Friday again so time for a report - the one where I decide we need another computer.

The weeks seem to be flying by. We are busy everyday and never get everything I would like into our schedule.  I never seem to find a moment to sit here and type a post. I am either running kids around to their various activities or I have kids who always seem to need the computers.

Burned up the oxygen in the jar.

Sophie is loving her Williamsburg Intermediate classes. At first she felt a bit overwhelmed because there were assignments with due dates and there seemed to be a lot of assignments. She is only taking two classes but they have a lot of small projects or readings that she needs to "turn in". A lot of these she simply has to just report "done". Other assignments require a bit of research and the preparation of a short report, usually done on a powerpoint slide.  She also has been spending a lot of time exchanging emails and chatting with her classmates before or after her online classes.  She also started a story for one of her creative writing assignments and is often adding in another section to her opus. So as a result the computer is often being used.

The laptop has been more or less taken over by Ian. He is always working on his robots and "programming" them.  When not programming he is looking up building techniques for Lego Robots. This boy lives and breathes to build and program robots. I think, when his First Lego League is finished I may have him take a programming class like Tynker or Scratch. I know the programming he is doing with his lego robot is teaching him many of these same principles but I just think he will enjoy this too. Of course this means he will be spending even more time on the computer.

Water rised into the jar as the Oxygen was used up by the fire.

Henry doesn't have any online classes and doesn't particularly show any interest in robots or programming. He mostly just likes to play the games and not design them. He is a Minecraft junkie just like most boys his age. He loves to monopolize our Kindle fire when he has earned "screen time" and play Minecraft. I still don't understand what it is that is so exciting about this game but it sure makes Henry do his chores and homework quickly when he is bribed with the opportunity of an hour of playtime.

Separating the Hydrogen from the oxygen.
We didn't add salt to the water so the copper wires
started to react with the water and created some bluish powder.
This is not what we were expecting.

So besides our time on computers we are doing other school work. The kids are moving through their different Math programs. We are learning about the 13 colonies and why the different groups sailed for the new world. We are reading about the elements and even doing an experiment or two when I can fit them in. The kids are adding "dress-ups" to their writing by watching Andrew Pudewa (of IEW fame)  teach the different skills. They like it when writing includes another section on the DVD.

Molly is learning all her letter sounds and how to write the letters. Mostly she acts as the distraction so that one math lesson takes two hours to complete rather than the half hour it should.

So anyway. Not a very detailed report. But at least I am writing and reporting something.  We are busy and tired by the end of each day.  That is enough for me.

Henry learning to do handstands on parallel bars at the Little Gym.