History

We had our first official American Girl "Kaya" meeting.  

The girls mapped out where the Nez Perce lived and traveled.

They also started weaving belts for their dolls.

After a discussion on the book, the girls had free play.

At home we continued reading our Kaya series and worked on weaving.

Jayden reads his history assignments to Caitlin in weird voices. Last week's assignment was about the Victorian Era and the Crimean War.

Each week he has to write about two things he learned. This was his answer for the chapter:

One of the things I learned about in this lesson is about The Great Exhibition, a huge fair held in London. Every country would bring inventions to the glass building at Hyde Park. Queen Victoria hosted the Great Exhibition because she wanted to show all the other countries the power London had. 

Another thing I learned about was The Crimean war. The Crimean war started by Russian and French Christians arguing over the keys to the Nativity church in Bethlehem, where they believed Jesus was born. The war was between Russia, the Turks, and France. It took place on the tiny island of Crimea. At one point in the war, there was a battle called the battle of Balaklava when a group of French soldiers charged into a bigger group of Russian soldiers and most of French soldiers that charged died. That charge was made into a famous poem:

Someone had blundered,

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die,

Into the valley of Death,

Rode the six hundred.

Science: Atoms

Last week we did our first science experiment of the second unit. We read several books about atoms.

We learned that atoms are the basic building blocks of everything. Atoms are incredibly tiny! We read that one raindrop contains approximately 5 sextillion atoms in it!

Then we worked on our lab sheet.

I filled 5 balloons with different things (air, water, cinnamon, lemon juice, and vanilla extract).

The kids had to smell each balloon and figure out what was in it, then record their findings.  

The purpose of the lab was to teach that scent atoms are small enough to travel between the atoms that make up the balloons.

History, Co-op, & Apple Picking

Continuing on with our Native American unit, Caitlin completed the Tlingit History Pocket.

We started co-op classes two weeks ago. One of Jayden's classes required him to fill out a resume and job application.

 At lunchtime the kids all played different versions of tag.

Here are the kids at creative writing. On the first day of class the kids all decorated their writing notebooks.

 Random picture of Caitlin at acro. She had to do push ups before she could leave.

We also went apple picking. We picked a bunch of yummy apples, went on a hayride, and made apple cake and apple butter!

History, Karate, & Book Club

A couple of weeks ago we had an American Girl Club meeting. Cait and a group of other girls will be discussing the books, doing a craft, and best of all, having free play with their dolls.

 

Caitlin completed the Inuit portion of her history pocket.

  

Jayden started sparring classes and loves it! It is definitely a more intense workout, which leaves him super hungry and tired after class. I think my favorite part of this class is watching him encourage other people. <3

We also had our first book club meeting of the new school year and it was amazing! We had a great discussion on the characters. The kids wrote their own precepts on an easel. 

Field Trip- Ocean Discovery Day

Last week we took a field trip to learn more about ocean mapping, ecosystems, and more.

 The kids learned about the Japanese method of printing fish.

Caitlin held a dead fish. I died inside.

Here they were learning about throwing waste in our water and how long it takes to break down.

We learned about plate tectonics. The red dots represent volcanoes and the black ones are earthquakes. They also learned about the Ring of Fire, an area at the basin of the Pacific Ocean, where the most earthquakes and volcanoes happen.

They did a test to show how deep the ocean is in some parts and not in others.

There was a giant inflatable whale. The kids got to peek their heads inside and see the anatomy of the whale.

They used "blubber" bags on one hand, then placed both hands in ice cold water to see how fat keeps whales warm in the ocean.

And finally, they watched squids being dissected because neither of them had the stomach to do it themselves. I don't blame them. I was sitting far away.