Derailed

Last week we really did do some studying as well as accomplish a few other things that I was going to post about. But I never got a post written about it due to this derailment. This week we have been recovering. And since we have had snow twice in the last five days public schools have been closed. Public schools closing means I have a houseful of school kids whose parents have to work no matter what the weather. So there isn't much "schooling" being done. Schools are are closed again tomorrow and early Friday morning there is another storm moving in. So it looks like we're going to have a whole week off. Hopefully we will get back to a more sane schedule next week.

Crazy Machines - Game Review

Product description from the manufacturer -

• Create your own unique contraptions
• Solve more than 200 challenging puzzles
• Put your machines to work
• Cool physics engine with air-pressure, electricity, gravity, and particle effects
• Experiment with gears, robots, explosives, and more in your own virtual lab

We bought Austin this game for Christmas. He has really enjoyed it and I have had the pleasure of watching him explore some scientific concepts that he may have found a little overwhelming in some other formats.

Crazy Machines provides a lot of mental stimulation, problem solving skills and encourages creative thinking. It also teaches some beginning physics, mechanics, and engineering.

I've found that Austin enjoys solving the puzzles and challenges given in the games as well as the opportunity to create his own experiments. And choosing between earth gravity and moon gravity adds to the fun.

I haven't told Austin but I found the solutions for the puzzles given in this game here. He has been doing a great job of sticking with it and figuring out the answers for himself.

Just a Note

Just a note to say that I am going to post a weekly homeschool log instead of a daily log. Hopefully this will help give me time to post about other homeschool topics I would enjoy writing about as well.

Homeschool Log Tuesday January 18, 2010

I think today has been our most productive day for awhile.

Both kids did their Dance Mat Typing lessons. Then Austin did his math lesson at Mr. Anker's Computation. He also watched a video about verbs at Gamequarium.

Amanda completed two worksheets - Adverbs That Compare and Adding Nines. She also read several chapters from the book The Blind Colt by Glen Rounds.

Austin watched Extreme Machines: Military Planes on the Military Channel this afternoon.

Both Austin and Amanda updated their blogs today. Amanda's post is called Stinky Cat and Austin's is called Cool Design.

This afternoon we read 1 Kings 17 and one chapter from Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery. Then we had a discussion about how long ago World War 1 was and realized that the house we are living in now was probably already built at that time. The kids loved that, somehow it helped them feel connected to the history we have been reading.

Both Austin and Amanda spent about half an hour outside playing with friends.

Chores, helping with the younger kids and playing games on the computer rounded out their day.

Homeschool Log Saturday January 16, 2010

I know it's the weekend but the really cool thing about homeschool is that learning is not confined to Monday to Friday from 8:30 - 2:45.

The kids had a pretty laid back day.

Austin watched Discovering Yellowstone with Tom Brokaw on Planet Green. He and Amanda together watched Underdog to Wonderdog on Animal Planet.

Austin went grocery shopping with Doug. They took Michael along with them as well. Since Michael has had a rough few days including  a lot of crying and throwing temper tantrums, they very kindly decided to give me a break. I love my family.

Both kids spent a lot of time playing computer games - Crazy Machines, Mahjong, and Solitaire.

After one of the younger kids expressed an interest in dinosaurs, Austin began looking for online sites about dinosaurs. Then Doug got out his computer and soon nearly everyone was getting in on the fun.

Before the Austin and Amanda went to bed we watched the movie Safe Harbor on Hallmark Channel. It is a great movie about a couple who provide a foster home for four teenage boys. I believe it is based on a true story. I had never seen the movie before but Amanda had and was excited to see it come on again.

Playing Catch Up Again

Once again it's Friday and I find myself trying to play catch up.

This week has been very busy with new children in childcare as well as with interviews with families considering bringing their children here for childcare. It's great but it takes time and energy. It hasn't helped any that both Michael and I seem to gotten a slight tummy bug.

I'm just going to touch on some highlights and give some overviews of our week.

Austin has spent a major amount of time playing Crazy Machines on his computer. And he even got Amanda interested in the game. I feel good about seeing them play this game since it involves a lot of problem solving and science (beginning physics).

A friend of ours brought us a stack of recent issues of National Geographic Magazines. One article in particular caught Austin's interest - Redwood Trees. This has led to some research online about Redwoods as well as about some other trees.

The kids watched a lot of Animal Planet and Hallmark channel. Amanda is always on the lookout for any show about dogs. The Dog Whisperer,It's Me or the Dog, and Dogs 101 are some of her favorites.

Wednesday evening both kids went to our the Kids Worx program at our church and Thursday evening they went to my parents house for the evening.

Both Austin and Amanda updated their blogs once this week. It's far from the daily updates I wanted them to do, but we'll try again next week.

We still have some snow on the ground and the kids enjoyed a lot of time outside with their friends playing in the snow. The last two days temperatures have warmed a lot and the snow is quickly disappearing.

We've enjoyed our daily Bible reading and reading from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M . Montgomery.

These are just a few notes from our busy week.

Homeschool Log - Catching Up Friday and Saturday January 8 & 9, 2010

Thursday night we had a dusting of snow and some bitterly cold temperatures, along with wind. Friday school was canceled. Seven school age kids ended up here so we had a snow day too.

Saturday was pretty much a lazy day for all of us.

Here are some pictures from Friday.

 

 

Socialization is certainly not a problem here.