Warning!
If you are freaked out by bones and dead stuff - then don't read this post. (or just close your eyes and scroll down past the first three pictures.)
My kid's favorite subjects this year are History and Science. I talked about our science curriculum here.
I'll tell you about our History in a minute.
In Life Science, we have done a lot of hands on activities: arts, crafts, field trips and microscope observations - which the kids love and look forward to. This week, we did our first lab.
We were studying the digestive system of birds, so I ordered some owl pellets (one large and one small) to dissect.
Emet and I dissected the small one together and found a mouse skeleton (or it might have been a rat, since the skull was pretty big,) and Elijah dissected the larger pellet and found several skulls and skeletons. Elijah then wrote out a lab report on his findings, while Emet just floated off to play-land somewhere (that's what first graders get to do sometimes, right?)
It was really fun and exciting AND really dirty and gross. We're all so glad we did it. They won't forget this lesson!
About our History, which we alternate with Science (either History or Science each afternoon:) we are going through the first volume of The Mystery of History. So far, everyone is really pleased. It begins at Creation and teaches from a Biblical standpoint. We are building a huge time-line that not only incorporates traditional ancient history characters and events, but also shows where and when people from the Bible lived within history from the rest of the world (for instance Joshua from the Bible lived at the same time as King Tut.)
I feel like I am learning so much, and I think the kids are too.
We had just finished learning about dinosaurs and the flood when Emet decided (on his own) to make his first stuffed animal. He cut all these pieces without any direction or supervision, and I showed him how to sew and fill it with batting. (It's a crazy dinosaur that only he knows the name of.)
This is the awesome stuff of homeschooling, people! To see my son use his creative talents to reinforce what he is learning is just priceless. I wouldn't give it up for the world.
2 comments:
LOVE it!!!!! That dinosaur is awesome. I'm going to look into the curriculum you're using; how's it going with the little one? Luke is such a mess, haha!
My grandpa had owls in a BIG barn on his farm and he used to send pellets all over the country to schools for science. I was so fascinated by those!
Ha! she can be a handful! But I do most of my teaching when she is napping. And while she is awake, the boys do activities that they don't need much help with. So far so good (of course we have ours days...) :D
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