Farts are science.

No, really.

This week's science themes: reversible/irreversible change, and states of matter (gas/liquid/solid). We'll be finishing up tomorrow - we have a hunk of ice in the freezer that Isabel wants to put on the stove. This same water has been frozen and unfrozen, ad nauseam, this week, in order to discover whether the resulting changes were reversible or irreversible. We explored water as a solid and a liquid, leaving great, soggy messes in the dining room and requiring multiple wardrobe changes. We boiled water and watched the steam, and compared it to smoke from a flame. And it was during this conversation that Isabel shared her illuminating observation:

Me: Do you remember what makes steam?

I: Hot water turns into steam.

Me: That's right. When water gets hot enough, it becomes a gas.

I: Yeah. Like a fart!

Me: *chokes a little* Like a what?

I: Like a fart is gas!

Me: Er... yes, that's right.

I: And you can't see it and you can't touch it, but you sure can smell it and you sure can feel it, so you know it's there even if it's indvinzible!

2009

Resolution... update blog more often...

Outlook for the first half of 2009: transition to first grade curriculum sometime in the spring or, maybe, early summer. Depends on reading fluency.

In preparation for this transition, with the new year I've implemented a new, more in-depth and structured, homeschool routine. It looks like this:

Monday
Mathematics
Spelling
Grammar
Reading
Writing
History/Geography
Music Appreciation

Tuesday
Mathematics
Spelling
Reading
Writing
Science

Wednesday
Mathematics
Spelling
Grammar
Reading
Writing
History/Geography

Thursday
Mathematics
Spelling
Reading
Writing
Science

Friday
Spelling
Grammar
Reading
Oral Reading
History/Geography
Art Appreciation

Some of these subjects are still a bit nebulous, as we aren't actually working through our formal first grade material right now... History/Geography and Science, in particular, are currently offshoots of other material (as an example, this week's Geography lessons consisted of finding Russia and Pennsylvania on a map, related to Tchaikovsky and Cassatt, this week's composer and artist). Spelling is still very much a part of Reading and Writing, and Oral Reading is also part of Reading (like most beginning Readers, Isabel reads everything aloud).

So far the new routine is working well for us, though.

For winter/spring, we also have a host of activities:

Monday
Homeschool group
Irish Dancing

Wednesday
Homeschool group
First Communion class

Thursday
Science Museum group

Friday
Gymnastics

Sunday
Irish Dancing

Add to this impromptu get-togethers with friends, and probably guitar lessons. Isabel wants to take up the violin as well, which we're considering.