Real-Life Question Turns Into Homeschool Science Lesson

Today, I did a fun little science project with the girls. Here’s how it started…

Shadow seems to have gained at least 40% again of her body weight in the last few weeks – she looks absolutely huge! All of us, including Don, agreed that she had gained a lot. I was worried it might be a thyroid issue. So, we took her to the vet this morning to be weighed. Turned out, amazingly, that she had no significant weight gain – only 2 ounces!

The girls couldn’t understand why we all thought she had gained so much when she really hadn’t. Of course, it must be because of having tiny Kente around – by comparison, Shadow IS huge.

So, to demonstrate how such misperceptions can occur, I did a little experiment with them that I remembered from college biology classes. (Can’t recall the name of it, though, which is driving me crazy.) I filled 3 containers with water. The first one was very hot. The other two were exactly the same – just lukewarm. I did the trick separately on each of them so as not to spoil the surprise – I had each girl put the right hand in the hot water for a while, then quickly plunge each hand into one of the remaining containers. I asked them what temperature the water was in each container. Both said that the left one was warm, and the right one was cold. Then for the fun part – I had them take their left hand and put it in the same container with the other hand – then they realized to their amazement that their right hands still felt like the water was cold, but their left hands felt warm. Both had the same reaction – a shocked, “How did you DO that???”

Isn’t science fun? I just love homeschooling – it’s a wonderful feeling when you can turn a real-life event into an entire science lesson!

Bye for now…

Jeanie

Kids can say the most adorable things...

Hi, everyone! First of all, I wanted to tell you how I spent the weekend - I was SO dreading making up the family photo pages for our dossier, but finally faced my fears and did it.  I had thought I would never find a usable photo with me in it, but I decided that as long as I have a cute child as a prop for the photo, it detracts enough attention from my own face that it's tolerable.  Plus, my face looks happier and nicer when I'm being deeply mommy-like, anyway.  It's just my element. The thing turned out to several pages of collages, but I think it gives a pretty good idea of family life in the Hertz household.  So, I made a slideshow out of it to share with all of you - you can find it at the bottom of the page. For those of you not familiar with blog slideshows (yes, Mom and Dad, that's you!), you can click on the little black square at above the slideshow to stop/start. Also, you can click on any of the small images at the bottom of the slideshow to go directly to an page you want to see.

More importantly, I wanted to share with you something sweet that Lydia said to me tonight.  I was tucking her into bed, and she had a thoughtful look on her face as she stroked the back of my hand.  "Mommy," she said, "that lotion that you put on your hands - will the company go out of business sometime?"  I paused and puzzled before finally asking her what on earth she was talking about...  She told me, "Well, you said that it comes from dinosaur bones, so what happens when the dinosaur bones are all gone???"  Bless her heart, she was listening!  Last week for her homeschool studies, we were discussing interdependence among people, but also the interdependence of humans with the environment.  We learned about renewable vs. nonrenewable resources, including extensive discussion of fossil fuels (the "lotion" she was talking about was petroleum jelly!)  

I just love it - it shows that she is really learning from her lessons - not just the actual things I'm telling her about, but also learning to apply them in a broader way to her everyday experiences, and learning to think about environmental impact, etc.  Plus, the fact that she cares if the Vaseline company goes out of business when the dinosaur bones run out shows what a caring person she really is.  

Of course, I did explain to her that if the dinosaur bones run out, everyone will have a lot bigger problem on their hands than the financial downfall of Vaseline...LOL

Akwaaba! ("Welcome" in the friendly country of Ghana)

Welcome to Lemon Grove Lane.  For my first post, I'm just going to give you a little hint of what is to come.  I expect to keep this blog updated with progress on Lydia and Elena's homeschooling, our impending Ghana adoption, my latest crafting adventures, and more.  For today, first of all, I wanted to tell you about Lydia and Elena.  We have been having a very happy time together - the homeschooling has turned out to be such a bonding experience.  Lydia is in third grade, and has become very adept at reading and math.  She devours long, classic books faster than I can keep track.  She has learned long division already, and really enjoys math.  Elena zoomed through the Oak Meadow kindergarten curriculum, and so this week, I decided to have her graduate to first grade.  She seems to really thrive on and enjoy the extra bit of challenge - make it all the more interesting.  She is learning the difference between short and long vowel sounds, and is suddenly becoming quite good at reading.  

We have busy preparing for the adoption of our 8-year old soon-to-be daughter from Ghana, in West Africa.  Our homestudy is nearly finalized, after which we will quickly submit our dossier documents for review by the agency.  Once that occurs, we'll get everything notarized and sent to Ghana.  Hopefully, I (or we) can get over there soon.  Initially, we planned that I'd be the only one traveling for the anticipated 2-week trip.  But, a few days ago, we found out that things have changes, and it is more likely going to be a 4-6 week trip at least.  Because we want to keep the momentum with the girls' lessons, because we don't want to impose unduly on family for babysitting, and because it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we are tossing around the idea of bringing the girls.  It's possible that Don will need to go for the first 4 or 5 days, and we might just have the girls there for that time, or have them stay with me.  A family that just returned from there brought their 3 young children, and were very glad they did.  I'll chat more with them about their experiences, particularly their impression of safety issues.

 

I wanted to share with you a photo of the Waldorf doll I made for our new daughter - I plan to bring it to her when I travel over there.  I hope she will like it...

That's all for now - lots of cleaning and organizing to do today...

Jeanie