Saturday, October 6, 2012

Lions, Tigers, Whales and Blubber....Oh My?

This week felt like such a busy week too me. Bodie started his once a week P.E classes again. I am glad because he really enjoys it, but it does mean one more day this week that felt rushed. Brylee has her dance on Monday, we have a homeschool group we get together with on Wed, and then Thursday is P.E. Since we live outside of town, it becomes a lot of driving. It is nice that we homeschool so we can be flexible. If we don't get everything done in the morning we can finish when we return. Yet, the downside is that it really feels like a long day to me, where I feel like I don't feel like I get much accomplished around here. I think I have an unrealistic expectation of what things need to be accomplished. I feel like since I'm here all day my house should look less messy. Yet the truth is.......my kids are here all day. Gotta remember to let it go.

Bodie has been studying ocean animals and we did a couple of fun experiments this week. First we took a tape measure and a string and measured out the typical lengths of different whales. We cut the strings and laid them on the ground to see just how long these animals are. I wish I had different colored string that showed up better and a way to take better shots, but here they are anyway.  

This is us measuring a blue whale. The typical length is 110 feet. Of course we knew he was huge, but to see it laid out was pretty amazing!               
 
Again I wish the string showed up better. Here they are laying feet to feet, with six different types of whales measured out. Of course all of them were longer than they were.


Next we did an experiment to see how blubber helps to keep seals and sea lions warm. They had two gloves on one hand. Then we put one glove on the other hand and slathered crisco on all over it and then covered it with another glove. They took turns putting each hand in ice water and timing it to see which one lasted longer.

Bodie didn't last long with either one of his hands. I thought Brylee's hands would never get cold. 
 Brooke didn't put her hands in the water, but wasn't gonna miss out on the fun.

This week we also went to this place called Play for All. It is in Round Rock. I had never heard of it. This is a super fun place though and it's free. It's a closed in area for kids to play and they have something from small babies to older kids. The whole thing is fenced in with only one way out which is so helpful when you have multiple kids you are trying to watch. 
They have an area that is like a city for kids to ride their bikes in. There are little shops all over that they can drive in and a real working traffic light.

 Inside the dealership.....




 Of course there has to be an HEB!



Outside of the city was a huge playground and sandpit that Brooklyn could play on. I could leave Brylee and Bodie playing in the city safely because there is no gate in that section. They would have to come right past me to get out of the entire area. So super safe design and fun for all the ages. Bodie said it was the most fun playground he had ever been to. As a mom I really liked the safety aspect.


Brylee has continued to do her weekly lesson plans. This week we did z for zoo. We built a zoo for her stuffed animals. It wasn't a very pretty zoo, but it managed to contain all the animals quite well.
Other things we are working on is writing her name,and reading. We are using Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. This is the same book I used with Bodie and it worked well for him. She is not as curious as he was about reading, but she is sounding out her words well. When she realizes she has read a word it is so much fun to watch her face light up.

Bodie has really made some  improvement on his writing. Last year it was a struggle to get through some of his writing. This year has started off really good. You can't see the first few days on here, but each day he adds a little more detail so at the end of the week he can write a full paragraph with a main idea, supporting sentences, and a conclusion. Huge difference in his handwriting this year as well. 


Parting shot.....sometimes cute, sometimes a little bit naughty!
 
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