Saturday, September 20, 2014

Friday, September 5, 2014

Solar cards, tornados, and spider eggs

My mom found some light-sensitive paper, so we had a blast today making designs with odd objects from around the house. The directions suggested 1-3 minutes in the sun or "until the paper turns almost white." Turns out that in our tropical sun, it was more like 20 seconds. Our first ones were overexposed, but Raccoon is more about process than product, so he didn't care. My favorite was the design he did with rocks and their shadows.





My mom also found a nifty little device that screws on to create a "tornado in a bottle." Since our theme for the week is weather, it was a perfect fit. Raccoon and I tried to do this experiment a few months ago, but taping two bottles together is leaky and the hole was not small enough to produce the desired effect. This little device was so easy and effective, I highly recommend it. All I did was fill one bottle 2/3 full, screw on both bottles, swirl the water a little and voila! Tornado!



We also got to see our local firefighters putting out a blaze in a neighbor's yard.


Painting rocks is Raccoon's newest hobby. We've caught every visible spider in our yard and several of our neighbor's as well, so we're taking a break while we wait for our four egg sacs to hatch. One sac is going on two months and no spiderlings yet. We've also had some good discussion about extinction due to over-hunting, and raising animals in captivity. We currently have four spider pets in jars on our counter. Did you know that they can lay egg sacs months apart, apparently without refertilization? I can find out very little online about spider eggs but we have certainly learned a lot firsthand.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Living Overseas

Sometimes reading other homeschool blogs is good for me, and sometimes it's not. I see all the things available in metropolitan areas - libraries, clubs, sports, gyms, coops, museums, etc. - and I want that for my children. I get activity and supply envy. I wonder if we are making the right choice. This is why blog reading can be bad for me.

On the other hand, another mom wrote about poetry for kids and I thought, "I could do that with Raccoon." I love ideas.

This is the root of my fear, that I'm not a good teacher because I'm not doing that or that or that.

We may not be able to do all those things, but we do have a high-speed internet connection by God's grace. And a rainforest within driving distance. And a second language.

I am frequently scanning the horizon, but where my feet are standing is pretty nice too if I remember to look down every now and then. There is much to learn everywhere.

And I mentally shake myself. He's in K, he doesn't need everything to happen this year, good grief. I tell myself to stop worrying and being ridiculous. All I need is a little laugh at myself and to lighten up.

So I think I will continue choosing not to look and to keep marching to our drum. But every now and then, the unknown horizon still calls my name.