Rochester Museum and Science Center---AGAIN

     I went to the Rochester Museum and Science Center three times this week! Two times we went to the planetarium, and one time to the actual museum. Altogether it seems like we have been to the museum 100 times this year already!

     On Saturday, we went to see a star show. The star show was about the constellations. The big blue projector(named Carl) magically rose out of the floor to display the amazing night sky. I learned how find Orion, Taurus, Sirius and the North Star. Now I know that if I find Orion, I can find Taurus and Sirius easily.

     On Sunday, we went to see a Grand Canyon show. The show was about three families that went river rafting down the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon has many colors because of the different types of rocks. Mostly the movie was about the Colorado River and how the Grand Canyon formed. The show also taught us how to save the waterways.

     On Wednesday, we went to a homeschooling class at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. The RMSC offers weekly classes to homeschooled students. This class was about animals, plants, adaptations and how animals camouflage themselves. After the class, mom took us to see the new exhibits at the Museum. The first exhibit was about construction work and how workers build stuff.  There was an explanation of wiring and circuits, floor tiling and a pretend crane. The second exhibit, Math Midways, displays many ways to solve math problems.  For example, square wheels on a tricycle will work just fine if the biker rides on a round, curvy surface.

    I learned a lot of information that I did not know before I went to the museum.  I know we will go again before the school year ends, but I’m not sure if we’ll attend any more of the homeschooling classes. We go on many field trips and we sometimes have to just stay home and do our workbooks. I had an fantastic time, but going to the museum takes up the entire day and we’ve already been there many, many times. 

Friday January 17. Half way through the school year!

I am creating a project for school. I am making a U.S History time-line. I am researching the history of the United States from the year 1600 to the year 2000. I am learning a lot of new facts. The project will probably take the rest of the year, but I am excited to make a time-line. My time-line is longer than our dining room table that seats twelve people. I will put all the wars, some pictures of the presidents, and other important facts. I might put the changing of technology on it too.
For Geography, I am learning the capitals of the states on the computer. For Math, I am working in my Math book, but it is hard. Today, I learned how to factor and metric measurements. We are so busy now that we have decided not to go to taekwondo anymore. We just don't have enough money and time right now. Also, we can't travel around the United States anymore to go to competitions because of our foster children. I am kind of sad, bu also I like having the extra time at night. If there was a daytime taekwondo class, we might still go, but there isn't and when we go to taekwondo our dinner gets to be too late at night. Instead, now we have time to watch a family movie at night. Last night we watched a movie (called April Morning) that was all about the battles of Lexington and Concord. A few years ago, we went to visit Lexington and Concord. We have a coffee cup with John Parker's famous saying, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."  That was the beginning of the Revolutionary War. I feel that when I homeschool, we get to do many things that we didn't get to do in regular school. I miss my friends though. I hope that they are doing well. I hope that I can see them in the summer. 

January 6. Back to School

I have not blogged in a.most a month because of Christmas vacation. All the puppies went to their new homes right before vacation. It suddenly seemed quiet at our house. We kept one puppy named Lilly. Lilly is cute. She is also smart. We now have two puppies, Caesar and Lilly, and two grown dogs. I have been clicker training the puppies. It seems really easy to train Lilly for some reason. I use a clicker, and when I click the puppies come and I give them treats. Lilly likes to play outside in the snow, but Caesar does not like the cold.

For Christmas, I got three sweatshirts and some socks.  I also got a remote control car and a rip stick.  After we opened our presents, we got in the car to drive to Holiday Valley to go skiing .  We rented two rooms at the Holiday Valley Inn. My mom did not ski because her knees hurt and she had a cold. I skied with my big brothers . There was a pool and hot tub at the hotel. We played chicken in the pool. There was a restaurant, but the food was expensive so we brought a cooler with food. I had a great time. This is my third year staying at Holiday Valley on Christmas.  I hope we can go again next year.

This week, we went skiing a few times at Swain.  I had a big fall on Saturday. I hit a ledge and flew and I rolled. My skis and poles went flying. This week, it’s too cold to go skiing. It is so cold that schools closed. My school never closes!

On Friday, because it was so cold, we went to play laser tag. I tagged a lot of people. We got to play three rounds. My mom is coordinating a class at laser tag about Light and Optics. That will be at the end of January.  I have a cold now too.