66

Piano lesson and zoo class today. E also finished answering her questions about Uranus and labeled an outline map of Australia.

55,56

Yesterday E had a great piano lesson, and then we went to the library for about an hour--they were having storytime and we all checked out books. E wanted the librarian to request a book for her, but the librarian ended up trying to show her how to do it herself on the computer. Not sure how much of it stuck. Then E did a Draw Write Now page and after lunch she had her Habitats class at the zoo.
Today we went first thing to the orthodontist, so I wasn't sure how much school we'd get done, but we actually got back about the time we usually start school. I had E "narrate" from the story she'd been reading in the car, about Jason and the Argonauts from Collier's The Junior Classics Book 3, Myths and Legends. Then I read Gravity is a Mystery and The Beginning of the Earth, both by Franklyn M. Branley. We looked at some cool graphics of the breakup of Pangaea in National Geographic's pop up/moveable book The Earth Pack, and also a cool animation of the same. Then we did an activity called Egg Tectonics, using the shell of a hard-boiled egg to demonstrate the movement of the tectonic plates, and then we cut up the egg to show how it resembles the earth's crust, mantle and core. We also looked at a moveable of how the Himalayas were formed by tectonic action in Rocks & Minerals by Dougal Dixon. All this takes almost longer to type than it actually took to do.
I read a bit of Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome by Marissa Moss, and also the beginning of Spend the Day in Ancient Rome by Linda Honan, and we broke for lunch and Peep. Then E did her math lesson and helped me finish building a paper model of the earth, with a cutaway to show the core (T has already managed to dent it, much to everyone's dismay). Now she is finishing her questions about Venus, and then we're either going to stop or make bullas, a project in the Honan book. So, a pretty full day after all!

48,49

Yesterday after her piano lesson, E went to her zoo class. Then we had a great Halloween party! Today we saw Peter and the Wolf at the Children's Theatre--it was a charming production and T was very scared by the wolf and very proud for Peter. E narrated "The Man-Eating Horses" labor of Heracles from Amery's Greek Myths for Young Children, then I read "The Amazon Queen's Belt" and "The Cattle of Geryon". We also read about Theseus and the Minotaur, Pygmalion and Galatea, and Eros and Psyche. Then in the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths I read about King Midas, Sisyphus, and Bellerophon. E did her math, and worked on her mat. We tried making a Greek pot, from Laurie Carlson's Classical Kids, but somehow it kept collapsing, so Alan said he'd give it a go with her tonight. And she asked me to read Aristotle and Scientific Thought by Steve Parker.

38

We don't usually end up doing much "school" on Wednesdays, because after piano in the morning, we usually go to the library, and then it's the afternoon and somehow my "teaching brain" doesn't work too well in the afternoon. But today we came straight home after piano, because mom and dad are taking E to her habitat class at the zoo so I can get my hair cut, and I needed to get everything together for them. So we did a narration on the birth of Heracles up to his being told to go be a slave to Eurystheus, from Amery's _Greek Myths for Young Children_, then I read from the D'Aulaires' _Book of Greek Myths_, about Artemis and Actaeon, and Orion. I read To Root, to Toot, to Parachute: What is a Verb? by Brian P. Cleary, and had E do 4 pages on verbs in her grammar workbook, while T watched Peep. Now we have had lunch and are relaxing until Grandma and Grandpa come, and E will go to her Habitats class at the zoo.

37

for narration we had the story of Arachne from Amery's _Greek Myths for Young Children_, then I read some more chapters out of the D'Aulaire's Greek Myths book--Poseidon and the births of Artemis and Apollo. Then we read Shooting Stars and The Moon Seems to Change both by Franklyn M. Branley. We went online and watched an animation of the moon phases changing as the moon orbits the earth, an animation of a lunar eclipse, and an animation demonstrating the impact theory of the moon's formation. I gave her a page of pictures of the moon's phases (from this site) and we looked up what the moon looked like on her birthday and on T's. Then I let them watch Peep and wonder of wonders, it was about how the moon seems to change in the sky! My homeschooling luck is so good this week! I wish it would work on the lottery...Anyway, after lunch E did her math review--she does well but doesn't pay enough attention to which operation the problem is presenting--if the first one in a series is addition, she adds them all, even the subtraction problems. And I'm not sure but what she might need some more regrouping practice--we'll see if the book presents any more of that or not. We finished making the paper models of the Platonic bodies (well, I put together the dodecahedron and the icosahedron--but she did the pyramid, cube, and octahedron all by herself). Now she is finishing her homework from the Habitat class at the zoo, and then I think I might have her work on her first Gee Art lesson.

31

Today our regular teacher (Me) was sick, so we had our substitute teacher (Sick Me) teaching. Unfortunately, she was too lazy to be bothered to follow the detailed lesson plans laid out for her. She skipped narration and went straight to finishing the USGS Map Adventures packet--winding up with learning about map grids and scales. E got the grids right away--less so the scale--but then I don't think I've ever used the scale on a map anyway. Then E was dispatched to math while T watched Peep and Mom had a lie down. Post math, E did some more of her zoo homework while T beat Mommy with two balloons. Lunch, and then a scavenger hunt in the backyard. One of the items to find was "Something with words on it" for which she impishly handed me back my own list ("See, it has words on it, Mommy!" Indeed.) Now they are "washing" dolly clothes, which has got to count for some kind of educational whatsit, I dunno. They're having too much fun and getting along with each other too well for me to break it up now, even though I threatened to make them clean up the mess in the basement today.

30

started with narration: Damon and Pythias from _50 Famous Stories Retold_. Then we did some more lessons from the USGS Map Adventures packet and E drew a map of our house. Then I read The Sun by Allison Lassieur and looked at the sun in various wavelengths, then watched some animations of 3 kinds of solar eclipse. We had lunch and E worked on her homework from her Habitats class at the zoo (which included some drawing and handwriting), then she watched Peep with T and did her math.

29

A crazy day...E's piano lesson then library then T's Dr. appt. then pharmacy, lunch, and on to E's zoo class.

19

This morning E had her piano lesson first thing, then we went to the library, and I checked out several books about spiders, since we have the two big spiders performing their web shows for us every day now. Once home, E had to do some math, while T watched Peep and the Great Big World, a science show for preschoolers. Then to the zoo, for E's first Habitats class. I think she was disappointed because she expected it to be like R said Zoofari zoo camp was, and of course it's more like a class (no play time, no snacks). So hard to say if it was worth the money just yet. Now she has to finish her math, then she can read or whatever.