Fables and Fairy Tales

Lindy presenting The Ladybug and the Ant.

These kind of school days warm my heart and remind me why I really love to home school. A while back in the winter the girls and I read the Gooney Bird book that had a class do a lesson on writing fables. We thought that sounded like fun and decided to do our own study on fables. This has expanded into fairy tales and legends as well. We started reading these books at the beginning of April and there is not an end in sight. The kids are really enjoying all of the stories so there seems no reason to stop. One of the best things about this is like with many other unit type studies we have been doing this is one that we can all do together as a family. Erin even listens and enjoys the stories and tries to guess what the moral of the story is, sometimes she is even right!

So today we gathered all of our books and school supplies and worked the afternoon away on the porch. Paige could not wait another minute to share the fables they wrote so we started with those. Each child took a turn reading their own story and like with the other fables we have read, we all take turns trying to guess what the moral will be. Paige went first and read about an alligator encountering two little girls who were trying to reach a perfect apple in a tree that hung over the swamp that was the alligator's home. I probably don't have to finish that one up for you! Ethan will be reading his tomorrow as he had a few typos and went to correct them before presenting. I like that he is proofreading!

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading some other read aloud books we are working on. A little Math and Spelling, throw in our United States study and it was a productive and fun afternoon!

Lindy loves Ladybugs and welcomed the challenge to try and think of an animal to use in your fable that starts with the same first letter of your name.

Kyle always wanting to have peace after conflict made all of the mice and rats in his story call a truce and the conflict.

Paige gladly went first in presenting as she was so very excited about this project.

This has become one of Ethan's favorite studies.

It was so neat to see them all support one another with their creativity. This was a great project to have a wide span of writing ability. The younger ones were able to learn from the older experienced writers and the older boys were able to offer support to the girls. Everyone really enjoyed themselves especially the mom. I absolutely treasure these school days. I can't imagine not being able to share this with them. Yes, homeschooling is a lot of work but I would not trade a day of it !



Ethan found a perfect perch to listen to the afternoon of reading.

Studying Snow...

Lindy and I made snowflakes to get ready for our

snowy study.

We started this last week and I was going to wait to post everything until we were done. But everyday that it snows more we keep doing things so at this rate it could get posted in the spring! We have read some great books on snow and crystals. It has been another great unit study because every age has been able to find something to learn and enjoy.

Writing with icicles.

We started with the first snowfall last week. We put black construction paper in the freezer for about an hour. We took it outside and let snow fall on it. Then with our magnifying glass we were able to look closely at snowflakes and see their six sides and uniqueness, none looked the same!

Some quick fun of Snowball Basketball with Kyle and Ethan and then it was time to start on own crystal snowflakes.

He can really get off the ground!

We started with everyone making their own pipe cleaner form. Lindy made a cross, Erin a snowflake, and Ethan, Kyle, and Paige made different kinds of shapes. We did the Borax and hot water kind and let them sit for 24 hours. They turned out great and the kids loved them. We will be doing more!

Crystallizing started taking place within hours.

The finished products!

After making our own snowflake crystals we compared different type of crystals we had read about in our Crystal, Salt, Sugar Book. We folded a piece of paper into 4 squares and numbered 1-3. In the last square they were to draw their grown crystal result. On a piece of black paper I spooned a sample of the questionable crystal. Using their magnifying glass again, often doubled up with another, they were to draw the shape of the crystal they were observing.

When we were done with the 3 samples we used our book to try and identify what they were. They did really well. They got both sugar and salt correct but missed baking soda identifying it as flour. Not bad!

The samples

Identification begins....

No lesson is complete without Erin's participation.

Here she is drawing the crystal she grew.

Verifying results.

Today we followed up with painting the snow with colored water filled spray bottles. This was great fun for all. Kids wrote messages to each other and there was some color mixing going on which was really cool.

She did need some help writing her name.

Kyle wrote "Awesome Kyle". We like to think so!

We headed in to make snow ice cream. Having not made this before I had low expectations for how it might turn out but I was pleasantly surprised when it was easy and good!

Our collected snow.

Our ingredients; milk, sugar, vanilla.

Mixing

The finished product

What a great week we have had! I know there is more to come as I have more ideas so with the temps where they are the snow will be here for a while and we plan to take advantage of it!

Studying Hanukkah!

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling and one that I find to be very important, is learning about others traditions and beliefs. I want our children to have exposure to others beliefs and to respect them. We met up with our friends and fellow homeschoolers, The James Family, and "celebrated" Hanukkah. I started with reading a basic book as to why the holiday is celebrated and the miracle of the eight nights of light.We began with a lunch of bagels and potato latkes with applesauce. I was pleasantly surprised that the potatoes turned out! Most of the kids liked them, the moms definitely did! Jenny read The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket while everyone ate. Very funny!

Latke's - They don't look so great but they

tasted great!

Ethan loved the latke's, I think he ate 4!

Lindy and Adrienne loved the latkes but Colin

wouldn't even try them!

Adrienne and Paige

No Hanukkah lessons are complete without the dreidel game. We had read in our book that the game was started when Jewish people were practicing their religion and had to hide what they were doing. Their "cover" was playing the dreidel game. Kyle's love of history was satisfied with this little bit of knowledge!

My history lover!

Our dreidles

Colin was the spinning pro!

Colin and Kyle

Erin won, she always got Gimel!

Adrienne helped Erin with her counting.

We finished up with a splatter painting using

toothbrushes and sponges to represent lights

at night. We added glitter to the wet paint for

extra "night" sparkle. There was just enough

time for a quick game of Bingo, a great way to

review Hanukkah symbols and vocabulary.

Thanks Jenny for helping us get all these

great activities together! What a great afternoon

to spend time with friends and learn at the same

time.

Splatter painting with Ethan, Paige and Emma.

Paige and Erin fill their Bingo cards!

Colin splattering himself!

If I can get Kyle to do art it must be a fun project!

William and Erin

Snacking together