Inspire a Child

02.20.14 - Astronomy - Week 07 - Jupiter

2014-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

02.20.14

Week 6
Jupiter

Read Usborne Complete Book of Astronomy and Space pg 26-27
Completed Narration Sheet

Experiment
Janice Van Cleave's "Astronomy for Every Kid" pg 34 - 35
Red Spot
Purpose: To demonstrate the movement in Jupiter's red spot

Adding the tea

Stirring quickly to create the vortex

Vortex created

Tea being pulled to the center

Result: The tea leaves are supposed to group in a spiraling funnel shape

Why: The stirring creates a vortex forming a cavity in the center toward which things are pulled. The red spot on Jupiter is a massive hurricane large enough to swallow 3 Earths.

Write Up pg

Lunch

Read Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space pg 36-37
Completed Narration Sheet

Read Usborne Spotter Guide - The Night Sky pg 40
Completed Narration Sheet

Moon Diary: Look at the phases of the moon that Owen filled in for the week

Added to the Map of the Solar System
This week: Jupiter

Weekly Science Vocabulary Word:
No vocabulary this week

This week's test

Owen's comments on what the most interesting thing he learned was:
Jupiter has 16 moons
(we actually found out that Jupiter has more than 69 named moons. very confusing as each book had a different amount. We finally went to NASA.)

02.13.14 - Astronomy - Week 06 - Mars

2014-02-15T08:00:00.001-08:00

Week 6

Mars

Read Planet Poem

Turned Binder into Notebook as a result of a CHES meeting idea

Cover

Side

Read Usborne Complete Book of Astronomy and Space pg 26-27
Completed Narration Sheet

Experiment
Janice Van Cleave's "Astronomy for Every Kid" pg 30-31
Back-up
Purpose: To demonstrate the apparent backward motion of Mars

Result: At first you are looking forward to view the background, but as you over take your helper you must look backward to see the objects.

Why: Your helper is not going backward you are just looking from a different position.
Write Up pg

Lunch

Read Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space pg 36-37
Completed Narration Sheet

Read Usborne Spotter Guide - The Night Sky pg 40
Completed Narration Sheet

Moon Diary: Look at the phases of the moon that Owen filled in for the week

Added to the Map of the Solar System
This week: Mars

Weekly Science Vocabulary Word:
No vocabulary this week

This week's test

Owen's comments on what the most interesting thing he learned was:
Mars is colder than Earth

02.06.14 - Astronomy - Week 05 - Earth and Moon

2014-02-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

02.06.14

Week 5
Earth and Moon
Read Usborne Complete Book of Astronomy and Space pg 22-23
Completed Narration Sheet

Experiment
Janice Van Cleave's "Astronomy for Every Kid" pg 106 - 107
Moving Target
Purpose: To simulate aiming a spacecraft for the moon.

Materials Used

Cutting the String

Tieing to the washer

Trying to hit the center

Result: You may have been unsuccessful in hitting the washer.
Why: It is difficult to hit a moving object. Moon landings require computer calculations for an accurate and successful landing.

Write Up pg

Lunch

Read Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space pg 30-31
Completed Narration Sheet

Read Usborne Spotter Guide - The Night Sky pg 46-48Completed Narration Sheet

Began Moon Diary: Will fill in daily for the next 27 days with the phases of the moon

Added to the Map of the Solar System
This week: Earth

Weekly Science Vocabulary Word:
Moon, mini planet in orbit around another planet

This week's test

Owen's comments on what the most interesting thing he learned was:
The moon has eight phases

01.30.14 - Astronomy - Week 04 - Venus

2014-02-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

01.30.14
Week 04
Venus
Read Usborne Complete Book of Astronomy and Space pg 20-21
Completed Narration Sheet

Experiment
Janice Van Cleave's "Astronomy for Every Kid" pg 22-23
Hot Box
Purpose: To determine why Venus is so hot

Materials Used

Starting Temperature

Under the "Sun"

Ending Temperature

Owen checking out the Temperature of the air in the jar

Result: The temperature inside the closed jar is higher than the outside of the jar.

Why: Much of the sunlight(light bulb) that reaches the surface of the planet(the bottom of the jar) is absorbed, thus heating the planet(the jar)
Write Up pg

Lunch
Read Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space pg 35
Completed Narration Sheet

Read Usborne Spotter Guide - The Night Sky pg 39
Completed Narration Sheet

Added to the Map of the Solar System
This week: Venus

Weekly Science Vocabulary Word:
Atmosphere, layers of gas that surround a planet

This week's test

Owen's comments on what the most interesting thing he learned was:
That Venus is hotter than Mars

09.12.13 - Earth Science - Natural Disasters - Week 4

2013-09-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

09.12.13
Week 4
Natural Disasters

O first read UOW pg 18 - 19
Completed Narration Sheet on Storms and Wind

Read UOW pg 22 - 23
Completed Narration Sheet on Earthquakes

Read UOW pg 28 - 29
Completed Narration Sheet on Flood

Narration Sheet for Storms, Wind, Earthquakes, & Floods

Lunch - O decided on 3 hard boiled eggs and toast today

Experiment on Earthquakes:
What do earthquakes do?

O started by filling a pan with dirt and toys
(we used dinosaurs and a wood mushroom as substitutes for houses and people)

Setting up for the "Earthquake"

O shook the pan three different times, resetting the houses and people each time then recording the results.
The first shake was slight,

A minor "Quake"

,the second moderate,

Shake a little bit harder for a moderate Quake

and the third severe.

10 points on the Richter Scale!

O's reaction to the varying effects of an earthquake:
He was surprised and I think a little worried.
He asked if earthquakes happened here.

Write Up Experiment Sheet

Pictures of Earthquake experiment

Writing up the Paper

Weekly Science Vocabulary Word
Earthquake, shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement

This week's test

Test

Owen's comments on what the most interesting thing he learned was:
Looking at very cool rocks.
Earthquakes cause a lot of damage.

Owen did so well at staying on task he got a bonus award:
He wove a key fob.
I let him choose the idea; Creeper from Mine Craft.
I graphed it out and calculated the quantity of beads.
He sorted the necessary beads.
I showed him how on one row and he wove the rest.

Setting up the beads

The tab of the key chain is done.

I think he likes it!

08.29.13 - Earth Science - Seasons and Weather - Week 3

2013-08-31T17:18:00.000-07:00

08.29.13
Week 3
For O's third week we studied Seasons and Weather.

O started off by Making his own Seasons Book.
He enjoyed the process as he was given many choices of his own as to it's construction.
First he chose the font.
At home he is studying knights and history during that timeline so it influenced his choice of what he called a "castle font."
The name of the font he chose was "ArthurianWide".
Then he chose the colour of font for each page. O's books will answer the Questions:
Do you know about the seasons?
He drew a picture of himself swimming in his grandma's pool.

His favourite seasonal activity; swimming at Gramma Cathy's

A budding artist, O enjoys drawing

Do you know that in Spring flowers begin to bloom and baby animals are born?
He drew a robin feeding it's young a worm, flowers and a green tree.

Do you know that in Summer it's very warm and it's time to go to the beach?
He drew a beach scene; summer, ocean, and beach umbrella.

Spring brings baby birds

Summer: Fun at the Beach

Do you know that in Fall the leaves change colour and fall off the trees?
He drew a fall tree with the leaves falling.

Do you know that in Winter it gets very cold and snow falls from the sky?
He drew a snowman.

Fall brings new colour to trees before the the leaves fall.

Winter is cold, but a fun time to make Snowmen

His last page said "I did!"

He did it!

And was happy he did.

Posing with his Finished Earth Model

I think he likes it!

Read UOW pg 14 - 15
The Seasons Narration Sheet
Lunch - Mac n cheese, hardboiled egg, "special" milk
Read UOW pg 16 - 17
The Weather / Water Cycle Narration Sheet
( I am enjoying the Narration Pages included in the "Earth Science book for the Grammar Stage")
Paige has created a learning experience that is fun, educational and so far, more stress free.
I am still very happy that I bought a lifetime membership to Notebooking Pages. com

Writing key points of Seasonal Changes and the Water Cycle

Making a Rain Gauge

Getting the materials ready,

Taping for safety.

Marking for measuring

Done and ready to use.

Materials Used

** 2 liter plastic bottle
** dust tape
** a sharpie pen
** small marbles
** ruler
1. I cut the top off the bottle and showed O how to tape the edges so as to prevent any cuts.
2. O then, using a ruler, made marks along the length at 1/4" intervals
3. He enjoyed adding the marbles, boys and marbles. :)
(the marbles add stability to the rain gauge)
4. Lastly we turned the top upside down and placed it inside the opening of the bottom portion to form a funnel.
A rain gauge chart is included to print out to record the rainfall.
(now we just need the rain)

Weekly Vocabulary - Water Cycle
1 The Sun's heat evaporates water from the Earth's oceans and lakes
2 Water vapor condenses to form clouds
3 Water vapor cools and falls as rain
4 Rainwater flows back into rivers, lakes and seas

This week's test

O's comments on what the most interesting thing he learned was:
The water cycle
Next Week we will study the Storms and Wind, Earthquakes, Floods.

08.29.13 - Earth Science - Earth and Moon - Week 2

2013-08-31T15:32:00.002-07:00

Week 2 is under way! Yoo Hoo!
O arrived early, which was a good thing as he has the painting of his earth model to do.

So with soft nature and flute songs our day begins.

08.29.13
Week 2
Earth and Moon
Paint / Finish Earth Model

Oceans First

Lot's of water

Now for the land masses

O did 90 percent of the paper mache' and painting.
Papa made the stand, I will be adding lakes to the continents and a protective coat to the finished model.

Wobbler Experiment
pg 12 Janice Van Cleave's "Earth Science for Every Kid"

This experiment is designed to demonstrate how the composition of the earth affects its motion.

We used 1 hard boiled and 1 raw egg for this experiment.
I would suggest caution for over exuberant children who want to spin fast.
It can be messy. :)

(We found that it was best to spin the eggs on their bottoms, not there sides for the best results)

The hard egg spun quite well whereas the raw egg did not spin at all, just kind of flopped.

The material inside each egg affects how well it spun just as the Earth's inside affect its rotation.

Parts of the Earths mantle and outer core are liquid and part are solid. The liquid part allows for some wobbling just like the raw egg, but the solid part give the earth stability in rotations. This makes the earth's wobbling very slight.

Get ready,

Spin!! or not.

Day and Night Experiment
pg 14 Janice Van Cleave's "Earth Science for Every Kid"

Using a flashlight, dark shirt and mirror we created an experiment that would determine the cause of the day and night cycle.

In a dark room we placed the flashlight, which represented the sun, on a ledge and O, who represented the Earth, turned slowly holding the mirror, which represented the moon.

At a certain point in the turn the light from the "sun" reflected off of the "moon" onto the "Earth".
While the "sun" was always shining on the "Earth", the "moon" only shone at times just as as the real Earth turns east and the light from the sun travels around the rotating earth creating daytime and nighttime.

The night is very dark when the moon does not reflect the suns light but even when it does it is not as bright as the sun.
(See the two reflections on O's shirt; one bright on the left, one subdued on the right)

Comparing sun and moon light.

Read Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World pg 10 - 11 Earth from Space
Narration Sheet

Lunch - This week he chose a PBJ. I was surprised as he usually likes the "smooshy" (sunny side up) egg sandwich. I asked him if he wanted milk, water or tea and he said, "your sweet milk".

I could not remember what that meant so after some conversation I determined milk with cream. Last year I had mixed it for him and told him how, when I was younger we bought our milk from a farmer; pastuerized, not homogenized. We had cream in our milk that separated every day and had to be mixed back into the milk or removed.

I took a little sip, ahhhh, memories.

Read UOW pg 12 -13 Day and Night
Narration Sheet - Recording what he learned about Earth from Space and Day and Night

Reviewing the Reading Assignment

Drawing a picture of the Earth for his notebooking page.

Vocabulary word of the week - Solar Eclipse
The time when the moon blocks the sun

Test of the week

Using his new writing board to take a test

I love My world!

Next Week we will study the rain cycle and seasonal changes.
O's Earth will be mounted and dry enough to take home.

08.21.13 - Earth Science - Start Earth Model - Week 1

2013-08-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Wow! A full year has flown by without an entry.

A computer infection, data loss, reformatting, and attempts at data recovery will do that.

I lost all pictures from May to Sept of 2012. It could have been worse, I know. With the help of my oldest son I was able to recover them but..... they are not in any order and it is every picture imaginable. From little icons for programs, album covers of downloaded songs, to the pics of family and places vacationed, all jumbled up like a game of 52 card pick up. No info is embedded in them so there is no point of reference, date, size, you know the stuff you can read when you hold a cursor over the pic.

So I have most of the pics I think, but the hours of sorting them and reorganizing them into folders are still waiting to be used. I have taken a few stabs at it, but seeing the scroll bar hardly move after several hours of work was so depressing I just have not gotten back to it. I did make a list of events so once I had sorted through the myriad of photos I could give them dates and names for the their folders.

Enough of that! Last Weds was our first day of school. I had just barely received my text books a few days earlier and had a mild shock when B brought out 2 books.... only 2, a Teacher and a Student manual!

For the past several years we have been studying NOEO science. With NOEO I could count on a stack of books to use. This year Lace chose Paige Hudson's "Earth Science and Astronomy for the Grammar Stage." So being optimistic I dug in and started reading the lesson plans.

Within the first few pages I discovered I did indeed need more books.. 9 of them. So I went online, found they were out of my price range, called the school, they only had one, emailed Dani and was relieved to find out she had all but one; an autobiography on Neil Armstrong. That info could easily be found in other venues.

Now I was good to go.... or so I thought. Paige referenced an ebook she wrote that could be used, not entirely necessary but it would enhance several lessons.

I went to the referred website only to discover it had been printed incorrectly in the text book, but with a little determination I was able to come up with the correct site only to be unable to find the link to the free copy of the ebook only a link to a copy for sale.

Not to be deterred I wrote to her, explained the situation and was pleasantly rewarded with not only a copy of the ebook but a sweet personal note.

Now fully prepared we launched forward.

08.21.13
Week 1
Start Earth Model

2013.08.21 First Day of School Making Paper Mache' World
While listening to soft flute and nature sounds O and I applied layer upon layer on the balloon.

Starting to add the layers

Making sure to criss-cross the paper.

What do you think, Grammama?

Experiment Cold 'n Hot - "How does the Earth's temperature remain constant"
pg 126 Janice Van Cleave's "Earth Science for Every Kid"
Using 1 large bag, 1 small bag, and 2 thermometers O conducted an experiment to help understand more about how the earth maintains a more constant temperature than other planets.

The Earth does not have the extreme temperature fluctuations of other planets, because the earth's atmosphere acts like a greenhouse, allowing radiant energy from the sun to enter, and the resulting heat energy is trapped.

This radiation is then absorbed by plants and the soil and converted into heat energy.

Without this protective layer of air the earth would get very hot during the day and very cold at night.

Thermometers, bags, okay I am ready

Checking the temperature.

Read UOW pg 4 - 5 Our Planet
Narration Sheet

Lunch - Sunny side up Egg sandwich

Read UOW pg 6-7 - What's in Space
Narration Sheet

Read UOW pg 8-9 Moon
Narration Sheet

Recording what he learned about The Earth, the Moon and Space

Adding a picture of the Earth to his notebooking page.

Vocabulary Word of the Week - Space
The region beyond the atmosphere of the earth

Test

Next Week he will Paint his world

Interview with an Author - Betty Jones

2012-08-21T16:32:00.002-07:00

A CHILD'S SEASONAL TREASURY

This year I have had the pleasure of getting to know Betty Jones, author of “A Child's Seasonal Treasury”. She gave me the inside scoop that she will be releasing a revised edition of this most sought after book, and graciously agreed to an interview with me.

Betty, Your first edition of “A Child's Seasonal Treasury” was printed in 1996. It has been out of print for some time but commands 2 to 6 times the original purchase price on Amazon today. Why do you think it is in such demand?

B; I can only say that it must have met the needs of the growing numbers of parents and teachers. It is a book that respects this tender time of childhood and wants to create home and school environments that allow Nature to "speak" as the ground for learning.

K; Why haven’t you re-published sooner?

B; The "Treasury" went out of print in 2009, (unbeknownst to me!) I was blessed to have a legacy left to me by my original graphic designer, Bruce King, to self-publish this 2nd edition with his son, Galen King, owner of LUCID DESIGN in Nelson, New Zealand.

K; In the original book you used a seasonal format to provide a garden that would allow a child’s imagination to unfold and tendril out into a fertile environment for imagination to root and grow. What changes can we look forward to seeing in the new book?

B; Like his father, (a perfectionist!), Galen has brought my book back to life in a beautiful format with all of my own illustrations and much more of my original writing than the 1st edition. Of course, it is still based on the Seasons, and I've tried to emphasize the need to be TRUE to the Nature and Seasonal/Cultural Festivals that speak to child's experiences through their senses and imagination. I added a "Table of Equivalents" for the cooking and baking section so that the "Treasury" recipes could be "translated" into the measurements and temperatures used internationally.

K; How has your life journey’s affected what you have chosen to share and how you presented the information?

B. I was very blessed to be a student at Emerson College in England in the mid-'70's, where my life's journey took a major turn in bringing Rudolf Steiner's body of work "alive", not just in thought but also in practice. Having Margret Meyerkort for my teaching practicum at Wynestones School was a gift beyond imagination. Irene Ellis shepherded the pioneer teachers of Summerfield Waldorf School in Sebastopol, California, and set the seeds for healthy development within the Teachers, the school and the larger community. Travels took me to Maui to help as a student-teacher at Haleakala School, and in the mid-80's I was asked to begin the Waldorf School of the Monterey Peninsula, which 7 years later became one of the first California Waldorf Schools to become a charter school. In 1994, I took a flying leap of faith to New Zealand to begin the Steiner kindergarten at Fossil Bay Farm; unfortunately, due to prior health conditions, I was unable to secure residency, but the good news was that A CHILD'S SEASONAL TREASURY was accepted for publication by Tricycle Press.

K; Do you see this new revised edition as being an extension to that foundation similar to one’s enriching the soil before planting to reap the most bountiful harvest?

B; This is "soul fertilization", and as in sowing seeds, there is the right time to plant, water and wait (patiently) for the roots to take hold and for the young plant to go through the stages it needs to become healthy and fruitful. Every human "seedling" deserves respect of their natural abilities to grow in harmony with themselves and others if allowed time and tender loving care in a safe environment.

K; Is that what motivated you to share this Treasury in a bound volume to children and families so that their lives might be enriched?

B; My greatest wish for the "Treasury" was and still is the intention for Parents and Teachers to have a wonderful collection of Seasonal and Nature based songs, games, verses, finger plays, creative drama and movement, arts, crafts and recipes that speak to the innate joy of learning in the growing child.
Twenty years ago, the TV was the plug-in-drug, and my suggestions on how learning environments can be created to pull children out of the "box" and into interactive play and imagination was the primary goal. Now with the advent of the computer taking precedence over education and teaching-to-the-test, it is ever more imperative to offer this hands and heart "alternative" for early childhood up to 2nd or 3rd grade.

K. What life skills have you instilled upon the pages and is there one thing in the Treasury that “touches” you? If so, why??

B; In all respects, I tried to make my choices for early childhood curriculum clear and concise so that it would be easy to follow and would inspire Parents and Teachers to be actively involved with the children in their care.
From the rhythm of the day connecting to the rhythm of the Seasonal changes, I wanted to instill joy and wonder in Nature and a celebration of learning through the senses.
My hope was/is to help Parents and Teachers find the principles of Waldorf Education important enough to explore Rudolf Steiner's philosophy and realize that there are reasons why it is the strongest international school movement in the world. I am awe-inspired as I have been re-visiting the schools I pioneered so long ago, and that these schools have continued to thrive is deeply touching. My favorite thing about this new edition is that I was re-vitalized in my own writing and illustrations, a re-kindling of my soul that makes me happy in spite of my "disabilities".

K. What is the most important thing you would want a parent to take into their heart after reading your book?

B; The most important thing that I want Parents to take to heart after reading my book is: Please Take Time”, whenever possible, to enjoy these seasonal offerings with your children, knowing that You are your child’s first teacher.
We (adults) are often too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life to remember to "smell the roses", or to be the "example" for our children to “take time” for the "simple things" that life offers.
The TIME IS NOW!
My greatest wish is that this new edition of A CHILD'S SEASONAL TREASURY will find its' way to Parents and Teachers in countries where English is a 2nd language, and this curriculum will provide a meaningful and delightful way to learn through light-hearted "play", adapted to the cultural and seasonal festivals of all nations with the intention of Peace on Earth, Good Will to All.

K; After reading your thoughtful and insightful introduction in the first edition I am moved by the love and the joy you feel toward children.
What obstacles have you had to overcome to produce the revision?

B; The biggest obstacle for me in writing this revision has been my lack of skills and understanding of the "marvels" of the computer-age which I am ignorant (Thank God for Galen and his team at Lucid Design!).
I also realized that PERMISSIONS were necessary to obtain anew and I needed to focus on the MUSIC particularly, as the songs are the works of gifted Teachers within the Waldorf Schools who deserve credit.
Now my most pressing issue is how to market this new self-published edition through LULU, and reach not only Waldorf Schools that have flourished throughout the world, but finding the path to Home-schools, Charter Schools, Pre-schools and Daycare Centers that want a multi-faceted curriculum for this age group.
I want it to be an affordable resource for Parents and Teachers, and there will be both black and white, and full color editions available through LULU soon!
An e-book version will also be available, but I want to emphasize this is for “Adult use as a teaching tool only”, not for children to "read and do"!

K; How many years in the making would you say it took to write the original book?

B; The original book was actually in "seed form" when I pioneered the pre-school for Summerfield Waldorf School in 1977. Barbara Kane, who later created HEARTHSONG, saw my teaching notes and illustrations and thought a book would be wonderful then, but I had no time to devote to writing/compiling a book while "pioneer teaching"!
So it took 20 years to finally get A CHILD'S SEASONAL TREASURY into print, and HEARTHSONG had exclusive rights for its' 1st year of publication (1996) before Tricycle Press gained world rights.
In November 1997, the "Treasury" was awarded a SMITHSONIAN NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK recommendation and I am still stunned at that honor bestowed as I did not apply for any recognition!

K Thank you Betty, I look forward to, as do many parents, I am sure, to the release of your revised edition of to “A CHILD'S SEASONAL TREASURY”.

I recommend this book as an addition to ever Parents library.
It is currently available on LULU, “A CHILD'S SEASONAL TREASURY”
Also, visit her web site by clicking on her name below to read more about the gems you will find in this book;
Betty Jones

Dinosaur Dreams: Story and Craft with ArtBeast

2012-07-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Thu, Jun 28 3:30-5:00

This program was held at the Rio Linda Depot Park building, 6730 Front Street and was sponsored by our local library as part of their summer program for children.
This week ArtBeast presented a Dino story and Dino crafts.

We listened to the adventures of Wilbur, who travels alongside a dinosaur that had knocked at his window one night.

The children seemed to enjoy the story, raptly paying attention and asking questions throughout.

Mr. A

Mr. C

After the story, the children made Dino eggs using a special mud and little dinos.

Mr. C and Mr. A both made one of these.

Here is the recipe the lady from ArtBeast gave me.

Dino Egg Dough5 cups dirt
5 cups flour
3 cups salt
2 cups sand
water to "moldable" consistancy
She was making a batch for a group of children, but this could easily be reduced for 1 child.

I found the recipe below online at Play, Create, Explore.
It is made with coffee grounds used instead of the dirt.

Make Your Own "Dinosaur Egg" or "Treasure Rock"

with Coffee Dough

You can call these "dinosaur eggs" or "treasure rocks" but one thing is for sure...
your kids will LOVE them!

These dinosaur eggs make great favors for the kids.

Materials

•1 cup used coffee grinds
•1 cup flour

    •1/2 cup salt
    •1/4 cup sand
    •3/4 cup water
    •mixing bowl
    •small plastic toy dinosaurs or other treasures

What to Do
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

2. Slowly add the water and knead with your hands until the mixture is like bread dough.

(You may need to add more flour and sand to make it a dough-y consistency. She added MUCH more flour and sand and it still baked out fine)

3. When the Coffee Dough is at a very moldable state, shape your "dino eggs" or "treasure rocks" however you'd like. If you are putting trinkets in them, you’ll take your trinket and basically shape your rock around it, adding more dough to cover exposed parts of the toy.

4. You can air dry these for several days OR bake them on a cookie sheet at 150 degrees for about 15-20 or until you poke them and they arent soft anymore.

(Her dino eggs were fairly large, so she baked them for about 45 minutes)
For parties she says she quadruples this recipe.

You could call or visit your local Starbucks to ask them to save some coffee grinds.
I have done this for my garden and they have always been more than happy to comply.

Mr. C is tightly holding onto his egg. I think he may have chosen not to make the dino because he did not want to put it down.

They were also able to make to dream up their own dinosaurs to take home, using a buffet of art supplies.

(Only Mr. A wanted to make one of these.)

Fierce Looking, isn't it?

Mr. A creating a Spikeosaurus

Other children made lots of dinosaurs too!

Thank you VERY MUCH ArtBeast !!

We look forward to your next visit:
Dream Catching: Story and Craft with ArtBeast
Thu, Jul 12 3:30-5:00
Program will be held at the Rio Linda Depot Park building, 6730 Front Street. Children will hear the powerful story Grandmother’s Dream catcher, about a Chippewa child who learns from her grandmother how to capture good dreams and keep the bad ones away. After the story, children will use beads, yarn, feathers, twine, and spangles to create their own dream catchers to take home.

Thu, Jul 5 3:30-4:30, we get to:

Learn about Insects with the Bohart Museum of Entomology
Program will be held at the Rio Linda Depot Park building, 6730 Front Street. See and learn about all kinds of beautiful, interesting, and useful bugs. There will be lots of bugs to look at, and you might even get to pet a live walking stick or cockroach!

Come join us!!

Summer Home Ec - Cooking with Kids # 3 Starbucks Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake

2012-07-04T13:40:00.001-07:00

STARBUCK'S RASPBERRY SWIRL POUND CAKE

Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

First, we gather our materials before we begin.
Second, I have the children clean as we go.
Third, Cleanliness is stressed with hands washed frequently, whenever the need arises.

MATERIALS NEEDED:
aprons
pot holders
paper towels
measuring spoons
measuring cups
liquid measuring cup
spoon
metal spatula (for measuring into cups, removing air pockets and leveling ingredients in cups and spoons)
rubber spatula (for scraping bowl)
Mixing bowl (I prefer glass bowls myself. My favourite is a 4 qt. Pyrex I have had since the 70's)
(( for this recipe use the largest bowl you can, my 4 qt was a little tight since only 2 -21/2 qt. of it is usable for comfortable mixing, especially if children are assisting.))
2 cereal bowls (1 to level off flour, salt and sugar the other to crack eggs into)
mixer and beaters
cooling rack

INGREDIENTS:
4 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 jar of simply fruit
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
10 large eggs
2 tablespoons orange liqueur or 2 tablespoons milk or cream
2 grated lemons, zest of

DIRECTIONS:
1. Grease a 10 by 4 inch tube pan. Line the bottom with a circle of wax paper cut to fit; grease the paper, then lightly flour the entire inside of the pan (including the tube), knocking out any excess. Set aside.

2. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
(Fit a stand mixer with paddle beater, if available.)3. In the largest mixing bowl you have, beat softened butter at medium speed until smooth.

4. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat at a low speed until blended, then scrape beater(s) and bowl with rubber spatula.

5. Increase speed to medium; beat for 3 full minutes.
(repeat scraping throughout the mixing process to ensure complete blending of ingredients).

6. At a low speed, add eggs, two at a time.

When all eggs have been added, increase speed to medium once more; beat for 1 minute.
(mixture may look curdled now).

7. At lowest speed, add about half of sifted dry ingredients, mixing only until blended.

8. Add orange liqueur (milk or cream).

9. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix in.

10. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in lemon zest with large spatula.

NOTE: This is a large amount of thick, heavy batter. It may be necessary to increase mixer speed slightly to get dry ingredients to blend.
I ended up removing the bowl from the mixer before the last of the dry ingredients were blended in completely. (Batter may still look slightly curdled at this point.)

11. Measure out a generous 1 cup of the batter into a smaller bowl. Then add the jar of simply fruit all at once to the batter in the small bowl; whisk in with a sturdy whisk or spoon.
(You may add a little more batter if needed to make the fruit easier to handle, but if you add too much the colour will be diluted and may not look as pretty when swirled into main batter. It still tastes very good either way.)

12. Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of oven; preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

13. Place light batter into prepared pan then dollop fruit batter on top of light batter.

14. Level batter in pan by grasping pan on opposite sides with both hands; twist briskly in short, back-and-forth motions.

15. To marble, run a knife in a circular motion all around the batter in several concentric circles, going almost down to the bottom of the pan

(don't overdo the marbling or it will blend with light batter and you will lose the pretty contrast).

16. With back of a large spoon, push batter slightly higher onto pan edges and tube, leaving a "trench" in the middle.

17. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes.

NOTE: Turn pan back-to-front once about halfway through baking time. If top of cake begins to become too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

18. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the crack that will form all around the top emerges with a few moist crumbs still clinging to it.

Do not overbake! Cake will pull away from the sides of the pan only after it is removed from the oven.

While the cake is baking and I am cleaning the "cooks" get to lick the spoons, beaters and bowls. :)

19. Remove to cooling rack; allow to stand 15 to 20 minutes.

20. Carefully loosen cake from pan edges and tube; invert onto another cooling rack
(Be careful! This is a large, tall cake).

21. Re-invert to cool completely right side up.

22. Allow to stand at least overnight before serving.

23. When completely cool, store in airtight container.

24. Frost, if desired.

25. To cut, use a large, sharp, serrated knife.

Servings: 16
This is a VERY RICH cake and therefore a small piece goes a long way.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 ounces (¼ c unsalted butter, softened
2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract

opt. milk to adjust ‘spreadability’

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.

2. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy.
(only add extra cup of sugar if you find the 2 cups leaves the frosting too tangy. I liked the tangy flavor with the sweet of the cake myself)

3. Beat in the vanilla extract.

4. Add milk only to desired ‘spreadability’ if need be.

5. Spread on cooled cake

(NOTE: This recipe makes enough to frost a 9 x 13 carrot cake perfectly.)
These instructions have been changed a little from the original to accommodate teaching younger children to bake.

Click here to go to a PDF file of more Starbucks Recipes you can download

Uncle Jer's Bee Show

2012-06-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Learning about Bees and Bee Keeping with Uncle Jer

Our local library has generated summer programs for the children in our area. The first, which recently ended was a story time once a week on Thurs.

The second, which has proven to be much more interactive also engages the minds of the adults who choose to attend as well.

Yesterday’s program was Uncle Jer’s Bee Show.

I must admit I was more excited than Mr. A because I love bees. They are so beneficial.

The program was entertaining and informational although it did start off on the wrong foot. I walked in excitedly (those of you who know me can picture this). I started asking questions and somewhere in my nonstop verbiage I uttered the words “medicated”. Now mind you my knowledge of bees is very limited so I was only repeating something I had read or heard, but Uncle Jer jumped on that word expostulating “I beg your pardon“, BUT….

Needless to say my bubble was popped and I shrank away to my seat wishing I could just go home. I stayed though and found his wife to be quite charming and the program to “bee” enjoyable and filled with fun facts.

The program began with a colourful Powerpoint presentation created and narrated by Ms. Jer. Throughout the presentation I was rewarded with little nuggets of information to tuck away in my brain cells.

For example:
* Honey in Nepal is collected much like it has been in the past by the past. Read more by clicking here: THE HONEY HUNT OF THE TIGER-MEN

* Bees have jobs, ie Queen, Queen’s attendants, housekeepers, nursemaids, gatherers, drones, bees to fan the hive to cool it down. (they can keep the temperature in the hive several degrees lower than the temperature outside.

* When a queen is need a “special larger cells is built and the grub that grows within it is fed royale jelly.

* Their jobs dictate their life span; Queens live 3 – 7 years, workers 40 days, drones 2 weeks.

* Drones have no stinger, must be cared for and do absolutely nothing but live and one procreate.

* Bees do a dance to tell the other bees when they have found a cache of nectar flowers

* Bees are responsible for 80% of the pollination of our food plants.

* A bee must visit 2,000,000 flowers to produce 1 pound of honey.

* A bee travels about 55,000 miles to gather enough nectar to produce 1 pound of honey.

* This is equal to about 11 round trips from New York to San Francisco!

* 3 pounds of bees equals about 15,00 bees.

* There are over 300 flavors of honey in the US.

* If you have allergies eat honey made from the pollen of the plant you are allergic to.

* If you encounter bees, “bee” calm! Bees can detect fear and will “become” agitated.

* Beeswax is excreted through glands in the abdomen.

*Nursery bees feed the grubs “bee bread”.

* Bees are more likely to sting in the fall as they are a little grumpier due to the lack of pollen.

* If stung seek help immediately. Call the fire department if necessary because the first half hour is the most important. Just because you have been stung before does not exempt you for anaphylactic shock. Uncle Jer’s sister had been stung before and yet at 53 she was stung and did require an epi pen>

* Uncle Jer suggests removing the stinger and applying mud, me I use baking soda.
Uncle and Ms Jer entertained the children with bee puppets. I found Uncle Jer to be a little loud, he made me jump a couple of times, but maybe I am being critical because of our earlier interfacing.

=====

Many different tools are used in beekeeping:
* Bee boxes to keep the honey combs in

* Netted hat protection from bee stings

* Smoker with bellows, used to calm the bees before removing the honeycombs.

* Hive knife, heated it is used to remove the wax caps from the honeycomb before the honey is extracted.

* Extractor to remove to honey from the combs (which are then returned to the bees so they can refill them with honey.
=====
After the program was over the children could go up to ask questions.
Mr. A definitely seemed to find the worth his time and went up afterwards to have his questions answered.
Each child received a honey stick and an activity booklet.

Uncle Jer and his wife have an informational web site establish. Here is a link that will provide some educational and craft links about bees. After going to this link scroll down the page. The selection of links are on the left side.
Uncle Jers crafts and info

and remember "Bee Good" :)

Summer Home Ec - Cooking with Kids # 2 Individual Pizzas

2012-06-19T00:47:00.001-07:00

Homemade Pizza: Individual 6-Inch or Regular Large Size

Quick and Easy Dough for Individual (or Regular Large) Pizzas

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hr

We gather our materials before we begin and clean as we go.

Cleanliness is stressed with hands washed frequently.

MATERIALS:

pot holders
aprons
paper towels
Pizza cooking stone
measuring spoons
measuring cups
liquid measuring cup
spoon (to scoop out spaghetti sauce)
metal spatula (for measuring into cups, removing air pockets and leveling ingredients in cups and spoons)
rubber spatula (for scraping bowl)
pizza wheel (to cut pizza)
Mixing bowl (I prefer glass bowls. Mine is a Pyrex I have had since the 70's. Notice the Avocado green)
1 cereal bowl (to level off flour, salt and sugar)
mixer and beaters
rolling pin
pie crust rolling sheet (mine is a Tupperware one I have had for years and love it!)
cutting board or pie sheet
cooling rack

DOUGH INGREDIENTS:
1 package dry yeast (or 1 scant tablespoon)
1 cup warm water (just from the tap)
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1-2 Tb. olive oil
2-1/2 cups flour
corn meal to sprinkle on cookie sheet or pizza stone

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
Can or Jar of Spaghetti Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella or pizza Cheese
optional topping suggestions: pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers (sliced), onions (diced), pineapple, ham,

DIRECTIONS:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients.

measuring salt

measuring sugar

now the flour
I had each boy measure something so they could feel the tools and experience it for themselves.
So much of cooking and baking is second nature to me that watching them I realize how much of a learned experience it is.

3. Beat with a mixer until the dough pulls away from the edges (or by hand vigorously for 20-30 strokes).
I found that the first cup of flour mixes well with the mixer. The next 1 1/2 cups is better stirred in as it quickly jams up the beaters.

Mr. B does the mixing since he is the oldest
4. Knead 25 times.

Mr. O learning to knead

Mr. A learning to knead

Now Mr. B is taking his turn

Kneading is a tactile experience and more easily learned by actually doing it.

5. For individual pizzas: pull of 7 equal balls and flatten and shape into small pizzas on a cookie sheet sprinkled with a little cornmeal. Three to four should fit on a sheet.(I used my pizza stone)

small ones measure about 6"

Divided into individual balls

4 fit on a baking stone

6. Partially cook the small pizzas for about 10 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
7. Remove to a rack to cool.

8. Each of the boys topped their pizza as they wished.

9. We then placed the pizzas back on the cookie sheet, and cooked for another 7-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and toppings are done.

FOR LARGE PIZZA:
Follow directions 1 - 5 for small pizza then:
6. Sprinkle some cornmeal onto whatever you will be using to bake your pizza with. (pizza pan, baking stone, or cookie sheet)
7. For one large pizza; flatten and shape into a circle. (I use my pie sheet to spread the dough on as my counter top is tiled and not conducive to rolling.

8. Once flatten I transferred the pizza dough to my pizza cooking stone and spread to the edges of the pan.
(I made a raised ridge around the edge, this will help keep the sauce from sliding off the edge.)

9. Pre-bake the large crust for 10 minutes first, like the small ones, to make sure the center of the pizza gets all the way done.

10. Top with sauce, cheese and/or toppings and cook in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and toppings are done.

This was an extremely easy, fun and delicious meal to make.

I got this recipe came from An Oregon Cottage
Stay tuned for next week's Raspberry Pound Cake.
Mr. O has quite a penchant for the Starbucks version so.... Grandma is going to try to re-create the recipe.

Summer Home Ec - Cooking with Kids # 1 Peanut Butter Cookies

2012-06-17T01:06:00.000-07:00

Peanut Butter Cookies
In the past, summer vacations were....... summer vacations. The grand children found things to do and I was left with empty days after months of home schooling.

You would think I would jump at the quiet, but no I miss them.

Our PACT charter school (our home school sponsor) has an Extravaganza event in May that showcases the past years lessons for the school.

It offers traditional, and classical methods as well as offer extended classes at the school to help expand subject material for students; such as art, choir, music(guitar, violin, piano), dance, computers, Spanish, Latin, and Home Ec.

Home Ec?? How did I not know this after all these years. This information was an epiphany for me. Why couldn't I do a Home Ec class? It incorporates many learning experiences and ....... it's FUN!

The first step was to decide on what we wanted to bake at the initial class. We decided on Peanut Butter Cookies. A good choice to tackle.

Preparation:
Remembering back.... way back, to my Home Ec class, preparation was a key element.
1. Determine what you want to make.
2. Find a recipe.
3. Locate the ingredients.
4. Locate all necessary tools.
5. Remember to clean as you go.
The lessons surrounding those 5 elements have stayed with me and are implemented every time I cook.

Knowing how bored young ones get, I had the recipe, all ingredients and tools ready and laid out before the boys arrived.

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

Packed with great peanut butter taste, these Betty's Best peanut butter cookies are sure to please.

Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hrs 35 Mins

MATERIALS:

pot holders

aprons

paper towels

cooling rack

cookie sheets (I use at least 3; one to fill, one to bake, one to cool down.)

measuring spoons
measuring cups
liquid measuring cup

metal spatula (for measuring into cups, removing air pockets and leveling ingredients in cups and spoons)
rubber spatula (for scraping bowl)
metal turner (to remove cookies from cookie sheet)
Mixing bowl (I prefer glass bowls. Mine is a Pyrex I have had since the 70's. Notice the Avocado green)
2 cereal bowls (one for sugar to foll the cookie dough in and one to crack the eggs in.)
fork
mixer and beaters

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky; some children do not like the chunky, me I like them all ;0
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter softened (you could also use margarine)
1 egg (I use free range, my chickens lay daily can't get fresher than that :)
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (I like the unbleached)
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder (I use Trader Joe's Aluminum Free and double acting)
¼ teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)

another 1/2 c sugar in a cereal bowl to roll the cookie dough in - set this aside to be used in step #12.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Carefully measure butters (yellow and peanut) into a large bowl then beat them with mixer until creamy, 2 minutes.

Mixing Carefully

Measuring

Showing by example first they learned to push the shortening with the metal spatula to release trapped air.

While mixing I explained the importance of keeping the rubber spatula flush with the beaters to avoid inserting them
2. Add the sugars, beat for 2 more minutes.
3. Crack the egg into one of the cereal bowls.
(I do this in case a piece of egg shell falls off. It is easier to remove it from the egg bowl than from the dough bowl.)
FYI: if perchance a piece of egg shell does fall into the bowl, use a larger piece to retrieve it.

Amazing how it scoops right out!

4. Slide egg into dough bowl and mix until blended.

notice how Mr. B shows off his egg cracking skills?

5. Add baking soda, baking powder and salt.

6. Mix thoroughly.

7. Now add 1 cup of the flour, mix thoroughly.

At this point the dough is too stiff for my mixer so I hand mix the last of the flour in.

8. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

9. Cover and refrigerate about 3 hours or until firm.

10. Pre-heat oven to 375ºF.
(For chewier cookies, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.)

11. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls
12. Roll each ball in sugar that is in the bowl you had sitting to the side.
13. Place cookie balls about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
This seemed to be the second favourite task. The first favourite was when they were able to eat the fruits of their labors.

14. Flatten in crisscross pattern with fork dipped into sugar.

15. Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

16. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet.
17. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 30 cookies

We doubled the batch so there would be enough to share.

This is a slight variation to the original Betty Crocker Recipe

Next week Individual Pizzas!
Recipe inspired by An Oregon Cottage

8th Grade Graduation Day!!

2012-06-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

A decade and thrice has brought us to this day.

Add in parents, grandparents, siblings and friends plus a level of excitement coupled with anticipation. Stir continually adding a little seasoning as needed to complete this recipe for 8th Grade graduation day.

Although I think they call it promotion or something like that now.

One of the students, Alec Adamson, gave one of THE best graduating talks I have ever heard. He had pitch,poser, pace, gestures, articulation and humor. It was delightful.

Two of the students entertained us. One, a singer, Alexis Boseman, had a voice full of promise. Able to go from low to high notes with training she has the ability to go farther if she so desires.
It was amazing that this young 13 year old was able to get up in front of family, friends and strangers and not only sing, but sing well.

The other was a cellist, Brianna Jones. I have never heard Star Wars played on a cello before and found myself moved emotionally as rich tones of the melody lace their way into my soul.

Another student I felt who stood out above the others was Alyssa Miller.
Her artwork mesmerized me. In fact, I was so caught up with her talent I sought her out so that I could photograph her with her poster. Her grasp of shadow, lines, and her technique to convey what is in her mind's eye enthralled my heart. But what really enraptured me was listening to her explain it.
She has a passion and a talent that WILL take her somewhere, if she is willing to continue committing herself to her art.
I have a picture of her below with her poster displaying a couple of examples of her work.
The photo does not do her work justice. One of the works of art is actually a compilation of little squares that when together form the whole picture.
One day she will have much to add to the art world I am sure.

His loves

Proud parents and brother

Alex giving his talk

Waiting expectantly

Enjoying the talk

Star Wars on a Cello

Watching his friends get theirs.

He has his diploma

Nedene, his advisor

Alyssa, budding artist.
Her poster shows small examples of her ability to capture colour, lines, shadow, heart and soul.

Yes!! A guitar towel!

Shirts to bring a smile

A new book to read

Finishing the day with pizza at BJ's
A little blurry (still experimenting with inside shots)

End of Year - Physics

2012-06-07T22:46:00.002-07:00

Whoa! Swoosh! The school year is over.... or not :)

Each summer the school year ends and I go through grandchildren withdrawal. They get busy with the "fun things" and "my school day" gathers dust.

This summer, inspired by the Extravaganza in May at the PACT center, I decided to have summer cooking classes.

Mr. O's initial response was was overly dramatic (if you knew him it is ... just they way he processes things.)

Anyway, after learning they would be no real reading and he would be able to help choose what we will be creating and it would be more like a day with Grandma he acquiesced and is quite happy to be having Home Ec class in the summer.

Our first class will be Peanut butter cookies, the second pizza. I will be posting the recipes and the pics here.

Cooking classes are such a fun way to apply math and organizational skills.

To tie up the past few lessons:

We learned much to do about telescopes.

First Telescopes

Newton's Reflecting telescope

Two of Galileos first telescope's

Optical Telescopes

kson #KTE900114EQ

GALILEO FS-720DX 720mm x 80mm
Astro/ Terrestrial Telescope

Radio Telescopes

Parkes 64m telescope

Image from Merriam Dictionary

Space Exploration:
Landing on the Moon

Space Station

Galaxies:
pic source
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-90846/In-the-1920s-Edwin-Hubble-separated-galaxies-into-four-general

Spiral galaxy: a bright middle and two or more curved arms of stars.
Barred spiral galaxy: a central bar of stars with an arm at each end.
Elliptical galaxy: round and oval with sometimes red stars. Irregular galaxy
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/galaxys.htm

Stars:
Life:

When a star begins to die, it becomes either a red giant or a supergiant, depending on the star's mass.
When a star runs out of fuel, it will turn into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
A white dwarf is the hot blue-white core of a star that remains after its outer layers have expanded and floated off into space.
A neutron star is the little, dense remains of a star that had a high- mass after a supernova.
A black hole is an object whose gravity is so strong that not anything, not even light, is able to get away.
When the reactions in a star can't make enough heat to support the star against its own gravity, the star will no longer be able to continue, and it will collapse.

Birth; Nursery

Death
(violent death of a heavyweight star)

Sun:

Phases of the Moon

Inner Planets

Outer Planets

Asteroid Belt that separates the inner and outer planets

Fourth dimension
We briefly discussed the 4th dimension

More information are astronomy for children
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/stars.htm

Kit 36 Experiment 6
Method:
1. Tie a 17” long piece of string to the end of a ruler
2. Tie a metal washer to the other end of the string
3. Hold the ruler firmly (so that it does not move) against a refrigerator, door frame or cabinet (anything that has a free edge.
4. Now pull the washer toward you and let go.
5. Count how many times it swings in 60 secs. It might be easier to only count for 30 seconds and then multiply the number of swings by 2. One swing is when the string moves one way, so when the washer comes back to you it is two swings.
6. Record your data in the table
7. Now pull the washer further toward you. (i.e start it swinging from a higher point) and let it go.
8. Again count how many times the washer swings in 60 secs and record your observations in the table.
9. Add another washer by attaching it to the hanging washer and repeat steps 4-8. (The washers re magnetic so you do not need to tie it to the washer. )
10. Repeat the above experiment (steps 4-9 with 29.5” and 39” pieces of string.

Results:

Length of String	1 washer from height 1	1washers from height 2	2 washers from height 1	2 washers from height 2
17”	102	102	112	102
29.5”	62	62	64	68
39”	54	54	56	52

Conclusion:

The number of swings was independent of the weight of the washers (magnets) or how the string traveled (height released). The number of the swings did depend on the length of the string. The shorter the string (pendulum) the more quickly it moved back and forth.

Galileo invented the first pendulum clock (which was the precursor to the grandfather clock).

When a string is 39 inches long it takes one second for a swing, therefore a 39 inch stringcan be used to time accurately.
60 swings equals one minute.
********
We also made 2 sets of note card flip books.
One for stars and one for planets
********
This was our solar system project

Painting the planets

Watching the eclipse 5.20.12

taken through a welders mask

Venus Transit 6.05.12

Venus darkened to show location better

taken through welders mask

I took the shots of both eclipse and transit. Since Venus was but a shadow in the first photo I darkened it in the second photo to show location.

Galileo; Starry Messenger

2012-04-21T08:30:00.001-07:00

Today was a day for reading, and so much reading.

I do not have the luxury of stretching this lesson out over weeks as there are so few weeks left. Why they schedule a lesson a week and then take 4 of them away for vacation time is beyond me. I can never catch up and always feel like I am failing. That loss of those four weeks and then the occasional lesson that takes longer than planned, like the crystal radio lesson gives me the feeling that I am swimming upstream.

So today we begin our journey into space, beginning with Galileo, one of the world's greatest astronomers that fought valiantly to express his own theories only to eventually be overcome by the Catholic church and their quest to silence him.

Fortunately he did not suffer as many condemned heretics did at the hand of the Inquisition, by burning. He was placed instead under house arrest for the remainder of his life.

BJ read "Along came Galileo".

O read "Starry Messenger"

They say he was born on Feb 15, 1564, with stars in his eyes. Destined to be a doctor by his father, he instead chose the stars. Always a free thinker he looked beyond established facts of the day and sought his own truth. Hated by many those thoughts he was also admired by others. He did not believe as Aristotle taught 1500 years earlier, that the Earth was the center of the universe. Instead he explored and theorized that the sun was the center.

Galileo grew up during a time rich with intelligent minds. It was the end of the Renaissance period (1400-1600), where there was an explosion of works by artists, writers, musicians, scholars and architects.

During his life he invented or improved on inventions that we still employ in some form today; the microscope, the telescope, the geometric compass, the hydrostatic balance, the pendulum, the thermometer, a machine to irrigate fields are some of his contributions.

Replica of one of Galileo's telescopes Galileo's geometrical and military compass

Copernicus, an ancient astronomer was a great influence in Galileo's life and to some extent the cause of his incarceration later. Copernicus also held the unpopular belief that the sun was the center of the universe and wrote those thoughts in a book, "On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies" but did not allow the publication of the book until was dying in 1543 as he had no wish to be condemned by the church.

With the invention of the telescope Galileo's time became more focused on the heavens. He charted the skies and sun spots (which subsequently lead to his blindness years later). Night after night he followed the moon and the planets with his telescope. Carefully chartering all that he saw he composed his discoveries into a 24 page pamphlet that was published March 1610. It was called 'The Starry Messenger". Only 500 copies were originally published and they sold out immediately. More were printed due to the high demand.

He wrote many other books and pamphlets that were well received by scholars but not the church. One such book was " A Dialogue on Two World Systems". It was meant to be written as though it were a four day discussion between three men on the two chief beliefs of the system of the world; the earth being the center or the sun being the center. It was published Feb 1632. The church became enraged, ordered a cessation to the printing and ordered Galileo to appear before the Inquisition on charges of heresy. He appeared 4 times before sentencing. During the last trial he was forced to recant his statements and sign a paper stating so. Two days later he was sentenced to prison for life. He was 68 years old. All copies of the Dialogue were ordered to be burned.

Much to the irritation of Galileo enemies his "prison" was a small farm he owned in Arcetri, in the hills behind Florence close to the convent where his daughters lived. He was to have no visitors, which at first was the rule but eventually he began to have visitors from all over Europe.

In 1637 he went blind, Jan 8, 1642 Galileo died. Isaac Newton was born the same year. He built his theory about gravitation on Galileos ideas as well as his famous "Laws of Motion"

In 1822 the church lifted the ban on Galileo's works.

In 1979 Pope John Paul II said the church had wronged Galileo.

In 1984 the Pope's Academy of Science cleared Galileo's name absolutely. (about time I should say)

4.04.12 Fun day during spring break

2012-04-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

We started the day with breakfast at Black Bear.

With tummies full and the boys energized our next stop on their list was Walmart. (Yes their list. I am the driver and responsible adult, they were the navigators.

No pictures of the Lego Store. Must have been zoned or I may have acquiesced to a certain grandson's request to stop taking so many pictures. :). We spent a lot of time there.
Stopped in at See's candy for a treat and then Game Stop.
Boys were done after that.
Happy and contented we all went home.

3.30.12 Edison

2012-04-19T08:39:00.001-07:00

This day brought forth an entertaining learning experience.
We had a field trip to see Young Edison.
With a minimum cast we spent a delightful 2 hours regaled with several talented actors who delivered a highly professional rendition of the young life of Thomas Edison.

3.26.12 Magnetism Continued; Static Electricity

2012-04-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

Experiment # 7
Need:
magnet, bowl, paper bowl, water, tape, marker

Method:
1. Put the plastic dish in front of you. Tape the magnet to the middle of the dish with the N and the S showing and with N pointing away from you. With a permanent marker write over the N and the S of the magnet to make it easier to see, and write a W and an E on the dish.

2. Next fill a cereal bowl ¾ full of water. Then place the plastic dish gently in the cereal bowl. Make sure it stays afloat by not getting water in it. Also, the plastic dish should not be touching the sides of the bowl (to keep it floating freely).

Results:
No matter how you turn the bowl, the N should always point in the same direction.

Conclusion:
The north poles of all the magnets point to the Earth’s magnetic north pole in the same direction.

So no matter where you are, the N of the magnet of the compass will always point North.

Experiment #8
Need:
magnet, 2 pins, plastic bottle caps, bowl, modeling clay

Method:
1. Magnetize 2 pins by stroking it with the bar magnet from the head to the point 30 times (one direction only).

2. Stick the pins onto the top of the bottle caps using modeling clay.

3. Put the “boats” into a bowl of water.

4. See what happens.

Results:
The “boats” will float towards each other, with the head of one pin facing the point of the other pin.

Conclusion:
The ends of the pins have different poles so they are attracted to each other (the head of one is attracted to the point of the other.)

Static Electricity

Kit 26 Experiment #1, #2 we have already done.
1 blowing up 2 balloons, tying a string to each letting them fall together
Then rubbing them and observing them repel from each other
2 rub a balloon on your hair and observe your hair standing on end.

Experiment # 3
Need:
Balloon, clean hair

Method:
1. Rub a balloon on your hair and try to stick it to various objects.
Recharge the balloon by rubbing on your hair at least 5 seconds each time before trying to stick it onto a new object.

Results:

OBJECT	MATERIAL	STICKS (yes or no)
Wall	Wood	Yes
Refrigerator	Metal	Yes
Table	Wood	Yes
Clothes	Cotton, wool	Sort of
Doorknob	Metal	No

Conclusion:
Balloons stick better to some materials than others

Experiment #4
Need:
Balloon, clean hair, anti-static sheet (dryer sheet)

Method:
1. Rub a balloon on your hair 10 times and stick it to a wall.

2. Take the balloon off the wall.

3. Take the anti-static sheet and rub it all over the balloon.

4. Now try to stick the balloon on the wall again.

Results:
The balloon no longer sticks to the wall.

Conclusion:
The anti-static sheet puts a layer of conditioning soap on the balloon.
This soap attracts moisture out of the air, which conducts electricity and causes the static charge to disappear.
This is how dryer sheets work on clothes and similarly how hair conditioners work.

Experiment #5
Need:
Balloon, clean hair, stop watch or other second hand timer

Method:
1. Rub a balloon on your hair 10 times and stick it to a wall. Time how long it sticks.

2. Rub a balloon on your hair 10 times and stick it to a wall in a bathroom after the shower has been running on hot for a while so the bathroom is humid. Time how long it sticks.

Results:
The balloon in the shower sticks for a shorter time.

Conclusion:
The hot water from the shower creates humidity, which are tiny droplets of water floating in the air. Water is the air allows electrons to move away from the balloons. As the electrons move from the balloon to the water in the air, the static charge on the balloon is decreased and it falls off the wall faster than it does in non-humid air. Since it tends to be more humid in summer, there is less static electricity in the summer than in the winter (when the air is dry.)

Experiment #6
Need:
Clean hair, comb

Method:
1. Move a comb through your hair until your hair starts to stand straight up. This works best with longer hair.

Results:
The hair stands straight up.

Conclusion:
When the comb is moved through the hair, the comb and hair become oppositely charged. However, since each strand of hair has the same charge and like charges repel, the strands of hair repel one another and stand straight up.

Experiment #7
Need:
Clean hair, comb

Method:
1. Move a comb through your hair until your hair starts to stand straight up. This works best with longer hair.

Results:
The hair stands straight up.

Conclusion:

When the comb is moved through the hair, the comb and hair become oppositely charged. However, since each strand of hair has the same charge and like charges repel, the strands of hair repel one another and stand straight up.

Experiment #8
Need:
Clean hair, Styrofoam handle, pie tin, Styrofoam plate

Method:
1. Tape the Styrofoam handle to the bottom of the pie tin.

2. Rub the bottom of the Styrofoam plate on your hair. Do it fast and all over your head.

3. Put the plate upside down on the table (with the bottom facing up)

4. Pick up the pie tin by the handle and hold it about 3 inches above the Styrofoam plate and drop it onto the Styrofoam plate (make sure it does not fall off the plate)

5. Very slowly touch the pie tin with the tip of your finger. Make sure you do not touch the Styrofoam plate. Look for a spark.

6. Try this in the dark

Results:
When the finger touches the pie tin, a spark is formed.

Conclusion:
The Styrofoam plate pulls electrons off your hair when it is rubbed. When the aluminum pie tin is put onto the Styrofoam plate the pie tin’s free electrons (electrons in a metal that can move around) try to get away from the electrons on the Styrofoam plate. When the finger touches the pie tin, they “jump” to your hand, creating a spark.

Experiment #9
Need:
Clean hair, plastic, nylon, latex (the balloon) and felt

Method:
Test the following materials to see which ones are good at creating static electricity;
Plastic, nylon, latex (the balloon) and felt by doing the following:

1. Take the material to be tested and rub it on your hair.

2. Put the material on the table. Grab the pie tin by the handle and place it on the material.

3. Slowly move your finger toward the tin until you either hear a spark or touch the tin.

4. Repeat this for the other materials. If a spark is created, you still need to touch the tin with your finger before dropping it again to “neutralize” its charge.

NOTE: The balloon creates so much static electricity that sparks can sometimes be heard when the pie tin is put onto the balloon.

Results:

MATERIAL	SPARK (yes or no)
Plastic	Yes
Nylon	Yes
Latex (balloon)	Yes
Felt	Yes

Conclusion:
Latex and nylon are materials that are good at producing a static electric charge. Plastic and felt are materials that are not good at producing a static charge.

Experiment #10
Need:
Clean hair, balloon, cereal,

Method:
1. Put the cereal on a table.

2. Rub a balloon on your hair.

3. Hold the balloon just above the cereal but not touching the cereal.

4. Observe.

Results:
The cereal jumps up to the balloon, sticks to it and then drops back to the table.

Conclusion:
When you rub the balloon, the balloon becomes positively charged as the negatively charged electrons jump into the air. Cereal is neutral (it has an equal number of positive and negative charges) but when it is exposed to the positive charge of the balloon, the negative charges of the cereal are attracted to the balloon and they jump up and attach to it. When the cereal touches the balloon, the charge difference is lost and the cereal drops back down.

Technology
On the pages of Marvels and Mysteries of Science Brennan read about Body Mechanics, cyborgs, what scientists have done using the brain of an eel, robots that help scientists learn how they can help those who have had strokes, and experiments scientists are doing with a monkey’s brain.

A trip to brain pop, watching a movie, taking a test and off to several stops on the internet to learn about electromagnets, and batteries.

3.19.12 Magnetism

2012-04-17T08:36:00.005-07:00

We covered several Experiments today.
Experiment Kit 25 #1
Need:
magnet

Method:
Use a horseshoe magnet to pick up things around the house.

Results:
Objects made of certain metals stick to the magnet.

Conclusion:
Metals such as iron, steeland nickel stick to magnets
Metals such as brass, aluminum, stainless steel do not stick to magnets.

Experiment Kit 25 #2
Need:
magnet, pencil, 2 ring magnets,

Method:
Put a pencil through two ring magnets ad hold it vertically on a table with your finger on one end.
Try to make the upper magnet float (without touching it)
You may need to flip the upper magnet over and then replace it on the pencil.

Results:
When the upper ring magnet is put on the pencil with a certain side up, the two magnets repel each other and the one on top floats.

When the upper ring magnet is flipped over and then put on the pencil, the two magnets they will attract each other.

Conclusion:
The rings have a north and a south pole. When the two South poles or two North poles face each other they repel.

When the north and the south face each other they attract.

Experiment Kit 25 #3
Need:
magnet, iron filings, lodestone

Method:
Try to pick up iron filings with the ring magnet.
Try to pick up iron filings with the lodestone.

Results:The iron filings can be picked up by both the magnet and the lodestone.

Conclusion:
The lodestone is magnetic.

Experiment #4
Need:
magnets; horseshoe, circle, bar, iron filings, cardboard

Method:
1. Put a piece of cardboard or paper on top of the bar, horseshoe and ring magnets.

2. Sprinkle a little bit of the iron filings on top of each piece of cardboard.

3. Tap the cardboard gently.

4. Observe.

Results:
What happens?
The iron filings change to the shape of the magnet.

Conclusion:
The iron filings are metal and the magnet attracts the filings into a pattern.

This shows that magnet’s force works all around but it is strongest at its north and south poles.

The entire area where a magnet’s force works is called the magnetic field of that magnet.

Magnetism; Static Electricity
Kit 25 Experiment #5
Need:
Iron filings, cardboard, scissors, pen, tape, plastic bag

Method:
1. Draw a face on cardboard

2. Cut out a piece of the plastic bag big enough to cover the cardboard front and back.

3. Tape the plastic tightly around the cardboard, but leave one edge open

4. Put iron filings through the open side and then tape shut.

5. Use any of the magnets to move the filings around.

Results:
The iron filings are metal and are attracted to the magnet even when it moves.

Conclusion:This is how magna doodle toys work.

Experiment # 6
Need:
Straw, magnet, pin, bowl, water, tape

Method:
1. Cut the straw in half

2. Magnetize a pin by stroking it with the bar magnet from the head to the point 30 times (one direction only).

3. Put the pin inside one of the halves and seal both ends of both straw halves with tape.

4. Put both the straw halves in a bowl of water.

5. Push the straws gently around.

6. Observe what happens.

Results:
The straw with the pin always points in the same direction.

Conclusion:
The pin in the straw behaves like a needle in a compass, always pointing to the Earth’s northpole.

3.12.12 Waves

2012-04-16T08:34:00.075-07:00

Today we touched on Sound waves; what they are how they travel.The Usborne Science Encyclopedia provided much of the information on waves that we covered today.

Interesting in how many waves affect our lives. All around us we are surrounded by sound waves,

light waves

tidal, tsunami, earthquake,

The blue whale makes the largest sound on the earth. It can be heard through the ocean for thousands of miles and it's sound travels at 621 mph.

The Marvels and Mysteries of Science covered bats and how they "hear" as well as the sound range of most humans; 20-20,000 hertz, bats; 25,000-100,000 hertz, Dogs; 40,000 hertz, blue whale; 17-20 hertz, and elephants;12-35 hertz.

Then back to the Usborne Science Encyclopedia to learn about how sounds have been stored; cassettes, cd's and the difference between analog and stereo.

A journey to brain pop, a movie, a test and then on to magnets.

Before we could explore the tactile elements there was much to read about and research on the net.
There were many fun links available on the Usborne Quicklink site.

Spring Break and Playing Catch up; Again

2012-04-15T14:58:00.001-07:00

No excuses just fell behind. :P

We have had a lovely 2 weeks of Spring Break from week 4.02.12 - 4.15.12, with our next lesson tomorrow, 4.16.12.

I wanted to do work during vacation, but was overruled. :)

I did take the boys on 4.04.12 though, on pretense of lessons much to their chagrin, but we made it a fun day instead. Will post that later.

03.05.2012
Brennan had reading in the the Usborne Science Encyclopedia about Flight, engines and Bernoulli's principle.

Hard to imagine the first flight was only 12 seconds long. A commercial is much longer than that.

While Brennan was occupying his school time with the differences between planes and gliders and then the intricacies of engines Owen finished his book on Faraday and started to delve into DK Eye Wonder to learn more on how electricity changed the world as we knew it.

We already had Michael Faraday, and Ben Franklin in our scientist Hall of Fame and now we added new scientists to our growing list; Alessandro Volta, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, William Lipscomb, Albert Schweitzer, Richard Feynman, Da Vinci, and Galileo.

The Dk book helped us explore the history's of the telephone,
then now

the television,
then now

and the computer.
then now

We ended the day with a preview of a coming lesson; Magnetism.

The boys are sure to enjoy that!

3.14.12 Crystal Radio

2012-03-14T23:11:00.001-07:00

Too long away. Taxes and life, but now back to the more important things. :)

There is a lot of catch-up to do so I will break it up into a couple of entries.

Our last entry for classes was 2.13.12 so the next class was 2.20.12. That lesson actually ran into the next week.

2.20.2012 - 2.27.2012
Day 1 – Build a Crystal Radio
Today we began a crystal radio experiment. I thought we would be done in one day; I was wrong.

It took most of the day just to coil the wire around the tube.

Brennan helped to hold the wire so it would not unravel. He had actually started to wind the wire first, got tired and let go not realizing that in doing so the wire would spring of into a myriad of directions.

We spend a good deal of time re-spooling the wire carefully so as not to kink it. Then we had to re-wind is around the tube.

Owen participated as much as he could, but spent time experimenting with circuits and lighting.

Brennan checks the wiring, Owen assembles the housing

What big teeth I have. Almost done.

I hear something. You want 19.99 for what????

What You Need to Know to Help Your Child Embrace Veggies

2012-02-25T23:20:00.002-08:00

Vegetable is a word that can make even a non-picky eater run for cover.
So how do you get your child to eat some of those healthy veggies?

And change your child from this:

To this:

When children associate healthy foods with fun, they become more interested and excited to incorporate them into their daily diet! Cooking time becomes an exploration in personal creativity and health education.
Parents and kids come together to plan 'creative' meals.

Let them use their imagination, be involved and encourage their creativity.

Make Healthy Foods Fun!

****

This is what one parent had to share:

Every parent wants their child to eat healthy because it is so important for their growth and development, but not every parent is lucky enough to have a child that loves their veggies.
Here are some tips I have learned raising my 6 children on how to get your children to eat their vegetables either willingly or without them even knowing.

1. Sneak veggie purees into their mash potatoes or pancakes.
2. Make muffins with chopped veggies and a little frosting on top. Call them cupcakes. They will never know.
3. If using tomato sauce in a dish you can add V8 or just a bunch of chopped vegetables.
4. When the kids are starving after sports or heavy playing offer them veggies with dressing or peanut butter rather than other snack foods.
5. Grow a garden in your yard and allow them to help you. They will be more excited to eat what they actually grew.
6. Never tell them what they are eating is healthy or good for them, just act really excited about the veggies and your attitude will transfer to them.

I hope all these tips help you like they did me. If you have any special tips feel free to comment and let us know.
Thanks, Kitty
******

The tips on the Veggie Boom Boom site are a little more commercial than personal, but it was low key, not in your face ads and there was also some information on being vegan as well as ideas for items that might help you attain a vegan diet. All of which can be useful even if your goal is to eat more vegetables not become vegan.
It was still an interesting read.
Veggie Boom Boom
While searching for information to write this article I found the following sites I thought were quite interesting. (note the pictures, look familiar? )

The following link is to a site I am looking forward to exploring more.
The heading; "Heirloom Vegetables" definitely caught my eye.
(Bookmark**)
Garden of Eatin
http://frankentrina.com/gardenofeatin/mykidsveggies.htm

Cheryl has created a site with so many good ideas on kids and foods I decided instead of picking, choosing and paraphrasing I would just link to it. She is a young mother who has been blogging for years, writing articles about food and quilts.

I followed links from this blog to her other blogs and found them enough that I bookmarked them all even though some are no longer updated. They had so much reference material I could spend hours reading them.
(Bookmark**)
Simple Bites
http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-help-your-child-embrace-food/

Dr. John came to the point in easy to understand words.
I loved what he had to say as well as his 10 ways to encourage your child to eat their veggies.
(Bookmark**)
Virginia Hopkins
http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/kids_veggies_dr_john_lee.html

This last one, which looked fairly current, was written by a woman who makes a living at helping people stay healthy and has information beneficial to the whole family.
(Bookmark**)
House of Health
http://houseofhealth.wordpress.com/

Despite your best efforts your children still might not eat their veggies, but they will have fun memories associated with veggies.

Who knows though, they might just pick up a veggies while creating and eat it.

The important thing is to never stop offering veggies and to continue to search for new and interesting ways to encourage your children to eat them.

Remember you too may not have eaten all your veggies when you were young.

Healthy eating is essential for proper growth; mentally, physically spiritually.
You really are what you eat.

The fast food generation is creating too many children who look like this:

Sadly this lack of healthy eating has not only seen a rise in childhood obesity, but a rising tide of health issues that were not so prevalent in years past.

Materials Used	Starting Temperature
Under the "Sun"	Ending Temperature
Owen checking out the Temperature of the air in the jar