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I'm a part-time clinical psychology researcher and full-time mother to Alex (4/05) and Colin (2/09). We are secular homeschoolers following a modified neoclassical curriculum.
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The Borrowers Aloft
Mary Norton-
Author Archives: michael
The wonder of flight.
I was pretty much born to do this lesson. After reading about Bleriot, I knew we needed to do some science where Alex learned about flight, but I also knew that I couldn’t get too technical or I’d lose her … Continue reading
Experimenting with a friend.
Because Alex is so desperate to study chemistry, we’ve started working through Real Science Odyssey’s Chemistry Level 1. We thought it would be a lot more fun to have a friend along for the labwork, so Alex’s friend B will … Continue reading
Posted in chemistry (RSO), experiments, science
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Gramma’s Walk
We started a new book this week, and now that my special project at work is complete, I have been able to get back into the swing of things with school. The new book is Gramma’s Walk, by Anna Grossnickle … Continue reading
Flowers.
One of the major features in “Miss Rumphius” is the flowers that she spreads around… so we decided that we’d do some flower-related things on Tuesday with Dad. The weather was actually nice, although it looked like it might get … Continue reading
Bridges, and the creation of same.
We had an abbreviated day today, since we were going to the home of some friends for “second seder”. I went through the book with Alex, and then told her we were going to learn a little about bridges. I … Continue reading
Posted in experiments, five in a row, science
Tagged little red lighthouse & great grey bridge
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Balance practice.
There’s nothing quite like practice for learning about balance… which is one of the points made by Bellini. It was actually cold enough this morning that I really didn’t want to go back outside to work on the “low wire” … Continue reading
The joys of urban homeschooling, Baltimore edition
We’ve been continuing the medieval theme this week, and we’d been kicking around ideas about how to get into the huge effect of religion in the period. We’re certainly not ready for going into detail about the Crusades, or Martin … Continue reading
“Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.”
We’ve started our new book (The Duchess Bakes A Cake), and as part of dealing with all things archaic or medieval, we decided it might be fun to see about making a small catapult. Based on the elaborate instructions for … Continue reading
SCIENCE!!!
OK, so that’s maybe a little over-the-top. Still, today we mostly did science experiments having to do with acoustics. I had been planning to just do some experiments around the house, but Alex expressed interest in going back to the … Continue reading
Frozen Ox Feet???
I had no idea you could buy those, let alone that anyone would want to. Oh, right, I was supposed to be telling you about our trip to the Asian supermarket. The day had started off on the wrong foot … Continue reading
Posted in excursions, field trips, five in a row, loot, math
Tagged a pair of red clogs
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Freezing and melting and boiling (oh my!)
On Tuesday, I was eager to get the kids out of the house since it was expected to be extra hot, but the local art museums are closed, alas. However, the Maryland Science Center was open, and I figured they … Continue reading
Posted in excursions, experiments, five in a row, science
Tagged another celebrated dancing bear
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Buoyancy, aka “Let’s see what floats!”
On Tuesday, it was super-hot, and the kids were not taking well to the heat. I had already been planning to do some demonstration of buoyancy, so the wading pool got brought out in mid-morning and filled, and the kids … Continue reading
FIAR practice week: Day 4.
Posted by Michael Our subject for the fourth day was “Art”.The plan was to find some landmarks shown in Madeline (such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame — see this tour guide for all eight places), match them … Continue reading
Map Play with Dad
Dad, I want to play ‘maps’ with the dry-erase markers!” “OK, hon. We can do that. Let me get the maps out, and you get the markers.” Alex has two laminated maps that we bought at the Homeschoolers’ Rummage Sale, … Continue reading
Posted in social studies
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