I love days like this

The homeschooling days that I love the best are certainly not the ones when I'm making assignment after assignment for the kids to complete in their books . . . on their own.



I really thoroughly enjoy the hands-on . . . the "fun" stuff of learning. Although this requires much more planning and dedication on my part, it is all very much worth my time.



Last week, we had a GREAT school week. . . not that the kids' attitudes were any different, or my house was any cleaner, or our schedule was less filled with busyness.



The thing I think that made this week such a great success . . . all started with me. I was much more organized and I had previously had the week very planned out. Failing to plan is certainly planing to fail. When I take the time to write out detailed lesson plans, have all supplies and materials that will be needed, ready and waiting for us on Monday morning. . . our week is so much smoother. . . and we have a much more productive, fun week of learning.


Here's some snippets from our week:

Hanna got to learn that autumn leaves a "sweet tooth". . . she first had to learn about chlorophyll though by hiding this leaf away from any and all sunlight. . .

She learned that when the chlorophyll is gone (b/c of no more sunlight) what is left is carotene which reflects orange and yellow colors.

For the folks out there with the "sweet" tooth. . . the autumn leaves of red and purple, orange and yellow share your "sweet" love. Wanna know why? Cooler temperatures increase the sugar content in leaves. Leaves that produce red and purple colors produce red and purple pigments (also known as anthocyanins - Hanna didn't learn this . . . this is just some extra info for all the star students out there). . . During autumn when the days are bright and sunny and the nights are much cooler, the leaves that produce this red and purple pigment change into these beautiful, glorious colors. Leaves not having this pigment still have carotene in them when the chlorophyll (where the green color comes from) leaves, thus producing the bright yellows and oranges we love to see.

Ashley built molecules with marshmallows and toothpicks. She learned that molecules must have "rules" otherwise there would be absolute chaos. . . and that God is a God of order. This girl came up with some funky molecules . . . definitely breaking any and all "molecule" rule. I told her she was creating a "marshmallow" bomb.. . heehee. . . we tried to use more marshmallows than we ate . . . unsuccessful in that department.

Alec learned to make an egg float by using salt water. The purpose of this experiment was to teach him about the different variables in an experiment and how they affect the outcome. He did learn that salt water is more dense than pure water. There is a really cool picture in his science book of people actually floating in the The Great Salt Lake in Utah because of the salt content. He had to add teaspoon after teaspoon of salt and record how many teaspoons or tries it took until his egg began to float.

We also learned about the Spanish-American war, how Joseph Pullitzer and William Randolph Hearst sensationalized newspaper stories to get people to buy more papers. The kids had to pick a current article out of the newspaper and sensationalize it themselves. These were a hoot and a half to read. We learned how Liberia was a protectorate of the U.S. and was a country formed by the U.S. for freed slaves. Liberia was free to govern itself, but being a protectorate of the U.S. it had to get permission from the U.S. before dealing with any other country. Also put into our history head of knowledge we learned about Alexander III's (czar of Russia) tyranical rule and how he treated nobleman wonderfully and gave them great riches and priviledges, all while treating the poor and Jews terribly . . . placing higher taxes on them, not allowing them to move whereever they pleased, not allowing the Russian Jewish children to go to school. This day the kids had to make a flag for their own country. They were given a chart of what different colors and animals symbolized and had to incorporate the values that were important to them into their flags. These were really cool. I let them hang them in their rooms.

Just like with anything in life . . . you get out of if what you put in. . . the more of myself I put into educating my children the more I, myself, get out of it. . . the children and I get to spend good times learning together, laughing together, and just being together. It is well worth every single minute I put into it . . . I need a sign posted all over my school room reminding me of this when I'm so tempted to allow myself to be drug away but useless, meaningless tasks.