Science | Cow Eye Dissection

We've already done a dissection for our human anatomy science class so this one should have been no big deal right? Well...it was a wee bit different this time since there was an eyeball looking at us the whole entire time! Crazy!! Crazy, but very cool, that is. 

Zoey was pumped to have this lab to look forward to today. Wednesdays are our full days at home so we try and plan the fun stuff for then. This was definitely fun and interesting! We are following Guest Hollow's Human Anatomy study this year for science and this is one of 4 dissection labs that are worked into the curriculum for the year. 

The cow eye (purchased from Homeschool Science Tools - thanks Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ross for helping by supporting our homeschool savings account!) was pretty fun to dissect, according to Zoey. I just watched and took photos from a safe distance away! 

First she had to cut the fatty tissues and muscle away from the actual eyeball itself. She located the optic nerve on the posterior side of the eye after cleaning up all the excess tissue. Inside the eye, once she cut the eye in half, was a gelatinous fluid which is known as the vitreous humor. This was pretty interesting to Zoey and I both because we had just been in to the emergency room not too long ago where Zoey was given an ultrasound on both eyes and the doctor she had, actually talked to us about all the different parts of the eye, including this jelly like substance, the vitreous humor! Connections are an awesome thing!

She then had to carefully cut away the cornea of the eye (pictured in the above right corner photo) and locate the Sclera, Iris, and Lens of the eye viewing from the front of the anterior half of the eye.

She then got to remove the lens of the eye (pictured again in the above right corner of the photo above), this was very hard upon our inspection but we learned that when the cow was alive, the lens would have been very flexible, as well as clear.

She ended her dissection by viewing the posterior side of the eye where there is the retina, and a shiny, very thin tissue called the choroid coat. This, we learned, supplies the eye with blood and nutrients.

VERY interesting lab!! Zoey gave it a two thumbs up...I have to agree with her.

Happy homeschooling!

Where We're At...

With taking a bit of time off over December for our Winter Holiday studies we're technically "behind" a bit on our regularly scheduled curriculum schedules for Geography, Literature and Science. I'm surprising myself though in not worrying about it. We're already catching up and with our new block schedule for subjects it's easier than ever and doesn't even feel like we're cramming which is good. This is where we're at currently with things...

Science

Last week we finished up our studies on the brain using Guest Hollow's anatomy curriculum. We have since moved on to eyes and the sense of sight.  

Dollar Drop experiment (we just used paper) Gauging how the nervous system needs time to size up a situation to react appropriately.

Zoey started reading the book Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield this week and we are planning to hopefully get in a cow eye dissection before the week is over. 

Geography

Following Build Your Library's Geography curriculum, we're working on some map work for South America and Zoey is reading a few new books in addition to her regular spines for geography. They are The Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch and In the Land of the Jaguar: South America and It's People by Gena Gorrell. She's enjoying the The Well of Sacrifice but says that the other one reads more like a textbook which isn't so fun. 

History

New this semester, we're adding in some history specific studies starting in on ancient times. I think we can handle this now that we've gotten our feet wet with homeschooling. Zoey is the one saying to bring it on, so we're going to try it!

Math

As of right now Zoey only has four more lessons to go before she is finished with her math book! This is awesome because one of our (many) reasons for homeschooling was that she was experiencing some frustration with math and the things that were being tried at public school to help her, just simply weren't working or helping at all with the fundamentals and/or concepts that she struggled help with. I really wrestled with the decision initially to back way up in math, despite many recommendations to do so, as I was worried we wouldn't catch up to where we were supposed to be (I know...so silly to think this way!!). But, here we are, our first year isn't yet over and we're still on track and moving forward in math. At this rate and with her current enthusiasm for the Math-U-See curriculum we're going to be just fine. 

Writing and Grammar, as well as Spanish, Logic, World Religions and Music Theory are moving right along too. Art has been somewhat sporadic as of late. Perhaps because we're coming out of the holiday season and we did a lot of crafting for handmade gifts, etc. Zoey started a drama class at a local homeschool co-op and is enjoying it so far. I'm so happy for her, I just wish it wasn't right smack in the middle of one of our free days thus making it a bit tricky to stay on task before and after traveling to her class. 

This is where we're at! So far, so good...it's fun to see that we're making progress but most of all that I can see Zoey enjoying learning. 

Finally...a Day of Play!

Even big kids need a day outside! We've been having some crazy cold weather lately. That, along with getting a few feet of snow and the wind-chills, it hasn't exactly made for nice outside-play type of activities. Today was one of the first decent days weather-wise that fell on a weekend in awhile so we took full advantage of the sunshine and hit the nearest sledding hill! Meeting friends there was a bonus to our day.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay warm!

Learning Piano | Music Theory

We are trying something new this semester...learning music notes through music theory and hopefully how to learn to play the piano (or, in our case, the electric keyboard). This is something that Zoey was initially uncomfortable with as she was in chorus when in public school but had no knowledge (beyond the basics) when it comes to reading sheet music, playing an instrument, etc. I took piano lessons for awhile when I was young so can recall a bit so we're kind of learning together as we go.

For the music theory portion, we're testing out the lessons and exercises on this site and for her actual learning how to play I purchased some of the basic books by John Thompson since they were recommended to me as tried and true for homeschoolers. It may sound funny, but she learned whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes today and already has a simple little song under her belt as well as several exercises that she successfully has completed! She is saying that music is right up there now with science class, so that's saying something!

Huipil Weaving - Art Assignment

This week one of Zoey's assignments for art using the book Geography Through Art was to create and design a Huipil (pronounced, Wee-Peel) cloth on paper using pencil and paper and then coloring it in with markers. This is what she came up with. 

The huipil is a piece of cloth woven in Guatemala. It is usually woven by hand. These beautiful garments are embroidered with images from nature and everyday life and the designs are often times personal. It is said that you can tell from the designs, what family a person is from or what village they live in or what religion they practice.

Zoey isn't always a fan when it comes to art projects that are required...she enjoys doing her own thing but she said that she enjoyed coming up with the designs for this particular project. I kind of wish that we would have used paint instead of markers as you can tell some of them were drying out. Next time we'll know to check the marker supply!

Our new block schedule is working out incredibly so far this week! So happy with it. Zoey's accomplishing so much more during the day, it's crazy! She's more relaxed and is having fun too.

Our Homeschooling Journey | 4 + Months In

I thought it would be fun to document a little re-cap of how we're feeling about our choice to homeschool. Since starting in the 7th grade, some would say we're perhaps late to the game. I will say, that I often find myself entertaining the thought that I wish we'd been brave enough to start this homeschooling journey sooner. Zoey had been asking to homeschool since the 4th grade and at that time we pulled her out of public and tried a charter school and after two years of that, we finally felt confident enough to go ahead and be brave and try homeschooling. I wonder though, that had we not started this late, if she would still be so happy with the choice of homeschooling now here in the thick of the middle school years. She truly got a taste of public school and decided it wasn't her first choice and now gets to own that knowing full well what public school looked and felt like.

It's been awesome! Can I say that again? IT'S BEEN AWESOME!!

We were a bit shaky in the beginning...lots of doubts floating around, lots of what if's to think about. Are we using the right curriculum? Are we documenting enough? Heck, are we doing this right? They are still there, we're just in a place right now where we're really feeling our groove. Every single day I am thankful that we are homeschooling! Most importantly, so is Zoey! She tells me, "I am so happy we are homeschooling!" almost daily. When I ask for her reasons they range from being thankful that she can do her own thing, or go deeper in any given subject when she wishes to, to enjoying the fact that she doesn't have some of the daily stressors that public school had. She tells me that she couldn't imagine going back to public school now after getting a taste of homeschooling. :)

One thing right off the bat that was a struggle was the idea of what our school day was supposed to look like. Zoey was carrying over the stress and hurry up mentality that public school was, into our homeschooling day through no fault of her own. It's just what she had known for so long...so it naturally carried over. If there is one piece of advice that I would share with individuals that are starting this homeschooling journey, it would be to take the time to deschool. It was recommended to me by so many people and I shrugged it off as something that we didn't need to do. We did have the benefit of having a whole summer behind us before homeschooling and that helped some, but if I were to be honest, we did need more time to get away from the idea of what school at home should be vs. what it could be. Thankfully, we quickly realized this and adjusted things so that we were a bit more relaxed and since, have been transitioning into what our school day is now shaping into in a more authentic manner.

We love waking up in the morning and having the time to make and eat a good breakfast. I love seeing Zoey choose a book and read while eating her breakfast, all while, the sun starts shining in through our kitchen windows and on to our table. I love being able to notice what is around us. We've been able to take note of what kinds of birds visit our feeders daily, how they interact with one another. We've seen wildlife in our yard, woods and neighborhood. Wolves, a fox, raccoons, deer, even a bear this past spring! So fascinating! She gets to help cook throughout the day and meal plan. She can (relatively speaking) have control over when she does school each day and thus is learning how to manage her time and juggle responsibility and accountability while getting the taste of the freedom of choice. I've involved her in her curriculum choices as well, as much as possible. We talk about what she thinks would be a good fit, research it and make decisions together. Just recently, over Christmas break she was given some coins to cash in from a family member. Upon cashing it in at the bank she was to use a portion to donate, a portion to save and the rest she could use how she wished. She just asked me the other day if she could use the money she got to keep to purchase a logic workbook!! It's so exciting for me to see her owning her school experience in so many different ways.

This is the logic book that she wants...Building Thinking Skills Level 3, Figural.

One of our struggles, interestingly enough, is one of worrying whether or not we are going to be able to fit in everything that we want to cover! Again, with the flexibility of homeschooling behind us, we get to rearrange things as much as want to make it work. An example being that while this year we are covering a very thorough anatomy course for science, she has an incredible interest in botany so we've made the decision that we're going to go ahead with a botany course (along with continuing working on math) this summer.  It's so awesome that we are both excited about this!

If I had to change any one thing, it would be that I had more time with her and didn't have to juggle work into the mix. That said, working part-time at our local public library certainly has it's perks for a homescooling family! I'm blessed that we have so very many resources literally at our fingertips and that Zoey can spend time there while I'm working. The little bit of extra money certainly helps us with our endeavor as well.

This is where we're at currently! If there is one thing that's certain, it's that things change so we're open to that possibility. Right now however, we're in love with our choice to homeschool and how this year is shaping up!

Staying Active in the Winter Months

It's so important for Zoey to stay active with homeschooling now (no more daily phy-ed classes!) and especially so during the winter months. We take advantage of warmer days and snow shoe and hike when we can, and always walk to get the mail when the weather cooperates but sometimes it's nice to not have to bundle up in all of our snow gear to get active. Some things that have worked for us so far this winter are...

yoga (we are loving the Shanti Generation Yoga for Peacemakers DVD)
roller blading (bonus if you have an indoor rink in your area!)
dance ballet/pointe (classes she takes outside of our home twice a week)
basketball or volleyball at our community gym
playing tag with friends at our community gym
swimming (community pool)

I am sure I'm missing some obvious ideas for staying active throughout the winter...these are just are what's working for us currently. Please feel free to share what it is that you are doing with your kids if it's working for you!

Brain Hemisphere Hat

We had some fun creating a brain hemisphere hat utilizing Ellen Mchenry's free download on her site Ellen Mchenry's Basement Workshop. It's so cool and will be so helpful for Zoey to learn what the different parts of the brain are used and responsible for. I printed the downloads on to regular printer paper and then covered the paper with plastic before we continued cutting and adhering it all together.

I'm not sure that she'll be wearing this hat out and about but it's fun to wear around the house here where she is guaranteed that she won't get strange looks. Or, at least, no more stranger looks than usual. :)

We are loving using Guest Hollow's anatomy study this year and really taking advantage of as much as is provided in the way of planning in the curriculum schedule. It's pretty much the only curriculum that I haven't tweaked so far!

Sheep Brain Dissection | If You're Squeamish You May Want to Look Away!

Today area public schools still are off of school but Zoey wanted to get back to it (pretty sure it had to do with knowing that our sheep brain dissection was scheduled in!) so here we are, charging ahead and starting in on school again! I'm excited too because we're changing up our schedule a bit to hopefully make our learning be more meaningful utilizing more of a block schedule. We'll see how it goes. The great thing about homeschooling is we can quickly and easily switch things up as we need to.

Today is a science day so she started the morning doing her math and grammar and got right in to her required reading for science. The readings from her multiple books are all focused on the brain now since that's what we're learning about. She LOVED everything she was reading this morning and had to share all the fascinating tidbits with me as well as do all the little tests/experiments on herself and me as well!

(Trick Your Brain Exercise | Reveals how your brain sometimes tricks you into taking shortcuts.)

I have to agree, lots of truly interesting information is being shared. She found it very interesting that there is part of the brain called Arbor Vitae since that is a name of one of our neighboring communities we had to be sure to find out it's meaning! This is what we found:

The arbor vitae serves a crucial function in the brain. The name comes from Latin and literally translates to "tree of life." The name accurately describes the appearance of the white matter that serves to bring sensory and motor information to the cerebellum.

The books that we are reading currently are:

How to Be a Genius, Your Brain and How to Train It 
The Electrifying Nervous System 
Blood, Bones and Body Bits
Blood and Guts

and we are watching the special PBS DVD program The Secret Life of the Brain and Brain Games episodes.

Overall our first ever dissection was a great experience! I was worrying about the possible smell and it really wasn't that bad. Zoey had been so excited to do this that I was worried the actual process might be a let down but she loved it and can't wait to dissect a cow eye next. Love my science girl!!