Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day: Lesson 1

We've been studying birds this year using Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day from Apologia. It's been fun so far. The first half of Lesson One covered the definition of zoology, classification, and the principle of flight. The first experiment involved placing a straw in a full cup of water and trimming the straw so that it only stuck up 1/2 inch. Then you blew at the top of the straw with another straw. Water was supposed to spray out of the straw that is in the cup when the air flow over the top of the straw reduced the air pressure.

It worked. I ended up having to hold the straw in the cup while Princess Pink blew. There was plenty of water on the table. I'm not sure how much of it came out of the correct straw

The second experiment involved making two gliders. Both had wings had equal areas. One was 1 X 8 inches and the other was 2 X 4 inches. Then they threw the gliders and measured how far they flew.

(Gliders made by Wild Thing)

Then they threw the gliders 10 times each and measured how far they flew each time. The Crafter recorded the data and computed the average.

We did not get good results from this experiment. The glider with the thinner wing was supposed to have a longer flight. Our results were about equal. I can't remember the exact numbers, and I'm too lazy to go find the Crafter's science notebook.

New School Year

Bradford Academy is a year round homeschool, so the old year sort of morphs into the new. The kids get their new grade designations when their classes change at church.  This year all three are having formal lessons. Here is this year's lineup.

Princess Pink: Kindergarten

Phonics Pathways, Saxon Math 1, Italic Handwriting B, Bob Books, Abeka Readers, Apologia Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, and tagging along with Tapestry of Grace Year 3

Wild Thing: Second Grade

Phonics Pathways (just a few more pages), Italic Handwriting B and copywork, Saxon Math 3 followed by Singapore Math 2, First Language Lessons, Spelling Workout A, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, and Tapestry of Grace Year 3 Early Grammar

The Crafter: Seventh Grade

Rod and Staff Grammar 6 (we have 3 chapters left) followed by 7, Singapore Math 6b followed by Life of Fred Fractions and Life of Fred Decimals and Percents, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, Spelling Workout F and G, Drama through Christian Youth Theater, Mavis Beacon Typing Instructor, and Tapestry of Grace Year 3 dialectic level

An Unexpected Visitor

We had a bit of excitement this afternoon. It was thundering, so I sent the children out to bring in the clothes. They came back inside. Then I heard scratching at the door. I had thought that our dog was already in, but I cautiously opened the door. The next door neighbor's dog came barreling in and hid under my computer dest. That's my dog's spot, so he wasn't happy. After a bit of growling, the question of whose spot was whose was settled.

The neighbor's dog settled down with Princess Pink. They looked at books and played with toys. The dog took a nap. After the rain stopped, the dog got up on Wild Thing's bed and looked out the window toward her house. Finally, her family's minivan pulled up. She went to the front door. I opened it, and she ran home.

My Brilliant Idea

I was trying to organize and declutter when I ran across a stack of cheap, plastic award frames. We have had these things forever. Okay, maybe not forever, but they've been hanging around for at least ten years. I think the Historian had some purpose for them, but then that event didn't take place. Anyway, there they were, taking up space. I was all set to send them to the thrift store when I happened upon an idea for making a dry erase board out of a picture frame.

So I removed the frames from the donate bag. Here's one frame.

Then I trimmed a plain piece of printer paper to fit. Did I mention that these frames were oddly sized?

 The next step is securing the paper in the frame. How? I used duct tape of course.

Here's the finished product.

But why stop there? Here's one with lined paper.

And here's one with graph paper.

The possibilities are endless. You could do maps or a periodic table or a skeleton to label. I wish I had more frames. Don't tell the Historian.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

It is very foolish to shut oneself into any wardrobe.

Guest Post From The Crafter

The Crafter was at writing camp this week. I sent her because getting her to write is an exercise in frustration for both of us. I am pleased to say that the week went well with the most difficult part being getting up and out in time. They had many different activities to encourage creativity. One was to describe a random object taken from a grab bag. This is what the Crafter wrote.

I remember when I was still at a store in Russia. I was polished daily. I was smooth, shiny, and colorful. My two friends who lived inside me looked exactly like me. But I didn't feel loved.


One day a little girl came into the shop. She passed by all the dolls and came to me. "Mommy! This is the doll I want," she said. In a few minutes, I was in the car going to her house.





After several years, I was chipped from being chewed by a dog, my paint had mostly washed off from being left outside, and my smallest friend was missing. But my owner was still my best friend, even though she was grown up. 

Wordless Wednesday-Homeschool Organization

Please ignore the mess.

The contraptions on top are dish drainers. I copied the idea from Day by Day Discoveries.

This is a sideboard from the thrift store. It cost $15. I'll get a replacement handle eventually.

It Really Shouldn't Be This Hard

I am on a mission to find something that does not exist. The technology is readily available, but not in the form I seek. I need a big mp3 player. That's not too much to ask is it? Well it seems like it is.

My father-in-law is 84 years old and newly blind. He has mobility issues and a loss of fine motor skills. He is computer and technologically illiterate. He could not operate a DVD player before he lost his sight. He loved to read. Now he can't. He is depressed. I would love to load up an mp3 player with audiobooks to keep him company, but that seems more like a dream than a reality at this point.

I am running into several issues:

1. Technology is getting smaller. This is a most difficult issue. Small buttons, small screens, small device to get lost in the furniture.
2. The market for the blind is very small and very specialized. Blind friendly is not necessarily elderly friendly. Most elderly people are not going to learn Braille.
3. Products for the blind are ridiculously expensive. The companies assume some type of insurance or government assistance. It takes time to apply and qualify and receive (up to a year) and even then the product may not be suitable. We are working on this, but I would like to get him something sooner.
4. Children's products have big buttons but small storage capabilities. Thirty minutes to an hour of playtime is not enough.

What I want is one (really big) button operation with automatic bookmarking. It needs to turn on and start playing where it left off. We had hoped that he could use a Sansa Clip. It turns on and plays where it left off, but the slide that turns it on is tiny. He couldn't work it. If only there was one with a big button.

I posted my search on every message board that I belong to. I have some suggestions. Next stop is the Apple Store since they specialize in finding solutions.

Still Tired

I had hoped to post a health update about how great I felt, but that is not to be. I'm still tired (feels like an all day benedryl hangover). I do have more good days. I have hours during the bad days that I can function normally. That is a huge blessing and I am grateful. I need to go back to the doctor. I should have gone months ago, but with Wild Thing's medical bills and now a "fried" air conditioner, that has to wait longer.