May. 21, 2006 Educational Opportunity, or Attack of the Ticks?
Little did I know that our little walk in the field was going to end something reminiscent of Arachnophobia. Despite our routine tick checks during the walk and the thorough inspection upon our return home, I was awoken in the wee hours of the morning by that gentle tickle that sends chills up my spine. Sure enough, it was a tick. And when I turned on the lights, I found three more crawling on my blanket, one on my pillow, one on the wall and one on the floor. After disposing of these and stripping the bed, I uneasily returned to bed. In the morning I was to find several more crawling about on my bed, a few on the floor, three in my son's ear, one in my daughter's hair, one on the baby's pajamas and 17 in the dog's ears.
Not one to waste an educational opportunity, no matter how much it makes me wince, I searched the internet for some information.
 In the United States, there are 7 types of hard ticks and five types of soft ticks which are a nuisance, transmit disease or cause paralysis. If it weren't for AIDS, Lyme disease, transmitted by ticks, would be the US' most infectious disease. Ticks are responsible for most arthropod-borne diseases in the US. Worldwide, they are second to the mosquito. They have a four stage life cycle: egg, larva, nymph and adult. Ticks may be found anywhere there are hosts. They like tall grasses, leaf piles and brushy areas. They often climb to the top of a blade of grass, and hold on with their forelegs outstretched, waiting to hitch a ride. This is called questing. Once the prospective host brushes against them, they grab hold and begin immediately to search for a place to feed. They prefer dark, out of the way places such as ears or right on the hair line.
 The hypostome, or central mouth part, is shaped like a blunt harpoon. When a tick has found its feeding location, it makes a small hole in the skin with the sharp teeth at the front and inserts the hypostome. The barbs help it hold on. Some even produce a cement like substance to help anchor them further. They cut blood vessels just under the skin to create a pool of blood they suck through the hypostome. They inject an anti-coagulant to keep the blood flowing. Sometimes present in this saliva are disease causing organisms which can cause infection. Some species also inject a neurotoxin so that you cannot feel the bite. In children, this can sometimes lead to paralysis.
  The ticks we discovered were all adult American Dog ticks. The vast majority were females (left) but there were a few males (right), as well. The American Dog Tick has a three host cycle. The larvae search out small hosts such as mice or rabbits. The nymphs generally end up with slightly larger hosts and the adults find the largest hosts, including humans. At this last stage, the female will eat for up to six days, engorging herselfto several times her normal size. The male will not eat. He will mate with the female and drop off to die. She will drop off when full and lay up to 4,000 eggs. My daughter is now quite adept at identifying the sex of the ticks as she correctly identified each one as I removed it from the dog's ears. These ticks do not carry Lyme disease, but they are the number one carriers of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
So now what do I have to look for? According to Kidshealth.org:
Symptoms of RMSF usually begin suddenly. There is a high fever - often 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) - with chills, muscle aches, and a severe headache. Eyes may become red, muscles may be tender to the touch, and there may be abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, and fatigue. They may begin 1-14 days after the bite, but usually appear around day 7.
Sources:
Fairfax County Public Schools Website
Los Angeles County West Vector and Vector Borne Disease Control District
Laboratory for the Diagnosis of Tick Borne Diseases
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May. 5, 2006 Botany Through Play
 Madame de Genlis (1746-1830) was a French writer and educator. She was born to a noble but impoverished Burgundian family. At the age of six, she was received as canoness into the noble chapter of Alix, near Lyons, and received the title Madame la Comtesse de Lancy. Interestingly, she was entirely home educated. Her skill at the harp and her wit earned her admiration in Paris.
She served as a governess to wealthy families, educating their children with zeal. She would see one of her students take the throne of France. She was a woman of the French Revolution, although she had to soon take refuge in Switzerland. Upon her return to France, she was well-received by Napolean Bonaparte who extended her a pension of 6,000 francs. She was a prolific writer (over 80 works), and anticipated many modern methods of education.
Like any good educator, she utilized the technology at hand to teach her young pupils. She utilized magic lantern slides to teach history. These were popular in the early 1800's and were a precursor to toda's film and television. She also took her children on nature walks where they learned botany from a practical botanist. One way she encouraged children to learn to appreciate the variety of plants and their parts was through games, such as making dolls from flowers.
Directions for a Poppy Doll
Materials:
poppy
blades of grass
Pick a poppy with at least five inches of stem. Bend down the front and back petals and tie them in the middle with a blade of grass. This will make the waistline and the doll's dress.
Take the side petals and bend them down, rolling them carefully into arms. Tie them at each end with a blade of grass. (Field poppies have four petals, so you will use one petal for each arm. Garden poppies may have eight, so you will use four for the skirt and two for each arm).
The carpel, or seed pod, serves as your doll's head. The stamens will form a collar.
(directions taken from Hidden Stories in Plants by Anne Pellowski)
This site provides a somewhat simpler poppy doll as it does not have you make the doll's arms.
I found this project intriguing and plan to try it with my daughter. Stay tuned for more crafts with products from nature! Let me know if you have any up your sleeves because I love these sorts of projects.
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Apr. 29, 2006 To Move a Mountain
(note: I have very nice pictures to go along with this, but for some
reason, my computer isn't recognizing its own USB port at the moment,
so until it sorts itself out, you will have to use your imagination).
This morning, we had 2.5 cubic yards of pulverized topsoil delivered to
our driveway. Because it has been raining for two days, the dumptruck
could not drive to the back of the property to dump the load
conveniently next to our garden beds. Instead, we had to move it...75
feet. 2.5 cubic yards doesn't seem like so much--until you have to
move it. With a Tonka truck named Muck, a toy Hummer named Scrambler
and a plastic storage tub.
All afternoon, the three of us shoveled, filled containers and hauled
dirt. My daughter particularly enjoyed the shoveling. My son's
favorite thing to do is dig and haul dirt in his dump truck, anyway.
This is actually part of our unit study
we are doing at the moment. So we talked about what we have been doing
so far. The main principle we are working on is Christian
self-government and have been studying the parable of the sower and
related themes in other subject areas. Today, the focus was on work.
I started by asking Mouse why we were created. She was not very
confident in her answers. "Because He loves us?" "To work in the
Garden?" So I shared:
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
--Isaiah 43:7 Since we are created in His image for His
glory, our primary purpose would be to glorify Him. How do we do
that? Jesus says that we will be known by the love we display for one
another. We decided that loving God and loving one another is a good
place to start. We also talked about faith and how that is more than
believing in God. Faith is active. As James says, faith without works is dead.
To be salt and light in this world, we have to do more than just
believe. We have to act on that belief, always demonstrating the
character traits of Christ: love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
And we were created for work.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
--Genesis 2:15 We do have purpose in this life and it is
useful, productive work. Even in Eden, there was work not idleness.
1Corinthians 10:7 tells us in reference to the Israelites rebelling at
the foot of Mt. Sinai, ...the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
This sounds like our current generation. Idleness gives but a passing
pleasure. Useful work gives us satisfaction and a sense of
accomplishment.
After three hours of work, my children were tired, but satisfied. We
had completed two of the gardens, filling them with soil, and planting
the peppers, tomatoes and herbs. My daughter said she was tired and
starving, but her eyes were shining. My son summed up the lesson well:
Mommy, that was a fun day playing outside. I like to do work.
*****
Some time ago, I decided to post a lesson every Friday in order to
share a bit more how our day goes and share with my fellow PAers (and
anyone else who cares to read it) how I apply my studies to "real
life." I sort of dropped it, but am making the effort to begin again.
So this comes a day late, but here are others from the lesson blogroll
who have shared about their lesson ideas and how their days are set up:
Schooldaze shares her daughter's handwriting/phonogram practice, using SWR.
Principledmom recently shared her schedule, which was nice to see since our daughters are similar ages. This post is a little older, but I found it inspiring and highly recommend it. What a wonderful image of our life in Christ!
Sprittibee always has an abundance of practical ideas to share. Here, she shares some links about our solar system.
Janne just got back from vacation. And I promised her I wouldn't beat
her with noodles for not always posting weekly lesson ideas back when
she joined. She has so many wonderful and helpful ideas! No lesson
this week. But a prayer request.
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Feb. 23, 2006 Friday Favorites
A while back, we did a kind of topical study on the metaphoric use of bread in scripture. I really enjoyed it and my daughter really seemed to connect with the lessons. Now that Spring is coming, we are doing something similar.
This is again for science.
Principle: Development of Christian Character
Leading Idea: We prepare our hearts for Christ like we prepare soil for crops. God's Word only takes root in a heart willing to receive instruction.
We started by reading and examining the parable of the sower.
And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
--Matthew 13:3-8
We talked about each section in a literal sense. We then talked about the good ground and why it was good. We talked about soil nutrients, good loam (mixture of sand and clay), water drainage and aeration. Little Mouse and Baby Bear then set out to prepare the soil for the vegetable garden we are planning this spring. Mouse did a very good job meticulously preparing the peat with her fork and pressing the seeds in just as the directions said.
Just like we did with our study in bread, we are starting concrete. I want her to have a good understanding of the literal words of Christ so that the metaphor will be more meaningful to her later. We therefore have not actually talked at all about the principle here...we'll get there. Probably while we are preparing the soil outside to receive these little fledgling plants that have sprouted!
And just because these have been some of MY favorite lessons since I began blogging last August, here they are again.
Bread of Life
Individuality and Pasta
How Yeast Works
Yeast and Sin
homeschooling, home school, teaching science, bible study
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Feb. 9, 2006 Thomas Edison's Birthday
Our schools are not teaching students to think. It is astonishing how many young people have difficulty in putting their brains definitely and systematically to work....
-Thomas Alva Edison
This week is Thomas Edison's birthday (February 11, 1847). So here are a few resources to put together a quick lesson about this famous inventor.
My best guess is that this would fall under God's Principle of Individuality with the leading idea having something to do with Edison's preparation.
Thomas Edison's Biography
Inventing is Kid's Stuff Thomas Edison was a great inventor. He was once asked if he got discouraged with all his failures. He responded that he did not see them as 99 failures, but the discovery of 99 things that did not work. This site gives a lesson plan designed for the 4th through 6th grade classroom, but could be easily modified for the homeschool.
Famous Quotes from the famous inventor
Thomas Edison failed at many things, including public school. After his teacher called him "addled" (confused) and unteachable, his mother pulled him out and homeschooled him.
To view others posting lesson plans today, check out my blogroll "Friday Favorites." If you happen to be posting lessons today, leave me a note in comments and I'll add your link here so others can stop by and check it out. If you think you would like to participate regularly, let me know and I'll email you the code for your sidebar so you'll have links to everyone participating, and I'll add you to the blogroll as well!
Others I've noticed:
Lisa provides some general insights into her philosophy of planning. Maybe someday we'll get her to start posting her notebook.
Janne talks about the history...or is it legend...of Valentine's Day.
Sprittibee shares her Friday field trip photos of dinosaur foot prints.
Miiko's isn't from today...she's recovering from dental surgery. But here is the results of her lesson planning for scripture.
Principledmom shares a bit about the history of the Geneva bible...hey. You can get that as part of a free download from esword. I don't think I've blogged about them yet, mostly because I thought EVERYBODY already knew about it.
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Even if you are not from Nebraska, you might want to check out this entry. We took a field trip to Pioneers Park and I shared it over there. Since these kinds of parks are all over the country, it might give you some ideas for a winter excursion. There are also some good links to information about owls...the Great Horned Owls start nesting now and it is a great time to go out and listen for them!
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This actually goes with our study on Louis Pasteur, and probably should have been done BEFORE we did all that other stuff, but oh well. I am a very right brained person and do not always do all things in any logical order. And it does not help that I kind of discovered quite a bit as I went along. I finally gathered enough on crystals to take the time to do more than provide a brief explanation with some visual aids before moving on to fermentation.
Anyway, here is our lesson for today. The principle was not well thought out as I only decided today to do this...a rather spontaneous lesson.
Principle: Living things are fundamentally different from non-living things.
Living things grow by eating and building new tissue. Their growth is asymetrical and is according to what the organism needs rather than chance or pattern.
Definition:
A crystal is a homogenous solid formed by a repeating, three dimensional pattern of atoms, ions or molecules and having fixed distances between constituent parts.
Homogenous means "same." Everything in the solid is the same. We are making sugar crystals (hopefully), so I taked about how they will be made only out of sugar, not sugar and salt.
Three dimensional means that it has height and width and depth. I compared a marshmallow to a drawing of a marshmallow to illustrate.
Leading idea: Crystals grow according to a pattern and they are subject to external conditions. Nothing within the crystal "decides" where to grow. It occurs by chance according to natural laws. It does not have internal DNA to direct its growth.
Activity:
For this, we just worked through the definition, using marshmallows and toothpicks to illustrate what each part meant. I identified the marshmallow as the molecule which was going to form the repeating pattern. The toothpick represented the bond between the marshmallows. We built according to a pattern of triangles to make a three-dimensional solid made out of marshmallows and their "bonds." I talked about what was happening to the sugar as it slowly formed crystals at the bottom of the jar as I made one model. Then I turned Mouse loose on her model with toothpicks and crystals. I think her project turned out cute.
Here she is, hard at work:
Here is her finished crystal:
Of course, this particular crystal is particularly unstable. As soon as it is exposed to a two-year old, it begins to break down. She got to eat most of it, though!
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Nov. 10, 2005 Finishing up Pasteur
Today went well, although we did not get to the history lesson I wanted to do. We spent the whole afternoon on science. She was into it, and has never so willingly written so much. Not going to interrupt that!
We talked about the scientific method and how Louis Pasteur developed it to bring more rigorous standards to the studies of scientists. We did our first actual factual experiment from beginning to end, and she wrote out everything we did. I wish I had a scanner so I could scan in her lab report. The handwriting is sloppy, but I'm happy with the work she did. She discovered pasteurization, and I congratulated her on her research and re-named the process after her. We then looked through the cabinets for items that had been pasteurized, and actually found two with the term on them.
Hmm...we are almost done with Pasteur. The last bir will be short since I will not be developing any vaccines with her. So next week we'll be doing what in science? AAAH! Any suggestions?
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Nov. 5, 2005 Science project, 2
I'm so excited! Little Mouse finished the first part of her science project about Louis Pasteur AND I was able to upload the photos. Well, actually, it is the second part, but it is the first part that we put on the computer. The first part is not as long, and I actually posted it earlier. It is about spontaneous generation and bread mold. It is on her blog now. We have been talking about yeast all week, as you probably noticeed. We talked mostly about the science of making bread today. How the yeast works to raise the loaf by creating carbon dioxide bubbles...did you know that a single yeast consumes its own body weight in sugar each hour? It then produces two molecules of ethanol and two molecules of carbon dioxide.
By kneading the bread, you make the gluten form long strands which makes the dough more elastic. This catches those little bubbles so that it rises. You can do a simple experiment to see this...just put some water and flour in a bowl and stir it until it is all liquid. Run the fork through it and pick it up. All the liquid will just run off. Keep stirring for five minutes. Then when you pick it up, it will form strands up to an inch long. This is from the gluten.
Now that we have a thorough understanding of how yeast works, we are going to make this bread again in the near future and focus on how sin works. I'll let you know how that goes when we get to it!
Anyway, here is her project. Stop by and give her some feedback. She loves getting comments!
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I wish my internet would stay connected. I have a lot of nice pictures to go along with some of the lessons we have had recently, but there is no way they would be able to be uploaded in the 2-3 minute time frame I seem to get before getting bumped off. We may be getting DSL, soon. My dear husband recently had a brainstorm...see, we live outside of town and it is a long distance call to the nearest city. We pay an extra $20 a month for free calling. If we had DSL, we would not need that service, because the amount of phone calls we make into town are limited, and we could always use our cell phone. In fact, since the dumb cell phone that I did not want in the first place is mandatory for my husband's position, we could technically do away with our home phone all together. And the money we would save could go to DSL. Nice thought, huh?
Anyway, we started our lesson on yeast and sin, but did not get too far. Our starter was not active enough for the dough to rise. It started to, but did not really get anywhere. So we decided to start a new batch of starter, but use commercial yeast. We may try again in the spring when our house is warmer...and pay more attention to the flour we use. After we chucked our starter, I noticed the flour we are using has preservatives in it. We made oatmeal bread instead, and talked a bit about the yeast working through the dough. She understood very quickly how this was like how a tiny amount of sin can work its way silently through your heart.
After all our failed experiments, however, I do believe my Little Mouse has a better grasp of what fermentation is than your average 6yo. She'll rattle right off that the yeast eats the sugar and makes alcohol and carbon dioxide. The alcohol keeps other bacteria from growing and the carbon dioxide makes the bread rise. Also very important is the knowledge that the same process is used to make beer, and the carbon dioxide is what makes it fizzy. She can very competently outline the purposes and procedures for pasteurization and how that is so important to our health. Not bad, I think.
One thing I found interesting in this is the fact that the word "ferment" carries with it a basic idea of "work," "boil," or "set in motion." Related words are fervent, fervor, effervescent and fertile. There is a tie between the rising of the loaf, the fertility of the field and the passionate desires of the heart. If my head were a little less stuffy, I think I could write a nice little article just on that...I love etymology.
Oh my. We poured some of our starter in a glass bottle and put a balloon on top of it to demonstrate its activity a little over an our ago. I knew it would eventually blow up the balloon, but I had no idea it would happen that fast. An hour ago, the balloon lay limp and deflated at the side of the bottle. Right now it is standing straight up. I'm gong to have to remember to take it off before I go to bed and we'll do this in the morning when my daughter can watch it inflate. I guess this starter is ready! We're going to wait one more day, though, before making our sourdough so that the bread will have more of that characteristic sour flavor...
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Oct. 12, 2005 Bread Mold and Learning to Sew
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I had several things to blog about, then a mouse poked her little head out of the hole by the door, and I forgot everything. I watched her for awhile. She really is a cute little thing...can I keep it mom? Can I? Wait, I'm the mom. And I have to say, "No." "But mo-om..." My dog watched her run through the room, hugging close to the wall, but did not so much as twitch. She's so much like a cat in every other respect...won't fetch, gets carsick and has that same, self-assured, independent demeanor that comes to you when she feels like it, but NEVER when she's called. Why can't she at least feign some attempt at chasing the mouse? On second thought...I just thought what a 60 pound malamute could do to our house if she seriously attempted to catch it. Oh well...now she's curled up happily in the baby's playmat, while I hold a sleeping baby and type with one hand. Thank you everyone for your nice comments on my quilt. Now, do I revel in this undeserved praise, or do I do as Schooldaze does and break out the close-ups? Safe for now...I don't think flickr will let me upload that many things without paying for an account. I have an article I wrote regarding this first experience in quilting, which I am hoping to submit to a quilting magazine. It is about the adventures of beginning quilting...and when I say beginner, I mean it. I had to purchase a sewing machine along with the pattern, and had not operated one in 15 years. Our day was pleasant today. For bible, we worked on AWANA verses while I did some sewing. When we are finished with our study of the Sermon on the Mount (which will take awhile), we are going to move on to "Be Still and Know That I Am God." Then we are going to move on to a very in depth look into Proverbs 31 which will continue until she graduates. Although we obviously will not be looking solely at that. Here is my plan: We are going to set aside a binder just for this study. At the front will be a print out of the whole part pertaining to the godly wife. She will have a divider for each point in the chapter. Off the top of my head, I know it makes reference to her schedule, cooking, sewing, financial contribution to the family and wisdom. For now (well, when we get to it), we will set this up and look at each part. We will define terms and look up other relevant verses. We will look for examples in our own lives and in the lives of those we come across in real life and in our reading. We will reflect on these models. And finally, we will collect tools and resources to assist us in becoming godly women (and eventually wives). This will include favorite recipes, logs of useful skills, cleaning tips, scheduling tips, budgeting ideas, etc. Then, hopefully, when she leaves home, she will have everything she could possibly need to run her own household in a godly way. We skippd the whole Writing Road to Reading thing today. We actually went straight to science, and had an interesting discovery. We are learning about Louis Pasteur, his faith and his contribution to scientific knowledge. We talked about his discovery of the fundamental difference between living and non-living things, the theory of spontaneous generation and how the bible says life originated. As a demonstration activity, we put some bread with a damp paper towel in a plastic bag and she hypothesized that it would rust or grow algae. Here is her slice of bread: 
Yesterday, day five, we noticed a tiny speck of black that we did not think had been there before. And this morning when we woke up, this is what we found: 
This surprised me. All bread mold I have ever seen has been green and brown. This is definitely fuzzy, but it is all white. Weird. Now I'm wondering why, and have plans for our first experiment when we are through studying the scientific method. Is it because this is homemade bread rather than store-bought? Is it because of the plastic bag? Or is it because of the moisture content of the bread? It has a strong odor of alcohol, which would possibly be due to the action of the yeast in the bread, and I know that inhibits molds. I'll let you know after we finish our experimenting... Anyway, we talked about the ideal conditions for molds and bacteria (moisture, warmth, something to feed on) and our bodies (moist, warm, lots to feed on). We talked about our bodies natural defenses, since it is such a nice place for diseases to grow and these diseases are in the air all around us all the time. We also talked about some common sense health habits. Tomorrow we will talk more about food safety and how to keep our food safe...refrigerate or cook to keep the temperature outside of favorable, dehydrate to eliminate the moisture or salt to lessen the desirablility to disease causing agents. Then I taught her how to sew. I suppose this was related to literature, although we really are not doing anything formally with literature at the moment. Laura (we are listening to the Little House series) mentions sewing a nine patch quilt, so I showed her some patterns, and let her get out my scraps. She chose her favorite and I showed her how to look in the pattern for the colors and see what matched those colors in other fabrics. We talked about color, tone and pattern as we mixed and matched scraps. With some guidance, she chose some colors that looked nice with her hummingbirds (even though she really would have preferred to have the pink fabric with the shiny stars together with them). Here is what she accomplished today: 
She chose three blocks of the yellow for the upper border which she will work on tomorrow. Her stitches are actually rather neat. I ironed the blocks over on the edges to give her a line to follow as she stitched them together. Now she's wondering if she can have a sewing machine, to save on all this stitching (she's doing it by hand at the moment). Right now, she is really enthusiastic. I'm thinking maybe when she is done, we can plan out an actual blanket and we can look through my pattern books together and go to the store to look for fabric she likes. There's some useful daily work for my six year old! While she did this, we talked about godly work versus idleness. My husband read Proverbs 31 to us, and she wanted to know if she could sell her quilt for two cents. So we talked a little about money as well and what labor is worth, the cost of materials and that sort of thing. She did some measuring, and I showed her how you can use different shapes together to still make a square from my pattern book. I showed her a little how to judge difficulty by looking for straight lines and how many things needed to be sewn together. I also showed her how some of the more complicated blocks were like several tiny blocks sewn together to make one large block. She found nine patch examples of this, including the traditional Amish nine patch. We talked about quilting in the past, especially during Pioneer days. Later in the day, I managed to read a chapter of Mary Slessor to her while she continued to work and we talked about that as she sewed and I knitted.
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