Preschool science - sink or float?

Here's a fun activity that we tried this week. My sidekick was home and, feeling somewhat better, looking to create mischief. He was done playing with his farm animal sensory bowl and had been firmly dissuaded from flinging any more oats around. (Yes, I know it's a very pathetic bowl - but he did seem to enjoy it)

As an alternative, I offered him the chance to play a fun game with a large bowl of water.

As he filled the bowl (and the surrounding floor) with water, I gathered a pile of things of various weights and textures. M ran outside and got a rock, a twig, and a piece of cedar recently trimmed off the hedge. I got a spoon, a silver ice cream scoop, and a few other things which you can see in the picture although I can't currently remember them! (Please ignore the mess in the background - we're in the middle of decluttering and we keep ending up with piles in various rooms as we sort.)

Notice the addition of a helpful sister and dogs by this point!

This experiment has continued over to even as recently as last night, where he took the whole bowl into the bath with him and tested it all his bath toys as well.

Time4Learning - a mixed review

Recently, we were given a free month by Time4Learning for both M and D. Here are my comments (disclaimer: I was not paid for this review and all opinions are mine or those given by my children.)

First of all, the staff at Time4Learning is incredibly helpful and efficient! I never heard back from them in longer than a 12 hour period and most times it was much faster. The first day that we logged in, I sent a request to change the grade level, then a few minutes later I requested a change-back, just to see the kind of time delay that could be expected. Both requests were done in under two hours and I received a courteous confirmation email each time. On the one occasion that I had to send a question, it wasn't much longer and the response was both helpful and detailed.

Second, my preschool sidekick, D, LOVED LOVED LOVED Time4Learning! He would have stayed home from daycare and played it if he'd been allowed. Even when he was sick as a dog and feverish he wanted to play. The pictures, voices, and games were perfect for a preschooler - the company has obviously spent a lot of time putting this together to appeal to little kids. He is very cross with me for not having signed him up for it again yet, 5 whole days later. (It's on my to-do list!)

Unfortunately, M, who tested out the grade 4 program, did not enjoy Time4Learning at all. She was horribly disappointed that science was just pages to read (no surprise there from a kid who loves to learn more science!). She was cranky about the fact that history was just pages to read. She hated the voices and how slowly the lessons moved. The only part she sort of liked was the grammar quizzes. After a few sessions, she flat out refused to log in any more....rare for a kid who's usually pretty gung-ho about most things.

All in all, I think Time4Learning has some great points. It would be an excellent remedial program for a upper-elementary kid who was struggling in math and language arts. It is a fantastic learning resource for a younger child. I think it has the potential to be a really good program for an upper-elementary age child if the company hadn't stopped halfway on the games and activities. Think of an animated Mad Scientist demonstrating chemical reactions, Julius Caesar explaining how he changed the world, or a game where you're one of the Wright Brothers building a plane. It could be so much better for the upper elementary kids than it is now.

Rated separately, I would give Time4Learning 5 out of 5 for the Pre-K program, and 2 out of 5 for the grade 4 program. I would rate them 5 out of 5 for customer service. I really appreciate their generosity in giving us the opportunity to review it.

A couple of Easter game printables

If you're having the same delightful weather as we are, you may be looking for something to entertain the kids before they undo all your Easter cleaning. Ready to help (and in the same boat!), I offer a couple of suggestions that may keep them happy without completely destroying all your hard work:

Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler has made some absolutely lovely Easter lapbook pages. I especially love the Egg match printables. I printed a second copy of page 2 to make a memory game as well. The Easter Tic-Tac-Toe game looks like fun too. I hope it's ok to post a pic so you can see just how pretty these really are:

There's a great tangram activity at Puzzles.com called the "Egg of Columbus". If your kids enjoy these, this will be a hit...the shapes all together form a large egg, and there are various patterns to be made from them (and the accompanying solutions).

If your kids are young, or they  hate printables, how about the hollow plastic dollar store eggs and some seasonal play dough? I'm making purple, yellow, and pink. I may also sketch a large decorated egg and laminate it so they can try to place the dough on the pattern, if I ever make it out of my pyjamas and into the kitchen.

Fastest. Science Experiment. Ever.

Well, Tuesday turned out to be one of the few truly glorious days we've had so far this spring (take today, for example, where it's dark grey outside, the thermometer is hovering at 0 Celsius and we have 60km/hr winds - but I digress), so the kids were not even remotely enthusiastic about doing any sort of science when there was running around to be done!

Anyway, I used my sternest teacher voice: "C'mon you guys, hurry up so we can get this over with and go outside!" to herd them to the table at my sister in law's house and do the experiment, which turned out to be "Do Molecules Heat When Stretched?"

To do this, you need a forehead, hands, and a thickish elastic band. Take the elastic and put it against your forehead, so you can see that it's slightly cooler than your skin.

Stretch the band with your hands a bunch of times and then put it against your forehead again to see if it is warmer after being stretched.

And then they filled out their experiment sheets with two-to-three word observations/concusions and fled the table.They beat my sister in law and I to the door, too.

Intellego's Rome unit study, Day One impressions

We embarked today on a unit study on Ancient Rome, very generously provided to us by Intellego. I'll write a proper review at the end of the study, but I wanted to share our initial impressions and first day, in case anyone has been considering these but hasn't tried one yet.

This unit study comes as an instant 72-page PDF download, or on a CD. Here's part of the description:

"In this fun and interactive unit study, designed to meet and exceed state and national standards, your children will explore Ancient Rome. With over 30 activities and 15 hands-on projects, your children will be fascinated from beginning to end. Each chapter includes a variety of activities, including videos, hands-on projects, map work, interactive websites, readings, worksheets, charts, games, and much more to make learning history fun and relevant! "

When I first read the descriptions, it sounded too good to be true. I received the download and opened the file to have a look. First off, the author tells you that there is no need to print the entire study, a big plus in my opinion. I have purchased other unit studies such as Amanda Bennett's and while we enjoy them, the amount of paper and ink required is a little shocking. At a glance, the study is full of links to videos, printables, games etcetera, and any that I tried (I clicked at random throughout) worked.

Second, there is a nice tidy index with clickable links so that you can just find the next part of your study as you go, without having to scroll through the whole download if, like me, you have a very short memory and can't remember what page you had been on previously! One of those links is a materials list, so that you can prepare for each hands-on activity. I found this to be very useful and I am now set up for the first three hands-on activities.

We had a look at Chapter One. I printed off a sheet that asks the child what they already know, what they would like to know, and (to be filled in later) what they learned from the study. M enjoyed this and was amused to realize that all she can remember, essentially, is that Italy is in Rome, and shaped like a boot. (Her mother was less amused!)

 (Not part of this review, but can I just say how pleased I am with the improvements in M's spelling and handwriting as this year progresses?!)

We discussed the questions suggested, watched a Horrible Histories video suggested, and I printed off an activity sheet where M "shopped like a Roman", which provided a fun introduction to Roman numerals.  She liked this so much that she has asked me to find her some games that use the Roman numerals.

Now this doesn't sound like much...... but later this afternoon, M explained to her older brother what a republic was, how Rome came to be a republic, how the senate worked, and why there were so many emperors. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's activities, since today was more of an introductory day.

In the meantime, this is not a link in the Intellego study but I came across This online game of Snakes and Ladders using Roman numerals, which M and her brothers have been playing for the last hour. Maybe Intellego should consider adding it.

Sunday at the Park

Yes, I realize that it's Wednesday - this should give you an idea of my organizational skills this week!
But here's what we did on Sunday, anyway. We printed off the scavenger hunt sheets for my preschool sidekick, rounded up two of our favourite friends, and headed off to feed the geese and ducks at the river.

Now normally, there is a huge cluster of geese and ducks which live in the reeds of the river, near a park about 8 blocks from here. They are famous in the area because they cross the road twice per day, morning and evening, and stand on a local woman's lawn honking until she comes out and feeds them. I'm not joking; even the bus drivers stop to let them cross because everybody knows their schedule. It's hilarious. My favourite part is that they all use the crosswalk!

For some reason, though, when we got there on Sunday armed with a loaf of bread, there were exactly 2 ducks

and several hungry seagulls. So we fed them instead.

 (I love the zoom on the new camera, but wow, is it ever hard to catch a gull in a picture!

When the little ones ran out of bread, we crossed the road to the park and moved on to the ever-popular sport of seagull-chasing

before moving on the climbing equipment. The younger kids played for a couple of hours.

 (Look what D can do this year!)

My oldest and his friend had brought along a pump-action foam rocket thing, so they played with that and then moved on (of course) to blasting each other with the rockets

until they ran out of energy.

All in all, we had a great time and I'm very glad we went because it has rained ever since!

On a completely unrelated note, it was our anniversary this past weekend, so when I popped out to the movie store with my husband on Sunday, M blew up balloons and whipped up a quick card.  You know you're a homeschooler when......your anniversary card from your 10 year old is covered with: an illustration of a DNA strand, the male and female chromosomes, and a smart-aleck joke! I love it.

Review - Times Tales, by Trigger Memory System

Well, this is new for me, but a few companies have been kind enough recently to send me their products to test and review, and I consider us unbelievably fortunate that one of them is Times Tales.

If you aren't familiar with this product, the company claims to be able to teach your child the upper times tables in an hour, using their dvd. Since we have been working for years to help M hold these in her head, I was interested to see for myself. M, as I have mentioned before, is dyslexic, something Trigger Memory System claims to have experience in helping for math. I was extremely skeptical, I have to admit, because while M can glance through a problem, even a more complex one, and tell you exactly how to solve it, the actual calculations were slowing her down because the times tables just didn't stick.

Until now, that is.

We cracked open the dvd last week, and sat down to watch. My first impression was not good; the pictures are black and white and....well, let's say fairly basic. A woman's voice speaks slowly and tells you how to use the dvd and the accompanying printouts. Then the stories began.


M fidgeted; I fidgeted. The characters were introduced, then the stories were told clearly and slowly. We had no idea why. We fidgeted some more.

Then they began to show the math problems. And all of a sudden....the lights went on. M answered the dvd questions instantly and got every problem right! We went to the computer. We printed off the practice tests. M, who can drag a sheet out all day on a bad day, correctly answered two tests (100%) in under two minutes!

Every day since, at various times per day, her dad or I have suddenly called out one of the multiplication problems. M answers instantly, and often cites the Times Tales story afterwards just for fun. We play a multiplication board game that we have lying around. She beats me in speed and nails every question. I can not believe it. She is asking, daily, to watch the dvd again and if I can please test her on her math! She is whipping through her math book at a speed unseen before in this house.

I may now be Times Tales' biggest and most vocal fan. I have signed up as an affiliate (which means that if you buy through the link on my site, I get a little bit of the sale, which I will promptly use to buy more of their products!) and will post the link in my sidebar as soon as I figure out how to link the picture and the web link together. I can not recommend this product highly enough.....seriously, I'm pretty sure I sound like a walking advertisement for Times Tales at this point.

If you have a child who is experiencing difficulties in this area, I urge you to check it out. It is priced at $29.95 and worth every penny, especially if you have a few kids who will be able to use it. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions anyone has about it. For their other products, take a look on the Trigger Memory System website...I hear great things about their Science Experiments In A Bag, and their kids' bedroom cleaning flip charts as well.

Preschool nature scavenger hunt

Just a quick post to let you know that, due to preschool sidekick demand, I have created two nature study scavenger hunt sheets with photos for him. I have uploaded them to hslaunch (see link on the right side of my blog) and they should be up and ready for your downloading pleasure shortly. Here are srome very poor photos of the sheets.....the're actually nicer when you print them. please note that, while I did not write anything under the images because my guy is too small, I have made it in excel so that you can add writing if you like.

As always, I searched for copyright-free images but if I have unknowingly violated a copyright, please let me know and I will fix the problem immediately.

I will be taking my own sidekick for a hike this weekend with these sheets in hand for a test run; pics to follow, assuming the weather cooperates.

Nature study - spring is coming!!!!!!!!!

The other thing that we did yesterday was nature study. Well, sort of nature study, sort of an art class. It was pouring rain and the temperature had dropped again, so I printed up some photos that we had taken before winter started and the kids picked one to try to draw.

Meanwhile, the preschool crowd were doing their own version of nature study!

Which all the older siblings joined in as soon as they were done sketching. Good thing I had washed the microfiber mop head from the day before!

Then this morning, I just have to share with you the wonderful thing I saw when I opened our bedroom window:

SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Chemistry, or rubbing pens on ourselves

Today's experiment was to determine whether molecules are attracted to a charge.

First, we punched holes in the bottom of two styrofoam cups. Then, with a finger covering the bottom hole on a cup, we filled the cup about 1/4 full with water. Meanwhile another member of the team was frantically rubbing a ballpoint pen on his sweater to get a good charge going. (Note the dog supervising from a safe distance.)

We let the water begin running over the sink, and another team member held the pen near, but not against, the water. It curved towards it! This is not the best picture, but it was surprisingly difficult to get a photo of the water curving slightly.

We then tried the same experiment with oil. Nothing happened.

The short explanation for this is that the atoms that make up water create a molecule with both a negative and a positive charge, whereas the oil molecule is neutral. Rubbing the pen creates a negative charge, which attracts the positive ends of the water molecules.
The notebook pages for today:

 (No, I really don't know how to turn the photos around!)

On a completely unrelated note, you have to see the cool water bottle holder that my nephew D knotted together! His mom picked up a book on knot projects yesterday, and by the time he arrived at my house today, he'd completed this project! I'm really impressed, and trying to convince him that his aunt needs one too. :)

Spring fun for the preschool sidekick

So you may be asking yourself.....what do you do when you spent the entire day Sunday at the emergency room with your preschool sidekick and found that he has a massive double ear infection, it's now Monday, it's grey and hailing outside, and he's had some penicillin and is bouncing off the walls?

Well, I'm glad you asked....got some unopened potting soil? 

A few "digger trucks"? Maybe a fake flower or two? A curious older sibling and a second bowl?
 Then you're all set for over an hour of filth and fun. And if your kitchen needed mopping anyway, so much the better.

Chemistry class, and a big muddy mess

Today was chemistry class, and we were trying to determine whether like molecules are attracted to one another.

This is another nice quick experiment that illustrates it well, from the book "Adventures With Atoms and Molecules".
For this, you need wax paper (a bigger sheet than you see our kids using, since things kept sliding off the side!), water, and cooking oil. To make it easier to see, I added blue food colouring to the water.


First, put two drops of water, about nickel-sized, on your wax paper a little way apart, and gently roll the paper until the drops meet up.

Repeat, but using cooking oil.

Then use a drop of oil and a drop of water (we just left the oil and added a new drop of water) and see what happens.

After this, M excitedly exclaimed "Wow! That's just what a lava lamp does!" And they all began pouring everything into one styrofoam cup and stirring it around.

We let them play for a few minutes, then we put away our experiment and hit the park. As you can see, it was an.....interesting....... day to go, and the freezing rain/hail that arrived shortly afterwards was pretty interesting too! However, nobody wanted to leave, even the dripping wet among us, and it took a good hour to tear everyone away from all the fun!