Another year in review!

The 2015-16 school year was a major "peaks and valleys" kind of year!  Some weeks we'd be a nonstop flurry of activity, and other weeks would be a seemingly endless drag of stagnant apathy.  Even with those dragging weeks, we managed a pretty awesome year.

Thomas and Joseph continued on to Boy Scouts. Thomas has already earned badges for nature conservation, fish and wildlife, and small mammals, as well as his Tote and Chip, which means he has demonstrated the ability to carry and use a pocket knife responsibly.  Joseph had to wait until December to officially begin earning his badges, but he's well underway towards earning horsemanship, art, and his Tote and Chip also.  They have been tearing through sci-fi books (Star Wars and Doctor Who, mostly) and science books, learning about everything from the human body to outer space.  Every year, they seem to get more into the details of the physics and math involved in the whole of existence.

Maria finally gained the confidence to read and has almost immediately moved into chapter books. She has finished the Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy chapter books 1-5.  We're waiting on the library to fulfill our request for books 6 and 7.  In the meantime, she is reading to her younger brothers, designing (and sewing) clothing for her dolls, experimenting with new recipes (mad scientist style!), writing stories for her friends, and staying active.

On to the picture purge:

We learned a lot about Monkfish and California Sheepshead fish

during a trip to Wegmans. We seem to always find something

pretty interesting in the seafood section of Wegmans!

We tracked phases of the moon and enjoyed the "super moon."

We had Mr. McKean of our local Habitat for Humanity explain

surveying land, digging a foundation for a house, pouring a foundation,

what's involved in order to operate heavy machinery, as well as what is 

involved as far as permits and other legalities in order to get a house built.

We took advantage of volunteer service opportunities, including

assembling gift boxes and coat drives for local families, as well

as cleaning our church.

 

Using our all-time favorite 50 Science Things To Make & Do book from

Usborne, the kids did several projects including meringues, slushies, and a

solar oven to warm up marshmallows.

The kids also were given charge of meals one night a week each,

taking into account the nutritional needs of the family and the FDA's

guidelines for the necessary servings of meats, fruits, veggies, etc.

(They are pretty great cooks!)

We took advantage of nature hikes, as we do every year, 

and cataloged more plants, animals, and fungi we encountered.

(pictured here is lycoperdon echinatum, or spiny puffball fungi)

We kept busy with extra curricular activities as well. :-)

 We went to see Thomas while he was in MD on a camping trip.

While there, he learned about survival skills, fire safety, water

safety, rifle shooting, and Native American history. Both he and Joseph

will be doing it this upcoming year!

Our two big events this year were a trip to DC to completely nerd-out on Natural History, American History, and space and aeronautics at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum, as well as hatching chickens in a homemade incubator. Both were equally thrilling and fulfilling:

A Lego flag spoke to these Lego enthusiasts' hearts.

We discussed the importance of social activism and how it has shaped history.

Civil Rights was a big lesson this year.

Food history might have been Joseph's favorite.

This was a jaw-dropper for Thomas.

We discussed the space race, the technology involved, the historical

significance, but nothing really compares to seeing this in person.

WWII planes.

Greg, our tour guide, was telling us about how this plane is a 

German design that Americans seized in WWII, later basing

our design for the B-2 stealth bomber on that technology.

The Enola Gay was a tough history lesson as well.

Being able to touch a rock that's been in space was awesome for him.

And our chicken hatching adventure:

The kids looked up the design for the incubator. It uses a styrofoam cooler,

a thermometer and humidity gauge, a piece of glass for a viewing window,

duct tape, a bowl of water, some hardware cloth,

and a 25 watt lightbulb.

The waiting was the hardest part.

 We successfully hatched 6 out of the 9 we ordered, and we were able

to learn quite a bit about embryology from the three that did not hatch.

These six now happily reside on a friend's farm.

For the rest of the summer, we are going to continue regularly seeing our math tutor.

Summer is already chock full of planned adventures, including checking out the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, camping, summer camps, service projects, and becoming more involved with local government while watching the national voting process unfold.  It has been, and continues to be, so fun!