Fall Break!!!

We are enjoying our fall break!

Meanwhile, we ordered this: http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-SC-100-Snap-Circuits-Jr/dp/B00008BFZH/ref=pd_sim_t_1

Snap circuits should be here today and we will be ready to talk more about currents. We're also going to discuss Tesla - his life, his contributions, and how he is somehow ignored in every science book. Not sure why he is ignored, but my kids are going to learn about his genius a little bit.

I'm planning on having the kids mount some of their poetry from our poetry unit and make a fall-themed display when we start back.

We are also going to talk more about the history of our country. A Young People's History of the United States is anything but tame, but I am going to try to find some things to give the children a broad picture of how life was vastly different for the classes and how life was pre and post slavery. Being poor is not deviance, but kids are taught from a young age that you control your own destiny. This can be true, but is also a bit of myth as well. Ken Burns is also doing a special on the Dust Bowl coming up on PBS and we will talk even more about the poor farming practices of the early settlers whose only concern was the immediate bottom line. What a costly error. Again, we see history repeating itself today in energy and agriculture. ie. genetic engineering, use of pesticides, etc. This is all apart of my plan to teach them to think critically and try to be observant of patterns in behavior that societies tend towards. In this way, they can hopefully become civic minded and engaged. 

But this is all mixed into plenty of "being a kid" time which is valued a lot around here!

We are reading through The Action Bible for devotion that I purchased last year. I really love this graphic representation. The artists did a great job!

It's a bit above my younger son's head, but he still likes the other devotions we have that are more to the point with questions and a verse to contemplate. He is full of questions and ideas but he is also still literal, which makes for some funny questions.