Day 48 / 102 - You Look Marbulous!

There are a few construction-type toys that I don't think my children will ever outgrow.  Legos are one.  Wooden Brio train tracks are the second.  Marble runs are the third.  As they age, it is even more fun to watch them play with these toys, because their designs and structures become far more advanced and complex.  This marble run is taking up a large amount of space in our living room right now and is constantly attended to.

Update:  I took this photo this morning.  My son wants me to inform you that he's added another ten inches or so to the top.  Approximately, an additional 20 pieces.

Day 47 / 102 - Turkey Trot

Another way we saw the sights in Washington D.C. was participating in a Thanksgiving morning turkey trot.  Along with 10,000 other runners, we hit the streets of downtown D.C. for this local 5K.  My son was hoping for a 30 minute finish, and was impressed when he clocked in at 26:35 with an 8:34/minute mile.

Day 46 / 102 - Washington D.C.

We spent the entire week of Thanksgiving in our nation's capital.  We had a great trip, and it really was a superb time to visit.  Our children had been one other time, three years ago.  It was a rushed and crowded weekend and our sightseeing was limited.  This time, we were able to leisurely stroll through museums and visit some monuments and locations more than once.  I know I could do an individual post on a learning experience from each spot we visited.  But for sake of time and space, I've only listed them below.

- National Mall, Monuments, and Capitol Building
- White House
- Smithsonian American History Museum
- National Zoo (Mei Xiang pictured above)
- Washington National Cathedral
- Daughters of the American Revolution Museum
- Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
- National Geographic Museum
- National Archives

Day 45 / 102 - Owl Pellet Dissection

Both my children agreed that this was far more enjoyable than the crayfish and needs to be done again.

Day 44 / 102 - 'Colored Up' Verbs and Adjectives

Thanks to Pinterest and Lowe's (for the paint swatches), we 'colored up' some overused adjectives and verbs this morning.  Our IEW curriculum challenges us with a list of 'banned words'.  We listed alternatives for these words and clipped our swatches together with binder rings.

Day 43 / 102 - Map Work

I posted last year, more than once, about the Geography component of our CC Curriculum (here and here).  Our focus has shifted this year, and our curriculum has us learning and studying World Geography -- specifically locations, empires, and countries as they relate to historical events.   This has taken a little more discipline on our part since it is not as simple to master as last year's U.S. Geography.  However, I still believe the best way to learn and retain Geography is to trace and draw maps.  Here is my daughter drawing the outlines and rough placement of some Middle Eastern seas which were a hot-bed of activity during the Assyrian Empire.

Day 42 / 102 - Picture Day

Day 41 / 102 - Sentence Patterns

Our Essentials (Language Arts) program teaches us that there are only seven different sentence patterns in the English Language.  The sentence can vary based on it's purpose or it's structure, but it will still fit into one of these seven patterns.

We have sentences from our text that we can learn and memorize, but I've often found, we learn better, and master the skill, when we develop our own sentences.  Yesterday I had my children do just that.  Here are their simple sentences for each pattern.  Since it's my son's third year in the program, he's mastered all seven patterns.  Since it's my daughter's first year, she's only learned up to pattern three.

Day 40 / 102 - The Fall of Babylon - Part 2

Last week I posted that my children were working on an IEW assignment about King Belshazzar and the fall of Babylon.  There were a few elements of writing we were focusing on during the assignment.  One part of the assignment was to add dialogue.  Another part was to try to use other verbs than 'said'.  My son loved this assignment, and spent quite a bit of time writing and revising his paper.  I've posted it below.  He's eleven, and this is his third year in an IEW program.

A Tragic Change for Babylon

Belshazzar, son of the amazing, highly exalted King Nebuchadnezzar resided in his palace at Babylon.  Belshazzar gazed triumphantly in the direction of the towering ziggurat.  He affectionately peered in the direction of his mother’s Hanging Garden that his father constructed for her many years ago.  He confidently stared at the lustrous Ishtar Gate and beyond.  Babylon, this unique, extraordinary land belonged to him, and no one could rob him of it.

“I am invincible,” He said to himself.

On a hot, summer, desert day while Belshazzar was addressing his kingdom, his most loyal messenger, Abznar, came running through the crowd.  “The Persians,” he gasped.  “They are advancing!”
            Belshazzar laughed.  “Let them try to attack.  They stand no chance.”

“But Master,” Abznar exclaimed, “The Persians come armed to the teeth!”  The crowd wailed.

“The Persians, I repeat, have no chance,” Belshazzar confidentially snickered.  “Why, let’s have a feast to celebrate the falling of the Persian army!”

The crowd roared!

Abznar sighed, “As you wish, Master.”

The feast was magnificent.  Dancing and music filled the extraordinary banquet hall.  Belshazzar stood on the table, “Let us toast to the gods for our good fortune.”

During the feast, Belshazzar rushed to get more provisions from the cellar.  While digging through random crates, he suddenly turned around to notice a strange hand writing on the wall.  He stared questioningly.  As soon as the hand finished writing he screamed for Abznar.  “Fetch my wife!” Belshazzar ordered.

Abznar quickly returned with Belshazzar’s wife, Florma.  He explained to her about what he had witnessed.  She recommended the king ask Daniel, who was an Israelite with much wisdom, about the vision.

“Abznar,” Belshazzar ordered.  “Fetch Daniel!”  Abznar returned with Daniel.

Daniel examined the writing on the wall.  “King Belshazzar,” Daniel explained, “Unless you stop being so proud and arrogant and learn to praise the One True God, Babylon will fall.”

“Liar!” Belshazzar screamed.  “Liar!  You lie!  Why this beautiful, fascinating land will never fall to the Persians!”

“So be it,” Daniel sighed heavy-heartedly.  “I tried.”

Daniel left the cellar.  Belshazzar fumed.

After King Belshazzar calmed down, Abznar, Florma, and the King returned to the party.

“My Lord,” one guard gasped, “The Persian General, Lord Zenbar, wishes to speak with you.”

“Bah.  Why should those Persians think they own everything?  Well, tell their Great Lord Zenbar that!”

At that moment, a boulder slammed through the palace roof.

“AAAAATTTTTTAAAACCCCCKKKKKKK!” Lord Zenbar ordered.

“I told you.  Daniel told you.  But, you never listened!” Abznar ranted.  “Next time, listen!”

Then the Persain General, Lord Zebnar beheaded Abznar.  War broke out. Chaos began.  Anyone who knew how to fight made an attempt at the armory.  However, they were cut off by the fashioned Persian army. 
       “HHHHEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!” Belshazzar screamed.  Immediately, he was slain by Lord Zenbar.

“My husband,” Madam Florma wailed.  “Why you dirty, little…..” Zenbar then smashed the hilt of his sword on her head.  She crumpled unconsciously.

The Persians began taking the Babylonians into captivity.  Zebnar strutted through his brand new palace with his trusty advisor Cyrus, and his brothers Aloss and Darius.  “My Lord,” Cyrus mentioned.  “All is going well with the Babylonians.  Lady Florma is behaving insanely, so we imprisoned her in the basement.

“Fine.  Fine,” Zebnar chided.  “How about Belshazzar and Abznar?”

“I cut them to pieces and burned them,” Darius boasted.  “I did it myself.”

“Good, good,” Zebnar murmured.

Cyrus leaned over the rail at the exact spot Belshazzar stood admiring his kingdom days earlier.  “This all belongs to us now,” Cyrus happily sang.  “This is all ours.”

“I’ll get the wine to celebrate,” Darius jabbered, as he quickly exited.

“Perhaps we can send for the Jews and they can rebuild the temple that the Babylonians destroyed?” Aloss questioned.

                  “Babylon will change, now that we rule,” Zenbar remarked triumphantly.

Day 39 / 102 - Crayfish Dissection

Today, we dissected crayfish for our CC science experiment.

Day 38 / 102 - Tracking the Electoral Votes

We had to finish this today, since we nodded off last night before all the states had been finalized.

Day 37 / 102 - The Cleveland Museum of Art

If I made a list of my top ten places that I love to visit, the Cleveland Museum of Art would definitely rank in there somewhere.  We moved to Cleveland in the summer of 2008 in order for my husband to attend grad school at Case Western Reserve University.  His building was half a block from the Museum of Art.  Beginning that year, we began the habit of visiting the museum at least twice a month.  It is one of the places from Cleveland that I miss the most.  Some of our favorite collections to view, and re-view, have been the Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Art as well as the Medieval Collection which contains an impressive weapons and armor room.

Last week we made a quick visit to Cleveland and journeyed to the museum for several hours one afternoon.  On exhibit was a Contemporary Art Installation entitled Half the Air in a Given Space.  Basically it was room full of balloons that you could walk through.  You can see better pictures of the room on the museum's site (here), or on their Facebook page (here), but here are a couple of shots displaying my children and their friends that we visited with that day.  If you're in the Cleveland area, the exhibit is on display until Thanksgiving.

Day 36 / 102 - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

This 500-piece Halloween puzzle has been a tradition bane of our existence since we purchased it six years ago.  We attempt to solve it every October even though it is the Most. Difficult. Puzzle. Ever.  There is not a single straight edge piece.  The pieces are oddly shaped.  And, with the exception of Linus and Sally, it has very little color variation.  Each year we have a love-hate relationship with this puzzle.  Honestly, I thought this year we would not be able to complete the task.  It hadn't even been unpacked.  But once the snow storm rolled in last week, I figured we might as well dig it out and give it a shot.

We did quite a bit of it by candlelight or headlamp, but fortunately we completed the task in a few days.  As my children age, they are able to remember where some of the most bizarre pieces belong.  That is helpful considering each year I seem to forget even more about it.

Day 35 / 102 - Snow Days!

In order to have an eclectic collection of activities and events from our school year, I need to include a post on our recent Snowpacolypse.

Hurricane Sandy dumped 30" of snow on Beckley, West Virginia last week.  We were out of power for 48 hours.  We were fortunate, because some areas near us are still out.  We bundled up and made an adventure out of it.  Honestly, I preferred the snow to the rain that the rest of the east coast received.  At least we were still able to play outside.  We did quite a bit of that!

Of course we talked about hurricanes and weather patterns, and why a tropical storm that was hundreds of miles away could be responsible for heavy, wet snow in Beckley.  Everything is a teachable moment.