Joyful Socks Mom

4/4/12

Spring Break Crafting Update: The Results!

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Just wanted to drop in and share a couple of pictures of some results of our Spring Break-Out Crafting. The girls and I had a wonderful time putting our hands to work at creating. Here are some of our results.

The Squeaker created this Mickey Mouse "pop-art" from magazine clippings. She is planning to redecorate her "side" of the bedroom in all Mickey this summer.

This is the middle point of the Squeaker's finger knitting project. Wow! I thought she might have given up by now, but no, she is determined to string them together for a lovely little lap blanket. Hey, whatever floats your boat!

This (of course) is what kept the Bug so very busy over Spring Break and beyond. Prayer for the Nations yarn dolls. She has raised over $100 so far for International Missions. It is so awesome to see her on fire for sharing the gospel with unsaved souls.

We did a couple of other projects and then spent a lot of time preparing for the Market Day at Rhineland Farm . . . more on all that later. Thanks for stopping by to see what our hands are busy doing.

Happy Homeschooling

The Joyful Socks Mom

4/2/12

Wacky Science: Science Projects

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Science Projects? But we're home educators? I thought this would end when we stopped using the public school option.

Nope! Here we go again, another round of Science Fair Projects x 3!

In all seriousness, we love science. We love the fact that God shows Himself very clearly in His creation. The kids participated in the local Homeschool Co-op Science Fair fun last week. Here is what they investigated:

The Squeaker
PROJECT TITLE: Ugh, Dog Germs!
QUESTION: Which on is cleaner a canine's mouth or a human's mouth?
HYPOTHESIS: I think that the canine's mouth is going to be cleaner than the human's.
MATERIALS LIST: Petri dishes, cotton swabs, prepared agar, human saliva & pooch saliva.
CONCLUSION: It appears that my hypothesis was wrong a human's mouth is cleaner that the canine.

The Scout
PROJECT TITLE: Read Light, Green Light!
QUESTION: Will wheat berries grow faster in colored light or direct sunlight.
HYPOTHESIS: I think the wheat berries will grow faster in direct sunlight.
MATERIALS LIST: Cracked and cleaned egg shells for planting, colored cellophane, clear cellophane, egg carton, organic wheat berries, potting soil.
CONCLUSION: It seems my hypothesis was incorrect. The direct light was growing quicker at first but then the colored light started to grow taller than the direct light seeds.

The Bug

PROJECT TITLE: Butter vs. Margarine
QUESTION: What will ants choose . . . butter or margarine
HYPOTHESIS: I think the ants will choose butter because it is healthier for you.
MATERIALS LIST: Black ants, butter, margarine, paper plates, plastic knife.
CONCLUSION: The ants will only eat the butter, making my hypothesis correct. The ants will eat the sweet cream found in the butter. I think butter is better.
*Notice: No ants were harmed in this experiment.*

The Bug and her Butter Vs. Margarine display

The Scout with Red Light, Green Light plants project

The Squeaker with Ugh, Dog Germs (I should have gotten a close-up of those petri dishes, it would be a great reminder to take care of you teeth by BRUSHING!)

I am so proud of each of the kids. The ideas belonged to them and the work did too. They were each winners in my book, of course, I'm the mom!

The winner . . . the Bug! The Bug took 1st place for her division in the Science Fair and will be advancing to the Regional Science Fair on April 14th! Great job Bug!

Anybody have some yummy, gooey or disgusting Science brewing this week? Come and share in the comments about what Science you are cooking up at home.

Happy Homeschooling

The Joyful Socks Mom

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4/1/12

Natural Play: Re-purposed Play - At the Seaside!

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The quest to provide natural play options for my kid continues . . .

With the Spring well on it's way and my thoughts towards "re-purposing" in full force, I continue my quest, keeping my budget in mind of course, to provide the Bug with natural and imaginative playing options. I feel like a crusader! I have set my sights set to Yard Sales and Resale Shops in order quench my thirst to "re-purpose", stay within budget and create fabulous play options for the Bug.

First, let me start with what is already available to us.
We are starting with a Seaside theme . . . frankly, because we it was the largest theme we already had on-hand. Here is what we re-purposed from around the house:

We found lots of shells around the house, where they came from? Who knows? The imagination soars. Galveston. Florida. Philippines. Fiji?
Searching through the bucket-o-animals proved to be useful. We found a starfish, sea turtle and a crab.
Clipped pictures from magazines of the seaside and ocean animals.
We ran down to the city beach to grab some sand. Then we cleaned the sand and dried it out for use.
We searched through books we already had on hand and added them to the bag.
Throw in a pair of stylish (or maybe not so stylish) sunglasses.

Here are the things we added from the yard sales and resale shops: