Homeschool Classes

Today was our Monday for homeschool classes with our homeschool group.  For art they did a quick study of Picasso & then had to paint a self-portrait of themselves.  First they sketched it out in pencil, traced it with a sharpie & then painted it with Tempura paints.  I must say I don't think there are any budding artists in the group from what I could see, but it was fun for them.

Next was the "Think It" class.  They discussed solid shapes, like cube, pyramid, etc...then had to try & build a solid shape with nothing but straws & paper clips.  It had to be thigh-high in height & be able to stand on its own...and had to be done in 20 minutes.  I wanted to jump in ofcourse & try to give ideas on how to make it a free standing 3-dimensional object, but us parents had to leave it up to the kids to figure out.

  Our high school group was successful in doing a pyramid & the 1st graders would have done a great cube if they had not run out of time.  The rest of the kids had ideas but just couldn't figure out how to implement them...but it was a fun challange.  Afterwards we discussed with them why their design did not work & what they could do next time to make it better.

After a quick lunch we continued with our "Mystery Powders" class.  We had small groups work on seven different kinds of powders (Sugar, Salt, Cornstarch, Wheat Flour, Plaster of Paris, Baking Soda, & Quartz Sand).  We treated each powder with Water, Vinegar, & Iodine to see what kind of chemical reaction would occur if any.  We also had them do a heat test over an open flame to see if heat changed the powder or reacted in anyway.

Lastly we had the group divide into teams so that they could start working on their science fair projects.  My son's team will be working on rockets...should be interesting.  They have all year to work on them & then will have a chance to show their work at the end of the year celebration.

If you are not in a homeschool group & live in the Paulding County, Georgia area...check out Home Learners Alliance.  You can find them online. Otherwise check out different sites online for groups in your area where you live to get your kids connected to different activities that you may not be able to do on your own.   It is a great way to make new friends!