Hunter Museum of American Art Homeschool Classes

The Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga offers home school workshops for home school learners & their families.    Each session includes a museum tour, studio art experience, & a take home packet to extend your museum experience.

Workshops are for kids age 5 - 13 years old & their providers.  Providers can explore the museum & participate in a studio art experience while their children attend the workshop.  There is no additional cost for providers who participate in the workshop.

Workshops coming soon are:  "Art as a Mirror",  February 10th, "Museum Buildings & their Architecture", March 17th, & "The Elements of Art", April 14th.  All classes are 10am - 12pm & cost is $10.00 for members & $12.00 for non-members.

Workshops are limited to 30 students so register soon to reserve your space.   Go to http://www.huntermuseum.org/ for more information.  They are also having their homeschool day event this coming Wednesday, November 18th at 10 am.

Chattanooga Nature Center

Just 15 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, located at the bottom of Lookout Mountain, you can find the Chattanooga Nature Center.   They offer educational programming Monday - Friday throughout the year.  Learning adventures are done in a "Living Classroom" where hands on field classes are taught by naturalists.

Some of the classes offered are "Birds of a Feather", "Things that go Bump in the Night", Predator / Prey Connection", and more.  If you are interested in finding more information for your group, call 423-821-1160 ext. 107 or go to http://www.chattanooganaturecenter.org/ to view other current events.  They also have birthday facilities & special Christmas events coming up soon.

Friday...already!

We finally received the H1N1 vaccine in our area so yesterday I took my son down to get his shot.  We arrived at the Health Dept. around 11am (to beat the rush), only to be told to come back at 1:00.  So we came home, ate lunch, & went back. 

We were one of the first ones there so we were able to get in right away.  They told me I could get a shot while I was there if I wanted, so I got my shot first before my son.  Now, he is 11 years old & has had shots before. However, he watched them give me mine & fear set in.  I guess it looked painful when actually it was the easiest shot I have had in a long time.

He tensed, he cried...the poor nurse was very patient but she couldn't even get close to his arm.  So she told us to go walk around & come back.  We walked out & found a quite place to sit & talk.  I told him that she was a really good nurse & all I felt was a slight pinch when it went in...after that, nothing.   I even told him we could go to Barnes & Nobles & pick up some books that he was wanting to get for his reading.

So he agreed & we went back in.  Unfortunately, fear struck again & after several attempts & coaxing we realized it was not going to happen.  My son was upset when we left & even stopped in the parking lot like he wanted to go back & try again.  I could tell he was disappointed in himself so my scolding him would not do any good.

I told him that we would check next week to see if they received any nasal vaccines, until then we have to hope he does not get sick.  Fortunately, being homeschooled he is not in a room every day with 25 kids who may be carrying the virus.

Hope all of you have better luck at getting your kids vaccinated.  If you haven't yet you can contact your local Health Dept.  We (or I) received our shots for free & did not have to show any insurance. 

Monday Musings

We have been so busy as is normal this time of year.  My husband has been working 6 day work weeks so our family time has been minimal.  He has tomorrow off so we are making Tuesday our family day.  We will still do a short day of school & then we are going to see the movie, "A Christmas Carol", with Jim Carrey. 

It is so nice to have that freedom of schedule with homeschooling so that we can fit family time in whenever it is convenient for us.  I hope that you all will take some time during this holiday season to spend quality time with your family.  Go to the movies, take a walk in the park, or just spend a day at home playing board games.   Have fun!

Homeschool Day at Tennessee Aquarium

A few weeks ago we went to the Homeschool Day at the Tennessee Aquarium.  I have been so busy with my mom visiting from Florida & our activities in a new homeschool group, that I haven't had time to post much.  So now I finally get to tell you about our trip.

We arrived there in the morning around 10:30...the actual homeschool activities did not start until 11:00am.  We signed in & then our first stop was in the theatre they have there for the class on "How to Build A Jellyfish". 

The teacher was awesome & very good with kids.  She did a step-by-step demonstration, using the kids, on the different layers of the jellyfish body. Our son was chosen to be the eye of the jellyfish.  It was a cute live presentation & a good visual for the kids.

We also were able to buy tickets for the Behind the Scenes Tour.  They usually cost around $15 but the homeschool price was only $5 per person.   I think the favorite for the kids was when we were in the kitchen watching the workers prepare food for the animals.   Our guide pulled out some food they were keeping in the freezer & the item that got the best response was a freezer bag full of mice...and the frozen rat!  They use these to feed the snakes...gross!

The rest of the day we spent at leisure touring the aquarium on our own.  They had several demonstrations throughout the day...the favorite was the shark feeding time.  Unfortunately the sharks were not hungry...so no feeding frenzy.

My favorite was the jellyfish exhibit.  They have all kinds of jellyfish that are just awesome!  They were so beautiful that they inspired me to buy a jellyfish paperweight from the gift shop. 

The Tennessee Aquarium will be holding another homeschool day in January so go to their website to check for the date.  They also hold homeschool classes during the year for students.  We live to far to participate...although I was really tempted to make the drive.  It is too late to sign up for classes this year but put it on your calendar for next year if you live in the area.

Science: Study of Water in the Foods We Eat

In science this week we have been studying water & how it is needed by all living things.  It keeps plants, animals, & people alive.  We also discussed the amount of water in the things we eat.  Not surprising to me was that watermelon is nine-tenths water.  However, what did surprise me was the following statistics.

Milk is nine-tenths water, apples eight-tenths, eggs seven-tenths, peaches nine-tenths, & potatoes eight-tenths.  Wait...potatoes?  So we did a little experiment to prove this point.  First we sliced a baking potato & weighed a couple of the slices on our food scale.  The two slices together weighed 1 ounce.

We then placed the slices on a paper towel & left them in the window to dry for three days.  After drying for a few days we weighed them again & I was shocked....one-fourth ounce!  Three-fourths the weight had evaporated away.

Even then all the water was not removed.  It would have taken several days drying in an oven to remove all the water.  So if you are looking for an easy experiment to show your kids how much water is actually in the foods we eat & how important water is to us, try this experiment.  It is quick & easy to do.

Does Your Middle Schooler Hate to Write?

Do you have a middleschooler who hates to write? I homeschool my middle school child who is a whiz at everything except...you guessed it...writing!  For some reason he has a terrible time putting thoughts on paper or doing any creative writing work.   He has a high comprehension score in reading & can read way beyond his age. He has a vivid imagination but cannot put it in ink. 

For the past 2 years it has been a non-stop battle as I have tried to come up with different approaches to conquer this problem.  So I thought surely there must be something out there, some course I could order for him to do that would help. 

At first I found systems that I had already been using, without success.  Then in my search I stumbled upon "Jump In: A workbook for reluctant and eager writers".  As I looked at the samples online I got really excited by what I saw.  Not only was it written in fun terminology with step by step building blocks, but it is also written for middle schoolers who have had trouble writing.    That way I did not have to start him on a course geared for elementary children that might seem silly to him.

There is a student workbook (Jump In) that they work in & then it also comes with the parents/teacher manual called "The Lifeguard's Locker".  In the parents manual are these great 10 minute plunges for your kids to do.  

The 10 minute plunges are a writing assignment for your child & you give them a choice of topics.  For example in week one the topics are: 1) You have just created a new dessert. Name it and write a short description of it for the menu. 2) "I just can't stand..." 3) "I'll never go there again!" (what happened and why you won't go back)  4) Kryptonite made Superman weak. What is your kryptonite?

These choices are interesting & imaginative to help promote creativity.  Plus these writings are not graded!  No checking spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.   Just get them to write!  Then at the end of the week they get to choose their favorite one & then at that time they rewrite it in correct form. 

The first week my son struggled a little but this week he sat & wrote a great report in just 5 minutes!  I wanted him to do the full 10 minutes so he went back to writing & added some more sentences to it.  I was so happy & proud of him.

So if you have a middle schooler who has trouble writing or who LOVES to write, this is a great course.  It is produced by Apologia Press, but I purchased mine from http://www.rainbowresource.com/.  They seem to have the best selection & prices for this.