to take a short summer vacation from school. As public school kids in the area head BACK to the classroom, I am taking a break from the workbooks for a time. We are all a bit burned out and with building a new home and beginning to pack and declutter, I think we need to take a break. I feel like it is time for us to shift gears in our educational pursuits.
Yesterday, as we were have a picnic lunch in the yard, I discussed with the children what they were interested in learning about. My oldest, Elizabeth, wants history - any history as well as photography. My 8 year old daughter, Anna, want science. In particular, she wants to make a volcano and learn how to blow things up. WHERE does she come up with these things?!? My 3 year old son just wants to learn about trains - no surprise there.
We did read some out of the Usborn Book of World History where we learned a bit about the building of places like Stonehenge. The use of simple machines like levers was discussed and we did go outside and build a lever of our own using a 2 X 6 and a log. All of us, including my 3 year old, were able to lift a very big rock with ease. Then I dd let Anna make a volcano in the sandbox and we made it fizz and flow using food coloring, baking soda, and vinegar. We also attempted to make a playdough container blow open using baking soda and vinegar, but discovered that the reaction was too fast an we couldn't get the lid on in time. So, we resorted to using alka selzer and water which worked great. We were able to discuss chemical reactions, gases, and volume all while having a fun play time. Anna keeps asking me what other things we can blow up. Gonna have to do a little research for some fun experiments for her.
At this point, we are just going to have fun for a while. No workbooks or forced lessons. I want to truly seek out a lifestyle of learning.
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