2018-2019 Homeschool Week 27: Science, COSI, and College

Bookstore decorations

Saturday kicked off with my Christmas present - a photography class at a local studio. We have owned a DSLR camera (Canon Rebel T3) for several years and I still don't know how to do anything beyond auto mode. Today I finally learned about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and how to get into Manual mode. The class began in the studio with lots of teaching and then we moved outside to try some challenges. We came inside and worked on fixing settings to handle backlit subjects. Then we were turned loose in an adorable bookstore to play with our cameras.

A favorite book in focus

blurred out the background.

The rest of Saturday was family time, chores, and dishes. Lots of dishes. Our dishwasher isn't working at the moment and we're waiting on the warranty company to send out a repairman.

Sunday church meetings were good. In the evening we had another family get together for birthdays. Between my sister and I, and our families, we have birthdays every month except March and May, often multiple birthdays per month. Our tradition is that each birthday person gets to choose a dessert to be made for the party. This helps keep us from being stuck with cake and ice cream every time.

Monday my 5th grade and under group were ecstatic when I pulled out the microscope for their science lesson. We learned about the parts of a microscope and how to use it, then they got busy looking at slides, adjusting the focus, switching magnification lenses, and refocusing. We talked about how amazing it is to be able to see teeny tiny pieces and parts with magnification that our eyes cannot see on their own.

Mid-morning the dishwasher repairman arrived, checked out the dishwasher and said he would let us know what the warranty company wants to do about the dishwasher. In the early afternoon sweet friends stopped by and dropped off lots of paper plates, bowls, plastic cups, and plastic silverware. It was such a fun surprise, and much appreciated while we wait to see what will happen with our dishwasher.

In the late afternoon, while Makayla took Jason to physical therapy, I tried a new recipe - parmesan garlic rolls. It didn't really go with our taco dinner, but rolls are always yummy. After dinner was errands: returning library books, picking up monthly medications at the store, etc.

Making multicellular creations.

Tuesday morning felt magical. It was just an ordinary day where everyone's school work went smoothly, I didn't have five kids asking for help at the exact same time, and nobody complained. My six younger boys are loving science. Today we talked about cells, microorganisms, Robert Hooke (discovered/named cells), Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (father of microbiology), and Legos. The Legos were the boys' favorite part. We poured Legos all over the table and found single cell (one stud) and multicellular (more than one stud) bricks. They were then given a four minute timer and told to build something. Everyone made different creations and we moved from a discussion of cells to tissue, organ, organ systems, and organisms.

Our afternoon included piano lessons with the beloved piano teacher. A small group of kids started a moon art project. Then the mail arrived with four packages of school books and materials. The kids were fascinated or grossed out at the animal specimens that arrived for our biology dissections next fall. We peeked at The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts and History 2 books, paged through a history of science book briefly, and then packed it all away for fall.

One thing my middle boys (Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason) have been doing this week is printing and preparing characters and monsters from our Hero Kids files. Hero Kids is a kid-friendly role playing game aimed at ages 4-10. I love that they offer pdf files so they take up no space unless someone wants to print and play. Today my kids talked me into running an adventure for them and convinced Joseph to join in. We played the Basement 'O Rats scenario. It was fun to get the boys invested in the adventure, storytelling their way through. It also had interesting problem solving as a group. For example, in one cave they come up against a 10 foot high wall up to the next section of the cave, and they need to figure out a way to get up there. Ideas they came up with in just a minute of chatting together:

• The character with daggers would use them to dig in and climb the wall by hand, carrying a rope for the others to use after him. 
• Building a human pyramid to get someone up the wall with the rope. 
• Throwing another character's spear into the wall partway up to climb on like a step.
• Climbing on someone's shoulders while they stand beside the wall.

Wednesday we took a family field trip to COSI. We wanted to see a couple of their visiting exhibits we hadn't been to yet. First up was Mythic Creatures. I didn't take pictures while we were exploring, but it was amazing. They had displays, play areas, and artifacts around mythical creatures and legends from earth, sea, and sky. It was a feast for the eyes, truly. As you exited the exhibit there was this unicorn photo spot set up and so we took a quick picture.

The Crocs exhibit was our next destination. It was a mix of displays and information related to crocodiles and their cousins, and live exhibits. Obviously the live animals were a hit! We saw caimans, baby crocodiles, an albino croc, and more. Even Rebekah noticed the animals when they were moving around and got excited, which means when spring arrives she will be ready for a fantastic zoo trip.

Wednesday afternoon Daddy had physical therapy. Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason, and I finished up a glow in the dark phases of the moon art project that we started yesterday. Samuel and Tobias enjoyed painting yesterday but had no interest in the actual project.

In the dark the phases

of the moon glow.

After dinner the middle boys spent a lot of time coloring, cutting out, and studying more monsters, heroes, and equipment for Hero Kids. 

Thursday my homeschooled-all-her-life oldest daughter announced her college decision online, which means I'm finally allowed to share it here. This fall Makayla will be attending Southern Virginia University.

I have a post coming soon about her college application experience as a homeschooler, so keep an eye out for that. Makayla ended up being accepted to 5 colleges (she applied to 6) and SVU is her pick. We are so proud of her and excited for the adventures ahead!

Friday is just beginning at my house. Right now it is 6:15am. Makayla is out the door to seminary. A couple of the boys have already woken up and are watching a Pokémon cartoon (they are allowed to watch a show in the morning between 6am-7am if they wake up). I've already read my scriptures, printed a game for my K-5th graders for science, and today I have a date with several of my kids to watch How to Train Your Dragon 3 at the theater. Time to get some breakfast!