homeschooling on friday 4-24-09

After the basics and a quick reading comp., page on DaVinci were wrapped up today, we headed outside to recap all of the ecology stuff we've been working on... the material came from an Usborne Book of Ecology. There's really something to be said about reading it in a book and actually stepping out in beautiful weather and experiencing the stuff first hand. Finding lichen growing on trees and discussing how it thrives in clean air- not polluted. Holding decomposed material in your hands- rubbing it gently until it breaks apart and explaining how minerals are put back into the topsoil- humus. Talking about acid rain. Chlorophyll cells and photosynthesis. Picking a piece of garlic and smelling the freshness of it. That said, where would we be without producers? I humbly confess, I take this whole process for granted. I never really think how important the sun is. Or dead logs. Or that producers have chlorophyll cells. It's just something I never think about.

For a fun writing assignment, I pulled out a favorite children's book of mine. One I often read to Tommie when he was younger, "The Lady Who Saw the Good Side in Everything.." Today, I had him cover up the authors writings and create his own story by looking at the pictures. It was something very different for him and my reluctant writer did in fact enjoy it and actually did a decent job. I counted this as creative writing, grammar and spelling. I love it so much when we "cross-curriculum."

Also today... we took advantage of the convenient homeschool baseball game, happening right near our home. It was another excellent day for homeschool gym and positive socialization. It was beautiful to see all ages playing together, both genders and parents out enjoying the day!

-and the beat goes on.