Struggling in February

This time of year is the pits, every year at this time I get at least a little fed up with everything.  Many years I entertain the idea of sending the kids to school, in February, but come March I love homeschooling again and wouldn't dream of doing things any other way.
I'm trying to keep things a little bit light and fun over here...the boys are doing plenty of math and all the other core subjects, but I'm making sure I keep some lighter things injected into our school day-- for example, today we started with a Valentine-making workshop (which included lots of practice in negotiation and working together, and for Milo also the skill of finding an unknown zip code--so, not completely noneducational).
Another way we're keeping it interesting is by doing science experiments, like this one on crystals:

And later in the week we're going to view some videos on Khan Academy and Ted Ed (or is it Ed Ted? never can remember) about plate tectonics, earthquakes, Pangaea, and Fibonacci numbers.  I've been thinking about how to incorporate these online resources into our homeschool, and what I've hit on this week is that I'll have them do their usual books-and-papers work on these topics, and then add watching the videos (and, as always in our hs, writing and drawing about what they've learned) late in the week as enrichment.  Up until now I've resisted using videos in the boys' lessons, going with the Well-Trained Mind idea that learning from books is a different skill that should be acquired first.  However, some of the home educating moms whom I respect the most (Hi Jen S. and Ariel D.!) use Ted Ed (Ed Ted?) and Khan Academy videos with their kids, so I knew it was time to re-think this and see what using these could do for my family.
Craft Challenge news this week: well, this time of year really is getting me down, and my week was, once again, almost up without anything to show for it (craft-wise, that is).  So, last night on Primo's advice I grabbed my fabric scissors and a big bag of felt scraps, and made some shapes and animals for Snorzy's felt board.  Radish agrees with me that the baby would probably just eat the felt shapes right now, so this will be put away and likely show up next under the Christmas tree later this year (when Snorzy will be almost 2)

Next up: remind me to get around to the post that I've been meaning to write about learning styles, Radish, and multiplication.  Also, I'm going to try to do a more involved and interesting craft this week-- not needle felting yet as I don't have the supplies, but something engrossing and fun.

Cold Snap

One fun thing about this prolonged stretch of cold weather is that we were able to get around to an art project I'd been meaning to do with the kids: an ice chandelier, as seen in The Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art (one of my favorites for unusual art projects).  Primo made the frame by himself (not visible in the picture below, unfortunately-- the kids were the photographers), and we collaborated on a set of colorful ice cubes and a circle, all with small objects (natural and man-made) trapped inside.  We hung it about a week ago, and it's been interesting to see the cubes melt and change, *even though* the air temperature hasn't risen to even close to 32 degrees all week.  How is this possible?  Our hypotheses include heat from the cars passing on the street, and sunlight shining on the ice.



Once again I felt a little 'under the gun' to make something for my craft challenge.  I had the idea to make Snorzy a felt board, but didn't know what to use as the base (without buying anything).  Then I realized we had just thrown a white board into the recycling bin.  I had one of the kids retrieve it, and used it to form the basis of a felt board (with a blue sky and a slight hill made of green felt).  I found that staples wouldn't stay well in the cardboard back of the white board, so I reinforced it with duct tape.  Not pretty, but hopefully it will hold up.  Next mini project: making some felt shapes for Snorzy to use with this board.  No rush, he's still at the age where he's more likely to put the pieces in his mouth than on the board.  Maybe I'll save this as a birthday or even Christmas present.  The important thing is that I *made something* this week, other than the chandelier (with the boys) and various baked good ('Samoa' Brownies, Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake).