How Things Work

This morning, one of my girls' notebooks had incorrectly cut pages, and she wondered why it was like that. Having just seen a video on how books are made last week, I quickly found it again and watched it with the kids. In the spirit of invention and machinery, we also watched a video on how toilet paper is made. Then, while we were on the topic, I challenged them to each come up with a machine that would clean their rooms for them. Here are the results:

Rock Cycle Studies

We have been enjoying learning about rocks in anticipation of a field trip to Stone Mountain Park next week. The site I have found to be most helpful in our studies these past weeks is here.

Yesterday, we learned about the rock cycle using a fun website (that I think looks promising for other studies, too!) and then drew our own interpretations. Then, the girls were given an assignment when we went to the park later in the day. They had to plan and act out a rock cycle show for us. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure. :)

Notice that they even get weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction (into sedimentary rock), metamorphism, melting and crystallization (into granite) and extrusion (volcano)! I think they're ready for our file trip. :)

Magic Treehouse #4: Pirates Past Noon

Here are our book reports from the fourth Magic Treehouse book:






Books used:
Pirates Past Noon, Mary Pope Osborne
Pirates, Will & Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Treehouse #2: The Knight at Dawn

Here are the girls' book reports on the second Magic Treehouse book, which we read this week.





Here are the books we used:
The Knight at Dawn, Mary Pope Osborne
Knights and Castles, Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne

Not To Be Outdone

The horn of Africa is a peninsula that juts out south of the Red Sea. It has Somalia and Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibuti. The biggest city is Addis Ababa in the country of Ethiopia. Most of the people live in seaports on the Indian Ocean.



And the continents and oceans:

Another First Recital!!

We have been attending a homeschool co-op every thursday since January. One of the classes the girls take there is a music class, in which they have been learning to play recorders, along with some basic theory and fun songs and games. This past Thursday was the last meeting until fall, so they were sent home with their recorders afterwards. Katy has been telling us for weeks about learning "Hot Cross Buns" and has been humming it and tapping out the rhythms. Saturday, when she showed Matt, he asked her to try to pick it out on the piano. She sat down and he showed her where E was. Well, she picked it right out! She has tried before and has not been able to figure out the pitch progression (up or down), but she did it! Then, she picked out "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and played a C scale (do, re mi...which she knows from The Sound of Music)! She was so proud of herself, giggling and beaming afterwards. She has since then gone back to the piano and played it again several times!, even finding the right starting pitch! Our friend, Gina, remarked that only two music majors would be excited that our 5 year old could find E on the piano! :) Anyway, just wanted to share a video of our proud daughter, taken by her proud parents! :)

Storytime

Liam was having a fussy moment, so Katy covered him with her special blanket and read Madeline to him. You can see that he is watching her intently and talking to her the whole time. He seems to really enjoy being read to (though he also seems to enjoy being the center of attention, so that may also play into it). Katy has this book completely memorized, word for word! She is so ready to read! (I hope this video works - I've never uploaded a video to the blog before!).