Posted in FIAR Vol 4

We had another fabulous co-op day.  I feel so very blessed to be a part of this group.  The talent, creativity and energy is amazing - and a delight to be a part of.  And fun!  This is a fun group of children and moms! 

We started out talking about fats.  Hmmm ... interesting start to the day, isn't it?  But, it did weave in through the other topics.  The children went to a table to see lots of jars filled with interesting colors and substances.  Each had water and a fat in the jar. 

The jars were passed around and the children shook them up to see if they could get the fats to dissolve.  Some did while others were more resistant to change forms.  We heated a couple to see if this made a difference and it did for a short time.  It was interesting to learn and observe the difference.  The shaking was a hit too.

Next it was time for art.  This involved fats too!  The children did a crayon resist using light colored crayons on art paper.  The crayons were a fat.  They drew designs on their cards and then went over these with watercolors.  Each child was given 3 cards on which to paint and later send to a friend or grandparent.   Look at this beautiful example.  Can you see the lightning?

It was fun to see the various designs that the children came up with and how the watercolors just did not stick to or mix with the crayons.

I didn't get a good close-up of the art, but you can see the technique in the red card on the table.  The word "Hello" is written in crayon then painted over with red paint.  The word just pops out from the paint.  It's neat and it a good use for those white crayons!

The next part of the lesson was about taste and the ways in which our body sends messages to the brain.  The children formed a chain by holding hands.  They were to squeeze the next persons hand and say "ouch" to see how long it too the message to get around the group. 

Then we learned about the 5 (yes, one more than I learned about in school) areas of taste.  The new one is savory

We also learned that the tongue can taste all of the areas throughout and not just in one spot.  That makes more sense to me.  This ball was a representation of the various areas of taste (see how the ends on the ball match the chart above?). 

We learned about what happens when we eat something hot!  The Scoville chart for measuring heat was discussed and various types of peppers listed.  (This may not sound interesting, but our energetic teacher made this very exciting and hands-on!) 

When we eat something hot and then drink water, the water acts to push the hot further into our taste buds making it seem hotter still.  If however we choose to eat or drink something with fat in it like milk or yogurt, then the fat will bind with the heat and pull it away from our tongue. 

Now, it was time to put that to the test.  The table was lined with 10 containers numbered from 1 to 10.  Each person started at 1 which was the mildest with no heat in it at all and then went as close to 10 as they wanted to go!

They each took turns.  Some needed some coaxing to keep going.   Others were eager to try more. 

A lot of the children made it to 10!  (It was yummy!)

While the older kids were learning, Rebecca was playing with Eliana and her friend.  She even brought some craft things for them to work on during this time.  What a thoughtful big sister!  She is awesome with younger children!

Daniel was given a neat picture from his friend Miss Lynn.  It is the leaves that they gathered at our last co-op.  She laminated them and made the page so that it could be hung on a window.  He was delighted and loves seeing it in our kitchen.  Wasn't that so very thoughtful?!  Thank you friend!

Another fun day with friends.  I love these days!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures. 

Blessings
Leslie

Posted in FIAR Vol 4

We had another great co-op day last week.  I just haven't gotten around to posting about it.  It is always such a treat to spend time with friends and have fun learning in the process.  We had a beautiful day and spent it all outside. 

So what did we learn about today?  Well, pumpkins of course. 

We had a few more experiments on density and learned that all pumpkins float no matter the size or weight.  

One thing that I thought was really interesting was watching them turn in the water so that the stem was facing down.  I'm not sure why they did that, but all of ours from small to large turned in the water like that.  (Can you see that the large one is in the process of turning?)

We also learned about the human body.  We talked about joints (and had a neat visual) of how the joints can break down (ouch that one was a little close to home!).  They also learned about the bones in the body.

They came home with a neat project to label the bones as well as a skeleton to put together.  (The black dots are velcro to which the names of the bones can be attached.  There is a copy of the same sheet with the answers behind it so that they can check their work.) 

After learning about the body, we talked about the style of running done by the man in the book who "shuffled along" and won the race!  The children had several rounds of running a course.  What a fun course too!  It was through the woods and the path had pumpkins all throughout as well as pictures of various Australian animals. 

Lastly, the children learned about hot air balloons and why they float.  They made their own hot air balloons from a trashbag.

They used hair dryers to fill them with hot air and then watched them rise! 

We had a yummy snack of pumpkin muffins and granola.  While they were snacking the children watched the "dancing raisins" experiment.  More on the experiment here. 

While the other children were learning about pumpkins and such, Daniel again had his private nature study class with his sweet friend Miss Lynn.  He so looks forward to these days!

Thank you friends for another wonderful day!  I'm blessed to be a part of such a creative and sweet group of friends!

Love
Leslie

Posted in FIAR Vol 4

It was time again for our co-op.  We are meeting every other week.  We go on field trips during the alternate weeks with our FIAR group.  So each week we look forward to this day as a fun hands-on day of learning with our friends.

Our book for this co-op was Cowboy Charlie.  It is a true story of an artist who painted beautiful pictures of the West.  The story tells of how he went out west, learned to be a cowboy and was friends with the Native American people. 

Our day was wet and cool, but that did not dampen the fun had by all.  Some of the children dressed up.

Can you see the teepee made from branches?  The circles on the photo are raindrops.

We read the story to start the day.

The children were then given passports of various historical characters. 

There were pictures and some facts on the front and more details on the back.

It was fun to hear the stories of the people from the past. 

Sometimes the characters were a really good match.  lol

They travelled around the yard and listened to stories about these people.

They came to a table filled with interesting things ... a turtle's shell, claws from a hawk and an owl, various bones, precious stones including fool's gold and amethyst.  My boys really loved seeing and touching these things!

Eliana and her friend Julianna always have fun playing together.

The children took turns trying to rope the steer. 

This was supposed to be our snack site complete with water to pour from the kettle, but the weather drove us inside. 

The children learned about the stars and God's story behind the constellations.  They each had a hands-on poster to work with as they were learning.

We finished the morning with a yummy snack from our sweet hostess! 

Thank you Lynn and Vivian for a wonderful morning!  I love this co-op and can't wait until we meet again.

Blessings
Leslie