The Colorado Adventure
We went swimming after lunch and the girls were playing Marco Polo, which led to a quick discussion of who the heck he was (still don’t know why you say his name in the water though.) Then I got smart and when I was caught I called out math questions (6X6?) I had extra ways to find them because they either repeated the question or said, huh? Hannah was really close on one problem (6X3), she said 19, but then she was saying all kinds of numbers, sooner or later she was bound to get close to the answer. When it was Bethany’s turn again she called out words to spell. Grace called out spelling words too. Later I said why should we call out Marco and answer Polo? So I said Stephen and they said….Colbert. I said Abraham and they said…Lincoln, I said Thomas and they said Jefferson. Then Grace cracked me up, I said Benjamin and she said….Linus (from Lost.) So then we started calling out Lost cast names – Jack…Shepherd, Kate…Austin, James…Sawyer, Charles….Widmore, the lifeguard was laughing.
Who says you can’t do school in the pool? (That would be the history lesson, math and spelling not the Lost cast quiz)
read comments (0)Pi chain
Posted by liese4 in School Stuff
Here’s our chain to 50 numbers.
Here is 3.14159.
We found some patterns like red/pink, pink/red (9/7, 7/9),
there are only two 0’s in the first 50 places (white), lots of 3’s (orange)
and it looks pretty hanging in the kitchen.
That grabs your attention, huh? We went to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge this morning. An arsenal and a wildlife refuge? I know, it sounds weird, but it’s cool.
This place used to be a plains Indian hunting ground, then it was farmland for settlers, after Pearl Harbor the site was used for making chemical weapons (called Rocky Mt. arsenal), then it was a site where agricultural chemicals were made, a site for cold war weapons production and finally after extensive clean up, a wildlife refuge. That’s a long history of this 12,000 acre site. We stopped by the visitor center and looked at the history of the site from Indians to today.
Hannah liked pushing the warning siren.
Here is a war exhibit and a phone that can withstand an explosion (hmm…really?)
Here is a neat bomb detonating stand, complete with static stand for your feet to discharge the static before you pressed the button.
It is very static-y here, so I’m sure that stand came in handy. We looked at bee hives, wasp’s nests and insect collections.
We saw a bull snake and got to dissect owl poop.
Hannah found 2 shrew skulls in hers and lots of leg bones.
Then we went out for a hike.
We love this bridge that goes almost halfway around the lake, there are lots of great views from here.
On the other side we saw a herd of deer and when they ran, we followed.
The girls were sneaking up the trail and we finally caught up to them again.
This is another place that we need to come back to in the summer. Too bad you can’t swim in the pond.
We went today because they were having a celebration of their buffalo herd. They are up to 47 head now.
(pic from RM website)
They had a bus tour (they keep the herd further away from the main trails to protect them and us) but it was all full. Maybe when we go back in the summer we’ll catch the tour.
After our hike we went over to the Fox theater to see Mudra dance studio dance for Holi (an Indian Spring festival.)
I wish the Fox had been doing an Irish celebration (especially since this was St. Patrick’s day) but the dancers were great.
The girls liked watching the dancers’ hands moving around. At the very end we all got up and learned a small dance, it was a good workout! We picked up Joel, yay last day of CSAP, and went home.
At home we read Tommie DePaola’s book Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland, I love his illustrations.
Then we took some obligatory pics for Grandma.
Even Maisy got into the Irish spirit (for a quick pic anyway.)
Tomorrow it’s back to school work and working on our Pi paper chain.
After dropping off Joel at CSAP, the girls and I went to the Aurora history museum. We colored Navajo basket pictures.
We played with the butter churner.
We wore hats, lots of them.
We saw this thing (ahem, I knew what it was.)
Even with the fake toast in it the girls had to really think about what it might be. We played musical instruments (LOUDLY),
sprung Slinky’s, caught balls in cups, played with buzz saw toys and ice picker uppers (is that the technical term?)
Hannah donned green gloves and grabbed a hand mixer and proclaimed herself a doctor.
She proceeded to whack me on the back with the mixer, it actually felt good. Then we used the Tinkertoys for massages too. We went to the Aurora exhibit and took pictures of the birds we might see on the hike later.
Then the girls took pics of Swanson TV dinners (I asked them how they cooked TV dinners without a microwave – Grace said they didn’t, they just ate them cold!) and 1950’s stuff.
There was an awesome exhibit about aerial photography, we had lots of inspiration for abstract paintings to come.
Our hike started at the Star K ranch Sand creek greenway. We’ve never hiked at this point before, though we have been to the ranch (but it’s been a long time.) We jumped on these cottonwood logs and climbed the tree.
I love the trees, they are calling to me.
They are saying, remember the summers when our leaves provided respite from the sun?
Remember the cool shade we provided, the sights you can see from our limbs, the rough bark….I digress.
As we walked down the path the sun was beating down on the leaves that had been wet, dry, snowed on, baked again.
The smell when the breeze drifted by was like…a daydream. Sweet and earthy, light and sunny, oh it smelled like Summer. We hiked towards the creek, the creek wasn’t flowing very well, so it puddled up here as an algae green water.
Spring is coming, proof is here in the buds on the trees.
We walked through a wetlands and ended up back at the giant cottonwood. The girls were climbing all over it and tucking sticks in the crook of the tree for a bird to use as a nest.
As the girls played I closed my eyes and listened to the present. The wind rattled leaves on the trees like a snake shaking its tail. There was that smell of dusty, dead leaves. I sat in the shade of the cottonwood while the sun baked the wood around me.
The trees stretched out their branches towards the great blue sky. The prairie grass was bent and brown, but soon it will be green again.
It was nice.
We left there and ran a few errands and then met a friend for his birthday. We all went to see Alice in Wonderland. I don’t like Tim Burton, but I have to say – he is weird and so is the story of Alice, so it works out. It was fairly true to the book, so very weird and strange, the characters were mostly strange, but no one was scared to watch the movie. The girls thought it was very cool when Alice looked through the little door and saw wonderland, just like we looked through the little door at the MOA and saw a paper wonderland.
(We did not see the movie in 3-D.)
Tomorrow is the last day of CSAP (Joel says Yay!) and we have 2 things to go to, it’s also St. Patrick’s day and my brothers b-day. Here is a site for Paddy’s day.
Dance snippets
Posted by liese4 in dance
Grace (there was about 20 sec more, but Bethany broke it up into 2 videos.)
Bethany got a very energetic dance this time.
Hannah likes her dance too.
Joel had a bad morning. They had him on the wrong side of the room and when they handed out the math tests he got the wrong one. He finished the test and then they took attendance (I know, they should have done that first!) This was the point where they found out he had taken the 9th grade test. He then had 1 hour to take 2 10th grade math tests. Needless to say he was mad. I don’t blame him, yes I complained. Tomorrow they will make sure 9th graders are on one side and 10th are on the other and they will take attendance first (duh!)
It was observation day at dance, I got to see a bit of Grace dancing and then I had to go pick up Joel. I came back and dropped off Hannah and went to my class. We were talking about last week’s if/then statement which was basically ‘If I am so into myself and thinking of myself only, then I can’t know and be on the mission that Jesus has called me for’ Ok, that’s a loose paraphrase. Andrew Murray said that if we are to be on a Heavenly mission then it has to be identical to Christ’s. But, we have to know what His mission was and is in order to follow it. Jesus came to make known God’s love, show salvation to sinners and to represent God. If I am so into myself and consumed with selfish thoughts then I can’t show God’s love, I can’t represent Him. God gives us everything we need for our mission, nothing less. He will give us faith when we doubt, fill us with grace when we are at wits end, give us hope when we are hopeless, give us love when we feel unlovable, and give us drive for our mission. So, that was a lot to think about during devotional time.
In addition I have been mulling over some writings of Pascal from his Pensees like this one: We never keep ourselves to the present moment. We look forward to the future as too slow in coming, as if to hasten its arrival, or we remember the past to hold it up as if it had happened too quickly. We are so undiscerning that we stray into times which are not our own and do not think of the only one that is truly ours, and so vain that we dream about those which no longer exist and allow the present to escape without thinking about it. This is because the present usually hurts us. We hide it from sight because it wounds us, and if it is pleasant then we are sorry to see it pass. We try to buttress it with the future, and think of arranging things which are not in our power for a time we cannot be at all sure of attaining. Everyone should study their thoughts. They will find them all centered on the past or the future. We almost never think of the present, and if we do it is to simply shed some light on the future. The present is never our end. Past and present are our means, only the future is our end.
Deep thoughts to think about. Am I learning about the mission of Jesus so I can follow in His mission? Do I think more about myself and so neglect others? Do I dwell on the past or live for the future?
Joel has CSAP’s today, so I dropped him off and then went to Stickworks by myself.
I was using the serene setting as a kind of prayer garden.
I love the way the stick sculpture looks when there is snow on the ground.
Anyway, I wandered the park praying for Joel, not that he would ace the test, but that he would be calm and remember things he needs to remember.
I am no fan of standardized testing, it does not show the true knowledge of a person as a whole, just how well they can take a test.
Look at this sculpture of two people huddled on the bench.
This pic doesn’t do it justice, it was very intricate from the folds of the man’s coat to the fingers on the girl clutching his shirt. Tomorrow we’re going to see this movie with some friends.
Today we are dancing, I have to get Joel around 2 and take him home so he can get ready for CAP (he’s being promoted again) and then I have to get back to dance for classes. So, it’s a busy day of doing nothing.
Happy Pi day
Posted by liese4 in information
Hmm…wish this would have come tomorrow….but anyway, Alicia over at Magic and mayhem reminded me that today is Pi day.
Here is a great idea for looking at the numbers in Pi – Make a paper chain representing the numbers. Use a different color of paper for each digit and see how long you can make it. Ask the kids if they can find any patterns in the colors. We’ll be doing this the rest of the week, wonder how long our chain will be……
Why is it today? Write out March 14 and you’ll see (3/14.) It’s also Einstein’s birthday, love that guys hair!
(Pi Approximation Day is June 22 to celebrate mathematician Archimedes’ first rough approximation of Pi as being 22/7)
After a bit of a rest we went over to a church to hear the Aurora Symphony and see a play called ‘remote control’ by the Shoestring children’s theater.
By the time we got there it was standing room only, but it was a shorter performance since it was meant for kids. We heard music from Bugs Bunny (complete with a kid Bugs and another as Elmer Fudd getting a haircut in a barber shop.) We listened to Under the Sea as Ariel danced, lobsters and jellyfish shimmered, dolphins leapt and a humpback whale puppet floated around the room.
More Looney tunes and cartoon music ensued as we watched the kids on stage act out the scenes. Soon it was ‘That’s all folks!’ and we were invited to see the puppets, play an instrument and talk to the actors.
Grace went straight to the humpback puppet (no, you can’t have it, I have no idea where we would put it!) Hannah tried a clarinet, french horn and violin.
Grace and Bethany tried the violin.
The bassoonist wasn’t letting anyone actually touch his $16,000 bassoon, but we did get to hear it rumble up close. We saw a co-worker of James’ there and the girls dance teacher, what a small world. I think a friend to two were there also, but we didn’t see them.
What a great thing the Aurora symphony does for the community, my only comment – you need a bigger venue (too bad the Fox won’t let you play there on the weekends since they have shows going.)
Info on the symphony here and on Shoestring theater here.
Hike the rock
Posted by liese4 in family outing
After we picked up Bethany from her sleepover we went to Castle rock…rock.
There is another rock that looks more castle-y, but the town of Castle rock doesn’t have it’s main street cut through to that one. We had a picnic lunch and then started the climb to the summit.
It was much nicer this time, not windy like last time.
We got up to the summit and the girls went on climbing.
Here is Grace doing her mummy impression.
It’s not very far to the top, so I think round trip we walked maybe 2 miles.
James and Joel went to the very top by climbing up the rock. They got a few cell phone pics of the star at the top that is lit up at night.
Hannah was totally goofing off in the pic.
Can you find the girls?
The girls climbed some more and then we all strolled down the perimeter trail to the car.
A few scrapes, but nothing major from all the climbing that happened.
And that is the hiking tale of Castle rock.
I couldn’t think of a title.
We went to the library for volunteer time and storytime. We haven’t been in a few weeks because we’ve had things to rush from or to on Fridays. Today was free in the afternoon, so Bethany cleaned the shelves and Hannah got to be in big kid storytime. I try to call the other storytime ‘combined’, but she knows it’s really baby storytime (when there aren’t enough kids for a preschool st, they just make all the kids sit together.) Today’s theme was monkeys so Hannah found 2 monkey books to take home. Grace found some more Nate the Great’s and I found Making the Grades (misadventures in the standardized testing industry) – not that I need to be reminded of how inept standardized tests are, it just looked like it might be a good read. I also got The Art of Abstract Painting and (finally) Blaise Pascal’s Pensees and Other Writings. I’ve been waiting for that book for months, I guess the library only has one copy.
It was such a gorgeous day we took lunch, bubbles and chalk with us and when we were done at the library went to the park next door. We met up with some friends and played.
We did some math on the sidewalk, spun on the playground and climbed to the top of the rope structure. Then Bethany blew bubbles in the grass and I took pics, aren’t they cool.
Grace sat down and read part of Charlotte’s Web on the playground, wouldn’t it be cool if these books were LCD screens and the book actually scrolled past on the screen?
I guess first they would have to come up with an indestructible screen.
Back at home we cleaned up and got stuff ready for Bethany’s sleepover (at a friends house.) I still have the same number of kids here though, Joel is having a friend sleep over. Tomorrow we are going to hear the Aurora symphony orchestra play Looney tunes and Tom and Jerry music; well I know it’s actually classical music, but the kids will be saying ‘Tom and Jerry!’ ‘Bugs Bunny!’
Quote for the weekend: “Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”
Commercial try
Posted by liese4 in kids
Joel had to watch commercials for English and we saw some funny ones (Look at your man, now look at me….I’m on a horse.) The girls thought they’d make a fat cat commercial. (Hannah is saying, wait call now and get this free banana.)
Joel did science (see graph in previous post.) We found a new site for making graphs here, the disadvantage we found is that it doesn’t save the graph. So if you make one save it as a picture and you’ll have it forever. He did math (inscribed angles and polygons in a circle.) He did a few other things, normally he does only 1 course a day, but he has CSAP’s 3 days next week and doesn’t want to do school those days. For English he has to watch TV commercials and fill out a form about advertising and propaganda. Bethany did history, she’s in the middle of the Civil war, and science, she’s on taxonomy. Grace is on Africa for history so she read Sundiata the Lion King of Mali, it was hard reading, lots of African names. The artist made the pictures in the book out of cut paper, so it had a very 3-D look to it. I was going to do art this afternoon because it was supposed to snow, so I waited and the longer I waited the sunnier it became. So, we went to Marcy park.
The girls have a nature club in the trees by the creek and they are so funny.
They were trying to get the ‘most algae’ badge by pulling algae up with sticks. After Hannah fell in we ditched that badge and went on the ’secret hideout’ badge.
In the summer this place is really cool covered in leaves, it’s kind of neat right now too.
We crossed over the creek on a branch bridge and walked up the other side.
We saw cattails from last summer still holding onto their ‘fur’ (as the girls call it.)
We saw curly leaves, green plants and pretty pink flowers in the water.
We picked up some brown thistles on the way back and came home right before it started snowing.
I put the flowers in a vase and we all drew/painted them.
Grace’s
Bethany’s
Hannah’s
Mine
Tomorrow is another lazy school/art day, but that’s ok – next week while Joel is at CSAP we’ll be going around town.
I knew it
Posted by liese4 in School Stuff
Joel had to graph SPF and UV intensity for science, see I knew that SPF 30 doesn’t protect you twice as much as SPF 15!
You know what I love about homeschooling? My homeschool group. I love seeing all of the ways that people teach their kids at home. Today we are going to a meet up at Mc’ds for exceptional kids. I know I’ve said in the past that they are truly exceptional, but the other kids in our group are exceptional in their own right too.
Everyone has something that makes them special, unique, outstanding – and in our group we have a bazillion of those people (kids and adults.) We have so many moms (and dads) who have taken up the mantle of teaching their kids at home. Each of us has trials of our own, but we can come together and collaborate and find new ways or different ways of teaching that may help us.
Having others to walk with you is so much better than wandering the road alone (I know, I’ve been there.)
How awesome is it to have 120 people backing you up? Very awesome. We have people who bring things that others lack. We have scientists, artists, photographers, mathematicians and language arts experts. We have people who used to teach in schools, have a degree in engineering, run a business and so on.
We all bring different life experiences, school and learning experiences to the group.
We use eclectic methods of teaching, unschooling, unit studies, boxed curriculum, play and (gasp) virtual schools (that would be me.) We talk, nurture and uplift each other through good times and bad. We seek information and we willingly give it to anyone who asks.
We all gather what we know and bring it to the table; some may think their offering is small, but every little piece comes together to make a beautiful picture of our homeschooling life.
