Week 2: Experiements, Museums and Book Clubs, Oh My!

It was a good, but short week. Monday was the Labor Day holiday, and on Wednesday we celebrated the fact that museums would be virtually empty by going to an exhibit and having the place nearly to ourselves! Wednesday held some important life lessons for us in addition to the information gained by the exhibit.

On Tuesday Dad was home telecommuting. Both he and Matty were pretty sore and tired from working on the patio they are laying in back, and we had stayed up quite late a couple of times over the long weekend. Tuesday, needless to say was not our most productive day, but we got some reading done and finished our mummified apple experiment from the previous week.

before

one week later: control apple was beginning to get moldy

Not a huge difference, but one has mold and the mummified one does not. Both dried out.

This week and next in TOG we will be covering the Titanic disaster, the Great San Francisco earthquake, and Teddy Roosevelt. Serendipitously, the National Geographic Museum in D.C. had a Titanic exhibit, to honor the 100th anniversary of the disaster. It was a fantastic exhibit, and if you have the chance to see it in another city, take the opportunity to do so. It is leaving here on the 9th.

entering the exhibit with friends

There were wonderful videos throughout the exhibit

Perry the Platypus! On the Titanic! What are the odds?

The detail of the 18 ft. scale model was amazing

more detail

the distress telegram from the Titanic

sad statistics...

The interactive wreck...step on the wreck and see where you are on the Titanic

detailed model of the wreck used in the movie by James Cameron

Hey, Perry!

We surprised the kids by bringing Perry the Platypus along (from the Disney show Phineas and Ferb) and starting what we are calling the "Where's Perry? Project." We will bring Perry along with us on field trips and travels, not unlike what a lot of people do with Flat Stanley. For my kids right now, Phineas and Ferb is much more relevant, crazy as they are about that silly show.

In literature, we finished The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, began listening to War Horse by Michael Morpugo, and covered 9 chapters! We hated to turn it off, so we just kept listening--over lunch, in the car, back in the house. It is a wonderful way to introduce WWI to kids, and while it conveys the miseries of war, it does so without too much graphic description that could traumatize younger children. Thanks for the idea, C.!

Thursday saw us doing more of the standard work: Geography, writing, math, reading. Matty returned to piano lessons after a long summer break Thursday afternoon. I asked him how it felt to be back and he said, "Well, it's like a boxer who takes a break from boxing, and goes back to it. He's ready to go back to boxing, but he's not happy about getting hit."

Friday we did morning work and then enjoyed getting together with friends for our first French class of the year followed by our first literature club meeting. We discussed Call of the Wild, and everyone came prepared and ready to participate. It was an excellent discussion and everyone left with a deeper appreciation for the book.

Learning Thesaurus skills with Writing With Skill

Mapping North America

Matty's World Empires map by Map Trek

Kirigami (Paper cutting) is Molly's hobby that she works on when I am busy with Matty

French Class!

Overall it has been a very productive week. Next week our regular activities of swimming and AWANA start, and the full routine will be in place. Stay tuned.