Learning

We had a light week last week at school.  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it seemed like by Wednesday things were pretty much falling apart.  I let it go and just enjoyed the flexibility homeschooling affords our family.  Chris has Thursdays and Fridays off, so it was actually pretty nice to be able to just hang out and spend time together.

 

Back to it this week, though!  We did a science experiment today that was 1. easy 2. fast and 3. NO MESS!  Those are the top three qualities I look for in science experiments.  This one was on transpiration, which is the process by which plants expel moisture during photosynthesis. 

We put some leaves from the pear tree in a plastic Ziploc baggie and set it in the sun.

 

 

When we checked on it an hour later, there was a whole

lot of moisture inside the bag.  Pretty cool, huh?

We're still working on Mexico.  Today we played the geography game that's included in our curriculum.  I couldn't believe how well the kids did!  Can YOU look at a map of North American and identify the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama?  Neither could I before this school year!  I love learning world geography with the boys every day.  We also talk a LOT about how lucky we are to live in the U.S.  Today we talked about Haiti and what life is like there, especially after that earthquake.  We try to remember to include gratitude for our lives in our nightly prayers, as well as prayer for the people all over the world who live in abject poverty. 

 It's so good for the kids to realize how good they have it!

 

 

I try to focus on school at least until 2pm, but it's hard when this little guy comes at me asking, "Please play Friendly Animals with me."  Pretty difficult to resist those brown eyes, isn't it?