Tuesday, October 6, 2009

It's not jello, it's cytoplasm.

Yesterday when Sunshine got home from school (she attends public school), she opened the refrigerator and asked "Hey, mom, can I have some of this jello?" I replied, "That's not jello, it's cytoplasm!" She was amused by that.
This week in science, we've been studying cells. We've learned about the basic structure and function of cells and the difference between plant and animal cells.
Gem colored quietly as I explained cells to Mojo, and every once in awhile, I could hear her little voice pipe up, repeating what I had just said. "Cell wall." "Mitochondria." Have you ever heard a two-year-old say "mitochondria"? I asked her to say it again. And again. hehe

Here is a picture of the lovely cell that we made (the other cells remained prokaryotes; Gem and Caveman ate them before the organelles were added.) Maybe not the prettiest cell on the block, but Mojo enjoyed making and eating it anyway.
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I believe we are going to take a detour from the science book and begin talking about viruses next, since the flu is dominating the news right now. While we are talking about viruses, we will also learn to make homemade antiviral remedies and other immunity boosters. I missed harvesting the wild elderberries around here, so I have ordered a pound of dried elderberries, along with some other dried herbs, and I am expecting them in the next day or so. Next year, we will grow our own medicine-making herbs. How's that for some cool science lessons? Of course I'll post pics!

While I am posting, here's what else we are studying this week...
Gem is learning the letter Dd, the number 4/four (and we've learned that there are four Gospels), and the color blue.
Caveman is learning how to count and write his numbers, the different letter sounds, and learning about our world around us (he also listens in on Mojo's lessons).
Mojo is learning about cells, proper grammar, spelling, map scale, place value for large numbers (ten- and hundred-thousands), and she is reading Heidi.

Our saint for this week is St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day was October 4th.
Our virtue is Humility.
Our Scripture is Joshua 1:9 "Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
We are listening to the music of Claude Debussy this week.

3 comments:

  1. I know you have been homeschooling a lot longer than I have, but you are so much more organized than I am at this point. I know we will find our groove, but for now it just seems so hit or miss.

    Loving the jello cytoplasm.

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  2. LOL, Tanya, I've had unorganized years, too. The good thing is that even though *I* felt unorganized, the kids still learned what they needed and wanted to learn. This year, everything is just falling into place. Yep, you just have to find your groove. :-)

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