Homeschooling

Happy thoughts

Ocho, Nueve

Main lesson book

Entomology

Syrendell

Call Jose

Home

Ornithology

Open minds

Loving home

Ichthyology

Nutcracker

Going on field trips

Winter Letter poem

White, Purple, Green, Blue

Icicles, Frost, and, Ice

Not bright colors like

Turquoise and orange

Exciting snowmen and snow angels

Rapid winds of coldness

Thanksgiving poem

Thanksgiving..............

Turkey,

Happy,

After Halloween,

Never bad,

Kicking fun,

Soon coming,

Good food,

Incredible time,

Vivid memories,

Indoors and out,

Not crazy,

Giving and Thanks

Ceramics class

Every Thursday, Ricky and I go to a ceramics class at Alpha Fired Arts. At the class we get to throw on the wheel and hand build. On the wheel I have made a pencil holder, a plate, and a few bowls. I have hand built a birdhouse, a cornucopia, a mushroom, a pumpkin, and a wall hanging. I have lots of fun!

Volcano letter poem

Volcanoes have an

Open top,

Loud rumble,

Core and crust,

Awful roar,

Never ending lava,

Outrageous eruptions

Flow of water

Last week, we went to the Explorit Science Center in Davis. The Explorit Science Center is really fun because it is mostly for kids and is hands-on. When we went there, there was an exhibit on water flow. It was a big metal platform with sides so it can hold sand in it. The bottom of the holder was at an angle. At the highest part of it, there was a faucet with a little bit of water coming out. You were supposed to move the sand in different ways to make tunnels, winding paths, and more. At first we just made little paths and tunnels, then we made a really meandering path that went all of the way to the bottom. We had lots of fun.

When water flows in nature, it goes to the deepest areas in the ground, such as oceans and rivers. Sometimes, water will erode mountains and banks of rivers. Sand can also collect into sand bars. Water can form a delta or an alluvial fan (we saw pictures of these). Glaciers can melt, scraping and shaping mountains. The beaches, mountains, rivers and deltas are found in California and many other places around the world.

Theseus poem

This past week during S.S. I learned about Theseus and the Minotaur. I made up a poem and put in my main lesson book. Here it is:

Ariadne's ball of thread

Theseus a hero

The Minotaur dead

Under the palace, in a maze

Down in the middle

The dead Minotaur lays

Fire Experiment

A few days ago we did a fire experiment. We lit different things on fire and took notes on interesting things each one did. We lit a tea candle, an acorn, a piece of paper, a corn husk, a strand of hair, and cotton fabric.





Data


Tea candle:

• Fire color is blue on the bottom
• Fire color is orange on the top
• When moved, flame moves other way
  

Acorn:

• Smokes
• Smells like burnt wood
• Did not catch on fire easily

Paper:

• Turns brown
• Curls
• Smokes
• Smells like roasted marshmellows

Corn husk:

• Burned quickly
• Curled
• Twisted
• Didn't stay lit for very long

Hair:

• Sparks
• Burns really fast
  

Cotton fabric:

• Left yellow residue
• Burns quickly
• Turns see-through

We also did two more experiments. One was seeing what would happen whe we put a tea candle on a plate with a jar over it, and another with water on the plate.

Data

When the candle is under a jar it snuffs out the oxygen, since fire needs oxygen, the flame goes out. It takes about 15 seconds.

When there is water on the plate, the jar acts like a vaccuum and sucks up all of the water as the flame goes out.

Candle Dipping

Yesterday, we made candles. We made them by dipping wick in hot beeswax. Ricky and I made one set, which has two candles, because you make one on both ends of the wick. My Mom made two sets, because one was for her and the other was for Wilson, but he didn't want to do it.

First, we started by taking turns dipping the wick into the container with the hot beeswax in it. We kept on dipping until the candles were about pencil size. Then, we rolled them on a piece of tinfoil to make it more straight and round. Then, we dipped some more and rolled some more until they got really big. Last, we cut the bottoms, dipped it, put them in cold water, and let them dry.

It took about 2 hours, but it was definitely worth it. We had lots of fun!

Here are some pictures of the terrarium that I also made this week:

Insect Poem (letter poem)

Insects are

Neat Insects aren't

Sweet Insects are

Edible Insects are

'Credible Insects are

Tiny or large Insects

Sometimes do barge

The Workshop

Last Sunday, we had a Syrendell workshop for homeschoolers. I needlefelted the word Syrendell and the snail onto the felt for our sign (above). There were three moms, one dad, two two-year olds, and one baby. The first thing that we did was sign in. After that, we had circle time in the front yard. We sang songs and threw around the bean bag to learn each other's names. Ricky lit and Wilson blew out the candle. We chanted a sharing song while passing bean bags.

After circle time, my Dad talked to the parents about Waldorf education and homeschooling. While he was talking, my Mom and I watched the kids and played with them. Then we had a break for snacks and everyone learned how to do watercoloring.

After the break, my Mom taught the other Moms how to card fiber, needle felt and spin. I demonstrated on the spinning wheel while they were doing their crafts. After they had been doing that for a while, My Dad, another Dad, and I went with the kids on a nature hunt. We were looking for anything interesting, but especially big acorn caps for a project. Only one kid found one big enough for the project. While we were on the nature hunt, my Mom and the other Moms were still doing their fiber arts.

One thing that the Moms were supposed to needle felt was a rectangle that was about four by two inches. The project was making an acorn person! The rectangle was the dress/cape and the acorn was its hat. The base was an already-made wooden person figure. The Moms glued the dress and acorn cap onto the person.

After that, we ate lunch outside. Then, we had a drum circle in the front yard. After that, the parents wrote a verse for their child, and as a group we made up an ending of the circle song. The last thing we did was our ending circle time. We sang songs, people read their verses, and we also sang the group song that we made up at the end. That was our fun workshop!

Nutcracker

This last weekend, there were Nutcracker auditions at the Sacramento Ballet Company. Sydney, Emily and I went to audition. Sydney and I auditioned for the part of a Party Girl and both got the part! If we didn't get that, then we would keep on auditioning for other things like Surgar Plum Fairy Attendants and Chinese Attendents. Emily auditioned for a part as a Candy Cane and got the part. She could have also had been an Angel. We are all glad that we got the parts we wanted.

The first rehearsal for Sydney and I were the day after that. During the rehearsal instead of practicing we had to first find out which of the three casts we were going to be in. Sydney and I both got in the same cast since we are cousins. On that same day they showed us who our partners are going to be. The second rehearsal was on Tuesday, that was when we got to practice the main dance of our part.

The day of our second rehearsal was Mr. Cunningham, the Director of the Nutcracker's, Birthday. He told at the very end of the rehearsal that it was his birthday. He said that it was very special for us to dance on his birthday. I thought that is was nice of him to say that. I can't wait for our next rehearsal!

Playing Guitar

I started playing the guitar about three months ago at Music Bloom. I am still taking lessons there. It is also where my brother, Ricky, takes clarinet lessons. My teacher's name is Richard. He is also one of the owners. The other owner is Zorana, and she teaches the piano. I have a small guitar because my body is too small for a normal sized one. My songs that I am working on right now are The Climb, Ready Set Don't Go, and the song that my dad and I made up, Complicated. Each year there is a recital. At the recital, each student has to play from one to three songs. Unless if they just started taking lessons at Music Bloom. Last year I played a different song that we made up, this year I will play a new song that we made up. I can't wait untill the recital!

Fairy House

A few days ago I made a fairy house. I used pieces of pinecone, leaves, sticks, acorns, lichen, fairy dust (sunflower flowers), and more. I also made a fairy to go along with the house. She had a leaf as her dress, a pebble as her head, and a broken acorn as her hair. Everything was from outside, except for superglue. I only used it to glue the pebble to the leaf for the fairy, but nothing for the house.

We got finger puppet gnomes from Diana of Artemis Moon. They could also just be toys if you put an acorn in them like what I did. I used them as the fairy's guests. I had lots of fun building and playing with the house and fairy!

Grandma and Grandpa

Today my Grandma and Grandpa came over with their dog Fay. We went to our neighbor, Vickie's house and talked for awhile. Then, we came back to eat lunch and take pictures. After we were done, they left. I had a lot of fun seeing my Grandparents.

The treasure hunt on the first day

On the first day of homeschooling, we had a treasure hunt. For this hunt we started with the first clue then went on after that. Then the last clue, led us to sheets of paper with math problems to figure out (Ricky, Wilson, and I each got different problems). After we finished, It showed us a picture of where our treasure was hidden. Ricky and I got knitting needles, and Wilson got a snail.The treasure hunt was very cool!

Band concert

This past Saturday, Ricky, all of the Vivace Studio music students, and I had a band concert. We went to the Elk Grove First Baptist church to perform. In the morning we had a rehearsal, and in the afternoon we had the actual concert. In-between the two we ate lunch. After the concert I was very relieved. Mostly because I did a good job!

Great Harvest Bread Company Tour

On Wednesday we went to the GHBC (Great Harvest Bread Company) for a tour. We first went into the back and got to watch the owner make some dough.

Then, we let it sit so that the yeast can make it rise. While we were waiting, he taught us about the flour and showed us the machine that grinds it.

Then, we saw how much the dough rose (it rose a lot).

After that, we went to this big table with flour on it and kneeded the dough that he made (we each got a piece).

Later on, after he put them into the oven, we had a Q and A part where we asked him a question and he answered, then gave us a piece of bread that he had made. We had lots of fun at the GHBC!