This week at the Schoolhouse the theme was Outer Space. It was very clear that we would need to schedule another week of Outer Space sometime this winter, because we didn’t even come close to exhausting this topic. There was so much to chose from!
We focused on learning about the solar system and the first moon landing. Using the newly constructed chalkboard, we used one of our resources books (All About Space) to create our own solar system:
Lost in Space...
Okay, so I won’t be any art awards anytime too soon, but we had fun with it. AJ insisted the asteroid belt be included, so he added that (it’s between Mars and Jupiter, in case you didn’t know).
We learned about all the planets–how they differ in size, how far they are away from the sun, the inner vs. the outer planets, and spent a moment mourning poor Pluto. Most of our resource books that we own are old enough that they still included Pluto as a planet, so we talked about why Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Poor pluto!
I have to say, reading through our resource books together was the greatest part of the week for me. I always pick up any and all books about science that I find at garage sales and thrift stores, so when we chose Outer Space as our theme for the week, there were a dozen books we already had that we were able to use–we didn’t even need to make a trip to the library this week. Two of the books were my favorite:
These pictures are from a book I found at the Half Price Bookstore clearance rack for (wait for it….) $1. Yes, $1. I don’t remember when I found it, definitely years ago, but it was quite a find this week when we opened it up. It had great pictures, and included transparency pages that lifted off to show the inside of things, like the space shuttle, and the different parts of a space suit. I’m not sure which of us enjoyed it more…
- Hmmmm….maybe I’ll be an astronaut
- Man on the Moon
Space Revealed
The other book that’s worth mentioning is our Usbourne Encyclopedia of Space. We also have the Usbourne Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, and the Usbourne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth, and who knows what other ones are up there on the bookshelf. The Usbourne Encyclopedias were another unexpected treasure when we started homeschooling. Again, we have had them for a long time, but until I started pulling from them as a resource, I didn’t realize how great they were. You see, all of them are internet linked. This means we can logon to the Usbourne website:
http://www.usborne-quicklinks.com/usa/usa_homepage.asp
look up our book, and fill an hour exploring. AJ can just type in a page number, depending on what pages he finds interesting, and the site will pull up all sorts of related material online–all screened and kid-friendly. There are video links from NOVA, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, etc…slideshows, website links of museums, you name it. Very fun. I have found a few more Usbournes I am going to put on his Christmas list that I know we don’t own–there is one on world history, art, foreign language, even Shakespeare (probably will wait a few years on that one!) –I cannot believe how many are listed on the website.
We did some fun art projects on space this week too. AJ made his “favorite” planets out of air dry clay–Jupiter and Saturn, in case you were interested. We also did a watercolor painting of a supernova using watercolors and table salt. He splatter painted on a canvas and then sprinkled salt all over it, which he brushed off once it was dry. We were inspired by a picture of a supernova in one of those books:
Supernova!
We also had a breakthrough this week. AJ was working on his cutting, and I had given him 4 or 5 cutting worksheets to do while I did some grading. Now, as background, cutting is one of those fine motor skills that has been a bit of a struggle around here. His autoimmune condition makes fine motor work kind of a pain, and before his condition was diagnosed, there were two solid years where this kid would not pick up a pencil, a crayon, a marker…much less a pair of scissors. (As a sidenote, the way I knew for sure we had solved what was going on with him was that 48 hrs after we started his treatment, his interest and willingness to do fine motor activities went through the roof. It was clear his joints/hands were feeling so much better, because he raided the arts and crafts cabinet and went to town. He pulled out his pair of scissors and said “how do you use these things again?” He also started writing, and drawing, and coloring. He was 4 yrs old at the time. So for the last two years, we’ve been playing a bit of catch up, and when he doesn’t feel well, you can completely tell, because among other things, his fine motor skills are affected. So strange, but there you have it). Anyway, I went back to check his work, and I was blown away. He cut right on the lines–even on the pages that had curvy lines and zig zagged lines. We have been practicing a lot, and the little champ is doing amazing. Go AJ!
There are some big developments happening around here. We have signed up for some Homeschool Monday classes at the Cincinnati Museum Center, as well as some November and January classes at the iSpace education center and some December classes at the Cincinnati Zoo. I am hoping we can also sign up for a homeschool co-op in our area that sounds amazing–the next term starts at the end of February, and it sounds like it will give AJ a chance to have art, drama, music, and PE with kids his age. 🙂
In addition to that, stay tuned for my post on the schoolroom remodel. We moved the whole operation upstairs, where we have a lot more room, and more importantly, much more storage. I had so much fun organizing and decorating the space, I almost want to go to school there myself. I am also meeting with two students this week who are interested in helping us next semester. I went looking for students who could nanny as well as teach/tutor, and I think I have found two amazing girls who can be here while I am at work. I can continue doing lesson plans and teach him after work and on the weekends, and they can help out during the day. More to come on all of this…stay tuned!
The Schoolhouse 