End of January

Before I knew what D&D was, I loved using the multisided dice to teach math.

K is learning addition up to 20.  We laid out all the numbers 0-20 to help him have a visual. (A life-size number line if you will.)  I would shake a D20 to give him a starting point. He would stand on that number, roll his D10 and move that many spaces. He would then, repeat the full math sentence. For example, 10+5=15. Where other textbook approaches have failed, I'm hoping this gamified version of math helps his understanding of addition solidify.

In 7th Grade Health we learned about the 5 intelligences. J immediately recognized 4 of them as the areas we make yearly goals in: social, intellectual, physical, and spiritual. The last one was emotional health.

We started to watch a documentary called Human Planet. It wasn't for us. So we we didn't finish, which is fine to pivot away from things that won't properly fulfill educational needs.  We plan to watch Planet Earth 3 instead.

The kids have had fun experimenting with our art supplies.

For science, A1 build a ball launcher.

And played with snap circuits.

K is building a robot and enjoyed solving the Gravity Maze puzzles.

This kids' uncle gave them a book about probability and calculating risk. The guest character is a Actuary. Actuaries use math and logic to determine how likely something is to occur. In this book, the characters learn what's been done to reduce the risk of a building burning from nearby wildfires. (We did not go into the recent wildfires in LA.)  Using a little math and logic, what do you think is the probability of my brother being an actuary? 

For geography, we've been exploring different countries in South America. A1 was surprised by how long Chile was, and even more surprised by how skinny. J was surprised to learn 40 percent of the people in the country live around the capital and if kids live in rural place they have to wake up at 5:00 or 6:00 to get to school. We also visited Easter Island on Google Earth to  see the statues. It has the driest, nonpolar, desert on Earth.

We learned a little bit about Columbia the "Gateway to South America". They have the second most diverse ecosystem on the continent. We also made a custard treat from there.

Dad lived a year in Peru and a year in Bolivia. He took the lead on teaching them about these countries.

Peru has a city called Lima. It has almost three times the amount of people living in the one city than we have living in our entire state. Most apartments where Dad lived didn't have roofs, they had flat ceilings. People could add another floor on top if they want to. They don't have garages. 

Peru is home to the Nazca lines. Drawings etched into the desert that are so large, you can't only see the entire image by plane. Peru is also home to Machu Picchu.

In Bolivia, the traditional dress for boys includes a vest, and girls wear wider skirts and top hats. They have the largest Christ statue in the world. They are one of two landlocked countries in South America. The country once had a seaport, but Chile fought them for it and won. They have the world's largest salt flat, that when it floods with water, it becomes the largest mirror on Earth. It's so large, it is used to calibrate satellite sensors.

A unique food to Bolivia is the Saltena. A soup filled sweet pastry. We bought these frozen from Sariri Bolivian Food in American Fork, UT and baked them up when we were ready to eat them. So good!