WEEKLY WRAP-UP: OCTOBER 22 – 26
Free-Writing
As I’ve mentioned in other posts, we are using Bravewriter for writing this year. I am experimenting having Lydia do some free writing each day using Bravewriter methods. Basically, I will set a timer and she will have to write about the prompt for a certain amount of time. She is very content in writing her own stories but I’d like to see her write when given a prompt. For now, I am having this take the place of copywork, which is not her favorite anyway. The few times we did this last week, she balked, but then once she got going, got into it. I’m hoping this challenges to her write about new topics!
Public museum field trip
We took one day this week to redeem some free passes the kids received for the summer reading program at the Milwaukee Public Museum. It was an educational field trip where we got to peruse many different parts of history. I have a feeling we’ll want to head back there after we study Ancient Egypt, as the Ancient Egypt exhibit there is pretty neat and extensive.
Dubblit
Joe is continuing to move along in Math-It. This past week, he broke 1 minute on the 2nd portion of Dubblit, where he has to halve numbers. So we will officially be moving on to multiplication facts or ‘Timzit’. I took a few pictures of the Dubblit portion of Math-It in case anyone reading this wanted to see what it is like. I really love this program and so naturally I want to share about it! Basically, he has to place all the yellow cards on their answers in under a minute.
Mel Chemistry
My daughter was given a Mel Chemistry subscription from her aunt. We had a lot of fun doing some of the experiments this past week. Our favorite was one called ‘Milk and Cola’.
First, we had to pour the milk and cola into separate cups. We had to stir the cola to get rid of all the bubbles.
Then we combined the two liquids and stirred it some more, continuing to get rid of the bubbles.
Next, we poured the mixture into a filter-lined funnel that was set on a flask. The liquid slowly dripped into the flask. What was left in the funnel was the coagulated milk and caramel coloring from the cola. Apparently, the caramel coloring adheres to the proteins in the milk!
And here are the final results. Clear cola that tastes and smells just like cola. Minus the fizz!
Smorgasbord organizing unschool-y day
I spent Friday organizing while the kids did a bunch of other things. You can read about that here!
