So when I decided to start a blog chronicling our home-school journey and other various adventures I thought it would be pretty simple. I mean how long does it take to upload a few pics and write captions?
Well apparently more time than I have to spare.
Here are a few highlights from our Chicago trip.
Co-op Thursdays
A few weeks ago the CHC student counsel organized a bike day to take place during the lunch hour. Samantha brought her tricycle, Matthew brought his roller blades, and true to form Kaitlyn didn't participate.
Farm day in tot school
Playing in the corn bin.
Painting pigs with "mud"( aka wet coffee)
With her cotton ball sheep.
Before that we studied insects.
We made bug antennas
We had a butterfly snack. The raisins were supposed to be used to create dots on the wings but all the kids were like: "Oh Butterfly poop!"
The dirt filled, bug filled sensory box was a hit! I think this was the most loved bin of all the different units!
One of Samantha's favorite things at co-op is music class! Here they are playing with their egg shakers
Here is Kaitlyn in her JR. 1st Lego League class. They build and program lego robots.
Matthew in P.E. class.
I am so grateful for the opportunities the children have at co-op. Matthew loves all of his classes. Just earlier he was singing me this rhyme her learned in his Wild Animal class about habitats. Kaitlyn is working on a gigantic water bottle chandelier in her Recycled Art. I love all my tots I teach and I also love lunch time chats with the other moms.
History
In history lately we have been taking a small break from studying the Egyptians and we started studying some of the other cultures and civilizations around them-the Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Hebrews. We read about how woman and children were responsible for carrying water in clay jugs on their heads some times for miles everyday. So of course we had to try this for ourselves:
They did surprisingly well with this activity but I am very glad we have running water!
When studying ancient Mesoptamia you have to read the Epic of Gilgamesh. Of course the real day wasn't great for my 8, 6, and 3 yr old but we checked out these 3 beautifully illustrated books from the library and the kids loved them:
After reading all 3 books we also listend to Jim Weiss read the SOTW version while coloring a picture of Gilgamesh and the lion. The 2 stories were very similar but some of the details varied. This gave us a chance to discuss why this may be and Oral tradition.
We also read "The Winged Cat" and "Abu Ali Three tales of the Middle East" as well as our Usborne Encyclopedia.
We read "Ancient Egypt -You Choose" that I bought at the curriculum fair last year. I had been really excited about it but I would NOT recommend it . The idea of choosing your own path in a book sounds fun but it is poorly written and uninteresting. I was so dissapointed but glad I decided not to buy more of this series as I almost did.
We also often read sections/did projects from the books "Ancient Israelites and their neighbors" and "Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors",
These 2 books are great! Honestly these two books by themselves could be the backbone of an entire history curriculum insteadd of a supplement as we are using them. They have a lot of good information and a ton of hands on projects! I wish we had time to do more.
Science
Since both Kaitlyn and Matthew are taking science classes at co-op we haven't been doing a lot of it at home. Kaitlyn spends a good portion of her morning reading on her own and part of that reading time is devoted to reading science materials. Here is what she has been reading the past 2 weeks:
She has been kind of on an ocean animal's kick lately and I think it may be because of our recent trip to Shedd's Aquarium. She loves anything she can see,feel, touch.
We also went on a field trip this week to the Audubon Center. I love the Audubon center-they put on the best field trips! This is the 2nd time we have been there and both programs have been wonderful!
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. But here is what we did:
- learned about the different types of nests that birds make by examining actual bird nest types
- (did you know hummingbirds use spiderwebs in their nests so that they will expand as their baby birds grow?)
- Used the telescopes and binoculars to find and identify birds- we even saw a bald eagle!
- We played a super fun game to learn about bird survival. They had set up 20 stations outside and each station had something that happened to your bird-ran into a glass building rub your head while you count to 20 and move back 2 spaces, find a bird feeder full of food rub your tummy 10 times and move forward 4 spaces, etc. Kaitlyn played by herself and apprently her bird couldn't find food and died. Matthew, Samantha and I however survived! Yeah!
- I also ended up purchasing this really neat bird guide
- I already owned a bird guide but this one is organized by color and it is so much easier to find the bird I am trying to look up!
To end our bird study day we cam home and watched an episode of Wild Kratts about Raptors. We don't usually watch cartoons to fulfill and educational need but we also had a dentist appointment to make that day and honestly I learn quite a bit from Wild Kratts!
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