Egypt

Serpents reading level

Ivy took out these two "Theodosia" books from the library and it got us both going on ancient Egyptians. We've had many books out from the library and have worked on several projects. We researched different types of stone and carefully purchased red carnelian for a protective amulet. Ivy used a stick as an experimental subject and followed the steps to making a mummy, even wrapping it carefully. She made a fantastic drawing of a pyramid and a winged disk and several "ankh", a symbol of life. We now have a passing familiarity with the various gods and godesses with Ivy's favourite so far being Thoth, God of wisdom and writing.

Nature Walk

On a hike up a local creek tonight the girls helped identify many native plants and some that are not so desirable, in this region. A sampling of native plants we named were; oregon grape, saskatoon, rabbit brush, yellow salsify (had to look that name up when we got home), night flowering catchfly although we call them salt & pepper flowers, old man's whiskers, and dalmation toadflax.

Active Living - Spring 2010

I have neglected to make a daily record of the girls active living this term so I'll make a summary report.

In an average week we go for several walks on nearby trails or around our property. Ivy and Ella spend a significant amount of time outdoors working on forts, riding bikes and helping with yard projects. We went to the home school skate nearly every week until it ended in April.

Ella has been asked to join the "pre-competitive" group in gymnastics so for the past month she has increased her hours to 4.5/week. The classes are much more intense and have specific times set aside for physical conditioning. In one 3 hour session Ella did 73 push-ups, although that was unusual! She loves the increased intensity and time in the gym. So far it's been a fantastic match and the coaching has been great. Here's a short video of Ella learning a new beam routine.




Ivy finds it harder to find physical activities she really enjoys. She participates when we do things but does not tend to like vigorous activity. This has been an area of challenge and we are still working on it. Ivy is game to try new things without the pressure of a class setting. Ivy and I had fun at "buddy night" at karate and are considering signing up in the fall as a way to stay engaged in regular exercise. Yesterday we took her bike to the Glenfir bike park and she rode over a few of the jumps, getting a feel for it. There were some fun moments and some more on the edge of terrifying but a good experience overall!

Ivy and Ella have spent a lot of time in the back corner of our yard, building a little village with personal huts. It is always evolving to suit the creative needs of the week. This week was all about wizards and collecting ingredients for potions.




Ivy loves to climb trees and explore once we're out on a trail...it's getting going that's hard!



On sunny Tuesday mornings we like to go into town and walk around the farmer's market, visit the library, play on the playground and have a picnic. Here the kids are heading out on their own to buy some apple chips to supplement our sandwiches. They love being responsible for the money and do a great job of keeping track of it.



This is not a great picture but shows all the kids on one of our walks at the Adams Bird Sanctuary in Summerland.

Ella's Art - Spring 2010

1. Piano


2. Environment Poster
3. Kerpoof pirate story
4. Money Scene
5.Tree Painting (submitted)

Ivy's Art - Spring 2010

1. Kerpoof

Sugol: A Cautionary Tale
- Ivy worked on this environmentally themed short story all in one session. Unfortunately due to program limitations (Kerpoof)we were not able to go back and edit once it had been saved!

Kandy Korn I & II
- These videos were also made on the Kerpoof site.

2. Environment posters

3. Violin


4. Egyptian drawing

5. Panda