Viola Swamp!

Zoe and I had a special Mommy and Zoe day and went to see "Miss Nelson is Missing!" at the Dallas Childrens Theater.  We love the DCT and have been to 2 camps and several productions.  It never disappoints.  The set looked exactly like the book (thanks, Jamie, for the book!) including scribble marks.  Zoe loved the show.  We got to sit on the front row and met a really nice homeschool family.

Then, we had our celebration to finish the end of our Brazil studies.  We went to the Rainforest Cafe!  Blake and Craig met us there and we got new books about being flower girls in Blake's wedding!  We ate under a night sky right by the aquarium.  We walked around and found lots of animals that we had studied.  (You might notice it is Zoe's week with the Blue Parrot from school!)

Thanks for coming with us Blake and Craig!  It's always more fun when you're there! 

We watched the crocodile from a safe distance.

Everyone got to pick one small animal from the huge gift store full of rainforest animals.  Somehow, we came home with a giraffe and a koala bear.  Sigh.  But it was still a fun celebration of everything we have learned!

Everybody cluck!

Today we finished up our study of Brazil.  We made a list of all the things we learned - it was very impressive!  It included Santa, swimming, rainforest facts, cultural traditions, cheese bread, and our very special Aunt Debora!  We ended by reading a Brazilian fairy tale from this beautiful book:

We compared it to Snow White - there was a beautiful princess (of course), some magical oranges, a prince (groan), and of course, an evil witch.  We were satisfied.  Then, we Mod Podged (is that a verb?) our Brazil travel sticker onto our suitcase.

We are going to the farm on Friday, so we are doing a few farm activities.  I printed out the names of a few farm animals and held them up one at a time.  They had to read them and then act them out.  They  learned how to read cow, goat, chicken, and pig quickly.  Below are two very convincing chickens.

I found a fun farm game and puzzle and it turned out to be a big hit!  Lucy found parts of the farm that were on the game while Zoe did the puzzle.  Then we found things on the farm that started with different letters and talked about what we might see on our visit to the farm.

Then it was off to dance class, home for a rest, and time to ice skate.  Everyone advanced to the higher level of class for next week.

It sounds like an orange

This was the most profound observation made (by Lucy) during our Science Friday.  Today, we focused on the 5 senses and making observations.  We rotated around the house doing a different investigation at each station.

At the smelling station, we talking about smells that we liked (cookies baking) and didn't like (poop).  Then we smelled different cups.  The goal was to find 3 pairs that had the same smell, but that part didn't really pan out.

Then we learned about hearing.  We learned the word vibration and saw that when we held the triangle with our hand, it didn't vibrate much so the sound wasn't as loud.  Holding it by the string worked much better.  Ava is giving it a try here.

Olivia is trying to figure out which cup has beads and which has dirt by listening to the sounds they make.

Then we went to the touching station.  We touched fuzzy things, soft things, smooth things, and scratchy things (like this sandpaper).

The last station was tasting.  We tasted a salty pretzel, a sour pickle, spicy salsa, fizzy coke, and a sweet fruit snack.

Chloe did not care for the sour pickle.

Then it was time for the grand finale!  Everyone got a cup of Rice Krispies.  We described what they looked like, what they smelled like, and how they felt.  Then, we poured milk and listened to the crackling.  Lucy and Olivia are listening very carefully.  Lucy thought it sounded like an orange.

Then, the best part!  We thought they tasted great!

After some upstairs playtime, we had a little lunch (and a pink rice krispie treat for dessert).

Had a tea party...

And told our friends goodbye.  The girls still wanted to do more school (!) so we read some rainforest books and searched for the animals in our card set in all the books.  We were glad the Great Kapok Tree was not cut down in the end.  Hard to beat a Lynne Cherry book in my opinion.

Zoe worked on a puzzle that has to be put together in alphabetical order.

Whew - busy day at school.  Now for the administration-imposed mandatory nap time!

Spear Fishing

Today was a pretty typical day.  We did calendar and counting (Lucy made it to 30 all by herself!) and found some favorite places on our map.  Zoe wrote a letter (check those mailboxes!) and Lucy stamped some D's although the ink was a little dried out so she was annoyed.

Then we took a relaxing break and listened to Caps for Sale and Knufflebunny on CD.

We did a few boring worksheets.

We have been learning about the rainforest and today we talked about the Amazon River.  We painted fish and put them in our river.  We talked about how people who live near the river fish in it to feed their families and we did some spear fishing ourselves with wooden skewers.  They weren't quite up to the task so we had to help them with our hands.

Mmmm....a good fish supper tonight!

We had a fun playdate in Allie's closet and checked out Maggie's new pool this evening.  We approved.

Back in the saddle

Today was our first day back after the break.  It was a little tough to get into the routine.  I got my first push-back from Zoe, but we recovered pretty easily.  I think we are moving into areas that are a little tough for her, so we are both learning how to maneuver these new waters (that was diplomatic!).

We worked with pattern blocks.  I sold our easier set as they were too easy for her but these are tough!

Zoe made a "very hard" pattern herself!

We worked on handwriting.  Zoe's letter formation needs work, but it is tedious!  This is where I got the push-back.

We started working on word families.  Today's family was "-ab."  She decided she would read all the words backwards today.  Ha.  Ha.

After dance class, we sorted animal cards and pom poms.

Then we went ice skating!

Lucy is really getting the hang of it!  She is trying to go backwards and wiggle her bottom.  She has such a knack for physical things.  Takes after her mother, that one.

Zoe took a hard fall.  Thank goodness for helmets.  I was so proud of her for staying out there and trying again.

Oof!

Zoe ended on a great note - way to go!

Sweet Science

We learned that Brazilians like to eat candy made from sugar cane, so we attempted to make some rock candy.

First, "we" boiled the water, then we added sugar...

Poured it in...

And stirred.  We talked about dissolving and saturation.  We kept adding sugar until we couldn't dissolve any more.  Then we added color.

We put skewers for the crystals to grow on.  So far, no luck.  We are patient but a little bummed out.  We will have to try to explain our findings after a few more days.  That's how it goes with science, but it's a little disappointing when candy is involved!

1+1=???

We are working to get back on a schedule here at Smithey Science Academy.  But my difficult trip to Pittsburgh reminded me how lucky I am to be able to spend this time with my kids.

Here is a "catch-up" post - from before the trip.

At SSAFG (we need a catchier acronym) we have a pretty lax uniform policy, but generally, we don't school in pjs.  The exception to this is on Tuesday mornings.  We have dance class at 10:30 and the options are: 1. school in pjs til time to get ready 2. get dressed, school, then go get ready (problem: getting ready twice and more laundry) 3. get ready for dance class then have school (problem: have you taken a potty break with tights, tutus, and leotards?)  So we break our rule once a week.

We have discovered Tumblebooks.  Zoe especially likes doing this - the whole computer thing is new to the girls (as watching them maneuver a mouse would reveal) even though Lucy can work her way around an iPhone!  The other day, Zoe spouted a random seahorse fact she learned from a Tumblebook.

Lucy can find Brazil on the map all by herself!

This is the funniest part of school.  I have Zoe "teach" Lucy her weekly sight words.  Zoe always begins with "Hello little girl!  I am your teacher.  What is your name?"

Zoe working on an activity where she has to match the lowercase letter to the picture.  Sorting through all the letters was frustrating but good practice.  

Lucy and I played an easier version of the game.  I gave her pictures and a few letters and she matched them.  She is good at this!  She is pretty secure on letters and sounds now.

After dance class, we worked on addition a little bit.  This tested our patience!  Counting groups of things is still very hard for Zoe.  Not sure what's behind it, but we are working on it!

Lucy practiced counting too...sortof.

One cool thing about homeschool is how the girls return to their school materials from earlier in the day during playtime.