Birthday Party Chit-Chat
I went to a very interesting children's birthday party Saturday. The parents of the elementary children were actively engaged in a very agreeable discussion about the ills of their children's education. These were parents of children that are enrolled in public school. It was funny how many of their complaints were easily solved by home schooling, but I sat back and waited until they asked me some questions... and then I pounced.
"What do your kids do?" I'm asked. Well, just this morning we took part in the making of a comet. We mixed frozen CO2, amonia, dust, and organic material. Then we played with them (while wearing gloves of course) and paid attention to how the tail changes. We discussed the role comets may have played in forming our Earth's oceans and how H20 and HDO (heavy water) are found in our Earth's oceans and in comets. We also talked about sublimation. The frozen CO2 in our comet wasn't melting; it was sublimating.
We have also made lemon batteries (using lemons, pennies, nails, and alligator clips) this year connecting them in series to light LEDs requiring different voltages. Another neat science project was our dinosaur dig. We are still digging through the entire Mesozoic Era finding dinosaur remains. We have almost completed the top layer... the Cretaceous Period and then we will find remains from the Jurassic Period and Triassic Period. This is just science, but we LOVE science over here!!! Oh! And my kiddos keep their own goggles in their supplies to do experiments on their own. Just the other day while I was tending to the baby, my kiddos mixed baking soda and vinegar in a bottle and topped it with a balloon while wearing their safety goggles to watched the balloon inflate.
As it turns out. I may have completely converted one family to home education. If she reads the books I recommended to her about home education, I don't think her child will be attending public school much longer. I will have her reading about the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason, The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise-Bauer, and another book called Getting Started on Home Learning: How and Why to Teach Your Child at Home. Just for fun I mentioned books by John Taylor Gatto, but I recommended the other three reads first.
"What do your kids do?" I'm asked. Well, just this morning we took part in the making of a comet. We mixed frozen CO2, amonia, dust, and organic material. Then we played with them (while wearing gloves of course) and paid attention to how the tail changes. We discussed the role comets may have played in forming our Earth's oceans and how H20 and HDO (heavy water) are found in our Earth's oceans and in comets. We also talked about sublimation. The frozen CO2 in our comet wasn't melting; it was sublimating.
We have also made lemon batteries (using lemons, pennies, nails, and alligator clips) this year connecting them in series to light LEDs requiring different voltages. Another neat science project was our dinosaur dig. We are still digging through the entire Mesozoic Era finding dinosaur remains. We have almost completed the top layer... the Cretaceous Period and then we will find remains from the Jurassic Period and Triassic Period. This is just science, but we LOVE science over here!!! Oh! And my kiddos keep their own goggles in their supplies to do experiments on their own. Just the other day while I was tending to the baby, my kiddos mixed baking soda and vinegar in a bottle and topped it with a balloon while wearing their safety goggles to watched the balloon inflate.
As it turns out. I may have completely converted one family to home education. If she reads the books I recommended to her about home education, I don't think her child will be attending public school much longer. I will have her reading about the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason, The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise-Bauer, and another book called Getting Started on Home Learning: How and Why to Teach Your Child at Home. Just for fun I mentioned books by John Taylor Gatto, but I recommended the other three reads first.
posted by Tiffane | 9:56 PM
1 Comments:
Good job with the HS Tif. I'm just getting the basics done this year, but the kids are learning a lot about birth. LOL And we are doing weekly art projects for an art show we are hosting here at the house.
Post a Comment
<< Home