Our Journey Westward » project

Poetry at the Coffeehouse

Cindy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:04:17 +0000

I recently reviewed some curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page that included a Poetry unit. Mahayla worked through the self-directed curriculum on her own and then completed a final project of sharing some of her own poetry in a coffeehouse setting. Here are a few pictures from the “coffeehouse”.

This is some of the poetry she shared.

Nothing like dressing up for you big performance! (Insert rolling eyes.) The poster in the back was a display teaching the audience (her family) about poetry forms and the tv is on because it was playing soft music.

Yummy banana bread. Every coffeehouse poetry reading needs food!

This week and next, the kids are working on presidential projects. I’ll share them with you soon!

Chemistry Show

Cindy — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:53:00 +0000

This was our last official project of the 2008-09 school year. Besides finishing up some math and grammar, we’re done! WooHoo!! We’re taking the next couple of weeks to tie up the loose ends, write report cards and pack up our work. Of course, around here the learning never stops, it’s just less official. (And I get a lot more done around the house!)

Besides nature study, our science topic for the year was chemistry. After finishing the lessons from Christian Kids Explore Chemistry, I wanted to be sure they fully understand the concepts we covered. So, a project week was assigned! I wanted them to research, plan, organize, and present a project that came almost completely from them. As usual, they went all out and did a super job!

Here was the assignment:

On Friday, you will be presenting a Chemistry Show. You are expected to work together and be fully prepared for the presentation. During the show, you are to present (and explain) experiments or models to show you understand the following chemistry concepts:

mixtures
separating mixtures
solutions
solvents and solutes
reactions
matter – solids, liquids and gases
acids and bases
atoms
molecules

I handed them a small pile of science experiment books and the assignment paper and they took over!

Here are some random pictures from the “Crafty Chemistry Show”. Their shirts are “lab coats” and they rustled up some latex gloves and safety glasses for more authenticity.

Rocketry

Cindy — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:08:00 +0000

Wanna fun project for a Dad and son to do together? Building a miniature rocket is just that kind of project.

Building the rocket took only a 1/2 an hour on each of two days. (It took two days because of cement drying time.) This little rocket went something like 750 ft into the air! Luckily for us, we live on a farm. If you live in a neighborhood, do the 3…2…1 lift-off at a park or something with lots of room. Otherwise, your little rocket is likely to land on someone’s roof a few house over!

I found the rocket and rocket engine at Walmart and bought them for Caleb’s birthday. I think it probably cost about $15.00 total. The rocket can be launched over and over, as long as you’re willing to do some minor rebuilding each time.