Science Fair Fun

We have neglected posting on the blog due to an overactive schedule. UGHHHH.

 A highlight to the month of April was the Science Fair we organized and hosted at our home. It will be a new addition to our school year from now on. The kids had a blast and the learning was child lead, which is learning at its best. The Science Fair allowed the kids to work in several areas of discipline ie. writing, scientific research/experimentation, visual arts/display, speech/oral reports, and computer skills creating charts/graphs. Some fun things I did was get Science Fair patches for all the participants, I created Science Fair certificates for each player based on their experiment, I put together mini science kits for each family using a collapsible bug house to enclose everything, I planned a few science experiments to do with the group, and I organized a potluck for afterwards so we could all break bread together and chat. My suggestions for anyone else interested in organizing their own Science Fair would be to plan it early, send out an email invitation with a description of what you expect and a letter of intent for all participants with an RSVP date several weeks prior to the event. This helps those of us who are schedually challenged to plan ahead and not wait till the last minute to organize and execute their Science Fair projects. We know who we are and having a deadline is a definite plus. The other families who participated also liked this and said it helped to keep them on track.
So if you have thought about it or wondered if you could then I encourage you to give it a try.

Today in History is a great addition to our days...

We use monthly historical events as jumping off points for fun projects, explorations and as inspiration to keep learning. Today was Robert Frost's birthday the well known American poet inspired us to write our own poems as well as read some of his poems and discuss. Sometimes our event involves a lot of work like on pi day when we baked 3 different pies to enjoy as dinner and dessert and sometimes like today it was a short transition from one subject to another in our morning routine. What will you discover and how will you use it with your family? The possibilities are endless.

A new start

Step one decide to start a blog. Step two deliberate for days over a name. Step three set it up and begin. Step four figure out what to post. Uggghhh.
Today was not a typical day in our life, if any of our days as home educators can really be considered typical, but today was papa's birthday which to kids means national holiday. So it was sleeping in and whipping up some birthday breakfast then papa and the kids ventured out to see the cyclists whiz by for the Redlands Bike Classic which had a race route in our neighborhood this year. The kids were impressed at the speed and compact form the racers maintained and thought it was funny when they tossed their water bottles aside.
To complete the birthday boy's wishes we had delicious In n Out for dinner yumm!
It's downstairs for a movie before bedtime and soccer tomorrow.