Living Family History

This week the kids were able to visit ever single one of their grandparents and all but one of their still living great grandparents. They also got to spend a few days playing with cousins.

With a few cousins, we went to Thanksgiving Point's Museum of Curiosity. 

Reptile Show

Water Works- Wind tunnel

Jungle Safari

We had a lot of fun but it can be expensive if you are paying out of pocket. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to off set the cost. If you have WIC, children get in free and adults are half price. If your kids participate in the Utah PBS read-a-thon (Next one happening this November) they get a free ticket to a Thanksgiving Point attraction along with many other free tickets to places such as Hogle Zoo, Utah history Museum, Tracy Aviary, Discovery Gateway Children's museum, and more. You can also purchase the 365 Day Salt Lake Connect Pass, currently $90 for children, and enjoy 18 local attractions, including all of Thanksgiving Point.

While traveling, we read history, write stories, silent read, and listen to audiobooks. Our current favorite audiobooks are the Kid Normal series. We are almost done with book 3. We also bring work along for them to do where we are staying. We use Mia Academy and Teaching Textbooks for a lot of lessons.

Mia Academy has print out you use, too.

 We also use free online programs to supplement learning, such as Spelling Training and Xtra Math.

For K, who is just learning addition, we do most math in a workbook and with tactile objects. This week was the number line. K and A2 also played with shapes. 

One of the most monumental things that happened this week for K, was he finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. 

He could have finished this last year, but we were reading other things. He has read almost all of The Princess in Black series. Next, we plan to start reading the Magic Tree House series. 

Last week for health, the kids learned about dental hygiene. This week, the kids learned about the importance other personal hygiene. 

Building from last week's science lesson, we also finished our salt crystal experiment. More accurately either the principal or secretary meddled with the experiment and spilled one of the jars all over the counter. Ah, when your staff are a liability. Good things they're so stink'n cute to make up for it.

 J can fill you in on their observations and results of the salt:

We had three types of salt: Alum, sea salt, and Epson salt. I thought the Epson salt would grow the best because it dissolved all the way. But the Epson salt grew nothing, the sea salt grew the prettiest and the alum grew the biggest. Alum had small crystals within an hour while the sea salt took a day to start forming.

Sea Salt

Alum

Our Epson salt picture went missing! 

We also grew sugar crystals for a yummy science experiment. They also formed mostly on the bottom of the jar making it so we couldn't pull the sticks out.

And let's not forget art. The one subject I was neglecting, the one subject my kids kept telling me they wanted to do. I've changed my ways! This week we pulled out random arts and craft supplies and told them to create something.

While the other 3 worked on that, K asked if he could do and Art for Kids Hub creation instead.

We also made circle art. You put 4 black circles of any size on the page. Choose 4 other colors and alternating them surrounding the circles. (Circle each black circle with the same color before moving onto the next color.)  Once two circle of colors meet, keep going around both of them with your colors until you fill the page.

While we were with cousins, J taught them how to do a different version of scribble art. You scribble all over your paper, and then fill in each section with a different color, making sure the same color doesn't touch sides with itself.

It was a great week.