We performed a science experiment today-Justin got a mentos/soda kit in his stocking and we tried it. It makes a 25 ft. soda geyser. Essentially you put mentos in a tube with a pin blocking them from dropping in a bottle of diet soda until you pull it out-from a distance! Then the mentos fall in and the gasses push the soda out of the bottle.
But it was so cold they wouldn't stay outside. Justin and Jacob immediately tried to slide down the hill and promptly fell in the snow! So that was it for them, they went back inside and watched from the window. Even when we shoveled snow today (with brooms and dustpans, lol) they didn't stay out for more than minutes at a time. Justin was the only one who really helped me.
So the boys stood at the back door to watch and Leanna was in and out, although she stayed outside for the actual gushing. And I think our camera finally died (we've been using it without a button to push to take the pictures-we used a paper clip) so I tried to use the video camera. But when I backed up to see the full geyser, I slipped in the snow and fell. So it should be an interesting video to watch!
For a mythbusters-one of Justin's favorite shows!- scientific explanation:
Or for a more entertaining demonstration of what we did today:
Monday, December 27, 2010
Organization
LOL at the first paragraph of this post from Sprittibee because I can sooo relate:
"Homeschool families are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting organized. Having children at home – and even mom at home – all day adds to the mess tenfold. Just imagine: three meals a day in the house, all of the school papers and projects spread out on the floors and tables, book cases and cabinets full of educational supplies, and chores that get neglected because of other, more important learning experiences. Add these all up and you have a colossal mess: a daily challenge to overcome that tends to overwhelm even the most dedicated of organizing mamas!"
"Homeschool families are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting organized. Having children at home – and even mom at home – all day adds to the mess tenfold. Just imagine: three meals a day in the house, all of the school papers and projects spread out on the floors and tables, book cases and cabinets full of educational supplies, and chores that get neglected because of other, more important learning experiences. Add these all up and you have a colossal mess: a daily challenge to overcome that tends to overwhelm even the most dedicated of organizing mamas!"
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Little reason to push children to read at an early age
With all the current hoopla over stuff like the "teach your baby to read" programs and the like, I find it refreshing to find a post like this one, which I've copied from here. This is reassuring for me because I've been mainly working with the boys when they show an interest in a subject, and when they ask to do "schoolwork." I haven't done a whole lot with reading because I don't think they're really ready yet. It's very hard to do this though, because it's one of the first things people ask us about and because you worry about how they will do around peers who can already read.
Copied from the post:
Research Finds No Advantage In Learning To Read From Age Five reports:
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A University of Otago researcher has uncovered for the first time quantitative evidence that teaching children to read from age five is not likely to make that child any more successful at reading than a child who learns reading later, from age seven.
The ground-breaking Psychology PhD research, conducted by Dr Sebastian Suggate, has been placed on the University's "distinguished list" of doctoral theses for 2009. Dr Suggate has also been awarded a prestigious Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Humboldt Association in Germany to the University of Wuerzburg in Bavaria to further his studies into childhood education.
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Moore's wrote in Better Late Than Early that it is better for young children, especially boys, to wait on academics until they are eight to ten years old. Part of this has to do with brain development. While much of the body is basically formed at birth, like your fingers and toes, the brain keeps undergoing major changes until people are eighteen and twenty. In trying to force young children to read before their brains are ready, it is like trying to make them walk before they even have their legs.
Copied from the post:
Research Finds No Advantage In Learning To Read From Age Five reports:
----------
A University of Otago researcher has uncovered for the first time quantitative evidence that teaching children to read from age five is not likely to make that child any more successful at reading than a child who learns reading later, from age seven.
The ground-breaking Psychology PhD research, conducted by Dr Sebastian Suggate, has been placed on the University's "distinguished list" of doctoral theses for 2009. Dr Suggate has also been awarded a prestigious Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Humboldt Association in Germany to the University of Wuerzburg in Bavaria to further his studies into childhood education.
----------
Moore's wrote in Better Late Than Early that it is better for young children, especially boys, to wait on academics until they are eight to ten years old. Part of this has to do with brain development. While much of the body is basically formed at birth, like your fingers and toes, the brain keeps undergoing major changes until people are eighteen and twenty. In trying to force young children to read before their brains are ready, it is like trying to make them walk before they even have their legs.
Friday, December 24, 2010
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
I love Christmastime. It's my favorite holiday. Although it can be tiring and sometimes stressful I love it all and think it's well worth it. It's hard to do a lot of the stuff we do with the kids while they're young, but I think it's so good for them (and in different ways for me as well). It's tough at the time, but you go back and look at the pictures with such fond memories of that particular year, that particular time period......I absolutley wouldn't trade it for anything.
And I'm always looking for new traditions and foods to add to our family holiday routine. Especially since our lack of a family vehicle really cuts back on the things we can do. But particularly this year, I am tired. I think I'm going to do a lot of sleeping next week! We've had so much going on lately......decorating the house, decorating the tree, advent calendars, planing and making gifts, making & decorating cookies and deserts, a trip to see Santa, going to Q-Mart, watching Christmas movies and specials, reading Christmas stories, taking holiday pictures, letters to Santa, wrapping presents, listening to holiday music, and all the cleaning and planning required to do all of the above!
I hope everyone else is having a great holiday season as well! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
And I'm always looking for new traditions and foods to add to our family holiday routine. Especially since our lack of a family vehicle really cuts back on the things we can do. But particularly this year, I am tired. I think I'm going to do a lot of sleeping next week! We've had so much going on lately......decorating the house, decorating the tree, advent calendars, planing and making gifts, making & decorating cookies and deserts, a trip to see Santa, going to Q-Mart, watching Christmas movies and specials, reading Christmas stories, taking holiday pictures, letters to Santa, wrapping presents, listening to holiday music, and all the cleaning and planning required to do all of the above!
I hope everyone else is having a great holiday season as well! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Letters to Santa
We sent (email) letters to Santa. I wish I'd saved Justin's letter, but I didn't know the website didn't include a copy of your letter in the reply. Some of the odder requests that I can remember: he asked for a moose hat, a metal toy sewing machine, chocolate and a bag of M&Ms in his stocking, if you can make that recipie! He also asked what time Santa went to bed. Leanna wrote her own so I wasn't involved in that one either......but I did manage to save a copy of Timothy's!
Timothy's email letter to Santa, I just wrote down what he said, there was no editing:
How are you doing Santa? Please can you get all these for Christmas for me Santa?
I want a whole bag of chocolates. I want a calendar. I want a toy camera too. And a toy lightning McQueen house. And a Lightning McQueen picture. I want a toy reindeer hat, a real one! And another Mickey Mouse ball, a big one! And a Santa suit. I want a toy racecar phone. A real racecar tv. A real Bible. A Handy Manny set. And a builder construction set that you can saw and make a pirate ship. And a real ironing board. And a cd player, my own Lightning McQueen one. And a candle, a real one. And a real camera too. And a big huge train that all of us could sit in, Mommy and Daddy too.
Goodbye! Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!
Timothy's email letter to Santa, I just wrote down what he said, there was no editing:
How are you doing Santa? Please can you get all these for Christmas for me Santa?
I want a whole bag of chocolates. I want a calendar. I want a toy camera too. And a toy lightning McQueen house. And a Lightning McQueen picture. I want a toy reindeer hat, a real one! And another Mickey Mouse ball, a big one! And a Santa suit. I want a toy racecar phone. A real racecar tv. A real Bible. A Handy Manny set. And a builder construction set that you can saw and make a pirate ship. And a real ironing board. And a cd player, my own Lightning McQueen one. And a candle, a real one. And a real camera too. And a big huge train that all of us could sit in, Mommy and Daddy too.
Goodbye! Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Student loans leave crushing burden
Couldn't resist posting this one, it hits close to home: Americans now owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards — a debt fast approaching $1 trillion with no end in sight.
A quote: "Alan Collinge, an activist and author, who drew on his own student loan default to found the group StudentLoanJustice.org, says the student loan crisis is potentially far worse than the mortgage crisis.
"A defaulted home mortgage borrower — and don't get me wrong, it's a horrible outcome — they walk away from their house wearing a barrel and not much else," he said. "In the case of student loans, there is no walking away."
Unlike most other forms of debt, student loans carry almost no consumer protections and little ability to refinance. By law, they can't be wiped out in bankruptcy. Those laws were passed in response to the last student loan crisis in the 1980s. But Collinge believes it created a system he calls predatory.
"These powers would make a mobster envious," he said.
If you default on a student loan today, you could lose everything. "
A quote: "Alan Collinge, an activist and author, who drew on his own student loan default to found the group StudentLoanJustice.org, says the student loan crisis is potentially far worse than the mortgage crisis.
"A defaulted home mortgage borrower — and don't get me wrong, it's a horrible outcome — they walk away from their house wearing a barrel and not much else," he said. "In the case of student loans, there is no walking away."
Unlike most other forms of debt, student loans carry almost no consumer protections and little ability to refinance. By law, they can't be wiped out in bankruptcy. Those laws were passed in response to the last student loan crisis in the 1980s. But Collinge believes it created a system he calls predatory.
"These powers would make a mobster envious," he said.
If you default on a student loan today, you could lose everything. "
Monday, December 13, 2010
Not wrecks, just pretty!
I'm going to encourage you to stop by the Cake Wrecks blog for two reasons:
1. They're encouraging their readers to donate $1.00 to charties every day leading up to Christmas. When so many people listen to them and donate a dollar, it adds up. A simple way to do some good and feel good!
2. Omigosh! They have some beautiful pictures of gingerbread houses there! Though the term "gingerbread houses" really doesn't do justice to some of them.
Update: I'm adding a link for the post I was referring to since the above link is just for the blog itself, which updates frequently. Here's the link for the post with the pretty gingerbread houses.
1. They're encouraging their readers to donate $1.00 to charties every day leading up to Christmas. When so many people listen to them and donate a dollar, it adds up. A simple way to do some good and feel good!
2. Omigosh! They have some beautiful pictures of gingerbread houses there! Though the term "gingerbread houses" really doesn't do justice to some of them.
Update: I'm adding a link for the post I was referring to since the above link is just for the blog itself, which updates frequently. Here's the link for the post with the pretty gingerbread houses.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Kisses and more
The cut out cookies-our favorite to make
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| Jacob's was mainly just having fun with the dough, we just let him play. |
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| We always end up with at least one big cookie. They invariably break long before being eaten. |
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| One of the most fun parts is chosing your shapes! |
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| He was pioneering new methods of dough rolling. |
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| Getting ready to begin the cut out cookie making! |
Getting Easier
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| Nothing to see here! Nope! Nothing in my mouth! |
Practice
Friday, December 10, 2010
Alleriges can make money/attitudes
An article on how fighting food allergies is turning into big business.
"A restaurant that goes from allergy unfriendly to allergy friendly can make an additional $50,000 per year," he says. That's based on his calculations of additional business and subtracting out additional costs for special supplies and staff training."
The article goes on to discuss why people with allergies have special needs. It does mention that often they avoid eating out because it's hard to be sure even with places that claim to be allergy safe. I wish they would use a better example than this though:
"If a server is carrying a plate for my son, who has dairy allergies, and a plate for someone else with shredded cheese on it, and some falls onto my son's plate, there's no menu that can solve for that," he says. He says that restaurants that are truly allergy-friendly train the staff to avoid cross-contamination, sometimes even using color-coded plates."
I can just hear someone saying, well don't let your kid eat the cheese that fell on his plate and it'll be fine! It's not always that simple though-people have different levels of sensitivity (a plate that wasn't washed thoroughly can still contain traces of an offending food which might be a problem for extremely allergic individuals), sometimes substitutions can be made, or foods could be safe ingredient-wise but be prepared on a surface or with utensils that touched a food you're allergic to. Not to mention attitudes toward allergies can be a barrier to a safe eating experience-if your server thinks that allergies are just a weakness and not a real physical problem they aren't likely to take the necesary precautions. (This attitude is still alive and well, many people do think this way. Look at the stereotype of the nerd who very often has allergies to further prove his nerd status. I've even seen it mentioned on a blog where the author said allergies were thought of as a sign of weakness in their family. Or look at this study that shows that kids with allergies are often bullied and the bullies are often ADULTS!)
We're pretty lucky since it seems our allergic child is only affected skin-wise, and hopefully will never have a life-threatening reaction. But many children can have serious reactions or die from their allergies, so it is important for as many precautions as possible to be taken.
"A restaurant that goes from allergy unfriendly to allergy friendly can make an additional $50,000 per year," he says. That's based on his calculations of additional business and subtracting out additional costs for special supplies and staff training."
The article goes on to discuss why people with allergies have special needs. It does mention that often they avoid eating out because it's hard to be sure even with places that claim to be allergy safe. I wish they would use a better example than this though:
"If a server is carrying a plate for my son, who has dairy allergies, and a plate for someone else with shredded cheese on it, and some falls onto my son's plate, there's no menu that can solve for that," he says. He says that restaurants that are truly allergy-friendly train the staff to avoid cross-contamination, sometimes even using color-coded plates."
I can just hear someone saying, well don't let your kid eat the cheese that fell on his plate and it'll be fine! It's not always that simple though-people have different levels of sensitivity (a plate that wasn't washed thoroughly can still contain traces of an offending food which might be a problem for extremely allergic individuals), sometimes substitutions can be made, or foods could be safe ingredient-wise but be prepared on a surface or with utensils that touched a food you're allergic to. Not to mention attitudes toward allergies can be a barrier to a safe eating experience-if your server thinks that allergies are just a weakness and not a real physical problem they aren't likely to take the necesary precautions. (This attitude is still alive and well, many people do think this way. Look at the stereotype of the nerd who very often has allergies to further prove his nerd status. I've even seen it mentioned on a blog where the author said allergies were thought of as a sign of weakness in their family. Or look at this study that shows that kids with allergies are often bullied and the bullies are often ADULTS!)
We're pretty lucky since it seems our allergic child is only affected skin-wise, and hopefully will never have a life-threatening reaction. But many children can have serious reactions or die from their allergies, so it is important for as many precautions as possible to be taken.
Friday, December 03, 2010
From Thanksgiving morning
(Just unloaded these pics)
Unscripted
I thought this was an interesting list: 15 Great Scenes That Were Unscripted. Reading the comments is always interesting, thought there's a lot of repetition and stupidity (as always!) You have to appreciate the special talent of those who are able to improvise and improvise well. I've always meant to see Dr. Strangelove, it's on my list of movies to see!
Thursday, December 02, 2010
2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated – you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
■Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
■Use 2 tablespoons per full load.
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