Homeschooling Moments with Ellie

Dec 17th,
We have started a unit study on planets and volcanoes. Ellie has been waiting since school started to start this unit just so she could build a volcano then watch it erupt. Throughout this process she has not only created her paper mache' volcano, but she drawn the inside in her sketch book and labeled each part. Learned about the various eruptions, helped find movies in Nexflix and Amazon Prime about volcanoes. This project lasted over a month and she loved learning all she did.

   

Jan 9th
Ellie asked what the difference between homophones and rhyming words were and how they can sound alike,  yet be different words. Since she loves words and how they work together I did a quick Google search. She was nearly bouncing our of her skin to learn that rhyming words have one part that sounds and sometimes look the same, while homophones can be totally different words but sound the same.

We spent the morning matching words that rhymed or were homophones.

Jan 10th
During a lesson on planets, Ellie was learning about Mercury and Mercury's Rings. In her excitement about learning about this plant and its rings Ellie could not wait to tell Daddy about what she learned. In her excitement she exclaimed, "I do not want to be be a doctor now, I want to be a scientist, because there is so much more to learn about planets and space than doctors ever have to learn about the body!"

Jan 23rd
The Volcano Finally Erupts!
Chantelle is totally beside her self with giggling, jumping, bouncing, squealing excitement. She learned earlier in the day that today would be the day for her eruption and there would be no way her volcano would wait any longer. Running to the kitchen she helped Corbyn grab the baking soda, white vinegar, red food coloring, 60 ML syringe, extra feeding tube extension, medicine spoon, and medicine cup. Yes, only in our house a volcanic eruption requires a syringe, medicine spoon, medicine cup, and an extension.

With the "lava" created at the dinner table the first time and dropped on the floor she was worried about the mess. Never fear, a clean damp wash cloth cleaned the lava quickly. This time the needed items were moved over to her volcano. Soon, she was back on track and ready to try again. Not only on track but bursting with intense energy. Each new eruption brought more energy and excitement. Yes, mission accomplished.