Substitutes for Dominoes

The boys love to watch dominoes videos on youtube. We have no dominoes at home but they've found ways to come up with their own creative substitutes. Paint tubes, scrabble tiles, pattern blocks, wooden blocks and lego mini figures are lined up and toppled down.

Weekly Baking Project- Mint Chocolate Cookies and Coconut Macadamia Brownies

We had so much fun baking with our friend Israa. It was very spontaneous and we found all the ingredients we needed in our cupboard. It's a good thing the recipe didn't call for eggs since we had eaten them all at breakfast. The boys had fun measuring, pouring, mixing, using the kitchen aid, using the timer, preheating the oven, chopping the chocolate and best of all tasting the fruits of their labor.

On Sunday night Sage helped me make the brownies. They are like almond joy brownies but with macadamia nuts instead of almonds. Sage loved chopping the macadamia nuts and chocolate, melting the butter, mixing, measuring, preparing the baking dish with foil, and spreading the ingredients into the pan.

Eggs- periment

We tried an experiment where we placed one egg in a glass of vinegar and another egg in a glass of diet coke. The vinegar caused the egg to float slowly toward the middle of the glass and eventually to the top. The shell dissolved leaving only a gummy textured egg with a foam floating on top of the vinegar. The egg became larger. The diet coke egg remained relatively unchanged except that the coke dyed the shell brown.

Country of the Month: China

This month we studied China. Here are some of the things we did.

- Ate pan fried dumplings, steamed veggie buns, tofu veggie noodles and red bean pastry at New Peace Chinese Restaurant

-Looked at pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's tour of China

- Talked about the year of the snake and the Chinese zodiac

-Looked at pictures of Chinese fans, vases, pandas, The Great Wall, clothing, rice paddies, dragons, lion dance, etc.

- Watched videos on Chinese martial arts and weaponry

- Listened to traditional Chinese music

- Mom wore a dress that Grandma and Grandpa got for her on their trip to China

-Pointed out the flag and located China on the map

Hawaii October-November 2013

Feeding fish at Pagoda Restaurant

 

Trick or Treating with Cousins

 

Ice Skating at Ice Palace

 

Swimming, Observing Fish and Hanging With Family at Ko 'Olina Lagoons

 

Hawaiian Sledding at Kaka 'ako Park

 

Climbing and Swinging From Lychee Tree

 

Roasting Marshmallows

 

Mini Golf

 

Playing Chess Against Family

Water Balloon Fight

Taking Care of the Dogs

We had a great time in Hawaii with family and friends. As homeschoolers, we are able to travel any time of the year. We plan to go to Hawaii in the fall and spring of each year. It was a welcome break from the cold and rainy weather of Vancouver. We spent a lot of time outdoors. Some things we did in Hawaii that are part of homeschooling include...

- putting together a puzzle of the map of the United States

- learning the names of Wildlife through books and games

- looking through Grandma and Grandpa's albums of China, Japan, and Alaska

- harvesting fruit and vegetables from plants in the backyard

- placing flowers on relatives' graves

- picking out a pumpkin, designing it, carving it, counting the seeds

- visiting the library

- raking leaves and cutting up large branches

- observing Hawaiian flora and fauna

New Approaches to Writing

I believe learning should be fun. I believe writing should have purpose. The boys are not excited about worksheets which we have currently deemed "low grade clerical work". However, writing has become very important lately in chess. Their chess class is working on writing notations which is really important in case there should be discrepancies in the game. The boys are becoming better at writing their letters and numbers in small spaces, especially A-H and 1-8. The lines of the paper are like notebook paper. They are also writing chess symbols queen side castle, king side castle, check, checkmate, and take.
We use sand paper letters which they trace with their fingers. Then they draw it with their fingers in powdered jello. You can also use sand or rice.

Weekly Baking Project: Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin muffins for fall. These muffins came out super light and fluffy.