The End Has Finally Come

The end of the school year, that is. After a way too relaxed school year, as evidenced by us finishing so late, we are finally done!
These are some of the things that we did, which I had not posted about yet, until now.

Josiah's castle

Both of the kids made a castle from a kit. Hannah's kit was much harder and still not complete. She made a very valiant effort, though.

Jesus entering Jerusalem by Hannah

This art is in the style of the mosaics. She 'decided' not to color in the whole thing.

page from Josiah's Astronomy Notebook

The earth is a boy? Hmmmm. And he has a hat and a whip and rides a skateboard? Okay, let's move on.

Hannah's notebook

My kids like to mix fact and fiction in there notebooks to make them fun.

The Ascension by Hannah (unfinished)

Hannah says she wants to draw disciples in the picture.

Well that's it for this school year. I'm relieved and excited. I stayed up late organizing, filling out student evaluations, and planning for the next year - Exploratin to 1850. We'll also be studying Biology and Zoology. It's going to be so much fun!

Yummy Science

We just finished our study of all of the planets, including Pluto, the dwarf planet.
Because Pluto is so cold, we did a freezing experiement.
I tried to keep the results a secret, but it leaked out anyway.
I mean, what do you think will happen when you put milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar in a bag,
put it in another bag with ice and rock salt, and shake it vigorously for 6 - 8 minutes?

Well, for one thing, your hands will probably get cold and you'll have to put on oven mitts, and someone's bag will leak because they decided to speed the process by beating it.

Six minutes is a long time when you are "shaking your bag". You might have to get someone to give you a break. When the timer goes off and you squeeze out the contents of your bag, . . .

you'll agree. Science is good. Mmmmmmm.

Start Your Weekend with a Whirl

This was actually part of our science lesson, 'Make a Tornado Tube'.

It was easy to make. All you need are 2 2-liter bottles, a 1" washer, and duct tape.

Very cool AND fun. The kids played with it for a long time.

Give 'Em Samosas

As we go through Rome to the Reformation, we briefly cover the history of other countries. As in Exploring Countries and Cultures, it is mentioned that you might want to try enjoying a dish from that country.
There are some recipes included in the curriculum and you can also find your own.

What's Next?

Well, after a short study on the reproductive system, which involved learning about glands and hormones and genes, and reading this book . . .

Sorry it's sideways, I'll try to fix it later

we are done with Anatomy and  ready to start learning about the Solar System with . . .

In the Young Explorers Series

Our study of the human body was fascinating and fun, but it's so exciting to begin something new. I've been looking through this book and there are some really cool hands-on things we will be doing. Can't wait to take pictures and share those with y'all.

Also, we just finished another one of our read-alouds.

Yet another sideways book

It was about a young boy who was to be a squire, but became sick and could not walk. He was cared for by monks, who helped him to regain his strength (learning to walk with crunches) and taught him how to carve and play a harp. This book helped us to get a picture of what it was like to live in the Medieval Times.

Now, we look forward to reading . . .

Last sideways book

This book has alot of color pictures in each chapter. It should be fun to read. We've already heard this story and even seem a video of it, but I'm still thinking it will be new and fresh.

Let's Review with Mr. Bones

Hey kids, it's time for a review. What have you learned about the human body this year?

Mr. Bones trying to look tough

You learned about the skeletal system! That's great! You put me together? You think I'm humerus (pun, intended)? When you first saw me, I looked like this?

Less than $2 from the Park Avenue Thrift (Mom's favorite place to shop)

That is just ghastly! Are you telling a fib-ula? Ha, Ha. Well let's move on. And don't be pulling my leg either.

Wow, that's some leg!

Now if you can't be serious, I am going to have to talk to someone else. Maybe Mr. Invisible over there will have a brain.

Mr. Invisible looks like he's open to talking

Finally, someone who has a brain. Mr. Invisible, it seems that you might have enough GUTS to play it straight with me. What, you want me to go head to head with you on GeoSafari? Maybe you're a little too brainy for me.

Is he intimidating to you?

I think I'll just try my hand, I mean feet, at dancing.

Dancing to 'Dem Bones'

Excuse me, I think I'll cut in here while Mr. Bones is dancing. This IS MY blog, right? I was really excited to find the things you see here at such great prices. Mr. Invisible came from the $1 Store years ago and he does open up so you can "dissect" him. The only thing that does not come out is his brain. And then, there's the GeoSafari card on the parts of the human body (also in a pack from the afore mentioned Thrift Store). We were able to use all of these items to do a fun review of our science studies.

Waving his arms

What? What? Aren't you watching me?

Mr. Bones, if you can't control yourself. I am going to have to put you in that nice plastic dome that you came with. It WILL keep the dust off of you.

No, no, I'm not ready to go in there just yet.



"What will I do next?"

Okay, but I can't have you disturbing the kids while they are doing their school work now, can I? And we learned more than just about the skeletal system. We learned about most of the body systems. Only one more to cover. . . the reproductive system.

Sounds interesting, but I can't help you with that one.

I know, but that's okay. I have some really good books to use. Maybe I'll share about those on a future blog.

February is Heart Month

So, in honor of heart month, we give you . . .

Our Study of the Human Heart and Circulatory System

Mr. Skeleton's paper heart

Tracing the path of blood through the body and through the heart

Labeled model of the heart

Unless the vessels that supply the heart muscle get clogged (causing a heart attack), this little guy pumps nonstop night and day to keep you alive without you even thinking about it. The only thing you need to think about is taking care of it with a good diet and exercise.
 Oh, by the way, the blood carrying the oxygen to the different parts of the body is red, while the oxygen depleted blood is blue. The blood cells give it that color.
Josiah enjoyed learning about white blood cells destroying germs.
Then, there are platelets that help the blood to clot when we get a cut.

Respiratory System

We have added a windpipe and lungs to our model. You learned about bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli (big words!), the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the work of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles. I love this stuff!

We also did a science activity to demonstrate how air is pulled into the lungs using a plastic bottle with the bottom cut out and covered with plastic and a balloon inside the top.

When you push up on the plastic bag (diaphragm in relaxed postion), air goes out of the balloon (lungs).

When you pull down on the bag (diaphragm contracting), air fills the balloon (lungs).

He's Got Guts!

Paper guts with flaps!

Lift the flap on the stomach and you see the stomach wall.

Lift the flap on the small intestine and see the villi.

Colorful villi and stomach wall

We recently completed our study of the digestive system, which included adding to our model skeletons. We started with the face . . . which was carefully colored.

Josiah hard at work

Hannah adding hair to her model

Her finished face

His freaky face

The face lifts to reveal salivary glands, teeth, and tongue which are the first step in digestion. Remember to chew your food well.

Getting a face lift

Then there is the rest of the inner-workings including the food tube (esophagus), stomach, small intestine, liver, pancreas (hidden behind stomach), and large intestine, and exit point.

Hannah's model

"I get my lungs next. I can't wait."

"I'm just hanging out here."

Joints and the Nervous System

After making our skeleton model, we learned about joints. We made this model. It looked like it was going to be pretty cool. Now, I'm not sure it was worth the effort.



Dysfunctional joints

 The pivot joint is suppose to show how the bones at the base of the skull work. Uh, this explains why my head spins off sometimes ( : o ).  Then, you have the ball and socket joint, as in hip, shoulder. If the pivot joint had too much movement, the ball and socket joint does not have enough. Our model only moves in two directions ( ; \ ). 

bum knee

And last, but not least, I have heard of people's knees going this direction, but it is very painful. The knee joint in our model goes forward, instead of back. Hannah pointed this out to me, and she was very disturbed by the "wrongness" of it all. Like mother, like daughter?
I believe a kinesthetic approach is better for demonstrating the movements of the joints, AND alot more fun! If you have this book, The Body Book by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, I recommend that you skip making this model and just let your students locate the joints on themselves and demonstrate what they can do.

The Bronze Bow

We finished our first read-aloud of the year, The Bronze Bow recently. It is set during the time of the Roman Empire, in Palestine, from the perspective of an eighteen year old Galilean boy named Daniel. The only family he has is an aged grandmother and a sister, but he has left them to join a band of zealots in the hills. In this story, Daniel learns the meaning of true friendship, family loyalty, and the forgiveness and healing that Jesus brings. Oh, and I forgot to mention that this is during the time of Jesus. Does Daniel meet him? Read the book and find out for yourself.

No Bones About It

We've been making some paper models this year as we go through our science studies on the human body.
The 5 Senses
The eye
The ear
The tongue and taste buds
The Skin
They all have flaps that make them interesting. Sorry there are no pictures of all those. It would take up lots of space.
Today, we did the BONES! Fun! And I got pictures!
There is alot of cutting and taping/gluing involved. I helped cut some of Josiah's pieces to save time, but he does most of it himself. Hannah needs no help at all.
Hannah's reaction to all of this human body stuff is "Gross".
Josiah's boyish reaction is "Cool. Let's make it look spooky".

Whistle while you work

Josiah! Your eyes look just like your skeleton's

Is this Hannah's idea of a joke?

You may see these "characters" again as we will be adding things to our skeletons as we go along.

Roman Arch

What do you do with 15 pudding boxes, besides eat alot of pudding?

Wordless Wednesday - Our First Attempt

Funny Friday - Emporer of Rome?

 

 

Well that is our attempt at a video on the Latin numbers. My actor got very dramatic and added alot of dialogue that wasn't in his script. He even bumbled some of the numbers.

For clarification:

one - unus

two - duo

three - tres

four - quattuar

five - quinque

six - sex

seven - septem

eight - octo

nine - novem (pronounced nowem)

ten - decem (pronounced dekem)

Sorry it is not more polished, but he is so cute I thought you would enjoy it anyway.

Then there's this interruption at the end, which the editors did not delete, but that's life, right?

 

Building Blocks

We began our science today using these two books about the human body.

This book has lots of good hands on things to do.

Hannah gets alot out of the internet links.

I was excited about doing a model cell. This is how it turned out.

It has a cell membrane (baggie), cytoplasm (jello), and nucleus (grape).

Hannah's cell model

Josiah loves showing how his changes shape.

We learned how cells are the building blocks of all living things (hence the title of this post). I love learning about the human body. God is an amazing Creator.

Hannah is still finishing up her Handwriting Without Tears cursive book and doing very well. Almost done, and yes, no tears.

Hannah, the scribe

She even did some on her "wax" tablet.

Josiah is practicing his writing with a magnetic write-on, wipe-off board.

I think I'll be looking into how to deal with dyslexia soon. The youngest is still struggling with reversed numbers and letters.

We are also using English from the Roots Up again this year and I'm glad that Josiah is learning it, too. Last year, we did the Greek portion and this year, we are doing the Latin portion.

Unus is the Latin word for one and the Roman numeral one.