Slices of Life

Wow!  Thanks to all of you who've been checking out my blog during the last few days.  I logged on today to find I've made 1,500 page views!  That was just amazing. I haven't posted anything since we've been without power/ Internet since hurricane Sandy came through on Monday.  We still are without power for most things, but my wonderful husband, not only hooked us up to a generator, but also left a portable device with me that enables me to use the Internet!! It's amazing how quickly we become accustomed to technology and feel so lost without it. Part of my hurricane prep was to make sure all the games, science experiments and "school" stuff was printed off or copied from the Internet so we'd have plenty to do.  Many of my friends tried to convince me to let the boys have time off just like the local schools but really I knew without power I needed to keep them occupied more than ever and believe it or not my kids LOVE school now that we homeschool.  ...

We have been having so much fun with our homeschooling Halloween unit and we just had to keep going! Today we made Blood Boil for science today (OK-- so we didn't really make blood boil; but we made a red lave lamp & the kids thought that was really neat!). You'll need a plastic bottle, some water, oil, food coloring and alka- seltzer tablets. Fill the bottle half- full with the oil, add water until you're within an inch of the top and enough food coloring to turn it red (about 10 drops).  Break an alka- seltzer tablet into pieces small enough to fit through the hole. You'll start to see the colored water bubble to the top through the oil.  The boys noticed that the water & oil kept separating even after we shook it to try and combine them.  We added the oil first but the water always sunk to the bottom.  So we talked about density too. For math the older boys worked on a Pumpkin Square Sudoku- like game I found on- line.  They ...

Today my boys surprised me by having breakfast right away as soon as they turned on Wild Kratts.  This is something I've been trying to get across to them since school started; I don't mind if they watch some educational TV in the morning as long as they are doing something to get ready for the day at the same time. They learned all about the porcupine today and then headed off to get dressed.  We settled down at the table for some candy math. I gave Evan two cups; one with candy corn and one with candy pumpkins.  He had to guess how many were in each cup, write down his guesses (to practice writing his numbers), guess which cup had more and then dump them out and count them.  Once he counted them he had to write down the actual number of pieces in each cup (again to practice his numbers).  I was floored when he told me 44 was a 4 and a 4!  He needed help forming a 4 but at least he knew what numbers he need...

With a fall hike planned for the day, we started our schooling bright and early with a science experiment. Today we made Alien Monster Eggs.  I found this idea at the kitchen pantry scientist again and just loved it. The boys quickly (and carefully!) drew eyes onto raw eggs. We put them in a jar and filled it with vinegar.  We made observations and predictions about what would happen and then we put the jar in the refrigerator. They noticed right away that the eggs were covered in bubbles so they predicted that the permanent markers would rub off, or that the eggs may get bumpy.  They predicted that maybe the white shell would get darker. They have to sit overnight and we'll see what happens tomorrow.... if all goes well the shell should breakdown and leave the egg covered with just it's membrane.  We brought Halloween Mad Libs and some math coloring sheets in the car.  The mad libs brought many giggles out!  I had also bro...

The boys helped make both a double batch of pancakes and waffles.  I'm so sick of hearing that we have nothing for breakfast in our house so I suggested we make a bunch ahead of time and freeze them. The boys readily agreed and helped measure, pour, mix, etc.  They sat down to watch an episode of "Weird Kratts Week" (it's really just Wild Kratts but with new and weird animals this week) while I baked breakfast.         For school today, Evan worked on another Halloween dot- to - dot while Alec and Ian played a game called 4 in a row.   I found this printable game on Pinterest and followed it to a site called teachers pay teachers. It's free to sign up (and many of the printable lessons and games are free too) so I figured why not join?!  I downloaded this free printable game. It looks like a large bingo game and there's an addition or subtraction problem in each box.  The two boys each picked out their own colored cou...

I spent the week last week scouring Pinterest, some of my fav. blogs, and the Internet for Halloween activities and now have an entire 5 days worth of learning all based on Halloween!  I'm so excited because I think this will really pull the boys in and get them excited too. We decided to start our day with "ghostly letters." Really it's just shaving cream spread onto a place mat and they can practice writing their letters (in cursive for the older boys) but I thought if I gave it a Halloween name they'd really love it. Don't get me wrong, even if I didn't name it my kids would've loved it.  They love playing in shaving cream and it's something we just don't do often enough for them.  After they practiced a few letters and their names they pulled out trucks and animals and played in the shaving cream for a while. We did an art project today too.  When I bought our real pumpkins last week I also purchased a few fake pumpkins ...