Things That Make Me Smile 12/11/15

Jake (10), Alyssa (7½), Zac (6), Tyler (3½), Nicholas (11 months)

This week we decorated the house for Christmas; turned the living room into a ball pit; and enjoyed Christmas themed activities, books, and crafts for school time. 

1. Alyssa: "You do a lot. You're a mom, you have 5 kids, {leans in close and whispers with emphasis} Five of them. And you're going to get a sixth, but not any time soon . . . "

2. Zac: "When it feels like your foot is full of beans, does that mean it fell asleep?"

3. Zac: "Why is the duct tape out here?"
Me: "Oh, because I needed to use it."
Zac: "I know why you needed to use it . . . for Nick!"

4.

4. Tyler: "Mama, what's that green on your face?"
Me: "That's my mask. Do you think I'm pretty."
Tyler, smiling: "No."
Me, feigning sadness: "You don't think I'm pretty?"
Tyler: "Mama, when you have that green on your face, you are not pretty. When your face is not green, then you are pretty."

5. Jake: "Do you think when we get to Heaven we'll have toes?"

6. Zac: "Eggnog is my favorite, even though I don't know what it tastes like." 

7. Zac: "I remember when Nicky was just born and he was just a little baby. I want to go back and do it all over again."

8. Tyler: "Mom, why is my pop all soggy?"

9.

10. Alyssa: "Mom, can you list all the things you're good at?"
Jake: "I know what I'm the best at. No one else is better than I am."
Me: "And what's that?"
Jake: "Being me!"

11. Jake, about Nicholas: "Sometimes I just have to squeeze him. That's how cute he is."

12. Tyler: "I know how you make peanut butter. You just need peas and butter. Peas 'n butter. Peana butter."

13. Tyler: "I can count to 100."
Me: "You can? Can I hear?"
Tyler: "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14, 100!"
Me: "Good job, but I think you missed a few."
Tyler, indignantly: "I did not. {counts slowly} 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. Mommy, I can actually count to 14. And 100."


What made you Smile this week?

Things That Make Me Smile 12/4/15

Jake (10), Alyssa (7½), Zac (6), Tyler (3½), Nicholas (11 months)

This is the week Jake turned 10 years old, he set a new record for solving his Rubik's Cube (41 seconds!), and the two of us spent a date day together. Lots of reasons to Smile.
 

1. Me: "What time is it?"
Jake: "Fifty-two til seven."
Me: "6:08?"
Jake: "Yeah."

2. Tyler: "I keep hiccing-up."
 
3.

 

4. Me, to Nicholas: "Did you thank Alyssa for sharing her food with you?"
{Nicholas smiles}
Alyssa: "A smile is good enough for me."

5. Me: "What do you think? Turkey with chipotle peppers or turkey andouille?"
Jake: Chipotle! I love ice cream."
Me, confused: "Ice cream?"
Jake: "Oh, yeah, it's coffee."
Me, even more confused: "Coffee?"
Jake: "Well, then, what is chipotle?"

6. Jake, laughing: "There's something on the couch."

Me: "On the couch?"

Alyssa, yelling from the other room: "There's a potato on the couch!"

Jake: "It's a couch potato!"

7. 

8. Alyssa: "I promised myself that I would never go down to the basement at night or in the morning."
Zac: "I say that to myself also!"

9. Jake: "Is Nick more your baby than Dad's baby?"
Tyler, yelling from the other room: "No, he's my baby!"


 What made you Smile this week?

Things That Make Me Smile 11/27/15

Jake (9½), Alyssa (7½), Zac (6), Tyler (3½), Nicholas (11 months)

Happy Friday! I have a lot of catch-up to do, so let's Smile!

1. Alyssa: "Do you know why Daddy is shoveling the driveway and the sidewalk?"

Me: "Because it snowed?"

Alyssa: "No, well, that's part of it. Because he loves us. And because it snowed."

2. Tyler, listening to nursery rhymes: "Did you sing it, Mama?"
Me: "No, not this time."
Tyler: "If you sing it next time, I will be sooooo happy."

3. 

4. Zac, reading: "Pppp-hhh-ooo--"
Me: 'That says phone. Ph makes the F sound."
Zac, making a confused face: "Sometimes things make a very funny sound."

5. Tyler: "Can you help me?"
Me: "In a minute. I'm making Daddy's lunch right now."
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because he's going to want to eat tomorrow."
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because he's going to be hungry."
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because your body needs nourishment."
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because that's the way God designed it."
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because He's God."
Tyler: Why?"
Me: "Because He's God." 
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because He's God."
Tyler: "Why?"
Me: "Because He's God."
Tyler: "You don't need to say the same thing every time."
Me: "Oh, but it's ok for you to do it? That's no different."
Tyler: "Why?" 

Tyler, while driving: "Why did God make the whole world like this?"
Me: "Like what?"
Tyler: "Forests and trees and flowers and lights and outer space and cars and grass and the sun and stop signs and houses and lots of stuff.
Me: "Isn't it nice?"
Tyler: "Well, not really." 

6. Me: "I can't find my recipe."
Alyssa: "For what?"
Me: "Peanut butter cup granola."
Alyssa, shocked: "Please tell me this is just a nightmare." 

 7.

8. Me: "Do you want your jacket on?"
Tyler: "Yeah, I don't want my shirt to get cold." 

9. Tyler: "Mama, I can't hear you, because my hood is covering my ears."
Me: "Oh, yeah?"
Tyler: "Yeah."
Me: "So, you can't hear me?"
Tyler: "No."


What made you Smile this week?

Things That Make Me Smile 11/20/15

Jake (9½), Alyssa (7½), Zac (6), Tyler (3½), Nicholas (11 months)

Happy Friday! This week we played a lot of LEGO, did some fall clean-up in the yard, and reorganized parts of the house.

1. Zac: "Ty, that's a Sharpie. I don't think you should just randomly color with it."

2. Leighton proposed 13 years ago this week. We thought it would be fun to take the kids to the restaurant we went to that night. We don't go out to eat very often, so that was a treat in itself. My favorite part though was having many people--both servers and diners--stop at our table and rave about how well-behaved the kids were.

3.

4. Tyler: "Smoke is like flies."

Me: "How's that?"

Tyler: "Because smoke and flies float up."

5. Tyler: "I put it where I put it." 

6. Zac: "I know the trick to solving the Rubik's Cube. You just move it the opposite way you moved it."

7. Alyssa, about new curriculum: "Could we start it today, perhaps?"

8. Nicholas is enjoying being able to walk and is getting confident and curious. And maybe a bit mischievous.

9. The kids were playing baseball. Jake pitched the ball, Zac missed it, and it hit Alyssa in the mouth, knocking out a loose tooth. She had the biggest smile.

10. Tyler: "Mommy, I like that song. You singed it nicely."

11. Tyler, because I tossed his blanket on his head: "I wasn't able to see the iPad."

12. Jake: "Where does the queen deer live?"

Me: "I don't know. Where?"

Jake: "At Buckingham Palace."

What made you Smile this week?

Things That Make Me Smile 11/13/15

Jake (9½), Alyssa (7½), Zac (6), Tyler (3½), Nicholas (10 months)

Happy Friday! This week I took Zac out for his special day alone with mommy for his birthday, we celebrated Leighton's birthday, and Nicholas learned to walk! Lots of reasons to Smile this week.

1. Tyler, picking up something: "Whoa, heavy."
Me: "Yeah, so it's a good thing you're strong."
Tyler: {blank stare}
Me: "You're Superman. Look at your shirt."
Tyler: "Mom, they're just pajamas."

2. Jake, after eating dinner: "Now I know what a garbage can feels like that hasn't been emptied in two weeks."

3. Tyler: "Can you do it when you're done feeding your baby? Wait--that's my baby!"

Me: "He is?"

Tyler: "Yes! Daddy got him for me!"

4. Nicholas eating spaghetti.

5. Me: "Why do we have to dump the Duplos right in the walkway?"
Zac: "Tyler did it."
Jake: "He has poor thinking."

6. Zac: "I want to build something new with my Legos. Then I'll put it right back after I enjoy the new thing I built."

7. Jake: "I know which state Mary the mother of Jesus was from."
Me: "Which one?"
Jake: "Virginia."

8. Zac: "Apparently it's really loud when it's quiet."

9. Me: "Are you going to play with Papa today?"
Ty: "What?"
Me: "Are you going to play with your papa today?"
Ty: "He's not our papa."
Me: "Whose papa is he?"
Ty: "He's Gramma's papa."

10. The kids wanted to put all 33 candles on their daddy's cake.

11. Jake: "Gramma told me yesterday that I'd be taller than her shortly, haha."

12. Jake's new record for solving the Rubik's Cube is 1 minute and 2 seconds. 

13. Tyler, counting on his fingers: "I know all the vehicles that go in the sky: jets, planes, helicopters."
Me: "What about rockets?"
Tyler: "No, those go in outer space."


What made you Smile this week?

 

Surfing the Net: Science Review

The internet is a wonderful tool. we use it almost daily to find recipes, research homeopathic remedies, catch up with friends, shop, and so much more. You can look up pretty much all information that you can possibly think of. While that can be beneficial, it can also be a hindrance. The internet is also destructive and full of horrific things. We have very specific guidelines in place for our children when they use the computer. One of those rules is that they are not allowed to preform their own searches. Too many weird things can be the result of those innocent searches. I am reminded of one time a few years ago. Our oldest child (who is 9 years old now) typed a few simple words directly into the address bar because he "wanted to see what came up." That thinking has the potential of a very bad outcome. If they need to find information, their father or I preform the search, find an appropriate source, and hand it off to the child. Now that our son is older now, I felt it was time to teach him how to safely preform internet searched on his own.

The Critical Thinking Co. is "committed to developing students' critical thinking skills for better grades, higher test scores, and success in life." They offer many books and curricula to prepare students, like Surfing the Net: Science, which is exactly the type of resource we needed to teach our son.

Surfing the Net uses free, internet resources and reproducible worksheets to teach science concepts to 3-6 graders. It teaches them to research information and broaden their understanding of the web as an information resource. The topics covered in the book include animals, atmosphere, ecosystems & habitats, energy, geology, plants, and space.

Each topic covers critical thinking in the following ways:

1. Defining: Students use key word searches to gather general information from the internet using text, videos, charts, or images and answer questions.
2. Describing: Students use key word searches to gather specific information from the internet using text, videos, charts, or images.
3. Analyzing & Synthesizing: Students used the information they gathered to fill in a graphic organizer and write a paragraph.
4. Expanding Knowledge: Students collect additional information about something specific about the topic and may write paragraphs about it.
5. Investigating: Students form their own question and find the answer through additional research.

The first part of each activity begins with a key word search section. For instance, the very first question of the book reads, Use the key words in each question to find the answers on the Internet:  "Amphibians are ectothermic. How do habitats affect ectothermic animals?" The problem we ran into right away is that there is no help with the key words. Yes, there is a click-through video that the student watches before starting that briefly touches on key words, but that is all. I think it would be so much more beneficial if the key words were written in bold, at least for the first topic or so, to help the student understand key words. The purpose of the book is to teach the student to research. Also, there is no information about what types of websites are good for information. Many times, sites that anyone can ask a question and anybody can give a response--whether he knows what he talking about or not--showed in the top list of searches. I had to teach my son what kind of sites are good for information and what kind are untrustworthy. Don't get me wrong, I am very involved in teaching my children these things (I do homeschool, after all), but I think there should be some teaching about that in the book itself or through better training videos.

The remaining questions for the activities direct students to specific URLs to find information. Icons next to the questions easily show what kind of activity is involved.

Honestly, I think the concept of the book is a good one, but I don't believe there is enough in it to actually teach the student about searching. Many of the questions sent my son searching all over websites to find specific answers. I was able to direct him to where he could find the answers on the page because I can skim read, whereas he hasn't learned that yet and still reads word-for-word. Even some of the designated URLs had him looking for another link within them to eventually find what he needed. The process was daunting. All in all, it was a frustrating experience for us both. Maybe it would be easier or more appealing to an older child, but, unfortunately, it did not work well for my 9 year old.


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If you'd like to see how other homeschool families used this book or one of the other products offered by The Critical Thinking Co., please read the reviews on the Schoolouse review Crew blog.

Eat Your Science Homework Review

If you've followed our blog for any amount of time, you know that cooking is a passion of mine. Not only do I love to cook delicious meals and bake yummy treats for my family, but I believe that it's important to teach my kids those skills, as well. You can often find one of my little ones in the kitchen scrambling eggs, baking a cake from scratch, or chopping veggies for a snack. And just like I thrive on working in the kitchen, they feel the same way about performing science experiments. They get excited about the hands-on learning. They are enthralled watching reactions. They love learning the hows and whys things work. Cooking and science go hand-in-hand. Combining the two in our school day is pretty much perfection.

Ann McCallum Books were written by a teacher with a Master in Education. Ann has written several award-winning children's books. Many of her books focus on learning concepts. Eat Your Science Homework is one such book. 

Eat Your Science Homework: Recipes for Inquiring Minds is a book that teaches science with edible projects. Each section highlights a scientific idea. It starts with a description, is followed by a step-by-step recipes, and concludes with an additional activity that correlates to the study.

Recipes:

• Atomic Popcorn Balls
• Density Dressing & Veggie Sticks
• Invisible Ink Snack Pockets
• Loop, Whorl, & Arch Cookies
• Sedimentary Pizza Lasagna
• Black Hole Swallow-Ups

 

Ann has a down-to-earth way of explaining science concepts. Her book reads like a story. I read each section aloud to my kids (9, 7, 5, 3) and had only a few times where I had to stop to explain something further. Of course, the level of understanding with vary depending on the age of the child. My 9-year-old has a deeper knowledge of science than his 3-year-old little brother, obviously, but the book held the attention of them all equally. That is an important aspect to a homeschooling mom who is teaching multiple ages at once. Some of the concepts are easier to grasp, while others are more complex.

 
The recipes themselves were the kiddos favorite part. The loved mixing and creating in the kitchen. I supervised, but they did most of the work themselves. The recipes are easy enough to be completed by the students. The majority of the ingredients are items that we keep stocked in the house: i.e. cheese, sausage, bbq sauce, pepperoni, popcorn, (not all in the same recipe though, ha!) There are some ingredients required, like refrigerated pizza dough and pancake mix, that we never purchase. I appreciate that they were chosen for this book for their convenience and ease, but we decided to make them ourselves like we always do.

Though the book is written at an elementary level, there are multiple scientific words woven throughout. Each of these words is in bold to draw attention and then defined in the glossary in the back of the book. There is also a review section that discusses the scientific method, atoms and molecules (Atomic Popcorn Balls), properties of matter (Density Dressing & Veggie Sticks & Invisible Ink Snack Pockets), inherited traits (Loop, Whorl, & Arch Cookies), rocks and minerals (Sedimentary Pizza Lasagna), and our solar system (Black Hole Swallow-Ups).

This book is just a sampler of scientific ideas and not meant to be a full curriculum, but if you'd like to take the learning even further, there is also an educator's guide that is filled with more activities and experiments that accompany the concepts in this book. (Any resource that teaches melting point by experimenting with cheese and chocolate is worth looking into!)

Eat Your Science Homework was a huge hit in our house. The kiddos would ask first thing in the morning if they could do their science. Before we even finished the book, they asked if we could get the other Eat Your Homework books. I have a feeling we'll be eating our math or history soon. Yum!


If you'd like to see how other homeschool families used this book or one of the other fun books offered by Ann McCallum books, please read more reviews on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.