I've got so many plans going right now, I'm not sure what I'm doing! :-)
We are continuing are study of the Pilgrims and the Colonists. We've been reading a few books and doing the Colonial American History Pockets which we will hopefully complete after a few more days. Then, I'm not sure if we'll move on or cover The Great Colonial America Projects book.
We've also been studying Thomas Edison and electricity. This hasn't been part of our school day - we started by watching a movie and then we've read several books at night. I'd like to get into this, as I mentioned, and actually study electricity and use Alexandra's new Snap Circuit kit.
We also did some dentistry experiments this week using martinzoo's ideas. Alexandra loved Dr. Rabbit and the Legend of the Tooth Kingdom and has watched it several times. We also enjoyed the experiments at martinzoo.
We're also studying Mozart in preparation for going to see a kid's version of The Magic Flute next week. This has been a really neat study, but we haven't really done any projects so I don't have any photos to share. I'll share all of my ideas and resources after the opera!
Lastly, today I met with my friend that I did a co-op with last year. She was on the road most of the fall, so we haven't really had time to get together. Well, we've decided to start up our co-op again! We're going to be studying for exhibits coming to our local museums. Our first study is genetics for the upcoming "Genome: The Secret of How Life Works." Does anyone have any ideas (or links) for hands-on genetics studies for younger children? Or a book recommendation? I've requested Gregor Mendel: the Friar Who Grew Peas from the library, but that's it.
We're just running all over the place, aren't we? But, we're having lots of fun!
I'll leave you with a video of one of our favorite songs from The Magic Flute. It is called Papageno and it is very lively and fun. You might want to fastforward to about 5:30 to get to the "best part", though it's all good. (The first part of this clip might not be suitable for all children. You might want to check it out first, though Alexandra really enjoyed it.)
In this scene, Papageno, the bird-catcher, is very sad because he can't find a wife. He has decided to kill himself. Three gentle spirits stopped him and told him to ring the magical bells. Papagena comes and they sing "pa...pa...pa..." back and forth and hop like chickens. And, at the end, we thought it was funny that Papageno carried Papagena away. When it was over, I thought Papagena should have sat on Papageno's hand like a bird. (by Alexandra)
Don't forget to get ready for the daVinci exhibit coming to HMNS in March. Just a little something else to do to add to all your fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it, or not, I got an email today from a science group I belong to, that included links for dna and genome studies for kids. Copy and paste is a good thing! :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/activities/
extraction
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/dna_double_helix/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/dna/#
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/activities/extraction/
http://www.genome.gov/25019879#GetCD
http://nature.ca/genome/05/051/0511/0511_m205_e.cfm
I love those Pocket Books. I use them with my girls. We are working on a "Seasons' one at the moment, just for fun.
ReplyDeleteWow your studying of Mozart is perfect timing since his birthday is on the 27th of this month.
You sure have been busy. Great work! And now I am off to have a look at the Snap Circuit kit. I saw it mentioned on another blog and now I am interested.
We are also studying electricity this week. The most amazing science kits, especially the one for electric, are the "Project Kits for Kids". It has a book with it, so it teaches the subject as you are doing the experiments. Nearly EVERYTHING you need for the experiments are in the box...down to the combs, paperclips, screws, etc. We have already made a lightbulb light up with a battery and foil. We have done a few static electricity experiments too...which is great because we were able to start with the simpliest form of electricity. Today we are using washers, coins, paper, etc. to make our own battery!! Go to www.projectkitsforkids.com and look around. They are amazing! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you guys have been busy! I love the pictures of the turkey vultures as well! We drew vultures one day for our nature notebooks and all I can say is that I guess you have to see them through God's eyes!
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