Early Years Homeschool Personal Blog

Summer is here !!! Hooray !!!! And the milk carton derby was held last weekend. It was great, the weather was perfect.

It was our first time to the milk carton derby. I have never heard of it before. I guess now that the kids are a little older, I've started to pay more attention to family-friendly happenings around us.

Anyway, for those who don't know either, milk carton derby is a boat race. The interesting part is that the boat is made from used milk carton. Very clever indeed !! It was just great looking at all different designs of boat, with the milk cartons (and LOTS of them) keeping them afloat. I sure would like to make my own when the boys get older. It's going to be a great science project.

I love summer. There's just a lot happening around during summer. Most of our homeschooling activity will be outdoor although I might not be able to write about it in this blog. I haven't been able to find the time.

I mean we went to our state homeschooling convention and I still haven't written about that here. We had such a great time at our homeschooling support group park day when the weather was just perfect. We played in the park and at the beach, enjoying the sand, the water and the passing train, chasing crows and having fun in the wading pool. Lots were done and lots more to do. Just hope I have enough time to write it down.

For those interested in milk carton boat, here is a link for more info on how to make your own milk carton boat.

July 6, 2006 19:40 - Tic Tac Toe

We just read the book 'Tic Tac Toe : three in a row.' The book is supposed to teach mathematical concepts, logical and strategic thinking. It's not really Don's first time with the Tic Tac Toe game, but he was never really interested in the game anyway.

So we read the book and we tried to play the game. I drew the lines and the X's and the O's. Then Don got interested and wanted to do the O's. Then he decided he wanted to do R instead of O. Then it was A, and some other letters. Then out of the blue he was busy playing 'soccer' with his pen. We played soccer with the pen before (maybe I should write about that too, sometimes, if I remember).

What about the Tic Tac Toe ?. Well, let's just say that we didn't really play at all. Don was not interested. He was busy drawing and scribling and making his letters and playing soccer pen. He was always more interested in the alphabets than in math.

I shouldn't be worried, I guess. He's only 4. He might not like math now. Although he likes playing the counting game. And even if he ends up not liking math, I guess that's no problem, as long as he can use it when necessary. I want him to be just the way he is, to grow up to be what he's comfortable with, not as what I expect him to be.

July 11, 2006 19:20 - Marimba !!!

There was a street fair and kiddie parade last weekend. It was a usual street fair and parade but we enjoyed it because the weather was just great and the kids were just excited. The firefighters, the kids at the parade, the pirates, the costumes, everything.

One thing that I was very interested in was a group of kids playing some musical instrument. I am not that into music but this one just got my attention. The music was beautiful but what drew my attention was the kids playing the instrument. I found out later that it's called Marimba.

The kids were just enjoying it so much, you can see it from their faces. It's like they're in another world. I was just so amazed at them. My husband couldn't understand it. I never like music that much but this time he had difficulty getting me out of there. He kept saying 'come on let's go, it's hot.' I think I was a little hypnotized by those kids. I mean the music itself is beautiful, but looking at the kids was just heavenly.

I almost felt like I want to do that too. I want to enjoy something as much as they seem to enjoy playing marimba. I want my children to have that too, no matter what it is, be it music, reading, anything. The look on their faces... if only I could describe it.

Then I found out about the group. It's called Shumba Youth Marimba Ensemble. They have classes for children. I don't think I'll enroll my children though. Firstly, they're way too young. Secondly, they didn't seem to be interested. And if you want to know more about marimba, click here.

July 14, 2006 19:12 - Science and sound

Just got another 'science experiment for preschool' book from the library. This time it's not thick and it's simple, so I tried a couple. The experiment is actually very simple and I've read it in a lot of other books. The reason we did it is because Don was watching me read the book and he kept nagging me about doing it rather than just reading it.

So we did. We put several rubber bands around a bread pan and made a music box. When I ask Don to look closely to the rubber band as I pluck it, he could answer the 'why did it make that sound' question. Because it moved !!, he said, with gleaming eyes.

Then we went on knocking on everything so it moved (and made sound). Including touching our 'voice cord' when we speak (voice cord is not the correct term, I just can't think of it right now)

Anyway, I can't keep up with what we did so far. I only wrote when I have the time. So if you want to see a summary of what we did, go to the web instead. Here's the link.

July 25, 2006 20:15 - Mozzarella and my homeschooling-crazy mind

One of the activities books that we borrowed from the library has a "Milk, Cheese and Yogurt" themed-activity. So we've got books about cheesemaking, milk production, yogurt etc.

We made yogurt smoothies (yogurt and fruits mixed in our food processor). Raspberry yogurt was the winner, blueberry came second, while avocado (although number one favorite as bubble tea) failed the test (apparently because the avocado used was too ripened).

Then today, we made mozzarella. It was a whole lot of excitement since this was our first time making our own mozzarella. We've made yogurt before, smoothies so many times, but cheese ? Definitely the first time.

Don helped pour the milk, mixed in the citric acid, and even learned about thermometer for the first time. What's the red thing in the milk, mommy ?, he asked. That startled me, because I've forgotten whether it is mercury or something else. I sort of remember that they don't use mercury anymore in thermometer, but cannot recall what they replace it with, some kind of alcohol ?

Then the milk started to curdle. Then we added the rennet and it curdle more. What is that mommy ? Why does that happen ?

Then came the fun part, kneading the mozzarella. Don really wanted to help knead but it was too hot and I didn't have any rubber gloves around. So he just watched me knead and stretch the mozzarella until he saw me taste a little. That was it ! I never finished kneading and stretching the mozzarella until it reaches it's supposedly shiny and stretchy final result, we ate it all in the process.

It was so much fun ! I didn't realize making mozzarella was so easy and so quick. Under 30 minutes !! And since this was our first time making cheese, to be honest, I feel like doing magic. I mean how on earth did the milk turn into curd and finally cheese !?!?! How could that happen ? Of course it's the rennet but still, isn't it amazing ? When you think about it,... One minute you have liquid milk, the next you have solid, mozzarella cheese !! MAGIC !!

I guess I'm enjoying this homeschooling process a little bit too much. It was meant for my kids but somehow I got myself excited about the whole thing. I started to see every store as a potential field trip (including the cheese store we went to last weekend, which led to today's mozzarella experience). Now I'm jumping up and down and crazy looking for a local dairy farm since I really want to see how they process milk. We've done reading "The milk maker" but it just got me more curious about the real thing.

Then the kids got some video about building a house and heavy machines at a construction site. Of course they enjoy watching all the builders and the heavy machines used in building skyscrapers. But me !?!?! Wow !! I never realized there's so many things involved. The foundation, the steel and wood frames, wirings, plumbing, heating, electricity, everything !!! To add to that, there's a construction site right next to the building where I work, so I can't really concentrate at work now, I keep looking at the construction site (and all the time telling other people how my kids would be very excited to see all that, in actuality, it was me who's excited).

Oh well, I hope my kids are as excited as I am in all this. They've been alright. We haven't done any 'school' yet, they're too young for that. All I'm doing right now is letting them figure out their world, with me filling in here and there, choosing books for them, answering their questions (and boy those questions are a killer, I specifically checked out a book from the library called something like 'answers for science questions your children asks').

Happy homeschooling you all !! I'm certainly enjoying it.