SNOWMEN [12 pts]

I started out the morning planning on continuing our solar house project for science. Unfortunately, we couldn't locate the magnifying glass needed for the next set of experiments, so I decided to take advantage of a project I had planned, but set aside: the science of snow.

We certainly have enough of it here already. It's actually the pretty, drifting snow you see on commercials that gently blankets the world and makes me glad that I can stay inside.

But back to the science. Today we learned all about the different shapes of snowflakes: hexagonal plates, stellar plates, stellar dendrites (the most common) as well as needles, columns and bullets. We collected, drew and diagrammed; we watched a movie on how snow forms. Let me tell you, I am feeling informed on the topic.

Finally, just for fun, we made robot snowmen. I picked up the idea from the Science Mommy blog, and it turned out very well. Even Liam, who is not an arts and crafts kind of guy, enjoyed making his tyrannical snowman leader with little snowmen underlings. Ahhhh, boys.....

This is one snowman you don't want to mess with.

 

Hannah enjoyed designing her snowmen robots.

I love the marette hat and mitts. Can you tell their dad is an electrician?

BE [4 pts]

I had an epiphany today, of sorts. I guess it was more a reminder of what I'm really trying to do here. It often seems a struggle to teach everything I think my kids should know. They're good readers, but are they good writers? Can they handwrite? Do they understand how the government works? Are they good at mental arithmetic?

Sometimes I think it's my sole responsibility to distil the knowledge of the universe into their sponge-like little heads. What do they need to know to flourish in this world? Then I realized: it's not what I want them to know. It's who I want them to be. If they can BE life-long learners and excited about the world, then they'll search it out. If they will BE courageous, they can stand up for what's right.

I admit, many of these Be's are not mine: they come from President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And certainly it's not a comprehensive list, but it's a good start.

BE:

KIND

COURAGEOUS

PROBLEM-SOLVERS

POLITE

GRATEFUL

HONEST

CLEAN

TRUE

SMART

HUMBLE

PRAYERFUL

COMPASSIONATE

HARD-WORKING

INVOLVED

LIFE-LONG LEARNERS

HERITAGE [12 pts]

Last week we took a home school trip to our local Heritage Park to explore schooling and life of the past century in Fort McMurray.

It might be big, but this radio is stylish!

Squeezed into the turn of the century school desks. 

 School came to Fort McMurray around 1913, but most kids didn't go for long, or even all year. Everyone helped with trapping in the wintertime until more industry settled up here.

Where's the screen?

One thing we learned: School in November is cold!! Even though many of the buildings have been modernized with heat, some were not, and we were all shivering. I couldn't imagine huddling close to the stove (if you were lucky) while trying to learn. We agree that school in 2011 is pretty great!!

SNOW [7 pts]

It's 8:30 AM. The sun has finally risen above the horizon and the first snow of the season is gracing the ground. And of course, my kids are out playing in it. Despite the fact the some of our, ahem, more southerly neighbours have had snow for a couple weeks, this is the first we've seen of the white stuff so far. Probably the last we'll see of the sidewalks and grass until May, but we'll enjoy the novelty today.
I love the shining eye excitement of Hannah and Liam quickly bundling up with the prospect of snow angels, teeny tiny snowmen (there's really not enough for anything else yet) and writing messages on my car. New hats, mitts and boots add to the "first day of snow" thrill. (Thank goodness we bought some on the weekend. There probably won't be any left by the end of the day.)

Snow day!

If you look carefully, I have an "I <3 U" on the hood of my car!

Snow tires will be on both the cars by Monday, so we're set for whatever comes our way. Winter weather is finally here, but at least we can have some fun in it!