An Update

I can't believe how far behind I've gotten on this blog. I started having issues getting pictures to load. It was taking me forever so I put off posting. Once I was finally going to try to figure out what was going on, I saw that the blog layout was messed up. I can't figure out why everything is all pushed toward the middle and I just haven't had time to sit down and try to work on it.

We're winding down our school year and hoping to finish up most things next week.

We finished RS4K Chemistry and the bird section of Exploring Creation with Zoology 1 (we did the insect section in the fall). In history, we've spent the last couple months learning about the Revolutionary War. We did Download 'n Go Constitution Celebration last week and we're doing the George Washington one this week.

Other than that, we've just been doing our regular stuff. Molly finished The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading, RightStart Math level B, and the 2nd grade Handwriting without Tears book so I told her she's finished with 1st grade. She's just been reading on her own while Colin and Caleigh finish up stuff. They should both reach the point where I want to stop this week.

I haven't decided for sure what we'll do for the summer. I wanted to do some math review and games and some unit studies. As we get closer though, I'm feeling tired and in need of a break. We're moving in a month and I haven't even started packing. So we'll see what happens.

The National Zoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arlington National Cemetery

On our trip to Washington, D.C., last month, we visited Arlington National Cemetery for the first time. I could have never imagined how many graves there were without seeing it. They seem to go on forever.

The Eternal Flame at the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy

Changing of the guard

The cemetery is really beautiful with gorgeous trees and great views of the city.

Benjamin Franklin Study

We spent a couple weeks studying Benjamin Franklin. We used the Download N Go study to break up our days. We learned about his life, who he was, his inventions, his other accomplishments, and much more.

 

 

Books we read:

 

 

 

Kids drew the U.S. seal with a turkey instead of an eagle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liberty Bell art- idea found here

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have to talk about kites when studying Ben Franklin. I got the kids mini kites to play with.

 

 

 

 

 

Charged cereal experiment

 

 

 

 

 

Notebook pages with pieces from Homeschool Share and Download N Go.

 

 

 

 

 

While visiting Washington, D. C. after doing the study, we went to the Old Post Office Pavilion to see the statue of Ben Franklin there.

 

 

 

St. Patrick's Day 2012

Here is the table decorated for the kids to find in the morning. The cups have small themed gifts (pencil, duck, ball).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green smoothies with moustache straws for breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: green milk, lime jello, broccoli, green grapes, rainbow colored goldfish, shamrock shaped sandwich or tortillas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky Charm treats: made like Rice Krispie treats, but with Lucky Charms cereal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My kids think moustaches are so fun for some reason.

 

 

 

Our Week: D.C., Experiment Failure, and a Hockey Party

Another busy week here. We started the week in Washington, D.C. We went to the National Zoo on Sunday.

 

We spent Monday walking around visiting the museums and seeing the monuments. We rode the Metro for the first time and Molly said that was her favorite part.
Some of the things we saw: Capitol, Air and Space Museum, Museum of National History, Museum of American History, National Gallery of Art, Washington Monument, Old Post Office clock tower, and the Lincoln Memorial. My pedometer said we walked over 8 miles that day.

 

We got home really late that night so we took the next day off from school to run errands and get caught up.

In Chemistry, we read about energy molecules. Our experiment to find out which foods are starches didn't work out. None of the foods changed colors. When I looked at pictures online, I noticed that the tincture of iodine was a dark color. Ours was clear so I guess it has to be colored for it to work.

In Story of the World, we read about the Ottomans trying to expand to the west. We also read 3 chapters about Virginia in A History of US.


On Wednesday, I took Colin to roller hockey practice and he had biology class on Thursday.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Friday. I'll try to post those pictures tomorrow.

Today was the end of the season party for Colin's ice hockey team. They had laser tag and the kids all really liked that.

 

I made a cake with the team logo for the party.

 

Our Week: Too Busy

I didn't get a chance to do a weekly wrap-up last week so this will have a little from last week and this week. It's been a really busy couple weeks. Ice hockey season is wrapping up and we've had to travel both weeks for away games.

In chemistry, we learned about mixtures and did an experiment mixing things together to see if they would mix, stay separate, or dissolve. This week, we read about separating mixtures. I was missing one of our materials for the experiment so we'll do that next week.

 In history, we read about Peter the Great last week.

Last week, we did some activities and read lots of books to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. See our Wacky Wednesday here and our other activities here. This week we got to see The Lorax. It was a really cute movie and we all enjoyed it.

Last week's hockey games were in Charleston, SC. We got a chance to walk around downtown for a little while.

 

 

It was really windy, but we stopped by the beach for about an hour before heading home.

We spent Monday-Wednesday of this week reading about Washington, D.C.

  

The kids used Draw Write Now to draw the Capitol.

Top: Colin
 Left: Caleigh                           Right: Molly

On Thursday, we drove to Washington, D.C. for another hockey tournament. We visited Arlington National Cemetery that day.

Most of the rest of our time has been spent in ice rinks watching Colin play hockey.

 

One more day of hockey tomorrow and then we're going to spend some time exploring Washington, D.C. before going home.