February Learning Challenge ~ Hatching Baby Chicks

On February 22nd we placed 15 eggs in an incubator to see if they would hatch. It has been a great experiment for the kids and for us. The eggs had to be kept at a constant 100 degrees, and turned 3 times a day. I admit a few days I forgot to do that second turning, and when the eggs were first put in the incubator the temperature got above 100, I was afraid I may have cooked them. By the grace of God we now have chicks hatching!


They started hatching yesterday, and when we went to bed we had 5 baby chicks! You can see a sixth egg about to hatch on the left, and a seventh egg with a hole pecked out if you look closely just below it.
This morning we had 7 chicks, and three more eggs with visible holes pecked out. I am so excited! Out of 15 eggs over half will hatch! 

This has been so fun we are going to do it again. This incubator was borrowed, so last night we bought one of our own along with an egg turner so we wont have to remember to turn them 3 times a day. We are saving our own chickens eggs and we hope to have 40 to put in there by Saturday night. Eggs take 21 days to hatch, so these eggs should start hatching on Easter Sunday which falls on April 8th this year. Yay!!!

The October and November 2011 Homeschool Swap

I recently participated in a swap hosted by The Homeschool Post. My swap partner was Bon from MathFour.com, she really spoiled me! Take a look at the fun things she sent to me and the kids :0)

First, there's a funny story behind the box it all came in. My husband brought in the mail that day, and since the box arrived the day before our 10th anniversary, AND the box itself just looks like a present for a guy, he was sure it was his. LOL

Next I opened the card, isn't that pretty stationary? It just happens to be my initial also :0)

The kids were all gathered around like ants on a pile of sugar by this time. I let River pull out the first item, a very cool game called Tricky Fingers

The colored marbles are trapped inside the box. You have to use your fingers to move them around through the holes underneath, and be the first one to match up your marbles with the pattern on the card to win. It can be tricky! This game gets played a lot.

Skye pulled out the next item, a zipper bag, and inside were mechanical pencils and a pen for each of them. They are all little artists, and Skye loves to write. They were glad to each have a different color pencil, they get pretty possessive sometimes.

Star pulled out a Hello Kitty watch! I am a HUGE Hello Kitty fan, and I actually needed a watch. I LOVE IT!!

There is a tag for each day of the week too, so cute!!!

Brae pulled out a box of window markers. I saw these at the store and thought about getting them but didn't. I used them that night to draw a big heart on the kitchen window that said, "I LOVE J". The next morning I found my husband had replied and wrote, "I LOVE B" underneath it. That was incredibly sweet :0) I could not get a picture of this no matter how hard I tried, but it is still there almost a month later.

The last items were 4 flower shaped wooden picture frame, one for each of my little ones, and a box of mints (not pictured) I hid those away in my purse for when we are out, I love mints :0)

Thank you So much Bon for your thoughtfulness! I hope you enjoy the things we sent you as much as we have enjoyed what you chose for us. May God richly bless you!

Baking Bread With the Kids

Today was bread baking day here. The kids asked if they could make their own loaves using the baking set Skye got for her birthday. So I gave them a loaf worth of dough to divide up and play with.

Star bit a chunk out of her dough right away, haha! I helped her make the rest of hers into a round loaf. Ironically her loaf rose the highest!

River made little rolls from her dough, they turned out so cute!

Skye used the teeny little loaf pan, and Brae used a round pan.

I just love this Enamelware 5 Piece Mini Bakeware Set!

"Stained Glass" Art

We just finished up week 3 of MFW Adventures, and this was today's activity for bible time. It also happened to be one of the extra activities for MFW K, but since it is L L Leaf week for my K'er the directions were to use a leaf instead of words inside. They all came out so pretty!

To do this, you will need...

wax paper

old crayons, various colors (except brown, doesn't look good)

colored paper, we used construction paper

an iron

newspaper or cardboard

scissors

stapler or glue

hole punch

yarn or string

First we laid out a piece of cardboard to protect the table. Then we laid out a piece of wax paper. We used a vegetable peeler to scrape off pieces of the crayons onto the wax paper. (A knife works too, an adult should do it though)

The kids cut out the letters JESUS from construction paper,  then laid the letters, and a leaf, on top of the crayon shavings. Then top it with another sheet of wax paper. Iron in quick swipes on the lowest setting, the colors just BURST! It's so cool to watch!

After they cooled I trimmed the edges. We used construction paper strips to make a frame around the edges, and stapled them in place. You could use glue if you have the patience. :0)

I used a hole punch to make two holes, and yarn to hang it. If hung in a window it looks really pretty!





This was fun :0) The book also suggested doing this at Christmas for the kids to give as gifts. What a great idea!

Our 4th Year of Homeschooling

Time sure flies when you're having fun! It doesn't seem like its been that long, but here we are, ready to begin our 4th year of homeschooling. I am so thankful God has given us another year together at home.

Here is what we plan on using for our curriculum this year.....

Star will be tagging along in everything we do of course. She also has the My Father's World toddler and preschool package to play with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Skye will be using My Father's World Kindergarten

She will finish up All About Reading level Pre-1.

Handwriting- Letters and Numbers for Me from Handwriting Without Tears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River and Brae will be finishing up Adventures in My Father's World.

Language Arts- All About Spelling Level 2

Math- Finishing up Math U See Alpha, and starting Beta

Handwriting- Cursive Handwriting from Handwriting Without Tears

 

Together we will be using.....

Science supplement- Considering God's Creation

Bible supplement- Who is God? from Apologia

Latin- Song School Latin

Art- I Can Do All Things

Music- They are learning to play the recorder, and Brae is learning guitar.

Of course we will be trying out new things all through the year as part of The TOS Homeschool Crew, so watch for reviews of some cool homeschool products!

I pray we all have a blessed year of fun and learning together, blessings to all!