Saturday, February 27, 2010

Day #86/175 Days - Field Trip Higgins Armory Museum

The second full day of our time in Massachusetts found us at the Higgins Armory Museum. This was a really cool place. It was a steel/glass building built in 1929 to house the personal armor collection of Mr. Higgins - a manufacturing owner in the town of Worcester, MA. His wife gave him an ultimatum about getting the collection out of the house - or else!

There are four floors of displays here. We started at the top and worked out way down. There was so much to see, but after our long day in Boston the day before, we only spent a few hours here before heading back to my friend's house and packing up to head home.

The fourth floor held displays of armor from Japan, Islamic countries, and traditional suits as well. The third floor was set up to look like a great hall and had a lot to look at in there. More than we actually were able to see. The second floor had a kids play area which all the boys loved. There were some other miscellaneous displays as well.

Photos from our time there....

Lots of armor...lots!

There was a talk about armor and how it was made. We went and checked that out. The boys got to feel some mail and see how it worked. The instructor was a great. He pulled kids from the audience to test things out. My boys enjoyed this. I enjoyed this!




After the talk was over, he let the kids try on the helmet and hold a sword. Only Happy would do this and he loved it.


The boys in the Great Hall area. Lego-Man is listening to the audio tour wand.

Happy in the kids area.

Conductor in the children's area trying on helmets.

The boys (plus our friends that took us - even the cute little knight on the right) playing a giant chess game.

All the kids were happy after their trip to the museum store. 

Friday, February 26, 2010

Day #85/175 Days - Field Trip to Boston Museum of Science

The reason we headed to Massachusetts yesterday was for this very trip. More details will be posted at my family blog. We were headed to the Museum of Science in Boston to meet up with some on-line friends and their families. My boys had a fantastic time!

Lego-Man's favorite thing was the simulator.


Once everyone was inside, it moved up and then moved all around while the participants watched a movie. Lego-Man said it was a space roller coaster that took them on a journey through all the planets. He loved it.

Conductor loved the "Science in the Park" area. They had all kinds of playground equipment. His favorite thing there was the running spot. There were lights on the wall and the kids had to run to try to beat them. He did this multiple times. 


Happy said his favorite part was the gift shop and the little stuffed bear he was able to buy. I didn't take any photos of that though. His second favorite was the big swing in the "Science in the Park" area. I kept loosing sight of him and I would always find him here....

Some other fun photos from the day....

Being in two places at once - Boston & Cambridge. 
And yes, the boys are dressed alike (unsocialized homeschool black T-shirts and camo hoodies).
I do that so I can find them easier in a crowd.

Checking out the "mouse trap" display that used pool balls.

Conductor found the train display.

We ended the day touring the butterfly garden. They had lots of them. Very neat.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day #84/175 Days

Today we headed south for a long weekend in the Boston area. We stopped over at my sister's house and helped celebrate my nephew's 8th birthday. I foolishly took no photos.

We were on the road to Massachusetts by 1pm. I had stocked up on audio books for the ride. We enjoyed listening to:


This made the trip there go by a lot faster. 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Day #83/175 Days (Co-Op Day)

Today we started a mini co-op at our church. We are studying various countries only. I think it was a good start to the day. Miss Amanda taught today and talked about China. We had some maps and notebooking pages for the kids to fill out. She had also arranged for a friend to come talk to the children. May lived in China when she was younger and has been in the US for 20 years.

She brought some Chinese candy for the children and shared how to say various words that they asked. She also wrote the numbers 1-5 on the white board for them to copy as well as the phrase "Happy New Year."  Conductor did very well with this:
Lego-Man did well too:


Miss Amanda talked about the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army. The children also did a craft where they wrote Chinese words on Popsicle sticks and then tied them together to simulate a bamboo book. 

For snack we served tea with rice crackers and lo mien noodles. There was also sweet and sour sauce or spicy ginger for the crackers. 

We ended by going up to the gym to play for a bit. It was a good start to the co-op I think. I know the boys had a great time. Next week we'll be looking at Slovakia. 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Day #82/175 Days

Together School:

  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud - began reading By the Shores of Silver Lake. In the beginning of the book Laura talks about the travels they've taken. I was able to print a map (from Homeschool in the Woods - TOS Crew members are reviewing them - they are great!) that showed the US in 1880 and traced the route the Ingalls family may have taken. 
  • Matthew Chapter 5
  • Lent Devotional/Study
Lego-Man:
  • Private Devotions
  • Mathletics 
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor:
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathletics
  • Facts First
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy:
  • Mathletics
  • Facts First
  • Head of the Class

Friday, February 19, 2010

Day #81/175 Days

Together School

  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (finished On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Matthew Chapter 4
  • Lent Study
  • Handel Composer Study
Lego-Man
  • Private Devotions
  • Mathletics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathletics
  • Facts First
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy
  • Facts First
  • Mathletics
  • Head of the Class (free on-line/printable worksheet curriculum. PreK to Grade 2 up on the site.)
  • Wii Fit

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Day #80/175 Days

Together School

  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Matthew Chapter 3
  • Poem ("The Swing")
  • Lent devotions (Celebrate Jesus! At Easter)
  • Madsen Method/English for Life
  • Grapevine studies
  • Handel Composer Study
Lego-Man
  • Private Devotions
  • Mathletics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Began "Galaxies" lapbook from Hands of a Child
  • Blog update
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathletics
  • Facts First
  • Began "Galaxies" lapbook from HOC
  • Played Mancala with Mom (this kid is GOOD!)
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy
  • Read: Thomas and the Magic Railroad: Diesel 10 Means Trouble by Britt Alcroft
  • AWANA verses
  • Rod and Staff book
  • Facts First
  • Zoodles - games here
  • Wii Fit
Conductor and  Happy watched a video called "The Little Travelers: The British Isles." There are two little girls ages probably 6 and 8 who travel through the British Isles and narrate what they do. It showcases things that are special about each country in Great Britain. 

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Day #79/175 Days

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Mathletics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathletics
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
We spent the afternoon at a local college. Every year during February vacation (for public school kids) they host a "Hands-On Science Fair." The first time we went was last year. This year I only had my three boys with me but we did meet up with  my sister and nephew there. I think the boys had a good time. Here are some photos from the day...

The boys showing off their flubber aka slime.


A close up of the flubber. Mom didn't read the directions carefully so we dumped all of our "gar gum" right in without doing it slowly & stirring a lot. We all had clumps. It still gelled up really well though.

This was in the "physics" room. The tube Conductor is holding made sounds like thunder when you shook it & then let the coil hanging out of the bottom touch the ground. Very cool, but very loud. That's my nephew watching him.

Conductor - the architect. He built a plane/rocket ship out of cardboard and paper.

Testing it's flight. The gentleman in the photo was an engineer helping the kids build things. 

Happy sporting a hard hat in the building room.

Checking out the touch tank. Happy & Conductor touched things this year.

We skipped the shark presentation as I wasn't sure we could sit through it again. We were only there for about 1-1/2 hours but it seemed about right. The boys got to try pretty much everything and seemed content with what we accomplished. After all - they each left with a cup of slime. Does it really get much better than that for boys?

Monday, February 15, 2010

Day #78/175 Days

Together School

  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Matthew 2
  • Homeschool Devotional ("National Ferris Wheel Day")
  • Madsen Method
  • Handel Composer Study
  • Discussed Lent & Easter. We'll begin using this book on Wednesday. 
Lego-Man
  • Mathletics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • Mathletics
  • Wii Fit

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Day #77/175 Days

Saturday school again. My oldest has deemed it "against all laws of science and nature." I just smile.

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Mathletics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Update blog with photo (he's participating in a kids Project 365)
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC typing
  • Mathletics
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Facts First
  • Math Mammoth
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy

Friday, February 12, 2010

Day #76/175 Days

Together School

  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Matthew 1
  • Poem ("Singing")
  • 24 Family Ways
  • Grapevine Studies
  • Story of the World 3
  • Handel Composer Study
  • Outdoor Winter Challenge

I ordered a Winter Nature Study with Art and Music Appreciation from Barb over at The Handbook of Nature Study. We just started it so we are doing the January studies and the first nature study was on cattails. There is a large growth of cattails at the bottom of our road about three miles away. We drove down and just parked right next to them so the boys could easily see them without getting blown away. We had discussed them a bit before heading down. I did go out and snap a few photos and I also took one off for the boys to feel. The wind picked up and blew seeds all over my jacket but it was really  neat to see. The boys completed their journaling pages and drew pictures of them as did I. I think we're going to like this.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Day #75/175 Days

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Mathlectics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathlectics
  • Facts First
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
AWANA Club - two hours - for all three boys

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Day #74/175 Days

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Mathlectics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathlectics
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Day #73/175 Days - Field Trip


Today we headed to Bangor. We live about an hour and a half away. Conductor needs some orthodontia work and so we'll probably be heading this way a lot. I didn't want to loose an entire day of school & I knew none of us would want to do any when we got home so I put together a little field trip.

We went to the University of Maine Museum of Art (UMMA) right in downtown Bangor. The boys have only been to one other art museum. We did a tour of the Colby College Art Museum a couple years ago. That was much larger and we did a guided tour. The UMMA is small. It has one large exhibit room and another smaller one.

I did find it amusing when we arrived. Granted, I have three boys but I will say they are generally very well behaved. We talk beforehand about appropriate behavior such as no running or yelling, appropriate things to where we'll be going. Overall they do very well. I could see the people there get visible nervous though.

The gentleman behind the desk was very nice and gave us three scavenger hunts to use to help make it more enjoyable. I had printed a few things off to try from the educational resources right on their website, but this was easier to do and would keep them engaged the entire time. It was a double sided sheet of paper with a small piece of different paintings or sculptures and the boys had to find the artist and title for each one.

The smaller room off the foyer had sculptures in it done by David Isenhour. They were definitely surreal. He uses casts of real body parts to create them. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take photos of anything in the museum. My favorite sculpture was right in the entryway. It looked like a tree but the bottom of the trunk had feet coming out & the branches had hands. Then there were whimsical looking birds perched on the branches.

In the larger room were paintings by Meg Chase - some were just enormous! There were also watercolors by  Gerald Immonen. However, the favorites for all of us were the sculptures made entirely of clothespins well with some conduit and wire to hold them together. Those, however, blended in so your eye tended to skip past that and you just saw the clothespins. I actually had one of the men who work there start through the exhibit - while we were still checking out the Meg Chase paintings, double back, and ask that I make sure the boys didn't touch anything especially the clothespin structures. They were standing quietly looking at a painting at the time. I just smiled and said I would. Next time I'm going to make sure they are all wearing their unsocialized homeschooler t-shirts.

Overall it made for an interesting trip. We obviously have not done a lot of art observation. There were some Winslow Homer paintings there as well that we were able to check out. Although, those made a bigger impact on me than the boys - at this point anyway. We may or may not come back after the exhibits change at some point, but considering it was a free field trip - it was very  much worth it.

I snapped this photo outside looking down in to the closed garden area.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Day #72/175 Days

Together School
  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Psalm 7
  • Proverbs 7
  • Poem ("The Swing") - they almost have it memorized
  • 24 Family Ways (getting back in to this one)
  • Homeschool Devotional - discovered this book sitting in a pile of books and pulled it out. It's great! We did the reading from January 9th since we're doing a field trip tomorrow. January 9th is "Pay-A-Compliment Day." We discussed what compliments are. Each boy wrote down seven for each brother and we put them in a jar. We'll pull them out during the week to read to each other. There is also a scripture that goes with it, discussion questions, and craft/activity. I highly recommend this book.
  • Madsen Method/English for Life
  • Story of the World 3 - our first day! Yeah!
  • Handel and the Court of Kings - began reading
Lego-Man
  • Private Devotions
  • Mathletics
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Mathletics
  • Olympic Lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy

  • Facts First
  • Math Mammoth
  • AWANA
  • Scissor Practice book
  • AAS Beehive Reader
  • Thomas Book - Learning Collection
  • Wii Fit

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Day #71/175 Days

Yup, I made them do school on a Saturday. I want to catch up some days so we're able to take a nice break this summer.

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Math Score
  • Critter Coral (from abcTeach - lesson on perimeters)
  • Orchestra match - matching instruments to sections
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Olympic lapbook
  • Paste completed lapbook elements into folders
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Math Score
  • Orchestra match-up
  • Olympic labpook
  • Paste completed lapbook elements into folders
  • Worksheets on direction and sentences
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy (all found at abcTeach or downloads I had)
  • Scissor Sheets
  • Letter Find
  • Number math
  • Word trace
  • Patterns and counting
  • Transportation match
  • Butterfly paper (colors/shapes)
  • "B" page (writing)

Friday, February 5, 2010

Day #70/175 Days

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Math Score
  • Facts First
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • First Facts
  • Math Score
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Day #69/175 Days

Together School

  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Psalm 4
  • Proverbs 4
  • Poem ("The Swing")
  • Grapevine
  • Story of the World (volume 2 is DONE!)
Lego-Man
  • Private Devotions
  • Math Score
  • Facts First
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Tooth Book
  • Olympic lapbook
  • Tooth lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • First Facts
  • Math Score
  • Tooth Book
  • Olympic lapbook
  • Tooth lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy
  • AWANA
  • AAS Beehive Reader
  • Math Mammoth 
  • Scissor Practice book
  • Played Hi Ho Cherry-O!
  • Wii Fit

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Day #68/175 Days

Lego-Man

  • Private Devotions
  • Math Score
  • Facts First
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • Math-U-See
  • AWANA
  • Bee Book
  • Tooth Book
  • Olympic lapbook (2 mini-books)
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Conductor
  • Private Devotions
  • Math-U-See
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA
  • BBC Typing
  • Facts First
  • Math Score
  • Bee Book
  • Tooth Book
  • Olympic lapbook
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Happy
  • Facts First
  • AWANA verse
  • Math Mammoth
  • Scissor Practice book
  • Played Hi Ho Cheery-O!
  • AAS Beehive Reader
  • Wii Fit

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Day #67/175 Days

Work boxes first:

Lego-Man:

  • Private Devotions
  • Math Score
  • First Facts
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal 
  • MUS
  • AWANA verses
  • Teeth Book *
  • Bee Book *
  • Bee activity pages *
  • Assigned reading (still working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy)
  • Wii Fit
Conductor:
  • Private Devotions
  • MUS
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA verses
  • BBC Typing
  • First Facts
  • Math Score
  • Teeth Book *
  • Bee Book *
  • Bee activity pages *
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit
Together School:
  • Popcorn Prayer
  • Pledge of Allegience
  • National Anthem
  • Read Aloud (On the Banks of Plum Creek)
  • Proverbs 2
  • Poem ("The Swing")
  • Grapevine Studies (overview of the Old Testament)
  • Story of the World (only one chapter left!)
  • Madsen Method

* I spent time last night looking through my hard drive at various ebooks and freebies I have downloaded over time. The "tooth book" and the "bee book" are old books (think 1900s) that are written to children about those subjects. The tooth one was written by a dentist. Conductor is looking at possibly needing some teeth pulled or braces or both. He has inherited his mother's small mouth that results in overcrowded teeth. The bee book helps fill our much neglected science this year. I also have free lapbooks that go with each subject so I will be using those as well. I'm not sharing links as these were all freebies from the past - copyright and all that.

The bee activity pages were found at abcTeach. One is a bee coloring page (actually clip art) and the other is a page on similes taken from a larger set of pages. 

Monday, February 1, 2010

Day #66/175 Days

Lego-Man:

  • Private Devotions
  • Math Score
  • First Facts
  • BBC Typing
  • Writing Journal
  • MUS
  • AWANA verses
  • Olympics (This has been frustrating and reappearing in Lego-Man's box. He insists he can't find all the answers. I insist all the info is there if he'll only read it.)
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit

Conductor:
  • Private Devotions
  • MUS
  • Writing Journal
  • AWANA verses
  • BBC Typing
  • Math Score
  • First Facts
  • Assigned Reading
  • Wii Fit