Sometimes we get a chance to do something out of the ordinary and fun! My mom found this cool rock growing science kit for us to try! I was more excited than the girls at first I think. 
Our days here in the south have been really warm...sorry Northerners! So we stepped outside for this one. The girls stirred but I did most of the chemical work since we weren't exactly equipped for safety and the directions sounded a bit scary to this non-chemist. So Grace took over the camera and snapped some shots of me trying to figure out what I was supposed to do!
Here I am trying to figure out if I'm doing this right! The way these directions read I felt like I might seriously maim somebody if I missed a step!
Since I'm not really up on my chemicals and their side effects I did most of the handling and pouring. The girls stirred and placed the rocks. We "planted" the second batch and are waiting for them to grow overnight.
In other news, we changed up math significantly this week. Rose and Beth are using Math Essentials Algebra and Pre-Algebra programs. They are thriving with this program even after just a week! Grace is continuing on with Math Mammoth, but we are option for the Gold series which is a bit more concise each day. She loves the change as well.
So why did we change?
For the last two years my daughters have tested using the Woodcock Johnson assessment test. I had been under the impression this was mostly used for kids who couldn't handle sitting through a bubble test. My very dear friend and fellow homeschool mom became a test administrator last year so we gave it a try. WOW! I was so impressed with the amount of useful data I obtained and wished we had been doing this for years. The information is significantly more helpful than any bubble test and my daughters thoroughly enjoyed the testing process.
Through this test we were able to determine that all three girls needed a bit of a change for mathematics. Rose especially made enormous strides over this previous year and was absolutely ready for Algebra I which completely surprised me. In all our years of math struggle something has finally clicked and she's doing great! Beth was a bit "behind" because of a difficult illness last year. Behind just meant she hadn't finished her 5th grade curriculum, but through this testing we determined she was also ready to move on to something more challenging. Grace as well scored well above grade-level and we realized we were keeping her from thriving because of the sheer amount of work each day in math. The change is good and we are ALL happy!
Through this test we were able to determine that all three girls needed a bit of a change for mathematics. Rose especially made enormous strides over this previous year and was absolutely ready for Algebra I which completely surprised me. In all our years of math struggle something has finally clicked and she's doing great! Beth was a bit "behind" because of a difficult illness last year. Behind just meant she hadn't finished her 5th grade curriculum, but through this testing we determined she was also ready to move on to something more challenging. Grace as well scored well above grade-level and we realized we were keeping her from thriving because of the sheer amount of work each day in math. The change is good and we are ALL happy!
Everything else is as it has been. Heart of Dakota continues to challenge and engage my girls in all ares of their learning. Basketball season is coming to a close for Rose and Grace has just a handful of games left. Clogging starts back up in about a week so we will continue to stay busy, but not as much as we have been. I'm so glad for these opportunities, but I'm not exactly sad that the basketball season is coming to an end!
I forgot to take any pictures the last two week of schooling so I will try to keep my camera out this week on my desk. We are in a groove at the moment which is wonderful because most of the past winters this is about the time we start getting the blahs. Getting several sunny days where we could work on school outside certainly helped! It was so very sunny the girls were more comfortable with sun glasses on while sketching on the front porch.
Vitamin D for the win!
I forgot to take any pictures the last two week of schooling so I will try to keep my camera out this week on my desk. We are in a groove at the moment which is wonderful because most of the past winters this is about the time we start getting the blahs. Getting several sunny days where we could work on school outside certainly helped! It was so very sunny the girls were more comfortable with sun glasses on while sketching on the front porch.
Vitamin D for the win!
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