Learning Log #27

This week was a fun science week!  We read from the Rock book from Marlene Petersen's collection of science books.  We learned about fire/lava and water are involved in making rocks.  We did a couple experiments as well.  One was about how obsidian is made and another on how pumice is made. This is an experiment we did making slime.  This was a representation of how obsidian is made.  Obsidian has much less water in the lave when it is formed than pumice. 
We also went to the Geology department over the weekend to a rock festival they were putting on.  We saw all sorts of rocks and learned how they were created.  We saw and studied the Mohs hardness scale, florescent rocks, and learned more about metamorphic rocks.  A rock starts out as a sedimentary rock like mudstone and through metamorphasis, can become something like granite.

 We learned about water contaminations and Artisian Aquifers and about how erosion evolves a landscape.

We saw lots of fossils and talked with an artist who created a Utahraptor statue.
 
We learned how they dig for fossils at night and why and about prehistoric fish.  We had a lot of fun!  We saw a stuffed piranha of our day and a prehistoric piranha.  This was one of Elsie's favorite finds. 

  Anna learned about Ammonites and Trilobites.

 Here is our family in front of a cross-cut of where we live!

Peter also did some extra science in his Forensic class, where they discussed how blood spatter can help FBI agents convict criminals.   Frankly, I am happy to stick with rocks!
As a family we all had a fun time listening to the 6th book of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.  We love discussing the mystery and how we think it could be solved and we always pause the story if we think we have listened to anything that might be foreshadowing the future. Peter also read on his own about 50 pages of The Man Who Counted, and he gave an oral report on Socrates.  He wrote about 200 words to his science fiction story and shared it with his writing class.  Elsie read about 80 pages of Wind in the Willows and did 4 pages of handwriting, practicing her cursive.  She is writing the names of the states and their capitals, the presidents in chronological order, and little poems as copywork.  Kimball finished his book How Science Works, reading the last 20 pages.  He started a new book about the Solar System and read the first 45 pages of that book.  He did several chunks of copywork and studied the words for spelling.  He read several pages outloud from Dinotopia as well to me.  Anna read 3 pages from her First Steps book from the chapter, "A Name for the Colt".  She also read a Beginning Reader Barbie book called  "Let's Plant a Garden."  She did a couple handwriting pages and a little bit of copywork as well.
For math Peter finished his Pre-Algebra book!!  We are really happy for him.  I have yet to correct his tests, but he took a 4 page unit test and a 6 page final test.  We are proud of him.  Elsie is getting close to finishing her math book.  She finished chapter 30 and took the test.  It was about Arabic numerals.  She also reviewed roman numeral numbers and long division.  She also did several conversion problems wrapped up in story problems.  Kimball finished chapter 26, but has not yet taken the test. The chapter was finding factors of numbers.  He reviewed fraction basics, multi-digit multiplication, and multi-digit subtraction with regrouping. Anna also finished chapter 8, where she was learning to solve for unknowns.  It was hard for her to remember whether she was adding or solving for the unknown.  She also reviewed her addition facts as well as counting and building numbers.
For music all the kids practiced the piano and either the cello, violin, or viola.  They went to their classes at Bows and Bridges and worked on fine-tuning their performance pieces for the string festival.  Peter, Elsie, and Kimball also went to the homeschool choir and practiced singing their songs.  In Pyramid Project they had a guest speaker come and talk to them about how music affects the mind and why people listen to certain music and composers. 
 For History we learned a little bit about Fransisco Coronado and mapped out where he explored.  We also labeled major rivers found in the United States.  Peter also studied the European nations and took a pretest on where they were.
Peter worked on his Minecraft this week and built the buildings where he had outlined from the map he had made.  He turned in this assignment as well.  Elsie, Kimball, Anna and I learned about how it is important to attract customers, and ways to do it.  We all picked one way to attract customers.  Kimball picked allowing the customer to experience the product at little or no cost.  Elsie chose to provide information either through a video, blog, newsletter, or article, and maybe even partnering.  Anna mostly just listened.:)  We found out how to measure your success in one's advertisement effort.  They also all wrote down (or with my help) their business message.  This includes the name of the business, the product, and the reason why your product is better or different.

Learing Log 26

Our family enjoyed this Valentine's week.  It was full of fun and surprises.  Many of us went ice skating, we passed out valentines, and we even found roaming dogs to take care of for a day.  Peter even went to his first dance and had a fun time.  He was quite the reader this week and finished the book Banner in the Sky, which he really enjoyed.  He also discussed the book Phantom Tollbooth in his Pyramid Project and he read and discussed a couple chapters from the Fallacy detective.  He is learning how to find truth and logic and to recognize the fallacy's we create in our every day conversations.  He also worked on both of his stories, a science fiction one and one about wolves, adding about 100 wordds to each.   Elsie started The Wind in the Willows, reading about 120 pages.  She also wrote a letter to her cousin, wrote in her journal several times, and wrote out some valentines.  She practiced her cursive handwriting as well.  Kimball read 10 pages of How Science Works, and he also read a book called Poisonous Animals to his brother, Adam.  He passed a spelling test and started studying new words, and he did 3 handwriting worksheets.  Anna read a chapter out of her primer book to me about a little girl who found some baby kittens, and then she was disobedient to her mom.  She learned some new sounds and reviewed others.  Anna also practiced her handwriting and did several pages.  She learned how to put a list of words in alphabetical order.
The kids are all working hard on their math.  Elsie finished chapter 29 and took the test.  She started on chapter 30 and learned about Arabic numerals.  She reviewed multidigit multiplication and division.  Peter finished chapter 30, about rational and irrational numbers, and took the test, which is the last test of the book!  He reviewed the metric system as well.  He also took the unit test, and got an 89% on it.  He just has the final test to take and then he is done with Pre-Algebra.  He went to his Pyramid Project class and learned about Pythagoras as a philosopher.  He also learned a lot about the number 2 and how it is the doorway to multiples. Kimball finished chapter 25, which was learning how to multiply multi-digit numbers, and started on chapter 26.  This chapter is on finding the factors of numbers and learning how to find prime numbers.  He also reviewed multiplication and finding the area and perimeter of shapes.  Anna finished chapter 27, where she learned to add 3s, and started on chapter 8, where she is learned to solve for the unknown.  She did some story problems and reviewed the addition facts she already knows.
We did science together as a family this week.  We learned about the Luray caves in Virginia and about The Cleff in Scotland.  We think the Luray caves would be fun to visit sometime!  We studied how stalagmites and stalactites and how they are formed.  We did an experiment where we learned how Fumeral rocks are formed.  First, we learned what a fumeral is, and then we learned how when geysers go off, they leave behind a little bit of mineral every time.  We have experienced this in the past when we felt the water from the Steamboat Geyser go off.  These minerals will build up over time and create a sedimentary rock.  We looked at a rock that was formed this way and studied it.  Then we did an experiment with iron and alcohol, so we could smell the chemical reaction that is formed.  We also saw that rust developed in the alcohol, and we talked about how rust is formed.
For music, the kids are starting to gear up for the Cache Valley Strings festival.  They are all working on their performance pieces for the event on their prospective instruments.  They also are working on their piano pieces as well.  They all practiced a few times and went to both their lessons at Bows and Bridges.
Peter worked on Mindcraft by submitting his map on paper where he had drawn out his community.  He also took that map and created the outlines of the buildings on Mindcraft.  The rest of the kids worked on their business class.  We reviewed the previous week and then we learned about the importance of customers.  We learned that it's important to know the kind of customers that come are buying your product, and the importance of a customer centered business.  We learned to think about the demographics, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors of customers. 

Learning Log 25

 It is only Wednesday, but I thought I would break this learning log up into 2 parts.  So far, the kids have been working on their math.  Anna has started the next chapter, where she is learning to add with 3.  She is also reviewing the math facts she has learned already.  Peter is working on chapter 29, and has done the bulk of the chapter.  He is learning about rational and irrational numbers, and how to find the square root of very large numbers.  He is also reviewing the metric system.  Kimball started chapter 25, where he is multiplying by 3 digits.  Elsie is working on chapter 29, where she is learning about fractions, and what they look like.  She has reviewed multi digit multiplication and finding the area of squares and triangles. 
 For Science, our family started a rock/geology unit. We learned how geology came about, and what it means to study rocks.  We learned what a strata is.  We also did some rock experiments where we learned what a loadstone is, and how magnitite is magnetic.  We experimented with a loadstone and how it interacts with iron shavings, a compass, and a magnet.  We also learned how ash can form into igneous rocks, and we did an experiment showing us how that can work.  For Peter's forensic science class he learned about bombing crimes and learned about the una-bomber.
Elsie finished Little Britches and read ahead on my read aloud, Anne of Green Gables.  She also wrote some letters and worked on her cursive.  Anna and Kimball did a few worksheets practicing their handwriting as well.  Annna read a chapter to me from her First Steps book.  Kimball read another 50 pages from his science book and read aloud a day to me from Dinotopia.  Peter finished The Phantom Tollbooth and started reading Banner in the Sky, about 70 pagtes.  He has written in his journal several times as well. 
The kids have also participated in their music lessons this week, both their string instrument and piano.  They have all practiced a couple times as well on their piano and prospective instruments.
We went to St George the latter half of the week.  The kids talked to their uncle and dad about their uncle's business in St George.  He owned a transmission shop.  They learned how he started the business, and how he got it to grow and be successful.  He had to work really hard, he applied himself and learned a lot about cars and transmissions in particular.  He was very nice and respectful to the customers, and he was honest.  All these things helped him to grow a very successful business.  He outgrew the building 3 times, and sold it several years ago at the age of 55, and retired.  All the children learned the qualities that he had to make this business successful.
To add to our science, our family went to the children's museum and we toured the Johnson's Farm museum and learned about the Jurassic period in southern Utah.

Learning Log 24

I am late in turning in this learning log!  Here it goes!
Peter and Elsie both did chapter 28 in their math books, and took the tests.  Elsie learned about roman numerals.  She reviewed multiple digit multiplication, and found the area of squares.  Peter learned how to add different types of measurements together, i.e., 3 yards and 2 feet plus 8 yards and 2 feet equal....  He also reviewed the metric system and learned that cubic centimeters and grams equal each other when measuring water.  In his Pyramid Project class he dissected a flower nad studied it for half an hour.  He found the Fibonacci spiral and recognized other math systems he has been learning about.  Kimball finished chapter 24 and took the test.  He is starting to learn about multiple digit multiplication.  He reviewed how many feet in a yard, pints in a gallon, and other conversions.  Anna finished the chapter on adding by 2s and took the test.  They all did some story problems as well.
We continued to add to our star constellation books this week.  We learned about Cygnus, Coronas,  Bootes, and Leo.  We also learned about the Milky Way, and how to find the Coal Sack.  We found out what a shooting star is, that it is a meteor.  Peter also went to his forensic science class and learned about arson crimes and how they work.  He learned that arson is a fairly new science, and only since the 80s did they start to understand them better through proper testing techniques. 
Kimball keeps reading about How Science Works, and he learned how plants and humans need certain nutrients to grow, and some about space and satellites.  He read through the book, about 50 more pages.  He did four pages of handwriting as well and read aloud to me a few days from the Dinotopia book.  Peter read about 50 pages of Phantom Tollbooth.  He wrote in his journal about 3 times and added a little to both of the stories he is working on, probably about 150 words total.  Elsie read about 50 pages of Little Britches, and is almost done with the book.  I read aloud to her some of Anne of Green Gables, which she is loving.  She also did 5 pages of handwriting worksheets, practicing cursive.  She wrote a poem about a dead robin that hit our window called, Cold, Red, Quiet.  Anna read a chapter from her book, First Steps, and a Pinkalicious story.  She also practiced her handwriting and did 3 worksheets during the week.  I read her a few chapters from Winnie the Pooh, which is is enjoying. 
All the the kids worked on their music last week and they went to their string and piano lessons.  Elsie only practiced her right hand in piano and did bow exercises for the violin, because the cut on her hand still hadn't healed.  Peter started a new song in viola, and is still working on polishing up Macabees.  He is practicing Happy Farmer with the piano.  Anna is getting Dr. Suzuki rhythem down on her Twinkle song and has started practing Lightly Row on the violin.  She is also playing Lightly Row on the piano as well.  Kimball is polishing up Go Tell Aunt Rhody and working on learning Come Little Children on the cello.  He is working on making a good sound.  He is also working on Lightly Row, second version, on the piano and polishing up Cookoo.
Peter worked on his Mindcraft class by mapping out our neighborhood/community.  He also sat in on our business class and listened and learned.  For our busniness class, Elsie, Kimball, and Anna, (Peter), and I all learned about fixed and variable costs, and how to price a service or product.  We also learned how to find Gross and Net Profit. 
For history we finished up our study of Marco Polo, although it was cut short due to colds and other set-backs of the month. 

Learning log 23 - More Surprises!

This week was full of more sickness and surprises.  Peter developed a really nasty cough, and by the end of the week was sick and stuck in bed.  Elsie decided to cut her hand with a paring knife and take a trip to the Instacare to get some stitches.  She stayed on Tylenol for several days.  Kimball found out he had a really bad cavity at the dentist that was creating a nasty infection in his gums.  We got him on some antibiotics right away.  It was an eventful week, and kept me on my toes.  However, we learned all we could in the time we were given. 
 All the kids did some reading this week.  Even Elsie, who complained about how hard it was to hold a book with her cut hand.  Kimball read a bunch of How Science Works, and purused through about 50 pages.  He said he learned about molecules, energy, and forces.  He also read outloud to me from Dinotopia several times.  He studied his spelling words and did 4 pages from his handwriting.  Anna read to me another chapter from her First Steps book, called To the Store.  She also read a Pinkalicious story to me.  She did several pages of her handwriting worksheets and wrote sweet notes to people in the family in her special phonetic way. Elsie read about 40 pages from Little Britches.  She also read from a set of books about the Westward Expansion titled "Loggers.  She learned the different ways the loggers would move the logs.  Sometimes they built canals and used existing rivers to send them down, they loaded them onto trains, or they rolled them downhill or on top of other logs.  She also wrote several books for her Calico Critters.  One was about a lonely dog that found a home with some wolves.  After listening to me read outloud some from Marco Polo's book, we decided to watch Aladdin.  Elsie wrote down predictions of what she versus her brother thought Aladdin would use his wishes on.  Peter read about 100 pages of Phantom Tollbooth.  He also wrote in his journal several times and worked on writing a couple different stories.  One was a continuation of a story about a wolf, and then he started a new sci-fi story.  He wrote about 100 words in each.
Peter learned a lot about numbers in his Pyramid Project class.  He learned about the significance of 1., and that it is a magical proportion, foundall through creation, like human faces and bodies and the Fibonacci spiral.  He said arcitects use the 1.6 proportion sometimes as well.  He learned about the numbers 5,6,7, and 8 from a lecture about The Beginners Guide to Constructing the Universe.  He worked on his math and finished chapter 27 and took the test.  He started on 28, learning to convert military time to standard time.  He also reviewed finding the cubic area of cylinders, cones, and pyramids.  Kimball worked on chapter 24 of his math, multiplying 2 digit numbers with regrouping.  He also did some story problems and reviewed some conversion facts.  He worked on his math facts by playing Timez Attack.  Anna learned to add by 2s.  She did several pages and reviewed adding 1s and did some story problems.  She also worked on her new math facts by playing Timez Attack.  Elsie finished her math chapter and took a test.  She learned to find the cubic feet of cubes.  She also reviewed long division and conversion facts. 
We had a fun time acting out the rotation and revolution of the earth around the sun.  We learned what makes a day and a year.  We also learned a couple more constellations to add to our star book.  Kimball told me all about what he learned in his Science book.  He said that molecules get farther and farther apart when you go from a solid to a liquid and then to a gas.  He also learned about Newton's cradle, and that for every action there is an opposite but equal reaction.  However Newton's cradle doesn't last forever because each ball takes some of the momentum, and energy is lost through the friction.  Kimball also told me he thought gravity took a little bit of energy from the momentum as well.  Anna said she learned a lot going to the dentist, like how important it is to brush and floss to keep plaque and cavities away.  She also learned about fluoride and how it makes teeth strong.  She learned that X-rays take pictures of teeth to help the dentist.  Peter went to his forensic science class and they worked some more on taking fingerprints. 
As I mentioned before, I read a little bit out of Marco Polo to the children and they had a great time learning the geography and cultures of the different places he had been.  Peter also watched CNN 10 every evening and learned about the current events.  At his classes at the library, he participated in a cahoot about current events, and his timeline class. 
The kids participated in music as much as they were able.  Elsie went to her piano lessons, but between piano and violin lessons was when she decided to cut her hand.  She was unable to practice the violin for the rest of the week, and practiced the piano with her right hand.  She did go to choir on Friday though with Kimball and sang through all 7 songs they are learning. Because of Peter's cough, he was unable to go to choir, but still went to his piano and viola lessons and practiced the first several days.  Kimball and Anna also went to their lessons and practiced as well. Anna is ready to move on from the twinkle songs in violin! 
We also worked on our business class.  Peter joined in with us.  We learned about the importance of budgeting for a business.  We learned it was important to start being responsible with our personal expenditures, and we watched a couple videos as well.  We made a commitment to track our own income and expenses for the following week. 

Learning Log 22 - So Sick!

This week we have been so sick....with everything!  We have had head colds, fevers, pink eye, an ear infection, a sinus infection, the pukes, and other unmentionables.  I can't think of a time in our entire family life where we have had such a plethora of diseases floating around our home.  We're creating our own cesspit.  How is that for science?  Hahahaha. Really, though, the science we got this week consisted of Nature videos we watched during our runs to the bathroom (pun intended).  The kids learned about kangaroo rats and the history, habitat, and character of horses. Peter was feeling good and went to his Thursday classes.  For his forensic class he learned about the DNA part of forensics and how it is involved with solving mysteries. 
Peter worked on chapter 27 in his Math U See.  He is almost done with it, where he is learning to find the volume of cones and pyramids.  He did many story problems too.  Kimball started a new chapter where he is multiplying two digit numbers with regrouping.  It has been challenging, but he is getting it.  He also did some story problems.  Anna finished her chapter where she counted and wrote to 100.  She worked hard and finished it.  She also reviewed counting by tens and worked on her addition facts on Timez Attack.  Elsie was sick all week, and wasn't able to get to her math.
Elsie did read a little from Little Britches, about 50 pages.  She also started writing a story, a couple pages worth.  Peter wrote a little bit from a story he had written an outline for.  He also wrote in his journal several times during the week.  Kimball read from a book called How Science Works.  He said he read about 10 pages, and he also did about 4 pages of his handwriting worksheets.  Anna finished her chapter from her reading primer and did a couple handwriting worksheets as well.  We also listened to and finished the 3rd book of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, The Unexpected Guests, and started on the 4th book. 
They all practiced their instruments a little and Peter, Elsie, and Kimball were able to make it to their respective piano, and cello, viola or violin lessons.   Anna made it to her violin lessons. 
Peter also did some history, where he went to a Timeline class where they went over 700 and 800 AD.  He learned that the Huns invaded the Turks in Northern India.  He also watched CNN 10 every day and learned about national and international current events and discussed them in a group.  In his Geography class he learned about longitude and latitude.  
We were unable to get to our tech courses this week.  We do them on Friday, and by Friday, everyone had contracted something or another and wasn't feeling well.  We rested all through the weekend, and although some of us are feeling under the weather beginning this week, hopefully we can end this coming week on a strong note!

Post 21

Ahh, another week down.  These winter months get so sluggish.  Yuck.  All of us are dreaming of warmer weather and a trip down to St. George!  In the meantime, when the air isn't too yucky, the kids love to go over to our neighbor's homemade hockey rink and play.  Thank goodness for their generosity to share!  It has been getting much needed wiggles out!
For out tech courses this week, Elsie, Kimball, Anna, and I (Peter listened in some) finished chapter 2 of Starting and Growing my Business.  We watched a couple videos and learned about finding unmet customer needs and competitive advantages.  We thought about our business ideas and asked ourselves if they met customer needs.  We thought about our passions and talents and thought of how we could use them as a competitive advantage. Peter started on his assignment in mindcraft he designed his own skin and built it in paper.  He uploaded it to mindcraft.  The software that he was supposed to use didn't work, so he had to find a different website.
For science we learned more constellations: orion, taurus, pleiades, and gemini.  We made a page for each constellation in our star books we are putting together.  We also found several of the constellations outside at night.  Peter went to his forensic class as well and learned about good places to look that criminals will hide evidence.  Some examples he told me were in a fence post or under chicken crap. 
For math Anna worked some more on counting and writing to 100.  She was armed with knowing the patterns for writing it out, and was able to do it all on her own.  She also reviewed counting by 10s.  Elsie learned how to find the volume of cubes this week, which was chapter 26 of her math book.  She also reviewed division, and conversions (such as miles into feet and quarts into pints), and did several story problems.  Peter did chapter 26 as well in his math book, where he learned how to add and subtract time, which has a base of 60.  He reviewed geometric angles finding the surface area of various geometric shapes.  Peter also went ot his Pyramid project class and worked out a coded message to figure out how to make cookies.  Kimball took a big step in math this week as he started multiplying 2 digit numbers together.  He is learning the importance of place value and precision.  He also reviewed addition and subtraction with regrouping and conversion problems.  The kids have had a fun time figuring out some puzzles the "school fairy" brought them.  They are from a Great Minds series, and are puzzles named after great astronomers: Hubble, Kepler, Galileo, and Halley.
Peter was busy with a challenge this week to write in his journal every day for his Pyramid project.  He is trying to think and act more like a scientist.  He also wrote a poem.  He finished reading The Magician's Nephew as well.  Elsie read about 30 pages of Little Britches and several short excerpts about various world explorers such as Vasco de Gama, De Soto, and Amerigo Vespucci.  She worked on her cursive and did several worksheets and started writing a story for her sister.  Kimball read outloud to me from Dinotopia some more.  He reads about 1 to 3 pages a day, about 4 to 5 times out of the week.  He also passed off another spelling test, and started on another expert to study and spell out correctly. Anna read another chapter, The Colt, and started another called What Can I Do? out of her First Steps primer.  She learned the "ay", "able", "ate", and "ope" blends.  She also did some copy work to practice her handwriting, as she tried to copy some of her sister's stories.
The kids went to their string and piano lessons again this week at Bows and Bridges.  Peter finished book 1 in the viola Suzuki series and started on book 2!  He is learning to play Maccabees.  Peter, Elsie, Kimball, and Anna all worked on practicing the challenges they were given for the week.
We also had a fun time learning a little about the state of the world when Marco Polo was making his voyage.  We learned that the Vatican moved from Italy to France for about 70 years.  We also learned how Spain was taken over by the Saracens, or Arabs, and then invaded by the Moors as well.  We learned that Italy was a very popular place for commerce (a new word for us), but was not united at all.  In fact, the major cities were often warring with each other.