Sunday, April 22, 2012

How do you know if your kids are learning what you teach them?

Take them to church!  I guar-on-T, they will let everyone know everything about you and what you do.  Sierra told the pastor that she was "an atom that was one electron short of a happy shell". LOL Guess what we've been studying? Yup, atoms. Actually we are studying giants of the physical and spiritual world.  Atoms happen to have been the science subject the past couple of days. Atoms are the giants of the miniature world. Yup, she has learned the lesson. So if you ever want to know if your students are learning, take them in public and let them talk.  They will let you know what they have learned.

Shiloh (left) Sierra (right) The put sticky backed felt on for going "incognito".

Sorry about the sideways picture. Sierra showing off her atom model. Actually, she is 2 electrons shy of a happy shell.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Oh my! My head is spinning!

Today was V4 C1 D2...we covered the giants of the microscopic world...atoms! Atoms + molecules + compounds = a massive headache for this Mama! How did we go from a simple review to chemistry in 2.1 seconds?! Oh, well, at least they learned something. Now they are wanting to make models of atoms and molecules with colored marshmallows. (It's a good thing I thought to purchase some just for this purpose.) We will review what we learned today by doing just that. BTW, YouTube has some "great" lectures on the subjects studied today.  YouTube...It's not just for entertainment anymore.

Our random "learnings" from today:

* A lb. of hamburger weighs more than a lb. of gold.
* Rabbits can see you move through the window. (LOL)
* It takes a loooooong time to write out a google.
* The kids next door will be homeschooling next year! (That's going to be interesting.)
* Sierra is more interested in Logan's science than her own. (What am I supposed to teach her in 9th grade
   if she's learning it in 4th grade?!  I suppose that is a good problem to have.)
* 8:30 gets here much faster now that it's spring.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

God-bit of the day

We started back in Weaver Volume 4 Chapter 1. The theme of this chapter is "There are giants everywhere, from the physical world to the spiritual world." To introduce giants in the physical world, I read a book titled Can You Count to a Google? by Robert E. Wells  (FYI: A google is a 1 followed by 100 zeros. THAT's a giant number!) We were also covering how "giant" the world is and learning directions and how a compass works. I was showing the kiddos how a compass always points North and then, it hit me! I told the kids, "Just like a compass always points North, no matter which way you hold it; we as Christians should always point to God, no matter the circumstances we are in!"  WOW!

This is why we started Weaver in the first place: Because God should be our focus in all things...even academics.

Seriously?! It's been THAT long?!

So, we are all settled in at our new place; we've had our belongings delivered from Alabama; and we are wrapping up our school year by starting over with Weaver Volume 4.  We've had fun in the snow, fun in the sun, and Logan & Savannah got to have fun on the lake with Grandpa Keith and Grandma Cathy! Life is getting back on schedule...sort of. (Did we ever really have a schedule? Well, other than chaotic order?) I need to learn to listen to my wisdom that I have no problem telling to others -- do they ignore me as well? -- "Don't worry about it. Once you get in a rhythm and start feeling comfortable, something will surely happen to mess it up! Whether it be an illness, someone visiting, or a broken bone (or in our case, a MAJOR move!), your drummer will skip a beat and mess everyone up!" It keeps us on our toes and also keeps us from getting bored.  Maybe I will actually get in the rhythm of actually posting at least once a week.