Last Week At OurPlace
It's getting harder and harder to stay focused and on track with Christmas vacation right around the corner. We're counting down the days we have left of school before taking our break. I'm trying to include a lot of fun stuff to make these last couple of weeks easier.
On Friday, they did journal pages on the first trip to the moon. I told them to imagine that they were one of the astronauts and draw a picture of what they might have seen when looking out of the window of the ship.
We finished our study of Africa this week. I couldn't decide on making a dish that is common here that originated in Africa or a dish that is eaten there, but not here. I decided on Fou Fou, a common African dish made with cornmeal. I told them ahead of time that, unlike the other dishes that we've made, that this would probably not be one that we'd enjoy eating. I was wrong. While I wasn't too crazy about it, they emptied the pot!! It was cornmeal cooked in boiling water with a little salt and butter added. Who would have imagined that they would have actually LIKED it!!!
In Science, we are still studying space. Last week, we focused on space exploration and rockets. We made three different rockets and were amused to find out that the one that looked the least like a rocket..the film canister...worked the best! We made another one that we had to blow into to set off and a third one that was supposed to take off with a little baking soda and vinegar. Notice I said it was "supposed" to take off. I guess we just got a defected rocket in our little kit because all of the gases kept escaping out of gaps in the seam. Oh well, it was a good opportunity to reinforce how complicated rocket science is :)!
On Friday, they did journal pages on the first trip to the moon. I told them to imagine that they were one of the astronauts and draw a picture of what they might have seen when looking out of the window of the ship.
We finished our study of Africa this week. I couldn't decide on making a dish that is common here that originated in Africa or a dish that is eaten there, but not here. I decided on Fou Fou, a common African dish made with cornmeal. I told them ahead of time that, unlike the other dishes that we've made, that this would probably not be one that we'd enjoy eating. I was wrong. While I wasn't too crazy about it, they emptied the pot!! It was cornmeal cooked in boiling water with a little salt and butter added. Who would have imagined that they would have actually LIKED it!!!
We also made a traditional African game, called Mancala, with an egg carton and marbles. Madison and Carter loved it, but they are like me and will play any type of game set before them. 
We managed to fit all of our book work in with the activities and were happy to put one more week behind us...one step closer to break. We have our homeschool Christmas party this week, so that means only four days of school work left. We're ready!
posted by Sherri | Monday, December 10, 2007
10 Comments:
Seriously--I want to come to YOUR house and learn :)
Looks like y'all have been having great fun! I love all the rocket ideas.
Thanks for your kind comment about Keegan. We are looking forward to getting to know this little guy.
I'll be checking back on your blog - you sound like a great HS mom just from the few posts I read tonight.
What a great week! BTW- the children and I often have "cornmeal mush" for breakfast. The Italians call it polenta. It is also good sweetened with a little honey (and served with butter, of course!)
Great work Sherri! We are getting ready for our Christmas vacation here too. I have been adding Christmas lessons and traditions to the girls daily curriculum and they are having so much fun with it. We are all ready for a break though. I sure do miss blogging with you. Any luck on getting into Multiply? I have so many homeschool posts there, I think that you would enjoy reading. Just let me know hon and I can send you an invite. If not, no worries. I understand how hard it is keeping up with all of the blogs and homeschool too.
Dang girl.. have I told you lately your my inspiration??? Your kids are beyond lucky!! I can only hope to do so well by my 3 youngest!
Sounds like a great week! We still have one more week of school because of our vacation a week ago. I'm trying to find some fun things to do next week, too. BTW, what's the name of the kit that had the rocket in it? It looks like a kit I saw at Hobby Lobby. Just curious!
The kit is called Project Kit for Kids....Inventions in Rockets. They have kits for all sorts of things! I love them all!!
Now that was a fun blog! Lucky kiddos!
I always like to check out the stuff you do with school. You make it seem so easy and fun.
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