Spring is here!

OH I am so happy that spring is here! Yesterday was a beautiful day. Here the kids are sitting in front of Aunt Rosemary's flower garden.

Here's what we have been up to.
Science: We are now off of the moon and onto Mars. We learned that the Mars surface is red because there is so much iron in the dust there. The atmosphere doesnt protect Mars like the Earths atmosphere does and as a result there are craters on Mars.. esp the southern hemisphere. We saw images of Mars from the NASA rovers that are there via the internet. We got to see video clips of the scientists discussing the hurdles they had to overcome to get the rovers to Mars. We also watched a video of scientists favorite images that the rovers have taken so far. Today we learned that the sky is a pinkish/gold during the day there and the sunset has blue in it. It is funny how our daily life impacts our studies, after reading today I looked outside and we are in the mist of a west texas dust storm. Yes, what a great opportunity to so experience what life would be like on Mars! The sky is now a salmon red color and it is amazingly close to what the sky looked like in the picture we saw of Mars.

Catherine and I went on to lesson 2 in Latin for Children. We watched our video and did the worksheets. We also reviewed the past lesson to make sure we had that down. The other children sat in on part of the Latin session but since it is not a requirement they did not have to do the worksheets etc. I am amazed at how much the take away by watching the videos and singing the songs. It is also interesting how when nothing is said to the children they automatically are drawn into learning situations. They did not know what we were doing but when they heard the singing and teaching going on they naturally wanted to be part of it.

Some of the kids played Starfall for quite a while as the others played a geography game on the other computer. It was great when Nate ran in to tell us that the Taj Mahal was on the computer! They were excitted abou that! The kids also played Chess today and Mancala, did some great drawings and worked with water and marker to make watercolor. We listened to the Fisherman and his Wife on the Kiddie Records and at reading time we LOVED "The Architect and the Artist" By Demi. We completed the last two chapters of The Wind in the Willows... YES we are finished with it! The kids liked it. (Any votes on what our next book should be?.. .. it must be a classic)