Learning from siblings

I encouraged E to work with Z on some his phonics games.  This gave me some time to work with N on a difficult math lesson and the keep the others learning.  E didn't need to "learn" any of this, but what a great skill to be able to "teach" others!

Downtown Florence

I graduated from the University of North Alabama and Tony got his first degree from UNA.  We attended a few classes together, dated during this time, had engagement pictures made in downtown Florence and married before I even graduated.  My engagement ring and both wedding rings even came from Grogan's in downtown.  We had never taken the boys and just walked around so we did this on Thanksgiving weekend while we were visiting. 

We took them to eat lunch at Trowbridge's, a place Tony and I ate at often during our dating years.....

And we went to the UNA campus:

And we went to see the UNA lions.  These, of course, are not the lions that were there during our student years, but it was fun to take our kids to see them.

Cousins

Four Generations!

This is a picture of Tony with his Dad, Granddaddy and our boys.  When N was born, Granddaddy's Mom was also still alive - so I do have a picture of 5 generations.

Worldess Wednesday: Ice Stalagmite in my Freezer?

Thanksgiving Fun

Today we read a book about Squanto and we read Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende Devlin.

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I had never read Cranberry Thanksgiving and it was a cute book that all the boys enjoyed.  It was an easy one for me to talk in the different voices of Mr. Whiskers, Maggie and the grandmother.  If there are too many characters or too much dialog I find using different voices difficult!

After reading about Squanto we had a special snack.  (Special Snack was something that was a regular attraction in my old 4k classroom!)

For this Special Squanto snack you will need chocolate pudding (make your own OR the individual packages), Swedish fish gummy candies, and candy corn.

Squanto taught the Pilgrims to plant corn and other crops in the "New World" in this way.  You dig a hole and fill it with a fish .....

 ...then add your corn seed.....

and cover up with dirt!

Fun, easy snack to hopefully help kiddos remember how much the Pilgrims benefited from the assistance of a Native American!

For the olders we extended on this by talking about the "Three Sisters" planting method.  After the corn begins to grow, you plant a few bean plants around the corn.  The beans will use the corn as a stake and grown around the stalk.  And you plant a squash at the base of the corn, which helps provide shade to the roots of the corn plants, which tend to be shallow, helping them stay moist and preventing/hindering the growth of weeds.  We saw this in action at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on a recent field trip, so it was a good reminder of something we had recently learned about.

We feel pretty strongly about organic, natural gardening around here so this is a great platform to discuss how much agriculture has changed over the years.  Commercial agriculture is harder on the soil, requires the use of more fertilizer and pesticides and that affects the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water supply. 

I hope you find some fun things to do with your family during the Thanksgiving holiday!

Tagging Our Tree

For the past several years we have been going on to cut our tree at Beavers Christmas Tree Farm.  We love to go there.  We try to take an early trip to select and tag our tree so it will be ready for us in December. 

So many great trees to choose from!

 

Fun traditions!

Ebates!

I received an Ebates BIG FAT CHECK in the mail today. 

With all the upcoming Christmas shopping you will doing, you really should sign up for Ebates.  It is so nice to receive a check in the mail for something you were already going to be buying!  This above link is my personal referral link - please use it if you aren't currently a member as I will get a referral fee!

Zoo with Mrs. Diane

I forgot to take a picture of the kids with Mrs. Diane!  But we had fun.  It drizzled on us a little and bc of the rainy forecast there were very few people there.  It was a really nice visit and having my friend along made it even better!

Mystery of History Vol 2 fun

We are studying the Middle Ages this year.  How the church was changing, growing and influencing the times are a big part of our studies.  Here are some pictures of us dressed like a monk.  The point was to realize that it was comfortable and that a monks life was one of service.

 

We also learned about Columba, missionary to Scotland.  We asked our neighbor to play a few bagpipe tunes for us since we were studying Scotland.  He obliged but I forgot to take pictures of him in his full garb.  I need to remember to do that!

Then we played a a Scottish game called Toss the Caber.  E has a plaid blanket so we tied that around to look like a kilt and then tossed the wood to see who could throw it the farthest.  The kids had fun with this!

N's Soccer Season wrapped up

N plays on such a large field now and I have a very hard time getting any decent photos.  Luckily two of the moms have better cameras and share their pics online.  Unfortunately, I can't post them on here! 

The team had a great season.  They won most of their games and N had a few goals and several assists!

Inquiry in Action

We are learning some chemistry through the American Chemical Society's FREE Inquity in Action curriculum.

There are 7 "Investigations" in this free curriculum.  Each Investigation is made up of several smaller experiments.  We have completed the first Investigation, "Scientific Questions and their Investigation," over the last few weeks.  The main point of this Investigation is to help kids learns to ask questions and figure out how to experiment to come up with the answers.  It's really teaching the scientific process. 

The first Investigation uses M&Ms.  What kid wouldn't love to do science with M&Ms?    The experiments have been fun and the included "worksheets" require the kids to put into words what is happening, which helps them learn scientific terms and how to be descriptive.  So far I've been really pleased with what we've done and learned.  The teacher notes are clear and provide additional explanation for those who may not remember their highschool chemistry enough to teach it (not that I would need this! hee, hee!)

Inquiry in Action is a free resource provided by the American Chemical Society(ACS).  It is recommended for grades 3-6.  Z has enjoyed it though obviously I haven't required him to complete worksheets.  We talk about what is happening and hopefully he is learning from listening to his brothers come up with their written answers. 

ACS also has many other resources that you can view.  They offer a Middle School Chemistry curriculum for grades 6-8 that is also free.  I am planning to use this one in the future, as well.

Z's soccer season wrapped up

Z was thrilled to get his medal.  My picture of it turned out badly as it was already dark outside and he wouldn't stand still.

Barber Pole

We are using Mystery of History Volume 2 this year.  We learned today about Barber poles and why they are red and white.  During the Middle Ages many people, including doctors, believed that illness was caused by bad blood.  It was believed that if you simply let out some of this blood, it would help the sick patient to get better.  Of course, we know now that this is ridiculous and this "blood-letting" probably caused many patients to get worse or even die!

Barbers were asked to assist with such tasks because they owned the tools necessary to cut and bandage the patients.  Therefore, the use of the barber pole begin with white representing bandages and red for blood, helping to easily mark their places of business!