School Activities

Here are a few of the "hands on" things we've done since school started:

In ancient history we read about how the first farmers used shadufs to water their crops. On a whim, I sent the kids out to try to make their own. They spent 30 seconds piling up bricks and choosing a (short) stick to lay across the top, and the next hour "weaving" the basket and rope to collect the water. Thankfully we have a sprinkler system and do not rely on their workmanship to water the yard (though our grass looks so dead you'd never know). For any skeptics out there: I did not count the weaving hour as class time, but I certainly could have; I guarantee they will remember what a shaduf is.

Nature Study: examining and sketching a cicada. We have also enjoyed viewing butterfly and dragonfly wings under the microscope. Fascinating.

After reading about Egyptian hieroglyphs and papyrus we thought it would be fun to make paper. Of course, we did it the 21st century American way: ripping up perfectly good paper, mixing it with water, adding glitter, and turning it into new, less usable paper. I think it turned out great considering it was our first try and we used makeshift equipment. A few family members even received birthday greetings on custom-made paper.

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No pictures for this one, but last week we (meaning me and all four children) visited a REAL grown-up museum (dim lighting, spot lights on archaeological treasures behind glass, etc.). I think the employees' blood pressure shot up when they saw us coming. (At least I had the foresight to strap Caleb in the stroller.) As we paid for our tickets, the cashier asked, "And do you children know the number one rule about museums?" Thankfully, I had just gone over the out-in-public manners on the way from the parking garage, so Nate piped up, "Do not touch a single thing!" which probably gave the poor woman some hope that we wouldn't shatter all the priceless artifacts.

The kids actually did pretty well and there were a lot of fascinating things on display that correlated so well with what we've been studying--including several Egyptian mummies in wooden coffins covered with hieroglyphs, one of which depicted the king's heart being weighed on the balance against the feather of truth (we read about this the first week of school--a lovely opportunity to talk about how thankful we are that our record and eternal "fate" is actually secured by Christ's righteousness and we don't have to wait until death to find out whether the scale will tip against us and a part-lion, part-crocodile, part-hippopotamus will devour our internal organs.)

By the time we got to the concert (yes, I thought we might just try attending a concert at the museum; and, yes, we were the only ones there under 50) we had used up most of our public behavior. Plus it started at noon--aka lunchtime! Plus it was Chopin (well, not him, but his music)--about whom I know nothing, but let's just say his tunes are not that melodious in my book. So I decided we would sit by the door and do our best, which was good enough considering. We stayed through the first piece, which was about 15 minutes long. Then we made our escape as the latecomers were being seated, picked up Chik-fil-A on the way home and the kids ran around the back yard the rest of the afternoon. I think we all felt like we had been let out of prison--albeit, an interesting, educational prison. An easier field trip on the docket for this Friday: Charlotte's Web at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Whew!