School Week in Review

Last week school was a blast. We had some whining pretty much everyday . . . each child took their turn on different days . . . but, on the other hand we had lots of fun, learned a lot, and laughed a lot. I would have to grade the week an A!! Here's a few things we did.

We built a replica of Queen Victoria's Crystal Palace.

We also learned about when Japan opened its ports to the western world after closing them for 200 years. The US went to Japan and wanted to trade for their coal in the late 1800s. Japan had closed its ports, and since no one from the western world was coming into Japan, they had no need for defenses. I told the kids that their Samurai warriors were made governors and so they had "desk jobs." They agreed to trade with the US because they were afraid the US would attack them and they had no defense system. When the US went over to Japan, Commodore Matthew Perry wanted to see the emperor's highest official. He didn't know that the emperor really had no power at this time. It was the shoguns who ruled Japan. However, the Japanese got one of their governors, Toda, to pose and pretend he was the emperor's highest official.

So, when I started quizzing the children on what we had learned. I asked them why Japan agreed to trade with the US. Ash replied, "Because the Japanese had desk jobs." HAHAHAHA

When I asked who the governor was that posed and pretended he was the emperor's highest official Ash said, "Governor Sonny Perdue." (this is GA's current governor).The girl was on a roll. She was cracking us up. . . . she got upset though. She wasn't trying to be funny.

We made brownies and pretended they were the coal, the kitchen was Japan, the kids were the Japanese, and I was Commodore Matthew Perry. We had to come up with a peaceful treaty to trade for the brownies. It was fun to role play with the kids.


We learned about atoms and what they are and explored items such as beans, cotton balls, and crackers . . . both with and without a magnifying glass.

We learned about density and that the more tightly compacted atoms are together the more the objects sink.

We were really amazed how the grape floated in-between the corn syrup and vegetable oil.

Hanna learned that crickets' ears are on their legs and she got to do a project where she made the sound of a cricket.

She also learned that the warmer a food is, the more it smells . . . that is why when I make brownies you can smell them throughout the house, but when I make blueberry delight, no one can smell it's aroma. She got to do a fun experiment with chocolate ice cream. We put one cup in the freezer and left one cup out at room temp for 30 minutes, then I made her cover her eyes and smell each cup . . . the warmer one had the best smell.

We also studied atomic motion using boiling water and cold water. We saw how quickly food coloring spread out in hot water and how it took a long time for food coloring to disperse in cold water.

This experiment was really cool. We got to see a cool chemical reaction using vinegar, baking soda, cabbage water, a 2 L bottle, and a balloon.

The bottle totally blew the balloon up. I was so excited . . . I think even more so than the children.

We also memorized 2 Timothy 3:16, learned the first 5 books of the Bible, learned 5 Latin words, completed "The Time Machine". We learned the Bible was written during a 1600 year period by over 40 different men, and all of them were Jewish except 1 . .. that 1 being Luke. We learned about how the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and their accuracy compared to scrolls Bible scholars had from 900 AD. We learned that when scribes copied the words of the Bible (scrolls) how they'd have to go and count every word from the Bible they were copying, then count the finished scroll they had copied and circle the middle word . . . that way it ensured accuracy.

WHen quizzing the children on what we had learned in Bible, I asked them how many men wrote the Bible. Ash said, "Well over 40 and all of them were Jewish except one, and his name was Luke." I asked her what Luke was . . . and to prompt her to answer I said, "If you are not a Jew, then you are a ______." She replied, "reptile". HAHAHAHAHA

I've found that Monday and Tuesday were our most intense days and it took awhile for us to finish. That's okay though, I refuse to be rushed this year. I'm loving having a school room. I find that being in the school room I'm not distracted with chores that need to be done.