Ninjas, Urine, and Smoke Bombs!

(reposting for TEACH ME TUESDAY)
But the day had a yummy start!French Toast (with a touch of vanilla) made using thick slices of Cinnamon Swirl bread!I am avoiding milk right now, so I just had a slice of Cinnamon Swirl Bread and tea.
I sent the boys a link for Chemistry Class:


And had them look at some online coverage of the big earthquake in Japan.(CLICK HERE for News on the Quake)
I have found that I can assign the boys t read up on current news,then they can tell me about it. It seems to kill multiple birds with 1 stone.wow, that sounds bad. poor birds.[1] reading current news is good for the boys[2] having to tell it back to someone is a good practice. (it can be work for them to get the facts straight when retelling stuff sometimes)[3] I get to know about current events w/o having to take the time away from my Netflix or Online Mahjong... Umm, I Mean...HOUSEWORK.. to read it myself.I will call this a Lazy Mom tip.

At the end of Yesterday Gavin announced "It was a good and bad day today. Bad because I didn't really do anything. And good because it's nice to have a day of doing nothing sometimes. And it's good to know I will be doing things the next day."
~or something like that~
So I decided I should plan "things to do" for today (the next day)
I planned a Creative Writing Hour (or however long it ended up being).I got out the Mad Scientist University game and the Nanofictionary game.NanoFictionary is a crd game of story telling. The Main Card Types are [1]Problem ("a food explosion")[2] Setting ("in an underwater submarine")[3] Characters ("the sentient broccoli" or maybe "The Incognito Starship Captain"[4]Resolution (They spent 6 weeks in the Hospital")
ABOVE: problem: Interdimensional porthole is closing /Character: Pizza Delivery Guy
ABOVE: Setting - Up In The SkyResolution- Duct Tape Saved the Day Again!
The Mad Scientist University game is similar to the above, but also like Apples to Apples.This game as 2 decks of cards. (like ApplesToApples)A small deck with cards that tell what to do with the cards from the larger deck.On Your Turn, YOU are the Mad Scientist Teacher at MSU. You hand out Unstable Element Cards to your students. Then You flip a card from the "INSANE ASSIGNMENTS". They red thee assignment and have too use their Unstable Element to accomplish the assignment. On each Students turn, they tell a story of how they used their element to to the assignment.
[ABOVE- "Write Your Name on the Moon..use "Rubber Chickens"]
BUT for Creative Writing, I just had the cards on the table for them to use how ever many they wanted and they could combine decks- to give them ideas for their stories. OR if they had an idea in their head they didn't have to use cards. The cards were there as tools to help them if they needed them. They could hand-pick cards or chose random cards. Didn't matter to me.
I told them they had 5 minutes to read over their cards/gather ideas. Then they were to write.While I went to the grocery store. I wanted 1 page from each boy. G&C decided to write a Cooperative Story. They each took turns writing a sentence or 2 of the story. They enjoyed writing their story together! They Wrote out a Ninja Assassin and Scurvy. ~and I bet if I ASSIGNED "Cooperative Writing", they'd NOT like it and complain.~


I had a few dice for if they got stuck . Like "Should I have my character to THIS or THAT?".."Should I should This Problem or That Problem?"- they could roll the dice to make their decision. Ki needs a little help with he has too many choices and doing what the Dice Say is easier than letting mom make the final decisions.

No One used the Dice. and C&G didn't even use cards.

{Lunch & Ninja Training}
AND FINALLY it was time for Chemistry!I had a lot planned for today.Ki didn't do all of it with us. He chose to do some of his 'busy seatwork worksheets' during some of the more advanced math parts of the chemistry lesson.
Basically, Ki just did the Experiment with us. He did a worksheet on Extinct Animals.
I started to teach today's Chemistry lesson to the boys, but the ore I talked, the more confused i became. I felt like I was speaking a completely alien language and could not tell if I was being understood- since I could not understand myself.So I set the laptop between Gavin and Connor and had them read it on their own and take notes.Then they got to the On Your Own questions.Gavin said; "And we will pretend to be scientist working in a lab. In a lab, co-workers work together on problems. You don't say to your co-worker; "No Cheating and Looking at my work!"- You share information to help each other.... unlike what they teach in schools."It was funny. . . I guess you had to be there.
Science Experiment Today: How does adding Sodium Bicarbonate to smoke bombs affect the speed of their burning?(Or, Does adding baking soda make smoke bombs burn more slowly?)
Gavin made 2 small batches of Smoke Bombs.Both made with the same amounts, except one had Sodium Bicarbonate added.The Website said to add Sodium Bicarbonate to help control the rate of burn.So we are testing how it affects the rate of burn.We used our knowledge we gained about what happens to Sodium Bicarbonate when heated.It turns into Sodium Carbonate and releases water & CO2.
So it would seem that when the Smoke Bomb burns, the baking soda releases H2O and CO2- that would really slow it down.
*******Test Results:The Smoke Bomb with the added Baking Soda burnt QUICKER. A LOT quicker!The Non-Baking Soda took 27:03 seconds to burn.The Baking Soda one took 6:92 seconds to burn.Gavin's only guess was that it may have something to do with the Baking Soda one not releasing smoke. But it was NOT the result our information had predicted.So there will be more tests and research.
(TO SEE FIRST DAY'S SMOKE BOMB PICS & VIDS: CLICK HERE)





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I {HEART} Mondays!

I do. I love Mondays. I look forward to my Mondays!

The weekends always feel unorganized and slapped together. Mondays are BACK TO SCHEDULE! (I love my lists and schedules)

Tuesdays have become hectic. Gavin bikes to college class (9-noon) and I have Ladies Bible Study (9-noon). Now C&K will be babysitting (playing with preschoolers) during Bible Study. I know after all that Ki will not be able to get back into lots of schooling, so Tuesday will be easy fun stuff. This means I want to Make Monday Count!

It was a good day.

I made waffles for Breakfast. Ki sifted the flour with his new flour sifter he got for his birthday. And Bacon.

The boys slept in till 8:15, so they did their morning chores after breakfast. Then it was time to fill water bottles, clear the table, and go out back for some stretches and Brain Gym. Just some Criss-Crosses today. Connor and Ki did their stretches standing on the porch chairs.

Inside they all sat around the table to take notes. I never had them do school at the dining table before. I had a school table we'd use, but they outgrew it.

Today I wanted to teach them about gerunds. I wanted to learn about them actually.

Looks like they can be a simple thing or possible complex. We stuck with simpler today. I liked this site: The Gerund and then we did some extra reading onn them at wikipedia. The boys wrote a few sentences and then had fun pointing them out in conversation through out the day.

Next was Research Time. Ki read inhis science book about cows. Connor did some science experiments from his CD Rom course (apologia) and Gavin did some independent research on the ADS; Active Denial System- military weapons .

I did some of my Book of Daniel Homework while they were doing that.

After Lunch the boys did math. Ki did Life of Fred on his own. I often read them with him and we do them together, but he is doing a few chapters he did at the end of the school year last year as review- so he said he'd do it on his own today. Afterwards he was explaining some of it to Connor and they had their calculator out calculating stuff.

Connor and Ki watched about 2/3 of A Christmas Carol on Netflix. It is the play/musical for which they will be auditioning. Gavin worked on his PSAT practice stuff.

Then they cleaned in their rooms.

Gavin is also doing something on his computer. Some program with music. I'll have to ask him what it is. He also worked on drawing eyes today. link: (YouTube Instruction for drawing a photo-realistic eye).

Now it is abut time for dinner. I think we'll play a game afterwards. Maybe GLOOM!!!

Aug 30. 2010

Our 1st somewhat real, full day of Quasi-Unschooling- getting back in a routine.

I slept in till 9:00. I am still recovering from Bronchitis but finally dooing MUCH better.
After breakfast, we had a family talk about the rules for doors and knocking. It was basically a talk about;
Just because you have a RIGHT to do something, doesn't mean you should.
I told them the Bible verse that tells us to "In as much as it is up to us, leave at peace with everyone"

After a few morning chores, I sent them off to work on different tasks. Connor is doing review questions and studying for his Chapter 5 test in Science. Gavin was told to do the next section in his SAT book and then study and review is Physics. His test is Thursday.

Ki read in his animal book (about rabbits, pikas, the platypus, echidna, and a few others). Then he looked up Echindnas online to learn more about them (spiney anteaters). After that, I had him browse around at www.wordlywise300.com He read a few of the lessons and played a few of the games. all while laying in my bed with his drink on a stool next to him- talk about an easy Life!




I asked Ki if we wanted to start back up with Life of Fred today or do some worksheets (math). I told him he needs to get back into Life of Fred this week, but he has a few days to get back into it if he wants.

After lunch I took Gavin to buy some supplies for his college art class.
back home K&C boys worked on their math.

Gavin needs to be at 80% of his ALEKS finished by the end of Sept- so he's working towards that. He'll do his math tonight with Brian and his science tonight, too. We are down a computer- so they have to alternate.

Connor did his ALEKS. I need to check his account soon, see where he is and help him come up with a plan of what he wants to do next so what he needs to do now to get there.
Ki- chose reviewing Times Tables. Using sheets with the times tables written out- saying the problem and filling in the answer- then checking.

MAY TERM DAY 1

After our long weekend, we were all tired. K&C woke later than usual. Our school day started at 9:45 instead of 9. We just skipped Story of the World today; which is fine. Today was the first day of a very new session, so today was mainly about talking about the new things we are doing, passing out notebooks and schedules, going over goals and lessons for the month, and getting a start into their new areas of study.

Ki liked the little Schedule are in the front cover of his notebook. He enjoyed using the daily schedule I gave the boys to fill in his Chart in his notebook cover.

He also liked the Cross Word Puzzle. I should him how to find the down and the Across and how to count the spaces and uses letters from already filled in answers to make sure he the correct word. I had him read through all of the Puzzle Clues, so when we are doing our reading and studying throughout the month he’ll remember unsolved clues in the cross word and go fill them in. He actually recalled 3 while we were reading his book and was happy to remember and fill in his cross word puzzle

[LINK FOR THE CROSS WORD PUZZLE] -also click to see the CLUES and print them.

Gavin and Connor did well with their studies. Gavin was excited to show me his notes and progress and tell me what he’s learned and what he plans on studying and including in his reports.

We finished with Morning Session at 11:13 and I sent them out to play a few minutes before the next class (Creative Writing). They do so much better with school when they take breaks to be really active between classes. They did some boffer sword practice for about 15 minutes as their break.

For Creative Writing I had them do a page from the book I have. I made 2 copies of all the pages, so 2 boys can use worksheets and 1 can fill in the pages of the workbook. They’ll take turns with the book if they want. Being that today’s class is short class we just talked a little about good description, using better adjectives, writing things enjoyable to read that make the reader better able to imagine. Then they did the worksheet pages. Ki had a lot of trouble with it. He talked and talked and goofed and gabbed, because he couldn’t think of anything to write. I had to remind him that this was a time for les talk and more writing. But I hate how ‘Public School’ that sounds. They got to get lunch when they finished.

He actually did better after his brothers finished and left the table. He had no one to talk to or at so there was nothing to do but write, so he could go eat lunch.

(Ki had a teensy little sensory meltdown (more like a teensy stubborn fit), but he was able to get over it on his own and it was almost a non-issue. It's a good thing we did the "Physical Therapy Time" before this class!)

LUNCH HOUR- I finished my Bible Study Homework. And ate. Because I was hungry.

SKETCHERS was Post-Lunch.

I must say that I am pleased with how Sketchers Class went. KKi can have a very hard time with feeling like he doesn’t have enough choice and is being told how to do everything. He took an art class once and she tried to get him to use the different art/sketching pencils- NOT just the school pencil. He wouldn’t have any of it. He didn’t want to be told which pencil to use when he ‘knew’ he liked the mechanical pencil best and ‘knew’ it did the best job. And He’s not good with “draw a turtle”- he’ll want to draw what he feels like drawing.. Which is what art is; drawing what you feel and ‘see’, but that I not what art CLASS is all the time.

BUT he did very well and didn’t complain at all about being told the exact things to do.

Gavin is drawing using the CLOSE CONTROLLED GRIP. (above)

(above)- Ki's page using both the CONTROLLED grip and the LOOSE grip with different pencils and the pen. Ki liked using a ruler to separate the areas of his page and he recorded which pencil he used for the different drawings. I had tols the boys to make sure they had their mechanical pencils with them so they could try it for the different techniques as well. I would tell them to use their different 'art pencils' (whichever of the 3 they wanted and to write which it was ) and then would always give them a "Use whatever you want" task after they did their special art pencils.



(above) Gavin's DOODLES using different pencils. Then his Shading and Smudging Techniques.

tossing a few things

2009_9_16
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KI! Ki is 13 today and now has a Facebook Account! He’s been waiting for this moment…his own Facebook Account like his brothers. They just play the games. They don’t actually socialize with friends much on Facebook.

For Ki’s birthday I made scones, per his request. I’ll be having a fruity-protein shake. But I am out of protein powder. I do have a chocolate protein drink in the fridge I can use and add fruit to it.
Gavin found a “You Can Draw” book and looked over the list of themes. *Dinosaurs *On the Farm *Cars *Animals ……. He thought “Dinosaurs On The Farm” sounded fun. I look forward to seeing his interpretation of Dinosaurs on the Farm.

Ki did well with lunch. He at first wanted tacos, but them remembered he requested tacos for dinner, so he went with a sandwiches. I pretty much just left them to their own devices for lunch. It’s an extremely relaxed day today.

The boys watched Liberty Kids during (and after) lunch. I decided to chuck the history program I wanted to use and just go with Story of the World and Historical type shows on DVD. The History CD-Rom was EPICALLY BORING! Same with the literature/writing CD-Rom. TOO dry and boring! Every now and then we try to use something ‘curriculum-y’ and we almost never like it. We like using www.alek.com for math ) older two boys) though. But it’s all their pace and they sometimes switch between math courses.

Ki choose to work on his German today. It wasn’t on his (very small) list of school today. He told me; “I decided to learn German, so I’m going to work on learning German.”
Gavin asked to skip science today and I said that was fine.
Even when I try to get all structured and use a bit of real curriculum, it never lasts long and we end back to our “Quasi-unschool’ ways….

Learning my Lesson

as a homeschooling mom to 3 boys with "learning disabilities", I learn a lot. Daily. Yesterday was a day of meltdowns. Meltdowns for everyone! no one was left out of the day's festivities! But I think we learned from it. Well, I learned something, hopefully they did, too. You never can tell it seems.

I gave a writing assignment, made it fun- so I thought, they thought it was awful, not fun, and would have rather written 2 pages in stead of the 1 paragraph. I didn't think it through and plan it well. They didn't respond well and talk civilly to me about how they felt about it. they got mad, I got upset. but we moved past it and got it all worked out.

So, I learned that I really should write out a good syllabus for each of them, esp for classes I teach- (as opposed to unschooling or independent work). And I think next time I will give them a choice if I think it is a fun writing project. Do the 'fun one' with me or write a 2 page report....LOL (and chances are they'd choose the 2 page report)

Also to be much more specific about writing requirements. Telling them how many items I require to be done like the directions specifically say and how many items they can change or use their own ideas.

*And Ki needs to sleep later than his brothers. getting up between 7:30 and 8 for a week had him way to tired. I want him to sleep iin if he wants to, but I hate having 2 breakfast. Connor & Gavin wake early and like to eat somewhat soon. Then if Ki sleeps in he'll not have breakfast for 1-2 hours later!

I am all for them making choices and using their own ideas. I know it is good for all kids and esp good for kids with 'sensory disorders'. But I also know that to function well in this adult world they will have to be able to just follow specific instructions sometimes- without changing them or adding their own ideas. Most bosses aren't going to let them choose what to do, how and when all the time and most will not present them 3 different ways to get the job done and let them choose which one and then do it differently.

But they always have a choice. They just need to learn to see it that way. They can choose to do it, with a good attitude, to the best of their ability, to please God. OR they can choose to have fits and temper tantrum and get fired. Sometimes life is harsh. As homeschoolers I still need to make sure they learn those lessons, it's just that I can teach them those harsh lessons about life is a comfortable, safe, loving environment and not shove it down their throats all at once, but teach them as they are ready and in a way they best can comprehend.

***PS- I'l share the writing assignment when we are all done with it.

Blue Moose

I decided it was time to review paragraph writing. (this whole essay on the SAT test has me a little concerned) So we reviewd sequence again. This was doine by having each of the boys tell all about what they did that day or the day before- but tell it to me totally out of sequence. Connor loved it! He did a great job. Gavin actually had trouble. He'd tell 2 things swapped. ike the 2nd thing, then the first thing. The 4th thing then the 3rd thing. The 6th thing thent he 5th thing.

After that we moved to outlines. Roman Numeral One- What I did Satturday--
I. What I did Satruday
A. Morning
1
2
B. Afternoon
So on and So forth. Like always, Connor asks me if it's allowed to be fiction. I always say yes.

Connor (13) (to whom no spoons even exist):
Saturday
-Morning
---1. I woke up
---2.I fell asleep
---3. I woke up again
-Afternoon
---1. I ate breakfast.
---2. I ate Lunch
-Evening
---1. I got dinner
---2. fell asleep
What i DID Sunday
-Morning
---1. made evil plans
---2. Went to church
---3. Ate breakfast
-Afternoon
---1. I took a nap
---2 I ate a snack
-Evening
---1. I ate dinner
---2. I did the evil plan (blew up the planet Earth with a 1,000,000 megaton anti-matter bomb)

Then we talked about adding adverbs, adjectives and prepositional phrases to sentences. I tolf them that I wanted 8 adverbs, 9 adjectives and 10 prepostional phrases.
Connor-
I What i DiD SaturDay (he often capitalizes all 'd' s)
--A morning
---- I woke from unDer the Bed.
---- I fell asleep unDer the Bed
--- I woke up again unDer the Bed. ( also, 'b's are almost always capital- funny the ending 'd' is right)
--Afternoon
----I ate a slimy Breakfast Quickly.
----I Slowly Had a Good Lunch (not sure why so much is capitalized there.)
--Evening
---- I got a Blue Dinner over a Poorly Built moose.
----I clumsily fell asleep at red Jupiter.
II. What I DiD SunDay.
morning
-I quickly made evil green plans in a Beetle.
- I slowly went to a spikey, Blue church under a rat.
Afternoon
-I quickly took a yellow nap in a Bowl. (this kid needs more variety in adverbs)
- I softly ate a sticky snack under a fast cup.
-I DiD the evil plan in a sock

Ki's School Day

Connor finished is breakfast and declared to us that he was going to go write a lot because he had been thinking of a new game and had a lot of rules and things to write about it. Sounded good to me. I like when he finds things to do that fit into my idea of school, LOL. I like when my boys think of things they want to write!

After Gavin and Ki were finished with breakfast I told them I wanted them to get started on something for school. Gavin decided to write a game story like Connor. Ki got his little note planner out to see what was his list today. He read through his list and asked me about a few things. He decided to do his Language Arts first. Today he is making an 8 panel comic strip of the story he has been reading; Mitchell is Moving. He has a little science experiment in his Science book today. He loves having his daily list of things that he can see what needs to be done and do them in any order he wants. Yesterday He chose for math - 10 minutes in Miquon and 10 minutes of Dice Math. I let him use whatever he rolled on the operation dice, so he had a few simple additions, since he was using a 12 sided and an 8 sided die. He rolled a Division sign and I taught him how to do that. It’s amazing how open and willing he is to learn when he does school on his terms and chooses activities. If I had said; “O.K. Today you will be doing division in school. Get your paper and pencil and I will teach you how to do division”- that would NOT have gone over well AT ALL! But when HE chose to do dice and rolled the division on the ‘operation die’ he asked ME to help him.

Yes, sometimes I tell him what to do- like make an 8 panel comic strip- but I choose things that I KNOW he enjoys and works well in doing. I tell him to do things that he has chosen in the past and enjoys.

Ki set up the desk in is room for doing his Comic Strip. He cleared it off, got his pencils, the pencil sharpener, his book and I brought a chair in for him. He seemed to really like having his own little work area in his bedroom. It’s one of the reasons I liked this house- the nice desk area in the room and one of the reasons he chose that room. He had some of his school books in there now. He took his math in there to do.

Before he did his math I had him help me with the laundry. It was good “Brain/Body Coordination/Movement” for him. He brought the basket of wet clothes up the steps (6 steps) then carried it outside (4 steps down), then he hung about 5 small towels. After that he did an Assortment of CrissCrosses. He did Scissors, Marches and To the Back. Then set himself up at his desk.
For his second set of 15 minutes in math he chose DICE.

This is what I had for his Dice option. I had a list of 6 different types of problems. We have an assortment of dice types. Fraction dice, dice IN Dice, Triple Die, 12 sided, 10 sided, 6 sided, decimal dice, operation Dice (all the different math signs, X, +,-, DIV sign, etc)
12D X 12D =
Fract.D + FractD =
TripleD + TripleD= (3 small dice inside a large clear Die- makes a 3 digit #)
TripleDie –Double 10. (a 10 sided INSIDE a 10 sided- makes a double digit #)
.## (decimal Die) > .## =
Double 10 X 10Sided =

So he can choose which ones he wants to do by simply looking and picking, He can roll a 6 Sided and do that number problem type or he can Roll the operation Die and do a problem type that has that operation.
He loves lots of options and alternatives.

Then we read out of his Science Book; Zoolology Apologia. And worked on the new terms and did a little experiment with a large dish of water and blowing opposite ways to make a Gyre Current. Yesterday we read about different types of Aquatic movement (nektonic, benthic, sessile, plankton) and then I acted them out randomly and he had to tell me which I was doing. Then we switched and I called out movement types and he had to demonstrate them.

Connor and Gavin did their stuff on their own. They didn’t need any help today, just the occasional reminder to stay focused.

unschooling works

Ki is going to be in the 6th grade. he has never done well in math. he gets easily confused. He decided to do the SAT question of the day. it was a MATH question. So I read it to him. It was:

For a certain Triangle the (BCline) [written mathematically, I don't have the font. a BC with a line over it]
ANYWAY- there is a triangle. BCline = 2 and ACline=12. What does ABline equal?

and he drew the triangle and filled in the info and said "It's 12." and explained why (the most important part, I think). He was correct and only 49% of the people who answered got it correct!
He did a Grammar question last week on the SAT question of the day (his big brothers do them so he likes to do them, too, of course).

He reads about 2 grades 'below level' and has dyslexia and dysgraphia, so we doesn't write much. Ho got that question correct as well.

I guess I shouldn't worry so much about him. Though his 'daily performance' isn't always 'grade level', he's obviously a smart kid and can figure things out when he needs/wants to do so- eventhough we let him go at his own pace and only learn when he's ready and what he wants to be learning (for the most part). Once again I am reminded the reason we homeschool is to teach them HOW to learn, not to have them memorize a bunch of facts.

FUN THINGS (carnival)

So, I hear the Carnival Topic is FUN. I have no NEW FUN as I have been battling pneumonia recently. So I bring to you OLD FUN! Here are FOUR old posts and link and descriptions.


Sometimes FUN is just letting the boys make their own waffles for breakfast, or deciding to go for a Nature Walk or play at the park. Making our own Obstacle Course is Fun. We have FUN doing Science Experiments together.

MATH DICE- Ki likes this best. He esp likes when I just tell him to think up 10 Math Dice Problems and he can choose anything he wants. He knows that I won;t allow anything too sipmple. Like 4+3=7.

Here is the Scoop-Sometimes we use dice for math (and grammar, but that's a differen post)

Here are some pictures of our math dice.

These are 10 sides dice with another 10 sided inside.(the '0' is the '10') So if the outside lands on 6 and the inside is 3, the number is "63" They use 2 or 3 of these and add, subtract, multiply and sometimes divide. usually I use the 3dice divided by a 2dice

The top 3 dice here have 3 inside. These are the ones we use for dividing. There is also a 6sided inside of a six sided in the picture.

Here are our fraction dice and our math operation dice. Also shown are the decimal dice. Sometimes we use both types together and they have to change the decimal to a fraction or vice versa.

These are our 12 sided, 10 sided and 8 sided. For when I want them to have numbers bigger than 6.... or 66...

Here is an example of double 8 sided and the operation dice....

A more simple math sentence with dice......

and our many 6 sideds... I often just tell them to use 3 to make the BIGGEST number they can and then 3 to make the smallest number for subtraction (usually Ki) or division (the other two)

Here is a game we have played a couple of times. I think we need to make it a once a month fixture in our schooling. It was so much fun! Make sure to check out the videos!

DICE of FORTUNE

we played ---- Dice of Fortune (think - Wheel of Fortune)

Use 2 dice. Each dot is $100. So if you a 2 and a 4, you get $600 per letter. Vowels cost $300. (it is a one time per turn fee, so even if there are 3 a’s, it is still $300). Snake Eyes is Bankrupt. Double 3 are ‘lose a turn’ (but keep your money) and double 6s are -$500.

Use white board for the puzzle. Draw boxes and fill in (not turning anything like Vanna yet).

Keep Score on the window. Put a piece of white poster board on outside of windows to make the dry erase marker show up better. I couldn’t find poster board, so I cave them each apiece of colored paper and they kept their own score- which was good- they had to do math.

A $500 bonus for solving the puzzle.

We had a lightning round at the end. They eached guessed 2 letters (for a total of 4) and they each rolled one dice to guess a 3^rd letter and got points for it. Connor guessed the vowel. Then I added one letter at a time until someone guessed it and got $1,000. Gavin guessed it with very little letter showing.

Too bad it wasn’t real money….

here are vidoes.... there are a lot of videos--- jut choose what you want to watch, I dont expect people to watch all of them... Double Click Them

Connor won- he had the most points. Gavin was stuck on werid letters. like W and H....

Lapbooks are fun, too.

Ki’s LAPBOOK

Ki and I made a lapbook for CINCO DE MAYO. Gavin and Connorteamed up to make a lapbook, too, but i don't have their pics yet.

here are thepictures for Ki's:

they liked the stickers that are like a wild party

we cut the bottom velcro in half so we can open the book. The marker helps keep it closed.

opened we may add more things later

POCKET GAME POUCH

3 games

match the Spanish Written with the numeral. We used magnets

BOTTOM FLAP (under yellow game pouch)

TOP FLAP-

midsection next to yellow game pouch-

SKATEPARK SCIENCE
We have a nice skatepark close to our house. During the school year it is great to go there and play or learn about physics becuase it's EMPTY!

(fall 2005)

You can read about our GREAT 1st day here: Skateboard Day We spent the afternoon at the skatepark making cars and testing them and riding scooters.

Dragon Study Ideas

A friend asked for 'unschooling' type ideas for her son who is into YuGiOh and Dragons.

I thought I'd share what I thought of in case someone here maybe able to use parts of it with their kids:

Maybe he can design his own YuGiOh type game. He can make his own creatures with abilities and cards and points, etc......
AND if you have a friendly Gaming Store, There might be a few people there who would be willing to play test his game. My son designed his own game, the store manager there knows we homeschool and is a great guy. My son told him all about the game and he is going to test play it with my son.

This will have art, writing, math, history (as he resaerches Dragon Lore to create his characters), learning how business works, etc...

Then he can make clay models of his creatures.

Maybe even write short stories about his creatures.



(I know very very very little about YugiOh, sorry)




He can do a puppet show of one of his favorite Dragon Stories.

Drawing Maps of a dragon cave or a forrest.

You can buy poker chips at the dollar store, spray paint them 3-4 different colors. Hide them. He searhces for them, maybe with a map, maybe not... each coin type has a different value. He can calculate the total value.


At the end he can throw a Dragon Party for friends and family- Make invitatons, maybe think of Dragon or Knight names for his guests.

he can make a Dragon Dinner... Hmmm.. carrot spears/swords, Flame grilled Steak, Potato Skin Shields.... Maybe he can think of dishes and give them 'dragon-y names'. Have him make the grocery list and give him cash and let him shop and go through the checkout lane. Have him write a menu (use a fancy old english font with WORD and print it out, use tea and a match to 'antique' the paper -and you can talk about history of Pilgrims or something and their hand made paper.- maybe make youe own paper....). Then roll it up in a scroll and use a wax seal.

Have his new game out and teach it to people, have his diaramas of different dragon Lore or YuGiOh Scenes, Do his Puppet Show. He can have huge maps with Push Pins for where dragons have been reported to have lived.....

You can even teach his to sew, buy a sewing pattern to make a KNIGHT costume and have him help make most of it. He can wear it to his Dragon Party. He can design and make his own wooden sword and sheild.

I just found this in my email today...

Science Experiment.. click here to see

you may need to find a smoke machine for this one.... or not... It might be fun for a dragon study .

these might be fun, too......

Sceince Experiment- make your own homemade fire extinguisher to put out those nasty little dragon brush fire in the back yard...

here is one that was maked as "ADVANCED"..... but you might want to try it anway (after you make a fire exstinguisher...)
Shooting Sparks

Making Sparks and Fire Part 2

MORE FIRE EXPERIMENTS

PUZZLES & SCIENCE

I slept in this morning. I had a headache.

We did some chores around the house to get ready for Breakfast. Even Manuel did work. Connor and Gavin made Breakfast.

The school day started with Brain Gym. With my headache, I put the boys in charge. Ki led Criss Crosses, Connor led Body Scales (these are not a Brain Gym activity. It is a sensory activity made to help Ki's dyspraxia.). Ki always wants to lead these, but I only can let him lead them if I do a round first. (to make sure it gets done as needed to work, LOL). Manuel led Lazy 8s with arms. Gavin led Hook Ups.

I made word worksheets for Ki while they did this. I used Puzzle Maker(free to use website) and plugged in Ki's spelling words for this week. I made a word search and a crossword puzzle with his spelling words.

During Brain Gym., I also used Babelfish to give Manuel his writing assignment. Babelfish is a free language translator online. Id does dozens of languages , but it's not perfect. You have to think carefully about your wording. If you type. I was right (meaning correct) it will translate the ord RIGHT ad the directional word. (right or left). So I have to think carefully about how to word things. and sometimes it's still a bit off, but if I use the correct wording it does a good enough job that Manuel can understand it.

After Brain Gym, I gave the boys their writing assignments. They had to choose an event from a short list I provided, as I have learned long ago, an open ended choice leads to 3 hours of trying to decide for my younger 2. They had to write a list of what happened in order. Gavin needed 25 things, Connor 20, Ki 15. Tomorrow they will turn their list into a story. I will Ki make a comic book story- less words, yet he gets the story writing concept. They all wrote more than needed. The seemed to enjoy iy. I had Manuel write 10 sentences about going to Danny's house on Sunday. (The boys' friends). Ki also choose their day at Danny's house.

Manuel was done first. I found a book with instructions on dinosaur origami. I started with the easiest in the book. The dinosaur snapper head. I helped a lot with the first time. He thought it was SO NEAT that flat paper made a 3-D toy! So we did another one, with him doing most of it. Then he did one all on his own. Connor loves these snapers and son all the boys were making them.

ORIGAMI ONLINE FOR KIDS

Link to Video of Connor folding Dinosaur Snapper

Then it was time to do Manuel's therapy and my boys to do their reading. it keeps them occupied and focused while I am off with Manuel.

That brings us up to lunch.

The rest of the school day will be boring to report. Miquon, Math Detective CD, Beyond the Code, Ingles in 10 Minutos, Online Science Study.

I put the online science studies together for my boys. Here is the CELL one that Gavin just finished.

Lesson 2 Cells

Go Here- read, take notes, explore-

http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/westmin/science/sbi3a1/Cells/cells.htm

Click on the link for Unit Membrane- Read and click NEXT to get to the next page. Continue this. Some pages have little animated diagrams with a PLAY feature. Make sure you watch them.

At the end is a quiz, Take it. Record your grade- Correct if needed.

Click on the Studying Cells Tutorial-

read, click Scientific Method and read.

List the 7 steps in your notebook.

Click- Size & Biology Read

Click Major Events Read

Click to Test yourself

Click on each of the 4 areas to test. record your grades I your notebook.

NEXT- Go the following Site- http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/3dcell.htm

Read, take notes, follow links

GO HERE- http://www.cellsalive.com/gallery.htm

Read and explore

NEXT URL- http://library.thinkquest.org/3564/

CLICK ON LESSONS- Do one at a time, starting with the first- Take all of the quizzes and record your grades in your notebook..

CLICK ON VIRTUAL CELL LINK- Explore- Click the PLAIN links and watch.

NEXT URL- http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/science/sciber00/7th/cells/sciber/intro.htm

Read, take notes, don't do the Enrichment Links

PROJECTS to DO-

http://library.thinkquest.org/19037/making_a_cell.html