dolly(the names have changed!)

As a homeschool project, we weigh each chick every other day. Elise is creating a growth chart and will put it on a spread sheet when Brian gets back to teach her how. This is Dolly, she is a good sport. Isaac's chick, Dahlia, is a jumper so we moved the whole operation to the floor!

This is Charlotte(8 days old), Camille's favorite. It is really hard to get pictures of the chicks. They are terrified of the camera and run away! I am also using my dad's camera while Brian has ours in Haiti, it is very different than mine!

This is Dahlia(L) and Dolly(R). They are both 8 days old. You can see that they are starting to grow feathers on their wings. When they came, those weren't there, just fluff!

This is my favorite chick. She is a really pretty shade of brown, and is the least afraid of all the chicks. However, since we are only keeping three, she is going to my friend Karen's house(along with all the rest of the chicks). I will still get to visit her!

Another picture of Dolly!

Tin Foil Boats!!

Today we made tin foil boats!

We took them outside to float in the flooded area of our backyard! (We have a blocked french drain. A fun project for another day!) The kids wanted straws to blow the boats around in the water. The only straws I had were Boba straws. They are extra large around for sucking up Boba from your cool Asian drink. We haven't used them in forever, and I don't have any more Boba, so I think a trip to the Asian market is in order! I am the only one in my family who appreciates Boba!!
Elise had a really cool design for her sail, it was attached on two sides!

Isaac's boat was large and flat.

Here they are making their boats!

I love that homeschool gives us the time for such impromptu fun! Besides, I think Elise was looking for a way out from writing a free verse poem...there's always tomorrow!

Reading Rally!!

Each month our home school group has a "Reading Rally", which is a time for the kids to share projects they have been working on, scripture memorization, speeches, etc. This was Isaac's first time speaking to a group, so I helped him out. He shared a book about Johnny Appleseed. Although he was nervous, he did a great job!

Elise did a persuasive and informational speech about Canine Companions for Independence.
Isabel joined Elise for the speech.

Elise did a really great job and Isabel was very well behaved!

(The bones in the background are the backdrop for a series on what the Bible says about Creation!)

Halloween Cutting Practice!

It is fun to do holiday arts and crafts!

The little kids needed some cutting practice, so I drew circles on orange paper and they cut out pumpkins!
It is nice to see Isaac finally holding scissors the correct way(he was determined to hold them thumb down!!) Camille is beginning to get it, but still wants to turn her hand. I know it must feel awkward to hold scissors the right way at first because almost all kids hold them upside down!

The finished products!

Happy Halloween!

A Colonist's Meal!

Elise is studying the Colonists in school now, so we thought it would be fun to cook a meal they might have eaten. So, we had a menu of Acorn Squash Soup, roasted Acorn Squash seeds, home-made butter, and cornbread.
Elise did all the cooking!Isaac and Camille helped make the butter, and we all helped eat it!

Everything was delicious! It was such a fun school project! Next we will cook something from the Revolutionary War era. We have a really great book that has recipes common to different periods of US history. What an exciting way to tie historical life into the everyday life of the kids! We love homeschooling!